SendGrid retired its permanent free tier on 2025-05-27, so new projects now get a 60-day trial and then pay from $19.95/mo. The strongest SendGrid alternatives are Resend (best Next.js DX, 3,000/mo free), Postmark (top deliverability), Mailgun (closest drop-in), and Amazon SES (cheapest at scale).
- No more permanent free tier on SendGrid (changed 2025-05-27).
- Resend: 3,000/mo free, best developer experience for Next.js.
- Postmark: small free tier but elite deliverability.
- Amazon SES: $0.10 per 1,000 — cheapest once you scale.
Top SendGrid (Twilio) alternatives
| Provider | Free tier | Entry paid | Dedicated IP | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resend | 3,000 emails/mo (100/day). | $20/mo | $30/mo (Scale) | Best-in-class developer experience (React Email, type-safe) |
| 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) |
| 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) |
SendGrid (Twilio): current pricing
| Plan | Price / mo | Included | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | — | 60-day trial only (100/day) | — |
| Essentials | $19.95 | 50,000 / mo | metered |
| Pro | $89.95 | 100,000 / mo (dedicated IP) | metered |
The trigger for most SendGrid migrations in 2026 is simple: the free plan that many side projects and early-stage apps relied on is gone. New SendGrid accounts get a 60-day trial capped at 100 emails per day, after which the Email API starts at $19.95/mo for 50,000 emails. For a hobby project sending a few hundred password resets, that is a hard jump from $0.
Where you should land depends on what you optimize for. If you build with Next.js, Resend is the natural replacement: a 3,000/mo free tier, a type-safe SDK, and first-class React Email templates make it the fastest migration for most JavaScript stacks. If raw inbox placement is the priority — billing receipts, password resets that must not land in spam — Postmark's separate transactional stream and speed are hard to beat, even though its free tier is only 100 emails per month.
Cost-driven teams at higher volume should look at Amazon SES at $0.10 per 1,000 emails, accepting the heavier AWS setup (domain verification, IAM, bounce handling). Teams that want the closest operational match to SendGrid — REST, SMTP relay, and webhooks with similar semantics — usually pick Mailgun, whose Basic plan is $15/mo for 10,000 emails. If a generous always-free tier matters most, Brevo's 300 emails/day (about 9,000/mo) is the largest here, with the caveat that the quota is shared with marketing campaigns.
// 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();
const { data, error } = await resend.emails.send({
from: "noreply@yourdomain.com",
to,
subject,
html, // was: sgMail.send({ to, from, subject, html })
});
if (error) return Response.json({ error }, { status: 500 });
return Response.json({ id: data?.id });
}FAQ
- Does SendGrid still have a free plan?
- No. The permanent free tier was discontinued on 2025-05-27. New accounts get a 60-day trial (100 emails/day), then paid plans start at $19.95/mo.
- What is the best SendGrid alternative for a Next.js app?
- Resend, because of its 3,000/mo free tier, type-safe SDK, and React Email support, which make it the quickest drop-in for JavaScript and Next.js projects.
- Which SendGrid alternative is cheapest at scale?
- Amazon SES at $0.10 per 1,000 emails, provided you can handle the additional AWS configuration and deliverability monitoring.