SendGrid pricing, explained: every plan and what it really costs
SendGrid no longer has a free plan. You get a 60-day trial at 100 emails a day, then the Email API costs $19.95 a month for 50,000 emails (Essentials), $34.95 for 100,000, and $89.95 to $1,099 on Pro for 100,000 to 2.5 million. Newsletters are a separate Marketing Campaigns plan priced by contacts, from $15 a month for 5,000 contacts.
We build SendForAI, an email API that runs on Amazon SES at cost, so we're not neutral. Every SendGrid number below comes from Twilio's own pricing pages, read November 7, 2026, and there's a section on where SendGrid is the better choice.
SendGrid Email API pricing
The Email API is for transactional email: sign-in links, receipts, alerts. It's priced by monthly volume in fixed tiers. The two plan families differ in features, not just volume:
| Plan | Price / month | Emails / month |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial | $0 for 60 days | 100 a day |
| Essentials 50k | $19.95 | 50,000 |
| Essentials 100k | $34.95 | 100,000 |
| Pro 100k | $89.95 | 100,000 |
| Pro 300k | $249 | 300,000 |
| Pro 700k | $499 | 700,000 |
| Pro 1.5M | $799 | 1,500,000 |
| Pro 2.5M | $1,099 | 2,500,000 |
| Premier | Custom | 5,000,000+ |
Source: twilio.com/en-us/products/email-api/pricing, read November 7, 2026.
- Essentials sends from shared IPs, with 1 teammate, 2 event webhooks and the dynamic template editor.
- Pro adds a dedicated IP (more for purchase), subuser management, single sign-on, up to 1,000 teammates, 5 event webhooks, 2,500 email validations and template testing.
- The 100k gap is large: Essentials 100k is $34.95 and Pro 100k is $89.95 for the same volume. You pay $55 a month more mainly for the dedicated IP and team features.
- Overage: the pricing page says "taxes and overages may apply" but doesn't publish an Email API rate. Overage charges land on the following month's invoice, and SendGrid's own advice is to move up a tier if you're regularly over.
SendGrid Marketing Campaigns pricing
Marketing Campaigns is the newsletter product, with a design editor, segmentation, A/B testing and signup forms. It's a separate purchase from the Email API, sized by both the contacts you store and the emails you send:
| Plan | Price / month | Contacts | Emails / month | Overage each |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic 5k | $15 | 5,000 | 15,000 | $0.0040 |
| Basic 10k | $25 | 10,000 | 30,000 | $0.0030 |
| Basic 20k | $50 | 20,000 | 60,000 | $0.0030 |
| Basic 50k | $120 | 50,000 | 150,000 | $0.0028 |
| Basic 100k | $200 | 100,000 | 300,000 | $0.0023 |
| Advanced 10k | $60 | 10,000 | 50,000 | $0.0075 |
| Advanced 20k | $100 | 20,000 | 100,000 | $0.0060 |
| Advanced 50k | $250 | 50,000 | 250,000 | $0.0060 |
| Advanced 100k | $450 | 100,000 | 500,000 | $0.0050 |
| Advanced 200k | $900 | 200,000 | 1,000,000 | $0.0050 |
Source: twilio.com/en-us/products/marketing-campaigns/pricing and its overage table, read November 7, 2026. Overage is charged per extra email or contact, on the next invoice.
Advanced costs more per contact than Basic but includes more sends (5 per contact instead of 3) and up to 1,000 teammates instead of 1. If you email your list weekly, check the email limit, not just the contact limit: 10,000 contacts emailed 4 times a month is 40,000 emails, which needs Basic 20k ($50), not Basic 10k.
What SendGrid costs for real workloads
Most products send both kinds of email, so on SendGrid that's two plans added together. Each row uses the cheapest SendGrid combination that covers it, with the list emailed weekly. The SendForAI column is the same email on one bill: $5 in months you send (10,000 emails included), then $0.11 per 1,000.
| Workload | Transactional | Contacts | SendGrid plans | SendGrid | SendForAI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early SaaS | 10,000 | 2,000 | Essentials 50k + Basic 5k | $34.95 | $5.88 |
| Growing SaaS | 50,000 | 10,000 | Essentials 50k + Basic 20k | $69.95 | $13.80 |
| Newsletter-heavy | 100,000 | 25,000 | Essentials 100k + Basic 50k | $154.95 | $25.90 |
| Scale-up | 500,000 | 50,000 | Pro 700k + Basic 100k | $699 | $80.90 |
Transactional email only
| Emails / month | Cheapest SendGrid plan | SendGrid | SendForAI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | Essentials 50k | $19.95 | $5 |
| 50,000 | Essentials 50k | $19.95 | $9.40 |
| 100,000 | Essentials 100k | $34.95 | $14.90 |
| 300,000 | Pro 300k | $249 | $36.90 |
| 500,000 | Pro 700k | $499 | $58.90 |
| 1,000,000 | Pro 1.5M | $799 | $113.90 |
| 2,500,000 | Pro 2.5M | $1,099 | $333.85 |
Monthly USD before tax. SendGrid rows use the cheapest plan whose allowance covers the volume, because Email API overage rates aren't published. Above 1,000,000 emails SendForAI adds a dedicated IP ($24.95, AWS's price) and $0.02 per 1,000 on emails over a million, both included above. For Postmark, Mailgun, Resend and Amazon SES at the same volumes, see SendGrid alternatives compared.
