SendGrid Pricing in 2024: Breakdown of All Paid Plans
SendGrid caters to both email professionals who are starting out as well as established businesses looking for email marketing solutions. The platform specializes in email delivery services, enabling users to send transactional emails and different types of marketing emails at scale.
SendGrid offers features catering to new-age email marketing professionals. This includes analytics, email segmentation options, and templates to enhance email personalization.
The platform also has measures to improve email deliverability. SendGrid supports email authentication protocols such as SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), which are essential for improving inboxing rates and ensuring email security.
Below, we share all the information you need on SendGrid pricing to make things clearer. We examined each plan and analyzed SendGrid’s pricing strategy, helping you decide on the best solution for your needs.
What Features Does SendGrid Offer?
Before we get into the details of the pricing plans, let’s review the features offered by the platform. Note that many of them are only unlocked in the more expensive tiers.
| Feature | What is this feature for? |
|---|---|
| Email marketing | You can create and send email marketing campaigns, plus track performance metrics. |
| Automation | Email workflows can be created to nurture customers; trigger emails can be sent, too. |
| A/B testing | Test different email elements — subject lines, content, or CTAs to find the best-performing ones. |
| Spam testing | This tool helps identify potential spam triggers. |
| Signup forms | You can create customizable forms to embed on your websites; this feature is useful for lead capturing. |
| Personalization | The platform lets you add recipient-specific data, such as name, location, or custom data to make emails more relevant. |
| Template library | You can view and edit email templates as well as customize them for your own campaigns. |
| Email validation | With this feature, you can validate the email addresses on your email list. |
| Analytics | The analytics tool helps you track delivery rates, open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. |
| Third-party integration | It integrates with third-party platforms and services, such as CRM systems, e-commerce platforms, and analytics tools. |
| Webhook | Webhooks allow real-time communication between the ESP and external systems, allowing users to trigger actions or receive notifications based on specific events. |
| Two-factor authentication | This feature enhances account security by requiring users to provide two forms of identification when accessing their account. |
To learn more about the platform, read our comprehensive SendGrid review.
SendGrid Pricing Tiers: What Plans Are Available?
SendGrid was API-focused in the past, letting developers access its email servers through the backend. In 2013, the platform added a user interface. This allowed non-technical users to send different types of email campaigns as well.
Even today, users can choose from two types of plans. Customers can opt for the email marketing API or the full-fledged web-based interface, which offers access to different kinds of email marketing tools.
API vs Marketer Plans: What’s the Difference?
Customers who need to integrate email functionality into their applications should consider SendGrid’s API plans.
API plans work best for developers and tech-focused teams that require flexibility and seamless integration with their martech stacks. They allow users to programmatically send notifications, password resets, or order confirmations.
This makes API plans the better choice for e-commerce platforms, SaaS providers, or any company that needs email delivery without relying on manual intervention.
That said, some email marketers may desire more control or customization. uch users should consider Marketer plans.
Businesses looking to build and manage marketing campaigns at a macro level will benefit from SendGrid’s Marketer plans. These plans are designed for senders who need tools to create and automate campaigns, plus track email campaign metrics. Such users may not necessarily need the level of developer integration offered by API plans.
Email marketers would appreciate features such as:
- The drag-and-drop email editor,
- Segmentation tools,
- Email testing,
- A/B testing.
The above tools allow marketers to craft campaigns without coding knowledge. Companies that regularly run promotions, send email marketing newsletters, or execute drip and nurture campaigns should opt for Marketer plans.
SendGrid Pricing for API and Marketer Plans
SendGrid charges a base amount for each tier but as the numbers grow, so does the cost.
Because of this, the costs displayed below may not apply to you. Ensure you have a clear idea of how many users you will add to your contact list and how many emails you will send per month, for a clearer idea of SendGrid pricing. Remember, your volume will spike as you figure out how to grow your email list.
| API Plan Name | Price |
|---|---|
| Free | $0 per month |
| Essentials | Starting at $19.95 per month |
| Pro | Starting at $89.95 per month |
| Premier | Custom rates |
| SendGrid Marketer Plan Name | Price |
|---|---|
| Free | $0 per month |
| Basic | Starting at $15 per month |
| Advanced | Starting at $60 per month |
| Custom Pricing | Custom rates |
Below, let’s examine all SendGrid plans in detail.
SendGrid API Plan: Free ($0 Per Month)
The SendGrid API Free plan can help developers test SendGrid’s email delivery services without any upfront costs. This plan offers a limited number of emails per month but is suitable for small businesses or individuals who need to email a small audience.
What Do You Get in the Free Plan?
Key features of the free API plan include:
- 100 emails/day: This plan permits sending up to 100 emails per day.
- 1 event webhook: Users can utilize one webhook for free; you can learn its advantages in this Webhook vs API article on our blog.
- Dynamic Template Editor: Users can create custom email campaign templates for marketing on SendGrid’s web platform and access them using API code.
- No need for a credit card: There’s no need to provide a credit card to sign up.
- Easy integration: Developers can integrate SendGrid into the martech stack using API access.
- Basic analytics: Tracking open rates and click-through rates is possible.
