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SendGrid
Twilio's email platform for sending transactional and marketing email at high volume.
What it actually does
SendGrid is Twilio's email service, covering both transactional API sends and marketing campaigns under one account. It is built for volumes well beyond what a solo founder sends and is a common default inside the broader Twilio ecosystem.
The transactional side is metered by monthly email volume; Marketing Campaigns is a second meter billed by contacts. The advertised Essentials price rarely matches the real bill once a marketing list is attached.
As of 2025 the permanent free tier is gone, replaced by a 60-day trial, after which you must pay to keep sending. Support on lower plans is limited, and account suspensions can take time to resolve.
SendGrid vs its main rivals
The tools people actually weigh against SendGrid: Mailgun, Amazon SES, Postmark. Same criteria for every column, including where SendGrid loses.
| SendGrid |  Mailgun | AAmazon SES | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pricing & access | ||||
| Free tier | No60-day trial | Yes100/day | NoNo | Yes100/mo |
| Starting price | $19.95/mo | $15/mo | $0.10/1k | $15/mo |
Deliverability & sending | ||||
| Independent inbox-placement score | ~61% (low) | ~71% | ~77% | ~83% |
| Marketing + transactional | YesBoth | NoTransactional | NoTransactional | NoTransactional |
| Email validation included | YesPro: 2,500 | YesAdd-on | NoNo | NoNo |
Scaling & limits | ||||
| Overage rate | $1.30/1k | $1.80/1k | $0.10/1k | $1.80/1k |
| High-volume ceiling | Millions/mo | High | Very high | Moderate |
| Dedicated IP available | YesPro plan | YesScale plan | YesAdd-on | YesAdd-on |
Developer & API | ||||
| REST API | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Webhooks | Free | Free | Free | Free |
Team & enterprise | ||||
| SSO / SAML | YesPro+ | YesEnterprise | YesAWS IAM | YesEnterprise |
- Infrastructure that scales past anything a solo founder will send
- Both marketing and transactional under one account
- Pro plan includes a dedicated IP and email validations
- Permanent free tier is gone; after 60 days you pay or stop sending
- Independent inbox-placement scores are the lowest of these rivals
- Support on cheap plans is slow and suspensions can take days to clear
Pay less for it
5 ways foundMarketing is free up to 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails/mo, separate from the transactional trial.
Essentials is priced by email band; pick the lowest band that fits and let overage bill next cycle at $1.30 per 1,000.
For pure transactional at scale, SES at ~$0.10 per 1,000 is dramatically cheaper than SendGrid's bands.
If you already run Twilio, check for account-level credits or committed-use discounts across products.
Mailgun — Similar developer-focused sending with a permanent 100/day free tier and a comparable $15/mo entry, without SendGrid's trial-only start.
StackTracker tracks what you actually pay for SendGrid and every other tool, flags overpayment, and shows the dollars you would save by switching.
Is it the right tool for you
- You already run Twilio and want email in the same account
- You expect 100,000+ emails per month soon
- You want marketing campaigns and transactional under one roof
- You want a permanent free tier and top deliverability → use Resend or Postmark
- You want the lowest per-email cost at volume → use Amazon SES
Track what SendGrid and the rest of your stack cost
StackTracker adds up every subscription, plus your hours, so you see the real number.
Prices and limits last verified 2026-07-20.