SendGrid Alternatives With a Free Tier: 6 Options in 2026
SendGrid alternatives with a free tier compared on monthly volume, daily caps and log retention: Resend, Mailtrap, Mailgun, SMTP2GO, Brevo and Postmark.
•4 min read•Email Marketing & Newsletters
Verdict:Brevo (300 a day) and Mailtrap (4,000 a month) give the most free room; Resend adds 3 domains and 30 days of logs; SMTP2GO suits small SMTP apps; Postmark's free plan is too small for anything but testing.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resend | Free: 3,000 emails/month, 100/day; Pro from $20/month | Web, API | Developers who want the largest simple free API allowance and 3 domains | Docs only |
| Mailtrap | Free: 4,000 emails/month, 150/day; Basic from $15/month | Web, API, SMTP | A higher monthly free allowance with no credit card | Docs only |
| Mailgun | Free: 100 emails/day; Basic $15/month for 10,000 | Web, API, SMTP | The closest like-for-like API swap at low volume | Docs only |
| SMTP2GO | Free: 1,000 emails/month; Starter $10/month for 10,000 | Web, API, SMTP | Apps and devices that already send through SMTP | Docs only |
| Brevo | Free: 300 emails/day | Web, API, SMTP | Teams mixing transactional email with newsletters | Docs only |
| Postmark | Free: 100 emails/month; Basic $15/month for 10,000 | Web, API, SMTP | Transactional-only sending where a small free plan is enough to test | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You send app emails such as receipts and password resets at low volume
- You want a free plan that does not expire
- You are comfortable setting up SMTP or an API key and DNS records
Not ideal if
- You need dedicated IPs, subusers or single sign-on at no cost
- You send large marketing campaigns on a free plan
- You need guaranteed inbox placement, which no plan can promise
SendGrid's Email API page now describes a 60-day free trial at 100 emails a day, with paid plans from $19.95 a month. If you want a free plan that does not expire, Mailtrap offers 4,000 emails a month, Resend 3,000 a month and SMTP2GO 1,000 a month, while Brevo's 300 a day works out higher for steady daily sending. Postmark's free plan is 100 emails a month, so treat it as a testing plan.
What matters on a free plan
- Permanent or temporary. A trial or credit that expires is not a free tier.
- Volume, monthly and daily. Daily caps matter if you send in bursts.
- The quiet limits. Sending domains and log retention decide whether you can debug a bounce next week.
- Setup effort. SMTP relays and API keys differ in how much code you rewrite.
- The first paid step. What it costs when you outgrow the free plan.
According to SendGrid's own pricing page, the free option is a 60-day trial at 100 emails a day, Essentials starts at $19.95 a month and Pro at $89.95. The page does not clearly state a permanent free plan.
Resend
Resend is an email API aimed at developers. Its pricing page lists a free plan of 3,000 emails a month with a limit of 100 a day, 3 domains and 30 days of logs. That log window is longer than Mailtrap's 3 days or Mailgun's 1 day on their free plans, and 3 domains lets one account cover a few projects.
The Pro tiers listed are $20 a month for 50,000 emails and $35 a month for 100,000.
Who should not pick it: someone who needs more than 100 emails in one day on the free plan, since the daily cap applies.
Mailtrap
Mailtrap offers an Email API and SMTP service, and its pricing page lists the biggest monthly free allowance in this group: 4,000 emails a month, 150 a day, 1 domain and 3 days of email logs, with no credit card required.
The paid Basic plan is $15 a month for 10,000 emails.
Who should not pick it: anyone sending from several domains on the free plan, because it allows one.
Mailgun
Mailgun is the nearest like-for-like API swap. Per its pricing page, the free plan is $0 with 100 emails a day, 1 custom sending domain and 1 day of log retention. Basic is $15 a month for 10,000 emails, and Foundation is $35 a month for 50,000 emails with 5 days of logs.
The one-day log window is a real limit: if a customer reports a missing email two days later, the free plan will not show you what happened.
Who should not pick it: people who need to inspect delivery history on a free plan.
SMTP2GO
SMTP2GO is a relay that fits apps and devices already configured for SMTP. Its pricing page lists a free plan of 1,000 emails a month with no credit card. Starter is $10 a month ($100 a year) for 10,000 emails and Professional is $75 a month for 100,000 emails with a dedicated IP.
The free plan suits a personal server or a small app that sends up to 1,000 messages a month.
Who should not pick it: high-volume senders who want a bigger free allowance.
