Postmark ranks #2 of 10 in our transactional email providers testing. the longest message history in the category and a price cut that made it competitive again — until you reach a hundred thousand..
89/100
the retention and reliability pick, dramatically better value at 10,000 emails than it was a year ago — and quietly the most expensive place on this page to send 100,000.
why people look for an alternative
−no printed price at 100k — must be derived from overage
−roughly $133 at 100k, the most expensive here
−dedicated ip costs $50/mo and needs 300k+ volume
−basic plan omits inbound at the same email allowance as pro
stay with Postmark if 45 days retention standard, 365 for $5/mo — best in class is the thing you care about most — nothing below beats it on that.
#1 in transactional email providers · $35 for a hundred thousand emails, a month of logs, and the api the rest of the category is being measured against.
91/100
verdictless than half what mailgun and sendgrid charge at volume, with thirty days of history and a genuinely good api — the gaps are in what it hasn't documented, not what it does.
Resend vs Postmark
Postmark
Resend
price
$15/mo
$20/mo
free tier
yes
yes
10k emails
$15-16.50/mo
$20/mo
100k emails
~$133 (derived)
$35/mo
free tier
100/mo
3,000/mo
log retention
45 days, 365 for $5
30 days
eu region
not documented
not documented
switch fordevelopers who want the sending problem to disappear without auditing a pricing page every quarter.
pros
+$35 at 100k emails — less than half the mid-field
+30-day log retention on standard plans
+react email templates and modern api ergonomics
+3,000 emails a month free
cons
−dedicated ip needs the scale plan plus $30/mo
−eu data residency not documented on its own pages
#3 in transactional email providers · $16 for a hundred thousand emails — an order of magnitude below the field, with an onboarding process that earns it.
87/100
verdictnothing else is close on price, and nothing else makes you apply for permission to send — which of those matters more depends entirely on your volume.
Amazon SES vs Postmark
Postmark
Amazon SES
price
$15/mo
$1.60/mo
free tier
yes
no
10k emails
$15-16.50/mo
$1.60/mo
100k emails
~$133 (derived)
$16/mo
free tier
100/mo
none (aws credits only)
log retention
45 days, 365 for $5
not documented
eu region
not documented
yes, by region
switch foranyone already inside aws with the volume to make the tooling gap worth absorbing.
pros
+$16 at 100k emails — roughly a tenth of the mid-field
+flat per-email rate with no platform fee on essentials
+eu data residency by region choice at no surcharge
#4 in transactional email providers · thirty days of logs as standard and two years if you'll pay — the most serious answer here to the question everyone forgets to ask.
84/100
verdictcheaper than postmark at scale with retention almost as good and extendable further — held back by how little it publishes about anything else.
SMTP2GO vs Postmark
Postmark
SMTP2GO
price
$15/mo
$10/mo
free tier
yes
yes
10k emails
$15-16.50/mo
$10/mo
100k emails
~$133 (derived)
$75/mo
free tier
100/mo
1,000/mo
log retention
45 days, 365 for $5
30 days, 2yr add-on
eu region
not documented
not documented
switch foroperations teams who need long searchable history without postmark's price at volume.
pros
+30 days retention standard, extendable to two years
+$75 at 100k undercuts mailgun and sendgrid
+free tier of 1,000 a month
+clear, simple volume tiers
cons
−dedicated ip cost not published anywhere reachable
#6 in transactional email providers · one price, one tenth of a cent an email, no tiers and no contact games — and no discount however much you send.
77/100
verdictthe most transparent pricing in the category by a distance, and the linearity that makes it honest at ten thousand makes it expensive at a hundred thousand.
Plunk vs Postmark
Postmark
Plunk
price
$15/mo
$10/mo
free tier
yes
yes
10k emails
$15-16.50/mo
$10/mo
100k emails
~$133 (derived)
$100/mo
free tier
100/mo
1,000/mo
log retention
45 days, 365 for $5
not documented
eu region
not documented
not documented
switch forsmall senders who value knowing exactly what next month costs over paying the least.
#7 in transactional email providers · eu residency stated plainly on the pricing page, attached to a plan that forgets your mail after twenty-four hours.
74/100
verdicta capable, well-established platform whose entry plan has the worst retention here — one day — on exactly the tier most small senders buy.
Mailgun vs Postmark
Postmark
Mailgun
price
$15/mo
$15/mo
free tier
yes
yes
10k emails
$15-16.50/mo
$15/mo
100k emails
~$133 (derived)
$90/mo
free tier
100/mo
100/day
log retention
45 days, 365 for $5
1-30 days by plan
eu region
not documented
yes, stated
switch foreu-based senders at scale tier volumes who need residency and thirty-day history together.
pros
+eu data residency stated on the pricing page at no extra cost
+30-day retention on the scale tier
+dedicated ip included from foundation at 100k volume
#8 in transactional email providers · the default answer for a decade, now without a free plan, with three days of history, and behind a redirect loop.
68/100
verdictstill capable at the top tiers, and the entry experience has gone backwards — no free plan, three days of logs, and a pricing page that redirects in circles.
SendGrid vs Postmark
Postmark
SendGrid
price
$15/mo
$19.95/mo
free tier
yes
no
10k emails
$15-16.50/mo
$19.95/mo
100k emails
~$133 (derived)
$89.95 (pro)
free tier
100/mo
60-day trial only
log retention
45 days, 365 for $5
3 days, 7 on pro
eu region
not documented
pro and premier
switch forhigh-volume senders on pro or premier who need a dedicated ip and eu residency bundled.
pros
+dedicated ip and eu residency bundled on pro and premier
+proven infrastructure at very large scale
+overage falls to $0.0005 per email at the top tiers
cons
−permanent free plan removed in may 2025
−three days of log retention on free and essentials
−essentials 100k price not printed anywhere reachable
#9 in transactional email providers · unlimited sends for a flat per-contact price — a different product that keeps appearing in the same comparisons.
66/100
verdictgenuinely good economics if your contact list is small and your send volume is high — and it cannot be compared to anything else on this page on price.
Loops vs Postmark
Postmark
Loops
price
$15/mo
contact-based
free tier
yes
yes
10k emails
$15-16.50/mo
n/a — per contact
100k emails
~$133 (derived)
n/a — per contact
free tier
100/mo
1,000 contacts
log retention
45 days, 365 for $5
not documented
eu region
not documented
not documented
switch forproduct teams sending both lifecycle marketing and transactional mail to a stable, known contact list.
pros
+unlimited sends on paid plans, transactional included free
+one product for lifecycle and transactional mail
+free tier of 1,000 contacts and 4,000 sends
cons
−priced per contact — not comparable to per-send vendors
−paid tier prices sit behind an unreadable slider
−no dedicated ip, eu residency or retention information
−poor fit if you email many addresses infrequently
every tool on this page went through the same test as Postmark — same tasks, same order, scored the same way. the comparison tables are the figures from that testing, not vendor spec sheets.