SendGrid Pricing: Here’s What You’ll Actually Pay in 2026
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Twilio SendGrid has built its reputation on reliable, scalable email delivery—particularly for transactional emails sent via API. But it’s not just for developers: SendGrid also offers a full Marketing Campaigns product for teams who need an email marketing platform with design tools, automation, and campaign analytics.
Here’s the thing though: Twilio SendGrid pricing isn’t as straightforward as the pricing page suggests. These two products—Email API and Marketing Campaigns—are priced and sold separately, which can catch people off guard. What you’ll actually pay depends on which product you need (or both), how quickly you scale, and where you bump into limits.
I dug into the SendGrid pricing plans to give you the real picture—not just the advertised numbers.
The 30-Second SendGrid Pricing Verdict: Which Plan Should You Choose?
If you need a rapid answer on SendGrid’s 2026 pricing, here’s the bottom line:
- Marketing Campaigns: Skip Basic, start at Advanced ($60/mo)—the $15 Basic plan strips out automation; Advanced unlocks dedicated IP, 1,000 teammates, and multi-touch campaigns.
- Email API: Pro at $89.95/mo is the sweet spot—includes dedicated IP, SSO, subuser management, and 2,500 free validations; Essentials lacks critical features for growing teams.
- SMS: Pay-per-message via Twilio integration—$0.0083/message for US long-code and toll-free; MMS limited to USA/Canada only.
- Hidden Fees: Budget for extras—dual subscriptions for API + Marketing, $30/mo per additional IP, overage charges up to $0.00133/email, and $10/10K contacts for storage overages.
- Competitors: Consider alternatives for budget tiers—Sender offers a true free-forever plan, Postmark excels at transactional deliverability, and Mailgun beats SendGrid’s Basic tier on features.
Scroll down for the full price breakdown by subscriber count and email volume.
SendGrid Pricing at a Glance
Marketing Campaigns Plans (for marketers)
Plan
Starting Price
Contacts
Email Sends
Key Features
Free Trial
$0/mo (60 days)
100
100/day
Automation, domain authentication, A/B testing, segmentation, 1 signup form, ticket support
Basic
$15/mo
Up to 100K
Up to 300K/mo
Dynamic template editor, 5 signup forms, chat & phone support, segmentation
Advanced
$60/mo
Up to 200K
Up to 1M/mo
Automation, dedicated IP access, 15 signup forms, 1,000 teammates, guaranteed response times
Custom
Custom
200K+
1M+/mo
All Advanced features, custom limits
Email API Plans (for developers/transactional emails)
Plan
Starting Price
Email Sends
Key Features
Free Trial
$0/mo (60 days)
100/day (~3K/mo)
API & SMTP access, 1 webhook, 3-day activity history
Essentials
$19.95/mo
50K–100K/mo
2 webhooks, real time analytics, dynamic templates
Pro
$89.95/mo
100K–2.5M/mo
1 dedicated IP included, 2,500 free email validations, SSO, subuser management, deliverability optimization, 7-day history, email content testing
Premier
Custom pricing
5M+/mo
5,000 free email validations, 500 email testing credits, expert support services available
SendGrid Marketing Plans & Costs Reviewed
Free Trial Reviewed
Feature
Limit
Price
$0/month for 60 days
Contact Storage
Up to 100 contacts
Emails
Up to 100 emails/day
Automation
Included
A/B Testing
Included
Email Testing Credits
3 credits
Signup Forms
1 form
Teammates
1 additional teammate
Customer Support
Ticket support only
Dedicated IP
Not included
The SendGrid free plan works best for small businesses just starting their email program, solopreneurs testing the waters, or developers evaluating the platform before committing to a budget. It includes features like automation, A/B testing, and segmentation, and is generous enough to run a basic newsletter to a small audience.
Naturally, the free Marketing Campaigns plan has trade-offs. At 100 contacts on the free account, you’ll hit walls quickly if your list grows. No dedicated IP means you’re sharing reputation with other senders—problematic if someone else on your IP triggers spam filters.
Ticket-only support can be frustrating when you need quick answers. Even if you don’t exceed the contact or email limits, the 60-day trial forces the decision to upgrade.
