--- title: "Best Postmark alternatives in 2026" description: "Postmark alternatives ranked for teams that want a bigger free plan or marketing email too: free plans, API, deliverability, campaigns and the switch." url: https://www.unitpost.com/best/postmark-alternatives section: Roundups updated: 2026-11-02 --- # Best Postmark alternatives in 2026 Postmark has the best-regarded deliverability record in transactional email, but its free plan holds 100 emails a month and it has no audience or campaign tools. For teams that want marketing email in the same place, the best Postmark alternative is Unitpost: one API and bill for both, a 5,000-email free plan and a one-key import. Resend suits developers who only send transactional mail. > Updated 2026-11-02. We make Unitpost, and it is on this list. Every score has a reason and the weights are published below, so you can re-rank it for your own needs. ## At a glance | # | Product | Best for | Free plan | Score | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Unitpost | app teams sending both kinds of email | 5,000 emails a month, 200 a day, no card | 4.3 | | 2 | Brevo | marketers who want a full suite | 300 emails a day | 3.7 | | 3 | Resend | developer-first transactional email | 3,000 emails a month, 100 a day | 3.6 | | 4 | Mailgun | high-volume senders and validation | 100 emails a day on one domain | 3.0 | | 5 | SendGrid | enterprises and multi-tenant platforms | None: a 60-day trial at 100 emails a day | 2.8 | | 6 | MailerSend | a cheap first paid plan | 500 emails a month, card required | 2.7 | | 7 | Amazon SES | lowest cost at very high volume | None for SES; new AWS accounts get up to $200 in credits | 2.5 | ## Why teams look for a Postmark alternative - The free plan is 100 emails a month. - Bulk mail runs on broadcast streams, with no audience or campaign tools. - Inbound email isn't on the Basic plan. ## When Postmark is still the better choice - A missed email is expensive: banking password resets, MFA codes, booking confirmations - You want transactional sending physically isolated from anything marketing-shaped - You are willing to pay a premium specifically for inbox placement ## What moves when you leave Postmark With Unitpost's Migration Assistant and one Postmark key: - Contacts: rebuild. Postmark stores no contacts or lists, so nothing imports. If you start campaigns here, import contacts from your own database with `POST /api/v1/contacts/imports`. - Unsubscribes and consent: partly imports. Postmark records unsubscribes and manual blocks as `ManualSuppression` on one stream. They import as workspace suppressions that stop every send, so a broadcast unsubscriber would stop getting password resets until step 2. - Suppressions (bounces and complaints): imports. Hard bounces and spam complaints from every stream on every server import with their reason. Complaint rows cannot be removed here, as at Postmark. - Segments or lists: rebuild. Postmark has no lists or segments. Create segments here when you start campaigns. - Topics: rebuild. Postmark has no topics. Create them here if you want per-category opt-outs on campaigns. - Templates: partly imports. Subject, HTML and text import as draft code-mode templates in the marketing category. Layouts arrive as separate templates and are not merged into the templates that use them; same-named templates from two servers get a ` (2)` suffix. - Sending domains: partly imports. With an Account API token, each domain is recreated as verifying with a new DKIM key. A server token cannot read domains, and sender signatures (single verified addresses) are not read. - Webhooks: partly imports. Each server's webhooks import with their enabled triggers, switched off and with a new signing secret. HTTP auth credentials and custom headers set on them are not copied. - API keys and tokens: rebuild. Server and account tokens stay at Postmark. Create Unitpost API keys instead. - Automations and broadcasts: rebuild. Postmark has no automations to move. Broadcasts sent from your code become campaigns here, which need contacts and a segment. - Message streams: rebuild. Unitpost has no streams. A template's `category` (`transactional` or `marketing`) decides footers and opt-outs, broadcasts become campaigns, and the inbound stream becomes receiving on a verified domain. [The Postmark migration plan](https://www.unitpost.com/migration/postmark.md) ## 1. Unitpost Best for app teams sending both kinds of email. Transactional and marketing email on one API, one contact list and one bill, with a