ResendvsPlunk

Resend vs Plunk

Polished service vs open-source flexibility

TL;DR

Resend is a polished, VC-backed email API with excellent developer experience. Plunk is an open-source alternative you can self-host for maximum control and lower costs at scale.

Key Differences

The main things that set these tools apart

Open Source vs Managed

Plunk is fully open-source and can be self-hosted. Resend is a managed service only. Self-hosting gives you full control but requires maintenance.

Price at Scale
Plunk wins

Plunk is $0.001/email (5x cheaper than typical competitors). Self-hosted Plunk only costs AWS SES fees. Resend is competitively priced but more expensive.

Developer Experience
Resend wins

Resend has a more polished API, better SDKs, and React Email support. It's the more refined product.

Feature Set
Plunk wins

Plunk includes campaigns and workflow automation. Resend is more focused on transactional with marketing in beta.

Pricing Comparison

At 10,000 emails/month

Resend
$0-20/month

Free tier: 3k emails. Pro: $20 for 50k emails.

Visit Resend
Plunk
$10/month

$0.001 per email. Or self-host for free (+ AWS SES costs).

Visit Plunk
Sequenzy

The SaaS alternative

$49/month

10k contacts, unlimited emails, transactional + marketing.

Feature Comparison

Side-by-side feature breakdown

Feature
Resend
Plunk
Sequenzy
Platform
Hosting Model
Managed only
Cloud or self-hosted
Managed only
Open Source
Data Control
Resend-hosted
Full control (self-host)
Sequenzy-hosted
EU Hosting
Yes (EU data processing)
Developer Experience
API Quality
Excellent, polished
Good, simpler
Good
React Email
SDKs
Multiple languages
JavaScript
Node, Python
Documentation
Excellent
Good
Good
Features
Transactional Email
Marketing Campaigns
Beta
Automations
Workflows with triggers
Analytics

Best For

When to choose each tool

Choose Resend if you...
  • Teams wanting a polished managed service
  • Developers using React Email
  • Companies preferring not to manage infrastructure
  • Startups wanting best-in-class DX
Choose Plunk if you...
  • Teams wanting to self-host for data control
  • Companies with strict EU data requirements
  • High-volume senders wanting lowest costs
  • Developers who prefer open-source
Choose Sequenzy if you...
  • SaaS founders needing transactional + marketing unified
  • Stripe-integrated businesses
  • Teams wanting managed service with more features than pure transactional

When to Consider Sequenzy Instead

Unified Platform

Combines transactional and marketing email with full automation. More complete than Resend, managed unlike self-hosted Plunk.

Stripe Integration

Native Stripe integration for payment-triggered emails. Neither Resend nor Plunk offers this.

SaaS-Specific Features

Built for SaaS with features like trial-to-paid automations and subscriber segmentation.

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Overview

Resend and Plunk represent two different approaches to developer email. Resend is a VC-backed startup with a polished managed service and excellent developer experience. Plunk is an open-source alternative built on AWS SES that you can self-host or use as a cloud service. For detailed comparisons, see our Plunk comparison page and Resend comparison page.

The Open-Source Advantage

Plunk's biggest differentiator is being fully open-source. You can self-host it on your own infrastructure, giving you complete data control and potentially significant cost savings at scale. Self-hosting means you only pay AWS SES costs (around $0.10 per 1,000 emails). This is especially useful if you need EU data hosting for GDPR compliance.

Pricing Comparison

Plunk's cloud service is $0.001 per email - about 5x cheaper than most competitors. Resend's Pro plan is $20/month for 50,000 emails ($0.40 per 1,000). At high volumes, Plunk is significantly cheaper. At low volumes, Resend's free tier (3,000 emails) might be enough. Use our pricing calculator to estimate costs.

Developer Experience

Resend wins on polish. The API is more refined, the SDKs are better, and React Email support is first-class. Plunk is good but simpler - it's a younger project. If transactional email is your focus, Resend has the better developer experience.

