The Best SendGrid Alternative
for Developers
SendGrid's free tier is capped at 100 emails/day and disappears after trial. SendCraft gives you 1,000 emails/month free — forever — plus a self-hosted option so you never face vendor lock-in.
Why developers leave SendGrid
Pricing cliff
SendGrid's free tier ends after 100 emails/day. After trial, you're on $19.95/mo just to send 50K emails. Costs scale steeply.
Vendor lock-in
All your templates, lists, and sending history lives in SendGrid's platform. Moving providers means starting from zero.
Complexity overhead
IP warmup, dedicated IPs, subuser management, and Marketing Campaigns add layers you need to manage just to send transactional email.
Pricing comparison
| Volume | SendGrid | SendCraft |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 emails/month | Free (100/day cap) | Free — no daily cap |
| 50,000 emails/month | $19.95/month | From ₹299/month |
| 100,000 emails/month | $34.95/month | From ₹599/month |
| Self-hosted (unlimited) | Not available | Free (run your own server) |
SendGrid prices as of 2025. SendCraft prices in INR. See full SendCraft pricing →
Feature comparison
| Feature | SendGrid | SendCraft |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 100 emails/day (trial only) | 1,000 emails/month, forever |
| Pricing at 50K emails | $19.95/month | Pay-as-you-go or flat plan |
| Self-hosted option | No | Yes — full self-hosting supported |
| SMTP relay | Yes | Yes (port 2587) |
| REST API | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time analytics | Yes (paid plans) | Yes (all plans) |
| Email automation | Marketing Campaigns (paid) | Built-in (all plans) |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Node.js SDK | Yes | Yes (v2.2.0) |
| Python SDK | Yes | Yes (v3.0.0) |
| IP warmup control | Paid plans only | Built-in warmup system |
| Vendor lock-in | High | None — export everything |
Switching is a one-line change
The SendCraft API follows the same conventions as SendGrid. Here's how to send your first email:
const response = await fetch('https://api.sendcraft.online/api/emails', {
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
'x-api-key': process.env.SENDCRAFT_API_KEY,
},
body: JSON.stringify({
to: 'user@example.com',
from: 'hello@yourdomain.com',
subject: 'Welcome!',
html: '<h1>Welcome to our app</h1>',
}),
});
const data = await response.json();
// { success: true, messageId: 'em_abc123', status: 'queued' }Migrating from SendGrid in 4 steps
- 1
Create a free SendCraft account
Sign up at sendcraft.online/register. Free tier gives you 1,000 emails/month immediately — no credit card.
- 2
Add and verify your sending domain
Add your domain in Settings → Domains. SendCraft generates SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Add them to your DNS provider (same records format as SendGrid).
- 3
Replace your API calls
Replace your SendGrid SDK with the SendCraft REST API or npm install @sendcraft/sdk. The to, from, subject, html structure is identical.
- 4
Update your webhook endpoints
If you used SendGrid event webhooks for bounce/complaint handling, create new webhooks in SendCraft pointing to the same endpoint. Event names are similar (delivered, bounced, complained, opened, clicked).
Frequently asked questions
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