SendGrid
6.2/10Twilio-owned email platform that pairs a developer-focused transactional Email API with a Marketing Campaigns tool for newsletters and automated email sends.
Data last updated November 2026 · Our methodology
Overview
SendGrid, owned by Twilio since 2019, sells two products that are billed separately. The Email API handles transactional and bulk sending through SMTP or REST, with webhooks and deliverability tools. Marketing Campaigns gives marketers a drag-and-drop editor, templates, list management and segmentation, signup forms with double opt-in, trigger-based and drip automations, and open and click statistics. The Email API is priced by monthly email volume. Essentials starts at $19.95 for 50,000 emails and Pro runs from $89.95 to $1,099, with Premier quoted on request. Marketing Campaigns is priced by contact count. Basic starts at $15 a month for 5,000 contacts and Advanced at $60 for 10,000 contacts. Since 2025, new accounts get a 60-day trial capped at 100 emails a day instead of a permanent free plan. Dedicated IPs require API Pro or Marketing Advanced. Reviewers mention integrations with platforms such as WordPress, Shopify and Salesforce. SendGrid suits engineering-led companies that need dependable high-volume delivery and simple campaigns from one sender reputation. Its main limitation is the marketing layer, which reviewers call basic. It has limited automation logic, shallow analytics, no SMS campaigns or landing page builder, and support that many users describe as slow since the Twilio acquisition.
Our Rating
Who SendGrid is best for
Good fit
The Email API with SMTP, REST, webhooks and deliverability tools is aimed at engineering-led companies.
High-volume transactional email through the API suits software products that send email from their apps.
Premier and custom plans cover very high volumes, though support complaints remain.
- Mid-Market7/10
Volume tiers up to 2.5 million emails and a dedicated IP on Pro fit growing senders.
Low-cost Essentials and Basic tiers and a developer-friendly API suit product teams sending app email.
Less suited
It integrates with Shopify, but it has no store-specific automation features.
Covers core campaigns and segmentation, but automation and analytics are described as basic.
Entry plans are cheap, but reviewers find the interface and onboarding hard for non-technical users.
The free plan was replaced by a capped trial, and the products are billed separately.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Scales from 50,000 to 2.5 million emails a month on published Pro tiers, with Premier above that.
- Reviewers value its reliability and uptime for transactional and marketing email.
- Deliverability tooling covers domain authentication with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, plus dedicated IPs on higher tiers.
- The drag-and-drop editor and signup forms with double opt-in let marketers build campaigns without code.
- Reviewers mention integrations with WordPress, Shopify and Salesforce, alongside webhooks and a REST API.
Cons
- Support is a frequent complaint, with reviewers describing slow email-only responses since the Twilio acquisition.
- Reviewers call Marketing Campaigns automation basic, with no advanced conditional flows.
- The permanent free plan has been replaced by a 60-day trial capped at 100 emails a day.
- Email API and Marketing Campaigns are billed separately, so using both raises costs.
- Reviewers report sudden account suspensions and say refunds are hard to get.
Key Features
SendGrid Pricing
Marketing Campaigns Basic
- 1 teammate
- 5,000 contacts and 15,000 emails per month
- Scales to 100,000 contacts for $200 per month
Email API Essentials
- Overage billed per email
- 50,000 emails per month ($34.95 for 100,000)
Marketing Campaigns Advanced
- Automations
- Dedicated IP access
- Up to 1,000 teammates
- 10,000 contacts and 50,000 emails per month
- Scales to 200,000 contacts for $900 per month
Email API Pro
- Email validation
- Dedicated IP eligible
- From 100,000 emails per month, up to 2.5M emails for $1,099
Frequently Asked Questions
Not anymore. New accounts get a 60-day trial limited to 100 emails a day and 100 marketing contacts, and sending is paused unless you upgrade.
No. The Email API is priced by monthly email volume, starting at $19.95. Marketing Campaigns is a separate subscription priced by contact count, starting at $15 a month.
You need either the Email API Pro plan, which starts at $89.95 a month, or Marketing Campaigns Advanced.
Extra Email API messages are billed per email on the next invoice. The rate is about $0.00133 per email on Essentials 50k and lower on larger tiers.
SMS is not part of Marketing Campaigns. Twilio sells messaging as a separate product.
Twilio completed its roughly $2 billion acquisition of the Denver-founded company in February 2019.
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