Resend gives 3,000 emails/mo (100/day), which is why teams compare it in 2026. The strongest Resend alternatives are Brevo, Mailtrap, and Postmark: Resend offers the best Next.js developer experience with a 3,000/mo free tier, Brevo has the largest free tier, and Amazon SES is cheapest at $0.10 per 1,000.
- Resend free tier: 3,000 emails/mo (100/day).
- Largest free tier here: Brevo (300 emails/day (no time limit, ~9,000/mo, shared with campaigns))
- Best Next.js developer experience: Resend (3,000/mo free).
- Cheapest at scale: Amazon SES ($0.10 per 1,000).
Top Resend alternatives
| Provider | Free tier | Entry paid | Dedicated IP | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | 300 emails/day (no time limit, ~9,000/mo, shared with campaigns). | $9/mo | Higher / enterprise tiers | Generous no-expiry free tier (300/day) |
| Mailtrap | 4,000 emails/mo (150/day). | $15/mo | Higher tiers | Separate sending streams, modern integrations (Vercel/Supabase/MCP) |
| Postmark | 100 emails/mo (no expiration). | $15/mo | From $50/mo (requires 300,000+/mo) | Industry-leading deliverability and speed |
| Mailgun | 100 emails/day (~3,000/mo), 1-day log retention, 1 custom domain. | $15/mo | 1 included on Foundation 100k / Scale; extra IPs $59/IP/mo | Flexible routing and inbound processing |
| Amazon SES | 3,000 message charges/mo for the first 12 months only (not permanent). | usage-based | $24.95/mo (Standard) | Cheapest at scale ($0.10/1,000) |
| SendGrid (Twilio) | Permanent free tier discontinued on 2025-05-27. New accounts get a 60-day trial (100 emails/day) only. | $19.95/mo | Included on Pro and above | Mature feature breadth and scale |
Resend: current pricing
| Plan | Price / mo | Included | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 3,000 / mo (100/day) | — |
| Pro | $20 | 50,000 / mo | $0.90 / 1k |
| Pro | $35 | 100,000 / mo | $0.90 / 1k |
| Scale | $90 | 100,000 / mo+ | $0.90 / 1k |
Resend is a solid transactional email provider, but teams put it up for comparison for concrete reasons: newer at very large scale and advanced deliverability tooling still maturing. Its strengths are best-in-class developer experience (React Email, type-safe), strong Next.js / Vercel fit, and dKIM/SPF/DMARC and SOC 2 standard, so whether an alternative is worth the switch depends on which trade-off actually affects your project.
Resend is free up to 3,000 emails/mo (100/day), then paid plans run $20/mo for 50,000, $35/mo for 100,000, and $90/mo for 100,000, with overage from $0.90 / 1k; dedicated IP: $30/mo (Scale). The default pick for Next.js: resend SDK + react-email, sent type-safely from a Route Handler.
Among the alternatives, Brevo (300 emails/day (no time limit, ~9,000/mo, shared with campaigns) free, from $9/mo) for generous no-expiry free tier (300/day), Mailtrap (4,000 emails/mo (150/day) free, from $15/mo) for separate sending streams, modern integrations (Vercel/Supabase/MCP), and Postmark (100 emails/mo (no expiration) free, from $15/mo) for industry-leading deliverability and speed. On Next.js specifically, Resend is the smoothest migration thanks to its type-safe SDK and React Email templates.
Pick by priority: Brevo if a generous always-free tier matters most, Postmark if inbox placement for receipts and password resets is critical, and Amazon SES for the lowest per-email cost at scale. All figures were verified against each vendor's pricing page on 2026-06-04.
// app/api/send/route.ts
import { Resend } from "resend";
const resend = new Resend(process.env.RESEND_API_KEY!);
export async function POST(req: Request) {
const { to, subject, html } = await req.json();
// was: resend.emails.send({ from, to, subject, html })
const { data, error } = await resend.emails.send({
from: "noreply@yourdomain.com", to, subject, html,
});
return error
? Response.json({ error }, { status: 500 })
: Response.json({ id: data?.id });
}FAQ
- What is the best Resend alternative for a Next.js app?
- Resend, thanks to its type-safe SDK, React Email templates and a 3,000/mo free tier, which make it the quickest drop-in for Next.js and JavaScript projects.
- Which Resend alternative has the largest free tier?
- Brevo: 300 emails/day (no time limit, ~9,000/mo, shared with campaigns).
- Which Resend alternative is cheapest at scale?
- Amazon SES at $0.10 per 1,000 emails, if you can handle the additional AWS configuration and deliverability monitoring.