Basic Plan
Feature
Limit
Starting Price
$15/month
Contact Storage
Up to 100,000 contacts
Monthly Emails
Up to 300,000 emails/month
Automation
Not included
Email Testing Credits
10 credits (more for purchase)
Signup Forms
5 forms
Customer Support
Ticket, chat, and phone support
Dedicated IP
Not included
This plan works best for SMBs that send regular newsletters, one-off email marketing campaigns, or simple broadcast campaigns and don’t rely on automation. It’s essentially SendGrid’s entry-level option for manual email marketing—fine for consistent sends, but limited once your strategy matures.
Here’s the gotcha—the Basic plan actually removes automation that’s available in the free trial. If you need automated welcome sequences, dedicated IPs, or team collaboration, you’ll need to jump to Advanced. This is a frustrating pricing structure that catches many users off guard.
Advanced Plan
Feature
Limit
Starting Price
$60/month
Contact Storage
Up to 200,000 contacts (Custom for more)
Monthly Emails
Up to 1,000,000 emails/month
Automation
Included
Email Testing Credits
60 credits/month (more for purchase)
Signup Forms
15 forms
Teammates
Up to 1,000 teammates
Customer Support
Guaranteed response times on ticket, chat & phone
Dedicated IP
Access to dedicated IPs (1 included)
SendGrid offers this plan for mid-size to larger marketing teams running complex, multi-touch email marketing campaigns with automation. The Advanced plan unlocks the features most serious marketing teams need—automation, additional teammates, and custom IPs.
The Advanced plan is the highest tier you can purchase outright. Once you exceed SendGrid contact limits or SendGrid sending limits—or need advanced SLAs and enterprise-grade security—you’ll need to contact sales for custom pricing.
SendGrid Email API Plans & Costs
Free Trial
Feature
Limit
Price
$0/month for 60 days
Daily Sending Limit
100 emails/day (~3,000/month)
Dedicated IP
Not included
Email Validation
Not included
Event Webhooks
1 included
Email Activity History
3 days
Email content testing
Not included
SendGrid’s Free Trial is useful for developers testing SendGrid’s API integration, small side projects, or apps with minimal email needs. It’s enough for basic testing but not production workloads.
Even a modest SaaS app will outgrow the free account’s volume and features fast. No email validation means you’re flying blind on list quality. Only 3 days of activity history makes troubleshooting difficult. And with the 60-day trial clock ticking, you won’t have long before you’re forced to make a decision on whether to start paying or leave.
Essentials Plan
Feature
Limit
Starting Price
$19.95/month (50K emails)
Dedicated IP
Not included
Email Validation
Not included
Event Webhooks
2 included
Email Activity History
3 days (30-day available for purchase)
SSO
Not included
Email content testing
Not included
SendGrid Essentials plan is perfect for Startups and small SaaS companies sending transactional emails—order confirmations, password resets, notifications. SendGrid cost per email makes sense for apps with moderate email needs.
Of course, there are limitations. No dedicated IP means shared sender reputation risk (and Microsoft/Outlook can be brutal when a shared pool gets blocklisted). No email validation, no SSO, no subuser management—these are dealbreakers for growing teams.
Jump to SendGrid Pro plan when you need dedicated IPs, email validation, subuser management, or exceed 100K emails/month.
Pro Plan
Feature
Limit
Starting Price (100K)
$89.95/month
Maximum Volume
Up to 2,500,000 emails/month
Dedicated IP
1 included (additional $30/month each)
Email Validation
2,500 free validations/month included
Event Webhooks
5 included
Email Activity History
7 days (30-day add-on available)
SSO
Included
Teammates
Up to 1,000
Email content testing
60 credits/month included (more for purchase)
SendGrid’s Pro plan is a good choice for SaaS companies, ecommerce platforms, and mid-market businesses with serious email infrastructure needs. The dedicated IP, subuser management, and SSO make this viable for teams and enterprise use cases.
If you exceed 2.5M emails/month, need custom SLAs, or require advanced compliance and governance features, you’ll need to contact sales for SendGrid Premier pricing.
