Private and open-source alternatives to SendGrid
8 email sending services rated against the same public privacy criteria as SendGrid (Twilio SendGrid), with our picks first.
What is the best private alternative to SendGrid?
Forward Email has the highest score among these alternatives: 92 out of 100 (grade A). Disclosure. Privacy Ratings is maintained by the team behind Forward Email. This entry is scored by the same criteria as every other entry in this category, and changes to it are reviewed under the published conflict-of-interest rules.
Why look for an alternative?
- Open source: no. Closed source.
- No trackers or telemetry: no. The website loads Google Tag Manager, Segment, Adobe Launch and VWO.
- No ads or data sales: partial. Funded by paid plans and states data is not sold, but website tracking for targeted advertising counts as sharing under some US state laws.
- Independent audit: partial. SOC 2 and ISO 27001 audits and a SendGrid penetration test report are listed, but reports are only available on request through the Twilio Trust Center.
- TLS configuration: partial. Grade A-
- Security headers: no. Grade D- (25/100+)
- Modern web standards: no. Score 61%
- Open and click tracking off by default: partial. Open tracking is turned on by default for Marketing Campaigns. Open and click tracking can be turned off in the account's tracking settings.
- EU data location: partial. EU data residency is available only on Pro, Premier and Custom plans.
The alternatives
Forward Email Grade A
Email service whose paid plans include outbound SMTP and an email API for sending from apps and websites with a custom domain. Message bodies are purged after delivery by default.
Disclosure. Privacy Ratings is maintained by the team behind Forward Email. This entry is scored by the same criteria as every other entry in this category, and changes to it are reviewed under the published conflict-of-interest rules.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Forward Email scores 92 out of 100 (grade A) on the email sending services criteria. It meets 11 of 13 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, independent audit, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, security headers, modern web standards, message content deleted after delivery, open and click tracking off by default and encrypted delivery can be enforced.
Resend Grade D
Email API for developers with SMTP support, React Email templates, broadcasts and webhooks.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Resend scores 44 out of 100 (grade D) on the email sending services criteria. It meets 4 of 13 criteria: no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, open and click tracking off by default and encrypted delivery can be enforced.
Customer.io Grade F
Messaging automation platform for email, push, SMS and in-app messages, with a transactional email API, US and EU regions and open and click tracking.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Customer.io scores 38 out of 100 (grade F) on the email sending services criteria. It meets 3 of 13 criteria: tells users about requests, TLS configuration and EU data location.
Brevo Grade F
Marketing and transactional email platform, formerly Sendinblue, with an SMTP relay, email API, SMS and a CRM. Data is hosted in the EU.
Based in France (Nine Eyes). Brevo scores 30 out of 100 (grade F) on the email sending services criteria. It meets 2 of 13 criteria: TLS configuration and EU data location.
MailerSend Grade F
Transactional email API and SMTP relay from the makers of MailerLite, with templates, inbound routing and SMS.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). MailerSend scores 28 out of 100 (grade F) on the email sending services criteria. It meets 2 of 13 criteria: TLS configuration and EU data location.
Postmark Grade F
Email API and SMTP service from ActiveCampaign for transactional and broadcast email, with separate message streams and 45 days of message history by default.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Postmark scores 26 out of 100 (grade F) on the email sending services criteria. It meets 2 of 13 criteria: TLS configuration and open and click tracking off by default.
SMTP2GO Grade F
SMTP relay and email API for transactional and bulk email, with an EU data center in Amsterdam and optional email archiving.
Based in New Zealand (Five Eyes). SMTP2GO scores 24 out of 100 (grade F) on the email sending services criteria. It meets 3 of 13 criteria: TLS configuration, open and click tracking off by default and EU data location.
SMTP.com Grade F
Email relay and API service from Ziff Davis for transactional and marketing email, with dedicated IP addresses and delivery reports.
Based in Canada (Five Eyes). SMTP.com scores 8 out of 100 (grade F) on the email sending services criteria. It meets 1 of 13 criteria: TLS configuration.