Tool profile
Transactional email service focused on fast delivery, dependable inbox placement, and developer friendly APIs.
SaaS security and account emails requiring seconds-fast delivery
Postmark optimizes for product email that must arrive immediately—password resets, receipts, security alerts—while keeping reputation isolated from bulk promotional traffic. APIs, SMTP, templates, and webhooks are built for engineering owners rather than drag-and-drop marketers.
Postmark’s pricing page lists a free developer tier at $0/month with 100 emails/month (no overages on that tier). Basic starts at $15/month for 10,000 emails/month with overages about $1.80 per 1,000 emails. Platform starts at $18/month for 10,000 emails/month with overages about $1.20 per 1,000, adding inbound processing, unlimited sending domains, and longer retention options (up to 365 days on Platform vs 45 days default on Basic). Dedicated IPs start around $50/month per IP for high-volume senders (minimum volume rules apply). Custom activity retention and DMARC monitoring are optional add-ons with their own list prices.
Compare Resend for React-centric DX; compare Mailgun or SendGrid when marketing and transactional must share one contract; compare SES for raw cost at huge scale.
Quick fit
Editorial take
Pick Basic vs Platform on whether inbound parse, unlimited domains, and retention justify the few dollars of base price—overage rates are lower on Platform at the same 10k starting bundle. The 100 emails/mo free tier is for integration testing, not production. Dedicated IPs only make sense above serious volume with warming discipline. For alternatives, Resend competes on developer UX; SendGrid adds marketing SKUs; SES wins pure commodity cost.
What it does well
Primary use cases
Fit notes
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Pricing snapshot
Postmark's current pricing page shows Free at $0/month for 100 emails per month with no overages, Basic at $15/month for 10,000 emails with $1.80 per extra 1,000, Pro at $16.50/month for 10,000 emails with $1.30 per extra 1,000, and Platform at $18/month for 10,000 emails with $1.20 per extra 1,000. Dedicated IPs start at $50/month per IP, custom activity retention starts at $5/month, and DMARC monitoring starts at $14/month per domain.
Agora
Free planRealtime voice, video, and livestreaming in customer-facing applications
Realtime engagement platform for voice, video, chat, signaling, and AI conversation features with broad usage-based pricing.
Choose Agora when platform breadth across realtime products matters more than open-source control.
