6 best Mailchimp Transactional Email alternatives

If you’re ready for a more flexible and developer-centric solution than Mailchimp Transactional Email, several top alternatives offer better pricing, easier APIs, and improved support. 

We evaluated each Mailchimp Transactional Email alternative for deliverability, compliance, and integration. Our review covers cost, region options, support, and developer tools. 

• Deliverability and reliability 
• Transparent, scalable pricing 
• API quality, compliance, and onboarding 

These six providers outperform Mailchimp Transactional Email in key areas. Each offers unique strengths—whether you need pay-as-you-go pricing, EU hosting, or developer-focused APIs. 

Mailgun is a developer-first transactional email provider, offering powerful APIs, reliable deliverability, and both US and EU data residency options. Unlike Mailchimp Transactional Email, Mailgun doesn’t require you to buy a marketing suite or pre-pay for unused blocks, making it a favorite for engineering teams who value flexibility. Mailgun also offers a generous free tier for small volume senders.  

Best for: 

Engineering teams, email developers, and businesses needing reliable APIs, real-time logs, and global compliance. 

Pricing overview: 

• Free plan that supports up to 100 emails/day 
• Usage-based pricing—pay only for what you send 
• Tiered plans; advanced deliverability tools included on higher tiers 
• Dedicated IPs available 

Features: 

• RESTful APIs and SDKs in multiple languages 
• Regional data processing (US/EU) with in-region storage 
• Real-time logs and granular analytics 
• Advanced deliverability tools (IP warmup, validations, dedicated IPs) 
• Flexible template engine and inbound routing 
• Live chat/phone support at higher tiers 

Pros: 

• No marketing plan required 
• Easy region choice (US/EU) 
• Straightforward, scalable pricing 

Cons: 

• Requires separate tool for marketing automation 
• Longer log retention and dedicated IPs only on higher plans 
• Some features gated by plan tier 

SendGrid is built for high-throughput transactional emails, with dynamic templates, strong analytics, and Twilio ecosystem integration. It now offers EU data residency options, making it suitable for global compliance needs. 

Best for: 

Product teams and enterprises needing scale, flexible templates, and EU data residency. 

Pricing overview: 

• Tiered pricing starting around $19.95/month 
• 60-day free trial available 
• Dedicated IPs and advanced features on Pro/Enterprise 

Features: 

• Transactional email API/SMTP with strong throughput 
• Dynamic templates and personalization engine 
• EU data residency (EU endpoints, subusers) 
• Event webhooks, analytics, and suppressions 
• Twilio SMS/WhatsApp/Voice integrations 
• Comprehensive SDKs and documentation 

Pros: 

• Proven reliability at scale 
• EU data residency available 
• Extensive SDKs and documentation 

Cons: 

• No perpetual free tier 
• Some Email Activity UI limits for EU accounts 
• Compliance reviews may delay onboarding, especially for EU accounts 

Postmark focuses exclusively on transactional email—delivering rapid inboxing, transparent logs, and traffic segregation. Unlike Mailchimp Transactional Email, it doesn’t offer marketing tools, keeping things simple for dev teams. 

Best for: 

Teams that value fast inbox placement, high reliability, and detailed logging. 

Pricing overview: 

• Free developer tier (100 emails/month) 
• Paid from $15/month for 10,000 emails; overages ~$1.20–$1.80/1,000 
• Dedicated IPs at higher volumes 

Features: 

• Message Streams for transactional vs. broadcast traffic 
• 45-day detailed activity logs (extendable) 
• Inbound processing and webhooks 
• Managed dedicated IPs and DMARC monitoring 
• Simple, linear pricing 
• Developer-focused onboarding 

Pros: 

• Consistently fast, reliable delivery 
• Clear, actionable logs 
• Excellent developer experience 

Cons: 

• No EU data residency (all data processed in the United States) 
• No marketing automation tools 
• Log retention limited on lower tiers 

MailerSend offers a modern UI, developer-friendly APIs, and EU hosting—making it a great fit for startups and SMBs. Unlike Mailchimp Transactional Email, it provides a generous free tier and optional transactional SMS. 

Best for: 

Startups and SMBs needing simple setup, free email allowance, and EU-based hosting. 

Pricing overview: 

• Free: 500 emails/month 
• Hobby: $7/month for 5,000 emails 
• Overage ~$0.90/1,000; dedicated IPs at Enterprise 

Features: 

• Drag-and-drop template editor and API 
• EU hosting with GDPR compliance 
• Inbound processing and webhooks 
• Optional transactional SMS (US/CA) 
• 7+ SDKs and OpenAPI support 
• Responsive support 

Pros: 

• Simple UI and fast onboarding 
• Generous free tier and low entry costs 
• EU data hosting 

Cons: 

• Dedicated IPs reserved for higher plans 
• Shorter log retention on low tiers 
• SMS limited to US/Canada 

Brevo is an all-in-one suite that combines CRM, marketing automation, and transactional email with EU-centric hosting. It’s an ideal choice if you want both marketing and transactional email under one provider. 

Best for: 

Organizations seeking unified marketing, CRM, and transactional email in one EU-hosted platform. 

Pricing overview: 

• Free plan (300 emails/day) 
• Paid from ~$9–$18/month, volume tiers 
• Prepaid credits never expire 

Features: 

• Multi-channel: email, SMS, WhatsApp, chat, push 
• CRM and marketing automation tools 
• Transactional SMTP/API 
• EU-hosted with strong GDPR focus 
• Prepaid email credits for variable senders 
• Intuitive UI for non-developers 

Pros: 

• Unified customer comms and CRM 
• No expiry on prepaid credits 
• EU-centric infrastructure 

Cons: 

• Daily cap on free plan 
• Auto-upgrades tied to contact storage 
• Analytics depth trails developer-first tools 

Amazon SES is a low-cost, cloud-native solution tightly integrated with AWS. It’s best for teams comfortable with AWS tooling who want control and the lowest price at scale. 

Best for: 

Engineering teams seeking the lowest cost and deep AWS integration. 

Pricing overview: 

• ~$0.10 per 1,000 emails; attachments ~$0.12/GB 
• First-year free tier (3,000 messages/month) 
• Dedicated IPs ~$15–$24.95/month 

Features: 

• Integrations: S3, Lambda, SNS, CloudWatch 
• Global Endpoints for redundancy 
• Standard and Managed dedicated IPs 
• VDM deliverability add-on 
• Account/global suppression lists 
• Pay-as-you-go pricing 

Pros: 

• Lowest cost at scale 
• Direct AWS automation 
• Multi-region resilience 

Cons: 

• Requires AWS expertise 
• Support depends on AWS plan 
• Production access approval may add time 

Migrating from Mailchimp Transactional Email is straightforward if you follow a structured plan. Here’s how to avoid downtime and protect deliverability: 

Export templates, sending domains, and activity logs from Mandrill/Mailchimp Transactional via API or manual download. 

Verify domains with your new provider, and set up SPF, DKIM, and (optionally) custom return-path/rDNS. 

Recreate or import email templates, adjust syntax as needed, and replicate routing, subaccounts, and suppression lists. 

Send test emails to real inboxes, review spam placement, and monitor bounces and events before shifting all traffic. 

Update DNS (DKIM, SPF, MX if inbound), move production traffic, and closely monitor for the first 72 hours. 

Mailchimp Transactional Email alternatives: Frequently asked questions