If users wish to send more than 100 emails per day, they will need to upgrade to a paid plan. Note that this plan doesn’t include any support options; dedicated customer service is only available for paying customers.
SendGrid API Plan: Essentials ($19.95 Per Month)
Businesses that need to send a moderate amount of emails each month can consider SendGrid’s API Essentials plan. This plan starts at $19.95 per month, goes up to $35, and lets users send a maximum of 100,000 emails a month.
What Do You Get in the API Essentials Plan?
The Essentials plan is almost identical to the Free plan, except for these features:
- Two webhooks: Users can create and implement an additional webhook.
- Access to Expert Services: Users can pay extra for an email expert to assist them with their campaigns.
- Customer support: Users can reach SendGrid’s customer service team via online chat.
For marketers looking to send more than 100K emails per month, they must upgrade to a higher-tier plan. Additional overage charges are set at $0.00088 per email.
SendGrid API Plan: Pro ($89.95 Per Month)
As the plans get significantly more expensive, a lot more features and limits open up. With the Pro API plan, businesses can send up to 2.5 million emails per month. The Pro plan unlocks all of SendGrid’s capabilities.
API Pro Plan: What Features Do Users Get?
Users can access a lot more functionalities on the Pro plan:
- Dedicated IP address: Users can get a dedicated IP address for email campaigns.
- 5 event webhooks: Users on the Pro plan can create up to 5 unique webhooks.
- Email testing: Users can use tools such as conditional testing, spam filter testing, and link validation.
- Validate emails: Email validation lets users test 2,500 email addresses each month.
- Responsive customer support: Pro users get phone support as a bonus; the quality of assistance is also much better on the Pro plan.
- Subuser management: This feature is useful for SendGrid accounts used by multiple team members.
- Single sign-on (SSO): Integrate SendGrid with an existing SSO system for easier user management.
If a sender hits the 2.5 million mark in email volume, each additional email will cost them $0.00047.
SendGrid API Plan: Premier (Custom Pricing)
SendGrid’s Premier plan is a customized solution tailored to meet the unique needs of high-volume email senders. This plan aims to offer pricing plans for users who would not find the standard rates feasible or want higher limits on features.
What Does the API Premier Plan Offer?
- Customized pricing: The cost of the Premier plan is determined based on the specific email volume, features required, and other factors. This allows users to pay only for what they need.
- Dedicated account manager: Users will get a dedicated account manager who will work closely with them to understand business goals and provide personalized support.
- Priority support: Users can enjoy faster response times and higher-quality support from SendGrid’s dedicated support team.
- Custom limits and features: SendGrid can tailor the plan to increase limits, or add specific features or integrations that are essential to business operations.
- Higher email volume: The Premier plan allows for significantly higher email volumes compared to the standard tiers.
Overage charges are negotiated privately for users on this plan.
SendGrid Marketer Plan: Free ($0 Per Month)
SendGrid offers a free plan for email marketers to test out the UI and features. This option is suitable for users just starting their email marketing journey or those with low-volume needs.
What Do Users Get on the Free Plan?
Key features of the free Marketer plan:
- 6,000 emails per month: Double the limit of the API plan, users on this plan can send about 6,000 emails in each calendar month.
- Email editor: Users can access the drag-and-drop editor which also supports HTML code.
- Basic automation: Creating simple email marketing automation flows to send messages based on triggers or schedules is possible.
- A/B testing: Test different email subject lines and content variations to see what performs best.
- Email testing: The free plan offers 3 credits for spam testing, email renders, and link validation.
- 1 signup form: This plan’s users can create one form for lead generation.
- Send scheduling: Emails can be scheduled to be sent at a later time.
- Email personalization: Sending personalized content is possible on the free plan.
- Email support: Users can generate a ticket for customer support.
- Email analytics: Track basic metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribes.
SendGrid Marketer Plan: Basic ($15 Per Month)
Users who wish to send more emails or want a few more features can consider the Basic marketer plan. Customers can add up to 7,000 contacts before they have to pay more — SendGrid allows users to add up to 200,000 contacts but they will have to pay $200 per month.
There is also a limit on email sends; 15,000 emails are included in the base charge but any more, and users will need to shell out more money.
Interestingly, automation is not available in the Basic plan, even though it’s available on the Free plan and higher tiers.
SendGrid’s Basic Marketer Plan: Details
Users will get all of the features from the Free plan; here’s what else they get in the Basic plan:
- Testing credits: Users now get 10 credits for email testing.
- Chat support: Besides ticket support, SendGrid users on the Basic plan can also chat with customer service reps for urgent problem resolution. Tickets are also addressed on priority.
- Signup forms: This plan lets users create up to 5 signup forms to capture leads.
If users cross the monthly email limit, they will have to pay $0.0023 per additional send.
SendGrid Marketer Plan: Advanced ($60 Per Month)
Users who want unfettered access to SendGrid’s features can consider the Advanced plan. It’s far more expensive than the Basic plan but offers a lot more, too. The plan starts at $60 a month, letting users send 50,000 emails to 15,000 contacts. The upper limit is 1 million emails and up to 200,000 addresses in the contact list, which costs about $900 a month.
