Last updated: October 2026 | Pricing and ratings checked on October 28, 2026 | 10 min read
SMTP2GO is one of the best-liked SMTP relays around, rated 4.7 on G2, 4.9 on Capterra and 4.8 on Trustpilot. It’s easy to connect to websites, CRMs, printers and business apps. So why look elsewhere? Usually it’s cost as volume grows, or wanting marketing email and an API platform in the same account.
We compared eight SMTP2GO alternatives on price at 10,000, 50,000 and 100,000 emails, free plans, API and SMTP support, logs and review ratings, all checked on October 28, 2026.
Quick Answer: The Mailercloud Email API is the best SMTP2GO alternative in 2026 for most teams: SMTP and REST for $10/month for 50,000 emails (SMTP2GO Starter: $10 for 10,000), with email marketing in the same account. Amazon SES is cheapest at scale, Brevo and Mailjet have bigger free allowances, and Mailgun is best for logs and inbound email.
Table of Contents
Why Look for an SMTP2GO Alternative?
- Price per email at volume. Starter costs $10 for 10,000 emails and Professional $75 for 100,000, with overage of $0.85–$1 per 1,000.
- No marketing tools. SMTP2GO is a relay. Newsletters and automation need a second tool.
- Small free plan. 1,000 emails a month (200 a day), with 5-day reports.
- Developer features. Teams building apps may want React-based templates, longer free retention or deeper AWS integration.
SMTP2GO today
Pricing now: free for 1,000 emails a month; Starter $10/month for 10,000; Professional $75/month for 100,000 with a dedicated IP. Annual billing is available. SMTP2GO has data centres in the US, EU and Australia.
Sidenote: SMTP2GO is a well-run, highly rated service. If you send under 10,000 emails a month and don’t need marketing email, staying put is a reasonable choice.
How We Compared
- Price at 10,000, 50,000 and 100,000 emails, from each provider’s pricing page.
- Free plan or trial.
- API and SMTP relay support.
- Marketing email in the same account.
- G2, Capterra and Trustpilot ratings.
SMTP2GO Alternatives at a Glance
| Alternative | Best For | 10,000 | 50,000 | 100,000 | Free Option |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailercloud Email API#1 Pick | Most teams | $10 | $10 | $100 (500K plan) | 14-day trial |
| Brevo | Free daily relay + marketing | $9 (5K) | — | — | 300/day |
| Mailjet | Big free allowance | $19 (15K) | $40 | $112 | 6,000/month |
| Mailgun | Logs and inbound | $15 | $35 | $75 | 100/day |
| SendGrid | Ecosystem | $19.95 | $19.95 | $34.95 | 60-day trial |
| Postmark | Fast transactional | $15 | $55 | $115 (125K) | 100/month |
| Amazon SES | Scale on AWS | $1–$1.60 | $5–$8 | $10–$16 | AWS credits |
| Resend | Developer experience | $20 | $20 | $35 | 3,000/month |
Monthly prices from each vendor’s site on October 28, 2026. “—” means the tier isn’t published.
The 8 Best SMTP2GO Alternatives
1. Mailercloud Email API — Best Overall
The Mailercloud Email API is the best overall pick for most teams. It costs $10/month for 50,000 emails, $100 for 500,000 and $450 for 2.5 million, with SMTP relay and a REST API on every plan. For the same $10 that buys 10,000 emails on SMTP2GO Starter, you get 50,000.
Unlike most sending APIs, the same account includes Mailercloud’s email marketing platform, so newsletters, automation and transactional email share one domain setup and one bill. You can also clean lists with the email verifier before importing them.
The trade-offs: the SDK and plugin ecosystem is smaller than SendGrid’s, and there’s a 14-day trial rather than a permanent free plan.
Key features
- SMTP relay and REST API
- $10/month for 50,000 emails
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC setup for your domain
- Delivery logs and analytics
- Email marketing and verifier in the same account
✅Mailercloud Email API Pros:
- $10/month for 50,000 emails; $100 for 500,000; $450 for 2.5M
- SMTP relay and REST API on every plan
- Email marketing in the same account
- Email verifier available from the same account
- 14-day free trial
❌Mailercloud Email API Cons:
- Smaller SDK and plugin ecosystem than SendGrid
- At exactly 100,000 emails you need the $100 plan (500,000)
- No permanent free plan
💰Pricing: $10/month for 50,000 emails; $100 for 500,000; $450 for 2.5M. 14-day free trial. See API pricing.
