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.

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.

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.

Marketing that feels bolted on

SendGrid's marketing features exist, but they feel like an afterthought. If you need serious marketing automation, 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.

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.

If deliverability is critical: Postmark

Postmark's deliverability is exceptional because they're strict about who they let on. 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.

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 10k subscribers (marketing + transactional + AI)

Note: Some prices are per subscriber (Sequenzy, Loops) while others are per email (SendGrid, Resend). Compare based on your actual usage.

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.