SendKernel vs SendGrid
SendGrid is the incumbent, owned by Twilio, and it is cheaper than us at the entry point — Marketing Campaigns starts around $15 at 5,000 contacts against our $36. Where the comparison turns is further in: on SendGrid's API plans, marketing and transactional sends draw down the same monthly cap, overage bills rather than stops, and nothing requires DMARC before you send.
Competitor pricing verified September 4, 2026 from public pages. Check before switching — everyone's pricing moves.
Choose SendGrid if
- You want the deepest integration catalogue and SDKs in every language.
- You need a dedicated IP, which SendGrid includes on Pro at around $89.95.
- You are already inside Twilio and want one vendor and one invoice.
- You want the cheapest entry point for a small marketing list — Marketing Campaigns Basic is genuinely less than we charge.
Choose SendKernel if
- You want marketing and transactional metered separately, so a campaign cannot eat the quota your password resets depend on.
- You want the plan to stop at its limit rather than bill overage at roughly $0.001 an email.
- You do not want to pay for contacts who have unsubscribed.
- You want SPF, DKIM, and DMARC enforced before the first send rather than documented in a help article.
Side by side
| SendGrid | SendKernel | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 60-day trial, 100/day | 2,000 emails + 500 contacts, no expiry |
| Transactional entry plan | ~$19.95/mo Essentials | $18/mo for 50k |
| Marketing at 5,000 contacts | ~$15/mo Basic | $36/mo |
| Marketing and transactional share one cap | Yes, on API plans | No, separate products |
| Behaviour at the limit | Overage billed | Hard stop |
| Unsubscribed contacts billable | Check your plan terms | Never |
| Dedicated IP | Included on Pro, ~$89.95 | Managed shared pool only |
| DMARC required before sending | No | Yes |
| Integrations and SDKs | Extensive | REST + fetch |
| Assistant that runs the account | No | Yes |
Questions people actually ask
- Is SendGrid cheaper?
- At the entry point for marketing, yes — Marketing Campaigns Basic starts around $15 for 5,000 contacts against our $36, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. For transactional our $18 at 50,000 undercuts Essentials at about $19.95, and the gap widens if you would otherwise pay overage. The honest summary is that SendGrid wins on headline price for a small list and we win on predictability.
- Why do people leave SendGrid?
- Two reasons come up repeatedly. Marketing and transactional sending share one volume cap on the API plans, so a campaign can consume the allowance that receipts and password resets need. And support is thin at the lower tiers, which is felt most acutely during a deliverability problem, when it matters most.
- Can I migrate from SendGrid?
- Export contacts as CSV with their unsubscribe status, and export your suppression list separately — that second file is the one people forget, and skipping it means re-mailing people who already opted out. Then verify your domain here. Your existing SendGrid DKIM records can stay published while you test, since a domain can carry several DKIM selectors at once.
- Do I need a dedicated IP like SendGrid sells?
- Below roughly 100,000 messages a month, almost certainly not — an IP with low or irregular volume never builds a reputation, and unknown IPs are treated worse than a well-managed shared pool. We do not sell one at all, which is a real limitation if your volume genuinely warrants it. Above a few hundred thousand messages a month, that is a reason to choose SendGrid over us.
Try it before you migrate anything
The free plan does not expire. Verify a domain, import a small segment, and send one campaign before you move your list.
Start free