Transactional email services with a free plan 2026: 6 options

Email sending services from our ranking that keep a free plan after any trial ends, in Score order. Free plans usually cap daily sending, allow one sending domain and keep logs for only a few days, so they suit side projects and testing; check the monthly allowance in the table before you build on one.

Best Transactional Email Services 2026: Email APIs and SMTP Relays Compared

  1. 1

    Bird Email (ex-SparkPost)

    79/100
    Price per 1,000 extra emails
    $0.40
    Cheapest paid plan, per month
    $15.00
    Permanent free plan
    Yes
    Free emails per month
    1,000
    Dedicated IP
    Yes
    Log retention on the cheapest paid plan
    30 days
    Data kept in the EU
    Not verified
    • Low price per 1,000 emails
    • Permanent free plan
    • SMTP relay
    • Documented sending API
  2. 2

    Mailtrap Email API/SMTP

    74/100
    Price per 1,000 extra emails
    $1.00
    Cheapest paid plan, per month
    $15.00
    Permanent free plan
    Yes
    Free emails per month
    4,000
    Dedicated IP
    Yes
    Log retention on the cheapest paid plan
    5 days
    Data kept in the EU
    No
    • Permanent free plan
    • Generous free allowance
    • SMTP relay
    • Documented sending API
  3. 3

    Brevo Transactional Email

    70/100
    Price per 1,000 extra emails
    Not verified
    Cheapest paid plan, per month
    $9.00
    Permanent free plan
    Yes
    Free emails per month
    Not verified
    Dedicated IP
    Yes
    Log retention on the cheapest paid plan
    Not verified
    Data kept in the EU
    Yes
    • Cheap entry plan
    • Data can stay in the EU
    • Permanent free plan
    • SMTP relay
  4. 5

    Resend

    66/100
    Price per 1,000 extra emails
    $0.90
    Cheapest paid plan, per month
    $20.00
    Permanent free plan
    Yes
    Free emails per month
    3,000
    Dedicated IP
    Yes
    Log retention on the cheapest paid plan
    30 days
    Data kept in the EU
    No
    • Permanent free plan
    • Generous free allowance
    • SMTP relay
    • Documented sending API
  5. 6

    MailerSend

    63/100
    Price per 1,000 extra emails
    $1.50
    Cheapest paid plan, per month
    $7.00
    Permanent free plan
    Yes
    Free emails per month
    500
    Dedicated IP
    Yes
    Log retention on the cheapest paid plan
    1 days
    Data kept in the EU
    Yes
    • Cheap entry plan
    • Data can stay in the EU
    • Permanent free plan
    • SMTP relay
  6. 7

    Postmark

    63/100
    Price per 1,000 extra emails
    $1.80
    Cheapest paid plan, per month
    $15.00
    Permanent free plan
    Yes
    Free emails per month
    100
    Dedicated IP
    Yes
    Log retention on the cheapest paid plan
    45 days
    Data kept in the EU
    No
    • Permanent free plan
    • SMTP relay
    • Documented sending API
    • Delivery and bounce events by webhook