Best for: Teams sending up to 2.5 million emails a month who want low, flat pricing and marketing email in one account.
Try the Mailercloud Email API — SMTP and REST, $10/month for 50,000 emails, with a 14-day free trial.
2. Brevo — Best Free Daily Allowance
Brevo includes a transactional API and SMTP relay with its marketing plans. The free plan sends up to 300 emails a day, and Starter costs $9/month for 5,000 emails. SMS and WhatsApp are available too.
Key features
- Transactional API, SMTP and webhooks on all plans
- Free plan: 300 emails/day
- SMS and WhatsApp
- Marketing automation
✅Brevo Pros:
- Free relay for up to 300 emails a day
- Transactional and marketing in one account
- SMS and WhatsApp
❌Brevo Cons:
- Daily cap on the free plan
- Priced by emails sent, which adds up for frequent senders
💰Pricing: Free (300/day); Starter from $9/month (5,000 emails).
Best for: Small sites that want a free relay plus marketing tools.
3. Mailjet — Best Free Monthly Allowance
Mailjet (Sinch, the same group as Mailgun) offers a send API, SMTP relay and a marketing editor. Its free plan sends 6,000 emails a month (200 a day).
Essential costs $19 for 15,000 emails and $40 for 50,000, and Premium $112 for 100,000.
Key features
- Send API and SMTP relay
- Parse API for inbound email
- Marketing editor
- Free plan: 6,000/month
✅Mailjet Pros:
- Generous free plan
- API and marketing in one account
- 10% off annual billing
❌Mailjet Cons:
- Dedicated IP only on Premium (on request)
- Lower G2 rating than rivals
💰Pricing: Free (6,000/month); Essential $19 (15K), $40 (50K); Premium $112 (100K).
Best for: Small teams that want a big free allowance plus marketing.
4. Mailgun — Best for Logs and Inbound Routing
Mailgun is a developer favourite with a strong API, SMTP relay, flexible inbound routing and email validation. Log retention grows with your plan: 1 day on Basic, 5 on Foundation and 30 on Scale.
The free plan allows 100 emails a day. Basic costs $15 for 10,000 emails, Foundation $35 for 50,000 or $75 for 100,000, and Scale $90 for 100,000. See our Mailgun alternatives for more options.
Key features
- Inbound routes
- Email validation
- Template builder on Foundation
- 30-day logs on Scale
✅Mailgun Pros:
- Powerful API and inbound routing
- Free plan (100/day)
- Unlimited users from Basic
❌Mailgun Cons:
- Short logs on Basic (1 day)
- More expensive than Mailercloud at 50,000 emails
💰Pricing: Free (100/day); Basic $15 (10K); Foundation $35 (50K); Scale $90 (100K).
Best for: Developers who need inbound email and detailed logs.
5. SendGrid — Best Ecosystem
SendGrid (Twilio) has the largest ecosystem of SDKs, plugins and integrations. There’s a 60-day trial at 100 emails a day. Essentials costs $19.95 for 50,000 emails or $34.95 for 100,000, and Pro $89.95 for 100,000 with a dedicated IP.
Key features
- Dedicated IP on Pro
- Event webhooks
- 2,500 validations on Pro
- Marketing Campaigns available
✅SendGrid Pros:
- Widest integration support
- Dedicated IP included on Pro
- Up to 1,000 teammates on Pro
❌SendGrid Cons:
- No permanent free plan
- Only 3–7 days of searchable activity
- Very low Trustpilot score
💰Pricing: 60-day trial; Essentials $19.95/month (50K); Pro $89.95 (100K).
Best for: Teams that rely on integrations built for SendGrid.
6. Postmark — Best for Fast Transactional Email
Postmark is built only for transactional email, with separate Message Streams for transactional and broadcast mail and 45 days of message history. The free plan includes 100 emails a month.
Basic costs $15 for 10,000 emails, $55 for 50,000 and $115 for 125,000. Pro and Platform add more domains and longer retention. See our Postmark alternatives too.
Key features
- Message Streams
- 45-day retention (up to 365 on higher plans)
- DMARC monitoring add-on
- Dedicated IP from 300K/month
✅Postmark Pros:
- Excellent speed and reputation
- Clear logs and long retention
- Strict separation of mail types
❌Postmark Cons:
- Costs more than Mailercloud at 50,000 emails
- Strict content rules for broadcasts
💰Pricing: Free (100/month); Basic $15 (10K), $55 (50K), $115 (125K).
Best for: Teams whose password resets and receipts must arrive in seconds.
