What is the difference between the SendGrid Email API and Marketing Campaigns?

The Email API is the developer product: it sends mail programmatically over REST or SMTP relay, with SDKs and event webhooks, and suits transactional messages such as receipts, alerts and verification mails. Marketing Campaigns is the marketer product, with a drag-and-drop editor, templates, contact lists, segments, signup forms and automation. They are priced separately but sit on the same account.

Does SendGrid have a free plan?

No. What is offered is a 60-day free trial covering 100 emails per day and 100 contacts, with no credit card required. After that a paid plan is needed.

How is SendGrid priced?

In bands. The Email API ladder runs Essentials at $19.95 per month, Pro at $89.95 per month and Premier at custom pricing, with the band set by monthly email volume. Marketing Campaigns runs Basic at $15 per month, Advanced at $60 per month and Custom, with the band set by contact count and email volume. Overage charges apply if limits are exceeded.

Twilio SendGrid

Email delivery platform with a transactional Email API and a Marketing Campaigns app on the same account.

Starting price: From $15 / month
Free trial: 60-day free trial, 100 emails per day and 100 contacts
API: Yes, REST API and SMTP relay with SDKs for Python, Ruby, Go, PHP, Java, C# and JavaScript, plus event webhooks

Visit Twilio SendGrid

Overview

Twilio SendGrid is an email platform sold as two products that share one account. The Email API sends transactional mail over a REST API or SMTP relay, with SDKs for the major languages, event webhooks for real-time tracking, and email address validation. Marketing Campaigns is the marketer-facing side: a drag-and-drop design editor alongside a code editor, responsive templates, contact lists with custom fields and dynamic segments, signup forms, and automated drip series on the Advanced plan. Deliverability tooling runs underneath both, covering dedicated IPs, domain authentication and spam testing.

Our take

SendGrid is the option to reach for when email is infrastructure rather than a channel you decorate, and its real advantage is holding transactional and promotional mail on one account so both build the same sender reputation instead of splitting it across two vendors. That framing sets the limits too: it is email and nothing else, so anyone planning SMS or push alongside it is buying a second Twilio product rather than another tab. Check which plan you land on before comparing headline prices, because automation only appears on the Marketing Campaigns Advanced tier and the entry rate assumes a small list. The 60-day trial is a trial and not a standing free tier, so budget for a bill from month three.

Key Facts

Category	Email Marketing
Starting price	From $15 / month Marketing Campaigns Basic starts at $15 per month, the Email API Essentials plan at $19.95 per month. Both scale in bands by contact count and monthly email volume.
Free trial	60-day free trial, 100 emails per day and 100 contacts
API	Yes, REST API and SMTP relay with SDKs for Python, Ruby, Go, PHP, Java, C# and JavaScript, plus event webhooks
Hosting	Cloud (SaaS)

Features

Campaign types: Email only, split between transactional sending through the Email API and marketing sends through Marketing Campaigns
Automation and journeys: Yes, automated recurring emails and time-based drip series, available on the Marketing Campaigns Advanced plan
Segmentation and personalisation: Yes, dynamic segments over contact lists with custom fields and opt-out preference management
Templates and editor: Yes, a drag-and-drop design editor and a custom HTML editor, with a library of free responsive templates
Deliverability and testing: Yes, inbox rendering previews, spam testing and link validation, plus dedicated IPs, domain authentication and SPF, DKIM and DMARC
Ecommerce and CRM data: Contact lists with custom fields, and signup forms that add subscribers to those lists in real time through the API
Integrations and API: Yes, REST API and SMTP relay, SDKs for seven languages and event webhooks for real-time delivery events

Integrations

Integrations coming soon.

Deployment and Support

Deployment: Cloud (SaaS)
Browser-based
Support: Email helpdesk
Chat
Phone
Onboarding: Documentation and knowledge base
Guided onboarding
Company size: Freelancers
Small and mid-sized
Enterprise

Suitability

Industry	Freelancers	Small and mid-sized	Enterprise
Agencies	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated
Architecture & Engineering	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated
Consulting	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated
Media & Creative	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated
Technology	Stated as a fit	Stated as a fit	Stated as a fit

The table combines the industries the vendor addresses with the company sizes the tool is aimed at. An empty cell means the combination is not stated, not that it is ruled out.

Pros and Cons

Strengths

Transactional and marketing email on one account, so both build the same sender reputation
Deliverability tooling included: dedicated IPs, domain authentication, SPF, DKIM and DMARC, plus inbox rendering and spam tests
SDKs for Python, Ruby, Go, PHP, Java, C# and JavaScript, alongside SMTP relay and event webhooks
Real-time and bulk email address validation

Limitations

Email only, other channels mean buying a separate Twilio product
Automation in Marketing Campaigns requires the Advanced plan
The free offering is a 60-day trial, not a standing free tier
Two separate price ladders to compare, one per product

Pricing

Free trial

$0

60 days. 100 emails per day and 100 contacts, with analytics and deliverability optimisation.
Email API Essentials

$19.95

Per month, from 50,000 emails. Analytics, deliverability optimisation, one additional teammate and up to two event webhooks.
Email API Pro

$89.95

Per month, from 100,000 emails and up to 2.5 million. Dedicated IP, subuser management, SSO, five event webhooks and included email validations.
Email API Premier

Not stated

Custom pricing for volumes above 5 million emails per month, with dedicated support.
Marketing Campaigns Basic

$15

Per month, from 5,000 contacts and 15,000 emails. Ten email testing credits, five signup forms, ticket, chat and phone support.
Marketing Campaigns Advanced

$60

Per month, from 10,000 contacts and 50,000 emails. Adds automation, dedicated IP access, 60 email testing credits and 15 signup forms.
Marketing Campaigns Custom

Not stated

Negotiated with sales for volumes above the Advanced plan.

Best For

Technology

Alternatives and Comparisons

FAQ

What is the difference between the SendGrid Email API and Marketing Campaigns?: The Email API is the developer product: it sends mail programmatically over REST or SMTP relay, with SDKs and event webhooks, and suits transactional messages such as receipts, alerts and verification mails. Marketing Campaigns is the marketer product, with a drag-and-drop editor, templates, contact lists, segments, signup forms and automation. They are priced separately but sit on the same account.
Does SendGrid have a free plan?: No. What is offered is a 60-day free trial covering 100 emails per day and 100 contacts, with no credit card required. After that a paid plan is needed.
How is SendGrid priced?: In bands. The Email API ladder runs Essentials at $19.95 per month, Pro at $89.95 per month and Premier at custom pricing, with the band set by monthly email volume. Marketing Campaigns runs Basic at $15 per month, Advanced at $60 per month and Custom, with the band set by contact count and email volume. Overage charges apply if limits are exceeded.

Last verified: 2026-09-07

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