Teams look past SendGrid when the sign-up path is a 60-day trial instead of a standing free plan, when dedicated IPs and longer activity history sit behind higher plans or add-ons, or when they want a vendor that does one job. They move to Postmark or Resend for developer-focused sending, to Mailgun or SMTP2GO for a like-for-like relay, and to Amazon SES for volume.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within
the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. The first three alternatives
go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the
established names follow in their ranked order. How it works:
placement disclosure · editorial process.
What each alternative does differently
1. Postmark
Transactional email with separate streams and long logs · United States
Does one job, transactional delivery, and keeps 45 days of message history on every plan. Plans start at 10,000 emails, and dedicated IPs are a $50 add-on for senders above 300,000 emails a month. There are no campaign or newsletter tools, so marketing mail has to live elsewhere.
Switch from SendGrid if you only send receipts and password resets and want long, searchable message history.
Pricing: Free at 100 emails a month, then Basic at $15 for 10,000 emails, Pro at $16.50 and Platform at $18, all with extra emails priced per thousand. (free plan)
Full review: #1 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Postmark →
2. Resend
Developer-first email API with React-based templates · United States
An API-first service with SDKs for eight languages and a free plan of 3,000 emails a month. Data retention is 30 days on the paid tiers shown. Extra domains cost $20 a month, and dedicated IPs are an add-on on the Scale plan only.
Switch from SendGrid if your developers want modern SDKs and a free tier that covers a small product.
Pricing: Free at 3,000 emails a month (100 a day), Pro from $20 for 50,000 emails, Scale from $90 for 100,000, with overage per thousand. (free plan)
Full review: #2 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Resend →
3. Mailgun
Developer email API, SMTP relay and inbound routing · United States
The nearest like-for-like swap: an email API and SMTP relay with inbound routes, webhooks and a free plan of 100 emails a day. Log retention is one day on Free and five on Foundation. Mailgun belongs to Sinch, so the ownership question stays corporate.
Switch from SendGrid if you want the same relay-plus-inbound model with a published free plan.
Pricing: Free at 100 emails a day; Basic from $15 for 10,000 emails, Foundation $35 for 50,000, Scale $90 for 100,000, extras priced per thousand. (free plan)
Full review: #6 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Mailgun →
4. SMTP2GO
SMTP relay and API with phone and chat support · New Zealand
A relay and API with ticket, chat and phone support included on the paid plans we read. The free plan is 1,000 emails a month, and Professional lists a dedicated IP. Reporting covers 30 days. Tooling for templates and SDKs is plainer than at developer-first rivals.
Switch from SendGrid if you want a relay with phone support and a simple tier ladder.
Pricing: Free for 1,000 emails a month; Starter lists at $10 a month for 10,000 emails and Professional at $75 for 100,000, with extra emails priced per thousand. (free plan)
Full review: #3 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit SMTP2GO →
5. Amazon SES
Pay-per-use email sending inside AWS · United States
Pay-per-use sending inside AWS, with a rate card per 1,000 emails and optional add-ons such as managed dedicated IPs. New accounts start in a sandbox, and you build monitoring, templates and bounce handling yourself. It rewards teams already running on AWS.
Switch from SendGrid if you send at volume, already run on AWS and can build the tooling around it.
Pricing: Essentials lists $0.16 per 1,000 emails; Pro adds $105 a month per account per region, Enterprise $500; an a la carte rate card also exists. (none)
Full review: #4 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Amazon SES →
6. MailerSend
Transactional email API with SMS and WhatsApp add-ons · United States
A transactional API with SMS as an option, a free plan of 500 emails a month and a Hobby tier from $7. API requests, domains and activity retention are capped tightly on lower tiers. SMS is limited to US and Canadian customers.
Switch from SendGrid if you need a small transactional sender with an SMS option and a low entry price.
Pricing: Free for 500 emails a month; Hobby lists at $7 a month for 5,000 emails, Starter and Professional scale by volume, with a 14-day trial of Professional. (free plan)
Full review: #7 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit MailerSend →
7. Mailtrap
Email sending API combined with an email testing sandbox · United States
Pairs a sending API with a testing sandbox, and its free plan gives 4,000 emails a month at 150 a day. Logs on the free plan last three days. Business and Enterprise sit far above the Basic tier, and the sandbox is priced apart from sending.
