Resend vs Twilio SendGrid

Updated November 2026 · AppBreakup editorial

Resend

Developer-focused email API for sending transactional and marketing email from apps.

Free plan + paid

Visit Resend Resend profile

Twilio SendGrid

Email API and SMTP relay for app email, plus a separate tool for marketing campaigns.

Paid

Visit Twilio SendGrid Twilio SendGrid profile

The short answer

Resend suits developers and startups who want a modern email API, React-based templates and a free-forever plan for side projects. Twilio SendGrid suits companies sending very high volumes that want a long-established sender with a 99.99% uptime SLA and a separate drag-and-drop marketing tool. The biggest practical difference is the free option: Resend has a permanent free plan, SendGrid only a 60-day trial.

Resend or Twilio SendGrid: our take

Both send transactional email such as password resets and receipts through a REST API or SMTP relay, with SDKs for common languages, and both handle domain authentication and bounces. They differ in focus and scale.

Resend was built by the team behind React Email, so writing templates as React components is a first-class option. Alongside transactional sending it has Broadcasts and contact lists for newsletters, inbound email, webhooks and automations. The free plan covers 3,000 emails/month, 100 a day, with no trial needed, and paid plans start at $20/month for 50,000 emails. A dedicated IP is a $30/month add-on. It is a younger service with fewer marketing features than full email marketing suites.

SendGrid, owned by Twilio, sends 205+ billion emails a month and offers a 99.99% uptime SLA. New accounts get 100 emails/day for 60 days, after which a paid plan is required. Its Marketing Campaigns product adds a drag-and-drop editor with templates, list management and simple automations, but it is billed separately from the Email API. Dedicated IPs come on higher tiers. Its website has been merged into Twilio's, and accounts are managed through Twilio's console, which has made docs and pricing harder to find.

A startup or JavaScript team that wants clean APIs, good debugging and a free tier for testing should try Resend. A company already on Twilio, or one sending at very large volume that needs an SLA and a marketer-friendly campaign editor from the same vendor, will find SendGrid the more established fit.

Choose Resend if…

Developers and startups who want a modern email API with React-based templates
You want a free option (Twilio SendGrid is paid only)
Simple REST API plus SMTP relay and official SDKs
React Email templates fit naturally into JavaScript codebases

Choose Twilio SendGrid if…

Companies sending high volumes of app email that also want basic marketing campaigns from the same vendor
Handles very large sending volumes
REST API and SMTP relay with SDKs for most languages

What is Resend?

Resend is an email sending service built for developers. Apps call its REST API or SMTP relay to send password resets, receipts and other automated messages, and official SDKs cover the common languages and frameworks. It was made by the team behind React Email, so writing templates as React components is a first-class option. Beyond transactional sending, Resend has a Broadcasts feature and contact lists for newsletters and product announcements, plus inbound email, webhooks and automations. Deliverability tools include domain authentication, suppression lists and dedicated IPs as an add-on on higher plans. It suits startups and product teams who want clean APIs and good debugging rather than a marketer-oriented suite. There is a free plan with a daily sending cap, and paid plans are priced by monthly email volume, with marketing email priced by contacts instead. It is a hosted web service only.

What is Twilio SendGrid?

SendGrid, owned by Twilio, is one of the most widely used services for sending email from software. Developers connect through a REST API or SMTP relay to send receipts, password resets, notifications and other transactional mail, and SendGrid handles authentication, IP reputation, bounces and delivery analytics. A separate Marketing Campaigns product gives marketers a drag-and-drop editor, templates, list management and simple automations for newsletters and promotions. Its website has been merged into Twilio's, and accounts are managed through Twilio's console. Pricing scales with sending volume; new accounts get a 60-day free trial of 100 emails a day, after which a paid plan is required, and higher tiers add dedicated IPs and more support. It is a hosted service with SDKs for most languages. It suits companies that want a proven sender at very large scale, while smaller developers often prefer Postmark's focus on transactional speed or Mailgun's free tier.

Side by side

Attribute	Resend	Twilio SendGrid
Pricing	Free plan + paid	Paid
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
Platforms	Web	Web
Best for	Developers and startups who want a modern email API with React-based templates	Companies sending high volumes of app email that also want basic marketing campaigns from the same vendor
Status	Active	Active

Verified facts, compared

Facts both apps publish, checked on each vendor's own site.

Fact	Resend	Twilio SendGrid
Sending methods	REST API and SMTP relay	REST API or SMTP relay
Free trial	No, free-forever plan instead	100 emails/day for 60 days