SendGrid Pricing by Subscriber Count
Contacts
Basic
Advanced
1,000
$15/mo
$60/mo
5,000
$15/mo
$60/mo
10,000
$25/mo
$60/mo
20,000
$50/mo
$100/mo
50,000
$120/mo
$250/mo
100,000
$200/mo
$450/mo
200,000
N/A
$900/mo
SendGrid Transactional Emails Pricing
Emails
Essentials
Pro
3,000
$19.95/mo
$89.95/mo
50,000
$19.95/mo
$89.95/mo
100,000
$34.95/mo
$89.95/mo
300,000
N/A
$249.00/mo
700,000
N/A
$499.00/mo
SendGrid SMS Pricing & Costs
Message Type
Price per Message
Long-code (10-digit) SMS (outbound)
US $0.0083/message
Long-code (10-digit) SMS (inbound)
US $0.0083/message
Toll-free number SMS (outbound)
US $0.0083/message
Toll-free number SMS (inbound)
US $0.0083/message
Keep in mind that SendGrid provides SMS marketing through integration with Twilio (SendGrid’s parent company). While SendGrid specializes in email delivery and automation, Twilio’s SMS infrastructure enables users to combine both channels without having to pay for two separate plans.
In terms of global reach, Twilio supports SMS delivery to a wide range of countries worldwide. However, I’ve found that MMS capabilities are mainly available in the USA and Canada. Before launching campaigns, it’s important to verify specific country support and check for any regional restrictions or requirements.
SendGrid Hidden Fees & Extra Costs
Here’s what can inflate your bill beyond the advertised SendGrid pricing plans:
- Dedicated IP Addresses: SendGrid dedicated IP cost is $30/month per additional IP. The first one is included in Pro/Premier plans, but high-volume senders typically need 2-4 additional IP addresses.
- Dual Subscription Costs: If you need both marketing and transactional capabilities, be prepared to pay for two separate SendGrid plans. While you can seamlessly access both the Email API and Marketing Campaigns from the same account, the billing is additive—paying for an API plan does not include Marketing features (and vice versa).
- SendGrid Overage Fees: Exceed your plan limit? You’ll pay per-email overages: ~$0.00133/email on Essentials 50K, ~$0.0009/email on Essentials 100K, ~$0.001/email on Pro 100K. These add up fast during unexpected spikes.
- Extended Email Activity History: Want more than 3-7 days of email logs? The 30-day add-on costs $10-15/month on Essentials, included in Pro quotes but sometimes with additional fees.
- Email Testing Credits: Beyond your plan’s included credits, you’ll pay: 30 credits/mo = $18, 60 credits/mo = $30, 100 credits/mo = $40, 500 credits/mo = $200, 2,000 credits/mo = $800.
- Email Validation (beyond included): Pro includes 2,500 validations/month, Premier includes 5,000. Additional validations are pay-as-you-go.
- Expert Services: Deliverability insights, onboarding assistance, and ongoing support are available for purchase but not included in standard plans.
- Contact Storage Overages (Marketing Campaigns): $10/10,000 contacts per month if you exceed your plan’s limit.
SendGrid Discounts & Deals
- SendGrid annual billing: SendGrid primarily operates on monthly billing. However, enterprise/Premier customers with $12,000+ annual committed spend can arrange invoicing and potentially negotiate annual discounts of 15-20%.
- Volume discounts: Contact sales if sending 500k+ emails/month. Custom pricing tiers and high volume pricing discounts become available, often reducing per-email costs by 30-40%.
- Startup programs: Twilio (SendGrid’s parent) offers credits through programs like the Twilio Startups Program ($500-$10,000 in credits for qualifying startups. Also available through accelerators like AWS Activate, Y Combinator, and Google for Startups.
- Migration leverage: Mention your current provider when talking to sales—they may offer a switching discount or extended trial period to win your business.
SendGrid Refunds, Upgrades & Downgrades
SendGrid offers a refund policy, but it’s fairly strict. Refunds only apply to the current month’s subscription charge—not overages or contact storage fees from prior months. To qualify, your account must have zero usage in the current calendar month. If you’ve sent even one email, you’re ineligible.
Submit refund requests by replying to your invoice email or contacting billing@sendgrid.com. If you’ve initiated a chargeback with your bank, SendGrid won’t honor any refund request.
Upgrades take effect immediately. You can change plans anytime from your Account Details page. The new plan’s features become available right away, and you’ll be charged the prorated difference for the remainder of your billing cycle.
Important: upgrading doesn’t absorb any overage charges you’ve already incurred—those will still appear on your next invoice.
Downgrades kick in at the end of your billing cycle, but don’t expect the system to tidy up for you. Instead of automatically keeping your newest items, SendGrid typically locks access to excess teammates or forms until you manually delete them to fit the new limits.
The biggest trap? Switching to the Free plan triggers an immediate, permanent wipe of all your stored contacts and marketing data. Seriously, export your lists before you click confirm, or you’ll lose them forever.
SendGrid vs. Competitors: Which Costs Less?