Brevo
Brevo is listed here for teams that send app email and newsletters from one account. Its free plan is 300 emails a day with no time limit, according to our check of Brevo's pricing page on October 22, 2026.
A daily cap suits steady sending, such as a newsletter every morning.
Who should not pick it: developers who want only a bare API.
Postmark
Postmark focuses on transactional email. According to its pricing page, the Developer plan allows 100 emails a month, has no expiration date and allows no overages. Basic starts at $15 a month for 10,000 emails and includes 45 days of activity retention.
Basic's 45 days is longer than the 5 days on Mailtrap's Basic plan, but the free allowance is the smallest here, so treat the free plan as a way to test integration rather than run a product.
Who should not pick it: any app that sends more than 100 emails in a month.
Amazon SES
Amazon SES is not a free-tier answer, but its per-email price is low. AWS lists $0.10 per 1,000 emails on the à la carte price. New AWS customers get up to $200 in credits, the free plan lasts 6 months after account creation, and credits must be used within 12 months.
Who should not pick it: people who want a free plan that continues after six months.
Comparison
| Resend | Mailtrap | Mailgun | SMTP2GO | Brevo | Postmark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free allowance | 3,000/month, 100/day | 4,000/month, 150/day | 100/day | 1,000/month | 300/day | 100/month |
| Domains on free | 3 | 1 | 1 | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Free log retention | 30 days | 3 days | 1 day | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| First paid step | $20 / 50,000 | $15 / 10,000 | $15 / 10,000 | $10 / 10,000 | See Brevo | $15 / 10,000 |
How to choose
- A small app with receipts and password resets. Mailtrap or Resend give the most monthly room, with 3 to 30 days of logs, on a permanent plan. Brevo's 300 a day suits steady daily sending.
- A personal server or an SMTP-only device. SMTP2GO, since the free plan needs no credit card and speaks SMTP.
- Newsletters plus app mail. Brevo, where one account covers both, or see our Brevo alternatives page.
- Maximum control at low cost. Amazon SES, if you accept the setup work.
For related comparisons, read the Mailgun alternatives page, Twilio alternatives if you are leaving the Twilio ecosystem, and our list of free email marketing software.
Limits of this review
No service was tested, so deliverability is not compared. SMTP2GO's daily cap and Amazon SES sandbox limits were not found on official pages and are left out. Mailjet and self-hosted options such as Postal were not researched against official pages.
FAQ
Does SendGrid still have a free plan?
SendGrid's Email API pricing page lists a 60-day free trial at $0 a month with 100 emails a day. It does not clearly state a permanent free plan. Paid Essentials starts at $19.95 a month and Pro at $89.95 a month.
Which SendGrid alternative has the biggest free tier?
Mailtrap lists 4,000 emails a month (150 a day), and Resend lists 3,000 a month (100 a day). Mailtrap's page says no credit card is needed. Brevo's free plan is quoted per day at 300 emails, which works out higher for steady daily sending.
Is Amazon SES free?
Not permanently. Amazon's pricing page lists $0.10 per 1,000 emails and says new AWS customers get up to $200 in credits, with a free plan lasting 6 months after account creation. Credits must be used within 12 months, so SES is better described as cheap than free.
What do I lose on a free plan?
Mostly history and domains. Mailgun's free plan keeps 1 day of logs and 1 domain, Mailtrap's keeps 3 days and 1 domain, and Resend's keeps 30 days with 3 domains. Postmark's free plan allows 100 emails a month with no overages.
Is there a free SendGrid alternative for a personal server?
SMTP2GO's pricing page lists a free plan of 1,000 emails a month with no credit card, and it is a relay for apps and devices already set up for SMTP. Its Starter plan is $10 a month for 10,000 emails if a personal server outgrows the free tier. Mailtrap's free plan offers 4,000 a month for one domain.
How much do the paid plans cost after the free tier?
Per official pages: Resend Pro $20 for 50,000 emails, Mailtrap Basic $15 for 10,000, Mailgun Basic $15 for 10,000, SMTP2GO Starter $10 for 10,000, Postmark Basic $15 for 10,000, and SendGrid Essentials from $19.95. Brevo's paid tiers are not listed here, so check its pricing page.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Pricing pages for SendGrid (Twilio), Resend, Mailgun, Mailtrap, SMTP2GO, Postmark and Amazon SES were read on 2026-10-26. Brevo's free-plan figure is the one recorded in our own check of its pricing page on 2026-10-22. Competing comparison articles were read for context. Reddit threads were not used. No service was signed up for or tested.