permanent free plan and an importer for six providers. Pros: - Permanent free plan, no card - Imports suppressions (bounces and complaints) from Postmark with one key - REST API, SMTP relay, MCP server and nine SDKs on every plan - Unlimited contacts on paid plans, priced by sends Cons: - A newer sender, without a long public track record - No sub-accounts, and dedicated IPs are not launched yet - SMS is on paid plans only Free plan: 5,000 emails a month, 200 a day, no card. Paid from: $10 a month for 20,000 emails. Priced by: emails sent. Website: https://www.unitpost.com ## 2. Brevo Best for marketers who want a full suite. A marketing suite with email, SMS, WhatsApp, a CRM and automation, plus a transactional API and SMTP relay. Its free plan sends the most email here. Pros: - The largest free volume: 300 emails a day - CRM, landing pages and automation built in - Paid plans sized by email volume, from $9 a month Cons: - SMS and WhatsApp credits are bought separately - A large step in price from Standard to Professional Free plan: 300 emails a day. Paid from: $9 a month for 5,000 emails. Priced by: emails sent. Website: https://www.brevo.com ## 3. Resend Best for developer-first transactional email. A clean, modern email API from the team behind React Email, with inbound email and an official MCP server on every plan. Marketing contacts are billed on a separate plan. Pros: - A modern API with clear errors and many SDKs - Inbound email on every plan, free included - React Email for building templates in code Cons: - Marketing is a second plan, priced by contacts ($40 a month for 5,000) - Free sending is capped at 100 emails a day Free plan: 3,000 emails a month, 100 a day. Paid from: $20 a month for 50,000 emails. Priced by: sends and contacts. Website: https://resend.com ## 4. Mailgun Best for high-volume senders and validation. A long-running email API with address validation and inbox placement testing. Strong at volume, with marketing campaigns left to other tools. Pros: - Email validation and inbox placement testing - EU region for data residency - Proven at very high volume Cons: - The free plan keeps logs for one day, on one domain - Marketing campaigns need another tool Free plan: 100 emails a day on one domain. Paid from: $15 a month for 10,000 emails. Priced by: emails sent. Website: https://www.mailgun.com ## 5. SendGrid Best for enterprises and multi-tenant platforms. The long-running email API, now part of Twilio, with Marketing Campaigns as a separate product. Strong at scale; there is no free plan any more. Pros: - Proven at very high volume - Sub-accounts for multi-tenant platforms - Dedicated IPs from the Pro plan Cons: - No free plan: a 60-day trial, then from $19.95 a month - Marketing Campaigns is a separate product and plan Free plan: None: a 60-day trial at 100 emails a day. Paid from: $19.95 a month (Essentials). Priced by: sends and contacts. Website: https://www.twilio.com/en-us/sendgrid ## 6. MailerSend Best for a cheap first paid plan. A transactional email API with an official hosted MCP server and a $7 first paid plan. The free plan is small. Pros: - Hobby is $7 a month for 5,000 emails - API and SMTP on the free plan - An official hosted MCP server Cons: - 500 emails a month on free - No audience or campaign tools Free plan: 500 emails a month, card required. Paid from: $7 a month for 5,000 emails. Priced by: emails sent. Website: https://www.mailersend.com ## 7. Amazon SES Best for lowest cost at very high volume. Amazon's sending service, inside AWS: the lowest price per email here. You build the rest yourself, from bounce handling to templates and dashboards. Pros: - $0.10 per 1,000 emails on pay-as-you-go pricing - Runs inside your AWS account and IAM - Inbound email as well as sending Cons: - No campaign builder or audience tools - Bounce handling, dashboards and reputation work are yours Free plan: None for SES; new AWS accounts get up to $200 in credits. Paid from: $0.10 per 1,000 emails (new accounts start on a $0.16 plan). Priced by: emails sent. Website: https://aws.amazon.com/ses/ ## Scores | Product | Free plan (20%) | Developer experience (20%) | Transactional + marketing (20%) | Switching (15%) | Deliverability (15%) | Scale (10%) | Total | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Unitpost | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4.3 | | Brevo | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3.7 | | Resend | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.6 | | Mailgun | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3.0 | | SendGrid | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2.8 | | MailerSend | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2.7 | | Amazon SES | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2.5 | ## How we scored This list is for teams sending app email through Postmark who are weighing a switch. What matters to them: a free or cheap way to keep sending, a modern API, marketing email in the same place, and a move that keeps suppressions. - **Free plan (20%).