Feature Completeness

Interestingly, Plunk includes campaigns and workflow automations, while Resend focuses on transactional with marketing in beta. If you need email automation and want to self-host, Plunk covers more ground. For a complete marketing suite with Stripe integration, consider Sequenzy.

EU Data Compliance & Hosting

Plunk processes data in the EU and can be self-hosted in any region. This matters for GDPR compliance and email deliverability. Resend doesn't currently offer EU hosting. For businesses with strict EU requirements, this is a significant advantage of Plunk.

The Sequenzy Alternative

If you want a managed SaaS solution with both transactional emails and email campaigns plus native Stripe integration, consider Sequenzy. We offer intelligent segmentation, AI-powered sequences, and built-in analytics without the need to self-host.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, Plunk is fully open-source on GitHub. You can self-host it on your own infrastructure.

Just your infrastructure costs plus AWS SES fees (around $0.10 per 1,000 emails). No license fees.

Plunk is newer and smaller. Resend is more polished with better support. For critical email, Resend is lower risk.

Not natively like Resend. You can generate HTML with React Email and send via Plunk, but integration isn't first-party.

Resend for best developer experience and reliability. Plunk if you want open-source flexibility or lowest costs.

Yes, both are API-based. You'd need to update your API calls and potentially recreate templates.

Export your contacts from Plunk's dashboard. Update your API integration to use Resend's SDK. If you were using Plunk's campaigns, note that Resend is transactional-focused (Audiences is in beta). Convert templates to React Email format for best Resend experience.

Set up Plunk on your infrastructure with Docker and connect to AWS SES. Export your domain settings from Resend. Update API calls to Plunk's format. Self-hosting gives you full data control but requires maintaining the infrastructure. Budget time for initial setup.

Not sure which to pick?

If you're a SaaS founder who needs Stripe integration and unified email, try Sequenzy free. No credit card required.

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Sequenzy - Complete Pricing Guide

Pricing Model

Sequenzy uses subscriber-based pricing. You only pay for subscribers active in sequences (automations). Inactive subscribers are free to store.

All Pricing Tiers

  • 0-100 subscribers: Free (Free annually) - 2k emails/month
  • 101-1,000 subscribers: $19/month ($205/year annually) - 15k emails/month
  • 1,001-5,000 subscribers: $29/month ($313/year annually) - 60k emails/month
  • 5,001-10,000 subscribers: $49/month ($529/year annually) - 120k emails/month
  • 10,001-25,000 subscribers: $99/month ($1069/year annually) - 300k emails/month
  • 25,001-50,000 subscribers: $199/month ($2149/year annually) - 600k emails/month
  • 50,001-100,000 subscribers: $349/month ($3769/year annually) - 1.2M emails/month
  • 100,000+ subscribers: Custom pricing (Custom annually) - Unlimited emails/month

Yearly billing: All plans offer a 10% discount when billed annually.

Free Plan Features (0-100 subscribers)

  • Visual automation builder
  • Transactional email API
  • Reply tracking & team inbox
  • Goal tracking & revenue attribution
  • Dynamic segments
  • Payment integrations
  • Full REST API access
  • Custom sending domain

Paid Plan Features (1,000 - 100,000 subscribers)

  • Visual automation builder
  • Transactional email API
  • Reply tracking & team inbox
  • Goal tracking & revenue attribution
  • Dynamic segments
  • Payment integrations (Stripe, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy)
  • Full REST API access
  • Custom sending domain

Enterprise Plan Features (100,000+ subscribers)

  • Visual automation builder
  • Transactional email API
  • Reply tracking & team inbox
  • Goal tracking & revenue attribution
  • Dynamic segments
  • Payment integrations
  • Full REST API access
  • Custom sending domain

Important Pricing Notes

  • You only pay for subscribers who are active in automations/sequences
  • Storing inactive subscribers is free
  • No hidden fees - all features included in the price
  • No credit card required for free tier

Contact

  • Pricing Page: https://sequenzy.com/pricing
  • Sales: hello@sequenzy.com