Why people leave SparkPost
SparkPost was the deliverability-focused choice for enterprise transactional email. Then MessageBird acquired them in 2021 and rebranded to Bird. Since then, many customers have reported price increases, platform changes, and uncertainty about the product roadmap.
The Bird acquisition fallout
The transition from SparkPost to Bird hasn't been smooth for everyone. Some customers report significant price increases on renewal. Others find the new Bird platform confusing compared to the focused SparkPost experience. If you're evaluating alternatives, you're not alone.
Enterprise features you might not need
SparkPost Signals is genuinely impressive - predictive analytics, email health scoring, engagement forecasting. But most SaaS teams sending under 10 million emails monthly don't need that level of sophistication. You may be paying enterprise prices for features you'll never use. Learn more about what actually matters for email deliverability.
Modern alternatives have caught up
When SparkPost launched, their API and DX were competitive. Now platforms like Resend have significantly raised the bar with React Email integration, modern TypeScript SDKs, and cleaner APIs. SparkPost's developer experience feels dated in comparison.
The alternatives, honestly
If you want marketing + transactional: Sequenzy
SparkPost is transactional only. Most SaaS teams also need marketing email. Sequenzy gives you both in one platform with AI content generation. Describe what you want ("a 5-email onboarding sequence") and it writes the emails. Stripe syncs customer data automatically.
You lose SparkPost's predictive analytics, but gain marketing automation without juggling two platforms.
If deliverability is critical: Postmark
Postmark achieves exceptional deliverability through strict customer vetting. They'll reject you if your use case seems sketchy. This keeps IP reputation clean for everyone. If your app depends on emails arriving (password resets, 2FA codes), this matters more than predictive analytics.
If DX is everything: Resend
Resend is what SparkPost would be if built today. Beautiful API, React Email for templates, modern SDKs for every language. The 3,000 emails/month free tier lets you test extensively. The catch: transactional only, no marketing features.
If cost matters at scale: Amazon SES
At $0.10 per 1,000 emails, nothing beats SES for 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:
- SparkPost/Bird: Custom enterprise pricing (reportedly $30-75/mo for starter tiers)
- Postmark: $50/month (best deliverability)
- Resend: $20/month (best DX, transactional only)
- SendGrid: $19.95/month (proven scale)
- Amazon SES: $5/month (DIY everything)
- Sequenzy: $19/month for 10k emails (marketing + transactional + AI)
Use our DMARC checker and SPF checker to verify your email infrastructure before migrating.
When SparkPost/Bird is still the right choice
Stay with SparkPost/Bird if:
- You genuinely use and value Signals predictive analytics
- You're sending hundreds of millions of emails monthly
- Enterprise SLAs with financial guarantees matter
- You've already successfully migrated to the Bird platform
Don't switch just because there's noise about the acquisition. If SparkPost is working well for your enterprise needs, the switching cost might not be worth it. But if you're frustrated with pricing changes, platform uncertainty, or paying for features you don't use, the alternatives are genuinely better for many use cases now.
Check our email validator tool to ensure your list quality before any migration, and use our email warmup calculator to plan your transition properly.