SendGrid and Mailgun share similar pricing structures, but only Mailgun offers a genuine Free Forever plan. While both services start around the same price point ($15–$20/month), SendGrid is significantly cheaper for early-stage growth.
SendGrid Email API pricing includes 50K emails/month for $19.95 on Essentials plan, while you would pay around $35/month for the same volume on Mailgun’s Foundation plan. That’s a 43% difference, which might be significant for smaller teams.
When comparing SendGrid vs. Mailgun price-wise, the better choice really depends on how you send emails and what your long-term growth looks like. SendGrid is more beginner-friendly for startups and marketers, while Mailgun appeals to developers with greater customization, deliverability, and no subscriber limits.
SendGrid and Mailchimp share similar pricing models but differ in approach.
Mailchimp’s paid plans start at $13/month for up to 500 contacts and 5,000 email sends, while SendGrid’s entry plan costs just $2 more yet offers far greater limits—5,000 contacts and 15,000 sends. SendGrid’s next tier jumps to $60/month, whereas Mailchimp scales to $20/month, then leaps to $350/month for 150,000 sends and 10,000 contacts.
Overall, when comparing SendGrid vs. Mailchimp, SendGrid feels more optimized for high-volume sending with a straightforward, send-based model. On the other hand, Mailchimp’s contact-centric structure and advanced marketing features, like a superior drag-and-drop editor, make it better suited for marketers running targeted, feature-rich campaigns.
When you break down SendGrid vs. Postmark, the real difference isn’t just the price tag—it’s the philosophy.
SendGrid offers a hybrid model that handles both your marketing contact lists and your app’s transactional emails, while Postmark stays strictly in the transactional lane. They don’t charge you for “stored contacts” because they don’t store them. Instead, they charge purely for volume: every address you email (including CCs and BCCs) counts as a “send.”
Here is where the math gets interesting: Postmark charges $15/month for 10,000 emails. But for just five bucks more ($19.95), SendGrid’s Essentials plan gives you 50,000 emails. So SendGrid Email API plans pricing gives you 5x the volume for roughly the same price. If you want premium deliverability for a small app, Postmark is fantastic. But if you need to scale up volume without your bill exploding, SendGrid is the clear winner.
Is SendGrid Worth the Price?
Plan
Best For
Monthly Cost
Key Features
Best Alternative
Free Trial
Startups and small teams
$0
Up to 100 contacts and 100 emails/day for 60 days, basic templates, automation, contact management, A/B testing
Sender
Basic
Small businesses
From $15/month
Up to 100,000 contacts & 300,000 emails/month; design/code editors, 5 signup forms, email + chat support
Moosend
Advanced
Growing teams
From $60/month
Up to 200,000 contacts & 1 million emails/month, advanced automation, segmentation, A/B testing, dedicated IP
MailerLite Advanced / Brevo
Custom
Large-scale organizations
Premier custom pricing
Scalable volume, personalized support, enterprise security, sub-user management, advanced analytics
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
If you’re after a solid email automation platform with A/B testing and advanced segmentation—and you don’t mind spending around $60 a month—SendGrid’s Advanced plan is a worthwhile investment.
However, if you’re hoping to experiment with basic automation on a budget, the Basic SendGrid account might feel like a rip-off (even at $15/month), as it’s one of the few entry-level tiers on the market that leaves automation out entirely.
SendGrid Pricing FAQs
SendGrid offers a usage-based pricing model with pre-bundled plans that scale by email volume or contact limits. It offers two main products: Email API plans for transactional emails and Marketing Campaigns for contact-based marketing. If you need both, you have to pay for Marketing Campaigns and Email API separately.
While SendGrid isn’t solely priced by the number of emails sent, the monthly email volume directly influences the cost of the chosen plan (as higher volumes require upgrading to higher tiers). Additional factors like contact count, dedicated IPs, and advanced features can also impact SendGrid monthly cost.
SendGrid’s drawbacks include a limited and outdated email editor, an awkward interface that can be difficult for non-developers, and basic automation and segmentation tools in lower tiers.
Additionally, advanced support options like phone assistance are only available on higher-priced plans. If you’re after a modern email editor, a built-in landing page builder and state-of-the-art segmentation, you should try Sender’s free plan.
- Hands-on testing across multiple email marketing tools
- Fair comparisons using a unified evaluation process
- Insights verified with real user reviews from trusted sources
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- Clear, unbiased scoring and methodology