7. Amazon SES — Cheapest at Scale
Amazon SES is the cheapest option at high volume. À-la-carte pricing is $0.10 per 1,000 emails, and the new Essentials plan (the default for new accounts since July 2026) is $0.16 per 1,000. Dedicated IPs cost $24.95 a month.
The cost is engineering time. New accounts start in a sandbox until AWS approves production access, and logs and dashboards need extra AWS services. Compare it in Amazon SES vs SendGrid.
Key features
- $0.10 per 1,000 (à la carte) or $0.16 (Essentials plan)
- API, SMTP and AWS SDKs
- Managed dedicated IPs
- Virtual Deliverability Manager
✅Amazon SES Pros:
- Lowest price per email
- Scales to very high volume
- Fits naturally into AWS
❌Amazon SES Cons:
- Sandbox and approval before you can send freely
- No built-in activity feed
- Developer-heavy setup
💰Pricing: $0.10 per 1,000 (à la carte); $0.16 on Essentials; dedicated IP $24.95/month.
Best for: Engineering teams on AWS sending high volume.
8. Resend — Best Developer Experience
Resend is a modern email API launched in 2023, with SDKs in nine languages and React Email for building templates in code. The free plan sends 3,000 emails a month (100 a day) and never expires.
Pro costs $20 for 50,000 emails or $35 for 100,000, and Scale starts at $90 for 100,000. Every plan keeps 30 days of logs. See how it stacks up in Resend vs SendGrid.
Key features
- React Email
- Inbound email
- 30-day retention on all plans
- Broadcasts for marketing
✅Resend Pros:
- Free plan that never expires
- Modern API and SDKs
- 30-day logs on every plan
❌Resend Cons:
- Dedicated IP only on Scale ($30/month)
- Smaller ecosystem
💰Pricing: Free (3,000/month); Pro $20 (50K) or $35 (100K); Scale from $90.
Best for: Developers building new apps.
How to Switch Without Hurting Deliverability
- Authenticate the new provider first. Gmail and Yahoo require bulk senders to authenticate with SPF (RFC 7208), DKIM (RFC 6376) and DMARC (dmarc.org), keep spam complaints low and support one-click unsubscribe (Google’s guidelines, Yahoo’s best practices). Track your domain reputation in Google Postmaster Tools.
- Update SMTP settings one app at a time. Our guide to SMTP ports explains 587 vs 465.
- Warm up gradually if you’re moving to a dedicated IP.
- Watch bounces and complaints for two weeks; see hard vs soft bounces.
- Check Microsoft’s rules too. Outlook now has its own bulk-sender requirements; see our Microsoft sender requirements guide.
For wider comparisons, see our SMTP relay services roundup, the best transactional email services and SendGrid alternatives.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best alternative to SMTP2GO?
The Mailercloud Email API is the best SMTP2GO alternative for most teams in 2026: $10/month for 50,000 emails with SMTP, REST and marketing in one account.
Is there a cheaper alternative to SMTP2GO?
Yes. Mailercloud ($10 for 50,000) and Amazon SES ($0.10–$0.16 per 1,000) are cheaper once you send more than 10,000 emails a month.
Does SMTP2GO have a free plan?
Yes. SMTP2GO’s free plan sends 1,000 emails a month (200 a day) with 5-day reports.
Which SMTP2GO alternative has the biggest free plan?
Mailjet (6,000 emails a month) and Brevo (300 a day) have the biggest free allowances, followed by Resend (3,000 a month).
Can I use these alternatives with WordPress and business apps?
Yes. All the services here support SMTP relay, so you can switch by updating the host, port, username and password in your app.
Final Verdict
SMTP2GO is a well-liked, easy relay, and it’s a fine choice for low volumes. If cost or the need for marketing email is pushing you to look elsewhere, the Mailercloud Email API gives you SMTP and REST for $10/month for 50,000 emails, with marketing in the same account. Choose Brevo or Mailjet for bigger free allowances, Mailgun for logs and inbound email, and Amazon SES for the lowest cost at scale.
5x the emails for the same $10 — try the Mailercloud Email API
★★★★★ 4.5 on G2 · 4.7 on Capterra · 4.4 on Trustpilot · Trusted by 35,000+ businesses
14-day free trial · SMTP & REST API · Marketing in the same account
As a Marketing Director, I develop and implement marketing strategies, conduct market research, and manage a team of marketing professionals. With a successful track record of launching campaigns that drive revenue growth, I bring my marketing expertise to blog writing, creating engaging content that promotes the brand and its products/services.