Why SendGrid costs what it does
SendGrid prices each tier as a bundle of volume and features: shared or dedicated IPs, teammates, subusers, SSO, validations. You're paying for that platform, which is why 100,000 emails costs $34.95 on Essentials and $89.95 on Pro. The cost of sending itself is far lower: Amazon SES charges $0.10 per 1,000 emails on its à la carte pricing, about $10 for 100,000.
SendForAI's model is the opposite: email at published cost ($0.11 per 1,000, which is SES plus the per-tenant and card fees), and a $5 fee only in months you send, covering 10,000 emails. Contacts are unlimited and free, and there are no tiers to outgrow. See SendForAI pricing for the breakdown, or what Amazon SES costs directly.
Where SendGrid is the better choice
- A complete marketing tool. Marketing Campaigns has a drag-and-drop editor, A/B testing, segmentation, automation and signup forms. SendForAI is an API with no visual editor.
- Enterprise controls. Pro includes subusers and single sign-on, and SendGrid lists IP access management, EU data residency and SOC 2 Type II certification on its pricing page; Premier adds custom terms. SendForAI is in early access and has none of these yet.
- Scale and track record. SendGrid has run high-volume sending for years, with dedicated IP pools and automated IP warmup. SendForAI is new: its sending runs on Amazon SES, but the platform around it hasn't carried large senders yet.
Pick SendGrid if
- your marketing team builds newsletters in a visual editor,
- you need SSO, subusers or contractual SLAs, or
- you're sending millions of emails and want a dedicated IP managed for you.
Pick SendForAI if
- you want transactional and broadcast email on one bill, without a contact-based plan,
- your volume swings month to month and you'd rather pay at cost than buy a tier, or
- an AI agent does the sending and needs to set up, spend and ask for approval through an API.
SendGrid pricing FAQ
Is SendGrid free?
Not anymore. Twilio SendGrid offers a free trial that sends 100 emails a day for 60 days. After that you need a paid plan: Email API Essentials starts at $19.95 a month for 50,000 emails.
How much does SendGrid cost for 100,000 emails a month?
$34.95 a month on Essentials 100k, or $89.95 on Pro 100k, which adds a dedicated IP, subusers, single sign-on and 2,500 email validations. Marketing Campaigns, if you also send newsletters, is a separate plan.
Does SendGrid charge per contact?
For Marketing Campaigns, yes. Plans are sized by contacts stored and emails sent, from Basic 5k at $15 a month (5,000 contacts, 15,000 emails) to Advanced 200k at $900. Going over either limit costs a published per-email or per-contact fee. The Email API is priced by email volume only.
What does SendGrid charge for overages?
For Marketing Campaigns, between $0.0023 and $0.0075 per extra email or contact, depending on the plan, billed the following month. For the Email API, SendGrid's pricing page says overages may apply but doesn't publish the rate, so plan on moving up a tier if you regularly exceed it.
Does SendGrid include a dedicated IP?
Pro and Premier Email API plans include one dedicated IP, and you can buy more. Essentials sends from shared IPs.
Do I need separate plans for transactional and marketing email?
Yes. SendGrid's own FAQ says Marketing Campaigns and the Email API are purchased separately, though both run in the same account.
What's a cheaper alternative to SendGrid?
Amazon SES directly is the cheapest at about $0.10 per 1,000 emails, if you build bounce handling, suppression and unsubscribe yourself. SendForAI runs on SES with those built in: $5 in months you send includes 10,000 emails, then $0.11 per 1,000, with transactional and broadcast email on one bill. See our SendGrid alternatives comparison for Postmark, Mailgun and Resend too.
Sources and method
Twilio SendGrid Email API pricing: twilio.com/en-us/products/email-api/pricing (sendgrid.com/pricing redirects there). Marketing Campaigns pricing and overage table: twilio.com/en-us/products/marketing-campaigns/pricing. Both read November 7, 2026. SendForAI prices: /v1/pricing. Workloads use the cheapest SendGrid plan combination that covers the volume and contact count, and assume the list is emailed 4 times a month. SendForAI is in early access. Prices change; spot an error? hello@sendforai.com.