Why people leave SendGrid

SendGrid has been around forever, and in email years, that's both a blessing and a curse. It scales well and Twilio isn't going anywhere. But the cracks are showing. To understand modern email platform expectations, read our guide to best email marketing tools for SaaS.

The DX problem

When Resend launched with React Email and a beautiful API, it made SendGrid's developer experience feel ancient. If you've used both, you know the difference. Modern SDKs, cleaner docs, fewer workarounds needed. Check our SendGrid comparison page to see how it stacks up against modern alternatives.

The deliverability lottery

SendGrid lets almost anyone sign up. This means the shared IP pools can have reputation issues from other users. Some months you're fine, other months your emails are hitting spam. Platforms like Postmark that vet customers aggressively don't have this problem. Learn more about email deliverability best practices to understand why this matters.

Marketing that feels bolted on

SendGrid's marketing features exist, but they feel like an afterthought. If you need serious marketing automation with AI-generated sequences, purpose-built tools like Sequenzy, Loops, or Customer.io are significantly better experiences.

The alternatives, honestly

If you want modern DX + marketing: Sequenzy

Sequenzy gives you transactional and marketing in one platform with AI content generation. Describe what you want ("a 5-email onboarding sequence for a project management SaaS") and it writes the emails. Stripe syncs customer data automatically.

It's built for SaaS teams who are tired of SendGrid's dated interface but need more than just transactional. See our SendGrid comparison for detailed feature breakdown.

If you only need transactional: Resend

If SendGrid's DX is your main complaint and you only need transactional email, Resend is the obvious choice. Best developer experience in email, hands down. The catch: zero marketing features. Check our Resend comparison page for more details.

If deliverability is critical: Postmark

Postmark's exceptional deliverability comes from their strict customer vetting. They'll reject you if your use case seems sketchy. This keeps IP reputation clean. If your app depends on emails arriving (password resets, 2FA codes), this matters. Our DMARC checker and SPF checker can help you monitor your email infrastructure.

If cost is everything: Amazon SES

At $0.10 per 1,000 emails, nothing beats SES on raw cost. But you get zero help—no templates, no dashboard, no deliverability tools. Only choose this if you have engineering resources to build everything yourself.

The pricing comparison

At 50,000 emails/month:

• SendGrid Essentials: $19.95/month

• Resend: $20/month (transactional only)

• Postmark: $50/month (transactional only, best deliverability)

• Amazon SES: $5/month (DIY everything)

• Sequenzy: $49/month for 10,000 subscribers (120k emails) (marketing + transactional + AI)

Note: Some prices are per subscriber (Sequenzy, Loops) while others are per email (SendGrid, Resend). Compare based on your actual usage. See our pricing page for a detailed breakdown.

When SendGrid is still the right choice

SendGrid wins if:

• You're sending millions of emails and need proven scale

• You've already built extensively around their API

• Twilio ecosystem integration is valuable to you

• You're on the Pro plan with dedicated IPs and premium support

Don't switch just because the grass looks greener. If SendGrid is working well at scale, the switching cost might not be worth it. But if you're frustrated with the DX, inconsistent deliverability, or clunky marketing, the alternatives are genuinely better now. Use our email validator tool to ensure your list quality before making the switch, and check our email warmup calculator to plan your transition.