What Customers Get On the Advanced Marketer Plan
The Advanced plan on SendGrid lets users:
- Utilize 60 testing credits: The number of credits is significantly higher for email testing.
- Add more teammates: Users can include up to 1,000 team members in their SendGrid account and manage individual permissions.
- Access prompt customer support: SendGrid offers responsive customer service options to users on the Advanced plan, which includes 24/7 phone support.
- Create more forms: Customers can create up to 15 signup forms.
- Use a dedicated IP: A dedicated IP address is part of this package.
- Include additional IPs: Advanced plan users can add and manage additional IP addresses.
For the Advanced plan, overages are set at $0.0050 per additional email.
Which SendGrid Plan Should Users Choose?
Selecting the optimal SendGrid plan depends on the specific email marketing needs, budget, and future growth plans.
SendGrid API Plans Compared
Users can choose from these Email API plans:
| SendGrid Email API plans | Cost | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | ‣ 1 user ‣ 100 emails/day ‣ APIs ‣ SMTP Relay ‣ 1 event webhooks ‣ Delivery optimization tools ‣ Dynamic template editor ‣ Analytics ‣ Ticket support ‣ Deliverability Insights |
| Essentials | $19.95/mo | ‣ All of the above + ‣ 50,000 emails per month ‣ 2 event webhooks ‣ Ticket and chat support with guaranteed response times |
| Pro | $89.95/mo | ‣ All of the above + ‣ 100,000 emails per month ‣ 1,000 users ‣ 5 event webhooks ‣ Dynamic templates ‣ Email testing ‣ Ticket, chat, and phone support with guaranteed response times ‣ 2,500 email validations ‣ Reverse DNS ‣ Dedicated IP ‣ Subuser management ‣ Single Sign-On (SSO) |
| Premier | Custom | ‣ All of the above + ‣ Custom email sends ‣ 5,000 email validations |
SendGrid Marketer Plans Compared
These are the features you get on each tier of Marketer plans:
| SendGrid Marketer plans | Cost | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | ‣ 1 user ‣ Up to 2,000 contacts ‣ 6,000 emails/month ‣ Drag and drop email builder ‣ Segmentation ‣ A/B Testing ‣ 3 email testing credits ‣ 1 signup form ‣ Ticket support ‣ Automation |
| Basic | $15/mo | ‣ All of the above + ‣ Up to 5,000 contacts and 15,000 emails/month ‣ 10 email testing credits ‣ 5 signup forms ‣ Chat support ‣ NO automation |
| Advanced | $60/mo | ‣ All of the above + ‣ Up to 10,000 contacts and 50,000 emails/month ‣ 60 email testing credits ‣ 15 signup forms ‣ Ticket, chat, and phone support with guaranteed response times ‣ Automation ‣ Dedicated IP |
What Should Users Choose?
For beginners or small-scale campaigns, the free plans are a great starting point. For small businesses or entrepreneurs with moderate email volumes, the Essentials and Basic plans come with basic features and are suitable. The Pro and Advanced plans would be suitable for users who want multiple advanced features and plan to send thousands of emails at once.
For businesses that normally send millions of emails a month, negotiating rates with SendGrid would be advisable.
You can read our piece on SendGrid alternatives for some insightful recommendations, or check out these detailed comparisons:
But we’ll save you a click by sharing our top suggestion below.
Campaign Refinery: SendGrid Alternative With Better Pricing
SendGrid can get expensive, especially as your business grows; once you hit the big email volumes, the email marketing costs start to pinch and the thought of migration can seem daunting. This is why it’s a good idea to start with an email platform that delivers top-tier performance with transparent pricing.
We’re talking about Campaign Refinery.
The best part of Campaign Refinery is our inbox placement — we have the best email deliverability rates among all email platforms. You also won’t have to pay for separate plans for API access or a fully functional user interface, as you can have both.
At Campaign Refinery, you can enjoy:
- A simple, friendly email editor,
- A rich template library with thousands of email marketing templates,
- A list cleaning tool that stealthily removes invalid emails from your email list,
- Tools such as Gamification and Evergreen Flash Sales to boost engagement,
- A powerful automation builder that simplifies complex workflows,
- An excellent reputation with mailbox providers.
Affordable Email Marketing at Campaign Refinery
Campaign Refinery pricing is both transparent and budget-friendly.
| Campaign Refinery Plans | Cost per month | Email sends | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business | $99 | 50,000 | ‣ Unlimited contacts ‣ Campaign library ‣ Segmentation tools ‣ Automatic list cleaning ‣ Gamification ‣ Evergreen Flash Sales ‣ Advanced automation features |
| Growth | $299 | 200,000 | ‣ All of the above + ‣ Disable Campaign Refinery branding ‣ Higher volume of API access |
| Enterprise | +$1,000 | 1 million | ‣ All of the above + ‣ Dedicated Success Manager ‣ Custom API volumes |
Firstly, we don’t charge users for the size of contact lists. We also have a credit system where you can use one credit per email. With this system, you can create small segments from your contact list and target them with ease.
Interested in elevating your email game? Apply here to become an email marketing specialist with Campaign Refinery!