Switch from SendGrid if developers want to test email in a sandbox and send from the same vendor.
Pricing: Free at 4,000 emails a month, Basic from $15 for 10,000, Business $85 for 100,000, Enterprise from $750 for 1.5 million. (free plan)
Full review: #9 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Mailtrap →
8. Brevo
CRM and marketing suite with an SMTP and API transactional channel · France
A marketing and CRM suite with an SMTP and API channel for transactional mail. The free plan is capped at 300 emails a day. It suits a team that wants newsletters, SMS and receipts under one login, and it fits a pure API sender less well.
Switch from SendGrid if you also send newsletters and want transactional and marketing mail in one tool.
Pricing: Free plan with up to 300 emails a day; paid Starter plans start from 5,000 emails a month, with higher plans priced by volume. (free plan)
Full review: #10 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Brevo →
9. Elastic Email
Email API, SMTP relay and bulk sending platform · Canada
Mixes bulk and transactional sending in one platform, with a free plan of 3,000 emails a month and Starter at $19. Prices come from a volume slider, and the paid tiers differ more in features than in volume. Documentation is less focused than at transactional-only vendors.
Switch from SendGrid if you send bulk and transactional mail together and want a low entry price.
Pricing: Free at 3,000 emails a month; Starter at $19 a month for 50,000 emails and Pro at $49 a month for 50,000, with features added on Pro. (free plan)
Full review: #11 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Elastic Email →
10. Mailjet
Email API and SMTP relay with campaign editor · France
A campaign editor with an email API behind it, and the largest free allowance on this list at 6,000 emails a month, capped at 200 a day. Higher plans are packaged around contacts and marketing features. It shares its parent, Sinch, with Mailgun.
Switch from SendGrid if you want a free plan with a drag-and-drop campaign editor next to the API.
Pricing: Free at 6,000 emails a month (200 a day); Essential at $19 for 15,000 emails, Premium at $29, with annual billing offering a 10% discount. (free plan)
Full review: #12 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Mailjet →
11. MailPace
EU-hosted transactional email API and SMTP · United Kingdom
A small, independent sender hosted in the EU, with no open or click tracking by design. Every feature is on every plan, the first 10,000 emails are one block, and email is retained for 30 days. Engagement reporting is thin, and there is no public free plan.
Switch from SendGrid if you want EU-hosted sending without tracking and a single price for everything.
Pricing: Pay by volume with the first 10,000 emails priced as one block, advertised from under $4 a month; a free plan of 100 emails exists on request. (none)
Full review: #8 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit MailPace →
Questions and answers
Can I export my data from SendGrid?
Partly. The Email Activity feed exports to CSV but only the last one million events, and a 30-day view needs the paid history add-on. Contacts can be downloaded before a downgrade, and suppression lists are available through the v3 API.
How much notice does SendGrid need to end my contract?
Thirty days written notice. The Twilio terms let either party end them for convenience on 30 days notice, but any order form stays in force until it expires or is terminated under its own terms. Self-serve plans can be cancelled in the console.
What happens to my contacts if I cancel or downgrade?
They are deleted. The billing documentation says that downgrading to a Free Marketing Campaigns plan deletes all contacts, and that a terminated account with a Marketing Campaigns plan loses stored contacts after 30 days. Download them first.
Does SendGrid still have a free plan?
Not as a sign-up option we found. The documentation describes a one-time 60-day trial with up to 100 emails a day through the Email API, after which you must upgrade. Postmark, Resend, Mailgun, SMTP2GO, MailerSend, Mailtrap, Brevo, Elastic Email and Mailjet list standing free plans.
Will I keep my dedicated IP address when I leave?
No. Dedicated IPs are allocated to your SendGrid account, so the reputation built on them stays with Twilio. The docs say one comes with the Pro Email API plan and others are purchased. A new vendor will issue a different address that you must warm up.
How long does a migration take?
It depends on the number of sending streams, not on the data. Authentication records, API keys, webhooks and suppression lists all change. Moving one stream at a time while the old account stays active is slower but avoids a deliverability dip on your busiest mail.