** A permanent free plan large enough to run a small app on, with no card. - **Developer experience (20%).** A clear REST API, current SDKs, readable errors and docs. - **Transactional + marketing (20%).** Both kinds of email in one product, on one contact list and one bill. - **Switching (15%).** An importer, or a documented path, that moves Postmark contacts, suppressions and templates. - **Deliverability (15%).** A long public record of inbox placement, and the tooling to protect it. - **Scale (10%).** Proven at very high volume, with dedicated IPs and enterprise plans. Each product gets 1 to 5 per criterion; the total is the weighted mean. ### Why Unitpost scored 4.3 - Free plan: 5/5. 5,000 emails a month free for good, 200 a day, no card. - Developer experience: 5/5. Bearer-token REST API, nine SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server, with idempotency keys on sends. - Transactional + marketing: 5/5. Campaigns, segments and topics share the contact list and the bill with API sends. - Switching: 4/5. The Migration Assistant imports suppressions (bounces and complaints) from Postmark with one key; the guide covers the rest. - Deliverability: 3/5. Guided SPF, DKIM and DMARC with continuous checks, but a short public record so far. - Scale: 2/5. No sub-accounts, and dedicated IPs are not launched yet. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://www.unitpost.com/pricing, https://www.unitpost.com/sms, https://registry.npmjs.org/unitpost. ### Why Brevo scored 3.7 - Free plan: 5/5. 300 emails a day, about 9,000 a month, on a permanent free plan. - Developer experience: 3/5. A full API and SMTP relay, shaped by the marketing suite rather than built for developers first. - Transactional + marketing: 5/5. Campaigns, automation and transactional sending in one account. - Switching: 2/5. No importer or guide for Postmark found; contacts move by CSV and the rest by API. - Deliverability: 3/5. An established sender, without Postmark's public time-to-inbox record. - Scale: 3/5. Professional plans from 150,000 emails; the focus is marketing teams more than high-volume APIs. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://www.brevo.com/pricing/, https://developers.brevo.com/docs/mcp-protocol, https://help.brevo.com/hc/en-us/articles/7959631848850, https://help.brevo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021533839, https://registry.npmjs.org/@getbrevo/brevo. ### Why Resend scored 3.6 - Free plan: 4/5. 3,000 emails a month free, capped at 100 a day. - Developer experience: 5/5. The API many newer providers copy, with SDKs across most languages. - Transactional + marketing: 3/5. Broadcasts exist, but marketing contacts sit on a second plan and bill. - Switching: 3/5. A published guide for moving from Postmark; no importer, so data moves by CSV and API. - Deliverability: 3/5. A shorter public record than SendGrid or Postmark. - Scale: 3/5. Higher-volume plans above Pro; less proven at the very largest volumes. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://resend.com/pricing, https://resend.com/migrate, https://resend.com/docs/dashboard/receiving/introduction, https://github.com/resend/mcp-send-email, https://resend.com/docs/send-with-smtp, https://resend.com/docs/api-reference/api-keys/create-api-key, https://registry.npmjs.org/resend, https://resend.com/docs/dashboard/webhooks/retries-and-replays. ### Why Mailgun scored 3.0 - Free plan: 3/5. A free plan of 100 emails a day on one domain, with one day of logs. - Developer experience: 3/5. A capable API on HTTP Basic auth, with a surface shaped by long history. - Transactional + marketing: 2/5. Built for transactional sending; marketing campaigns need another product. - Switching: 2/5. No importer or guide for Postmark found; contacts move by CSV and the rest by API. - Deliverability: 4/5. Validation, inbox placement tests and dedicated IPs. - Scale: 5/5. Built for very high volume, with dedicated IP pools and enterprise plans. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://www.mailgun.com/pricing/, https://www.mailgun.com/resources/guides/migrating-from-sendgrid-to-mailgun-email-api/, https://documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/mcp, https://documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/user-manual/sending-messages/send-smtp, https://registry.npmjs.org/mailgun.js, https://documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/user-manual/receive-forward-store/receive-http. ### Why SendGrid scored 2.8 - Free plan: 1/5. No free plan: a 60-day trial at 100 emails a day, then from $19.95 a month. - Developer experience: 3/5. A large API with SDKs, shaped by a decade of backwards compatibility. - Transactional + marketing: 3/5. Marketing Campaigns is a separate product with its own plans. - Switching: 2/5. No importer or guide for Postmark found; contacts move by CSV and the rest by API. - Deliverability: 4/5. A long track record, with dedicated IPs from the Pro plan. - Scale: 5/5. Proven at very high volume, with sub-accounts and enterprise support. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://www.twilio.com/en-us/products/email-api/pricing, https://www.twilio.com/docs/sendgrid/for-developers/sending-email/integrating-with-the-smtp-api, https://www.twilio.com/docs/sendgrid/ui/analytics-and-reporting/email-activity-feed, https://registry.npmjs.org/@sendgrid/mail, https://www.twilio.com/docs/sendgrid/for-developers/parsing-email/inbound-email. ### Why MailerSend scored 2.7 - Free plan: 2/5. 500 emails a month on one domain. - Developer experience: 4/5. A modern REST API, SMTP and an official MCP server. - Transactional + marketing: 2/5. Built for transactional email; bulk sending comes on paid plans, without audience tools. - Switching: 2/5. No importer or guide for Postmark found; contacts move by CSV and the rest by API. - Deliverability: 3/5. An established sender, without a long public inbox-placement record. - Scale: 3/5. Plans for growing volume; fewer enterprise tools than the incumbents. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://www.mailersend.com/pricing, https://developers.mailersend.com/mcp, https://www.mailersend.com/help/smtp-relay, https://www.mailersend.com/features/inbound-emails, https://developers.mailersend.com/api/v1/webhooks.html, https://registry.npmjs.org/mailersend, https://developers.mailersend.com/api/v1/inbound. ### Why Amazon SES scored 2.5 - Free plan: 2/5. No SES free tier; new AWS accounts get up to $200 in credits. - Developer experience: 3/5. AWS SDKs and IAM: powerful, with more setup than an email API. - Transactional + marketing: 1/5. A sending service; it has no campaign builder. - Switching: 2/5. No importer or guide for Postmark found; contacts move by CSV and the rest by API. - Deliverability: 3/5. Good infrastructure, but reputation monitoring is your job. - Scale: 5/5. AWS-scale throughput and dedicated IPs. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://aws.amazon.com/ses/pricing/, https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/smtp-connect.html, https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/smtp-credentials.html, https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/vdm-dashboard.html, https://registry.npmjs.org/@aws-sdk/client-sesv2, https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/receiving-email-notifications-contents.html. ## FAQ ### Is Postmark's free plan enough to run an app? It's a developer plan of 100 emails a month that never expires: enough to test, not to run an app. Basic is $15 a month for 10,000 emails. ### How do I move off Postmark? Copy suppressions first, so nobody who bounced or complained gets mail from the new provider. Unitpost's Migration Assistant imports suppressions (bounces and complaints) with one Postmark key, and the migration plan lists what you rebuild by hand. ## Related - [Best Mailgun alternatives in 2026](https://www.unitpost.com/best/mailgun-alternatives): Mailgun alternatives ranked for app teams: free plans, API, transactional plus marketing, deliverability and how hard it is to move your Mailgun data. - [Best Brevo alternatives in 2026](https://www.unitpost.com/best/brevo-alternatives): Brevo alternatives ranked for developers: API quality, free plans, transactional plus marketing in one product, deliverability and moving your Brevo data. - [Best Loops alternatives in 2026](https://www.unitpost.com/best/loops-alternatives): Loops alternatives ranked for SaaS teams: pricing as your user base grows, API and SMTP, transactional plus marketing, and how hard it is to leave Loops.