# Email providers: AWS SES, Mailgun, Sendgrid, Mailchimp? - Published: 2022-05-07 - URL: https://notes.webutvikling.org/choosing-an-email-provider - Tags: email, mailgun, sendgrid, mailchimp, gmail Every company needs to send some emails, but which email provider do I use?. I want high deliverability. Which in turn leads to the following requirements: - Inbound email routing - DKIM and SPF support _(I don't have enough volume or regularity to warrant a [dedicated IP](https://www.shiftparadigm.com/insights/dedicated-vs-shared-ip-how-they-affect-email-deliverability/))_ For transactional emails, I'd want: - Email template editor, so developers aren't involved in text edits. - Pass template variables in API calls, preferably with validation. For marketing emails, It would be nice if it could: - Handle unsubscribing/resubscribing - Automation workflows, e.g. send welcome email 1 day after signup - Automated A/B testing of subject lines GDPR compliance is a must, and I believe integrattons with [Facebook Audiences](https://www.mailerlite.com/integrations/facebook-audiences) is massively useful for marketing? (But I also don't want to give Meta money) ## [Mailgun](https://www.mailgun.com/pricing/) Cheap, old, transactional email provider. - ✅ [Inbound email](https://www.mailgun.com/products/send/inbound-routing/) routing (from 35$) - ✅ [DKIM](https://www.mailgun.com/blog/deliverability/understanding-dkim-how-it-works/) and [SPF](https://www.mailgun.com/blog/deliverability/spf-records-basics/) support - ❌ Email template editor, so developers aren't involved in text edits. - ❌ Pass template variables in API calls, with validation. - ❌ Handle unsubscribing/resubscribing - ❌ Automation workflows - ❌ Automated A/B testing of subject lines ## [AWS SES](https://aws.amazon.com/ses/) - ✅ Inbound email routing - ✅ [DKIM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/send-email-authentication-dkim.html) and [SPF](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/send-email-authentication-spf.html) support - ❌ Email template editor, so developers aren't involved in text edits. - ✅ [Pass template variables in API calls, with validation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/send-personalized-email-api.html). - ❌ Handle unsubscrsssibing/resubscribing - ❌ Automation workflows - ❌ Automated A/B testing of subject lines ## [SendInBlue](https://www.sendinblue.com/) 80% 5-stars, 9% 1-stars on [TrustPilot](https://no.trustpilot.com/review/www.sendinblue.com). Almost all 5-star reviews are marked as encouraged 😶, while almost all 1-star reviews are about blocked accounts/verification ✅. Seems to be taking over for MailChimp in the category of "doing everything". Includes [handling incoming emails in a shared CRM](https://www.sendinblue.com/features/inbox/) like inbox, and is [hosted within EU](https://www.sendinblue.com/api/) ✅ - ✅ [Inbound email routing](https://www.sendinblue.com/features/inbox/) - ✅ [DKIM and SPF](https://help.sendinblue.com/hc/en-us/articles/208848209-Customise-your-DKIM-signature) support - ✅ [Email template editor](https://help.sendinblue.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019787120), so developers aren't involved in text edits. - ✅ [Pass template variables](https://developers.sendinblue.com/recipes/send-transactional-emails-in-nodejs) in API calls, with validation. - ✅ Handle [unsubscribing/resubscribing](https://help.sendinblue.com/hc/en-us/articles/208772629) - ✅ [Automation workflows](https://www.sendinblue.com/features/marketing-automation/) - ✅ [Automated A/B testing](https://help.sendinblue.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001298940--Classic-design-Creating-A-B-test-email-campaigns) of subject lines ## [MailerLite](https://www.mailerlite.com/) Mailerlite (from 9$ or 19$ for my use case) is a **marketing-email service**, with a sister-company MailerSend to handle transactional emails. It has a Facebook marketer integration, helping you target similar customers ✅. It's based in EU ✅ 71% 5-stars, 24% 1-stars [on Trustpilot](https://no.trustpilot.com/review/mailerlite.com). The main reason for bad reviews are strict policies ✅, and technical issues ❌. - ❌ Inbound email routing - ✅ [DKIM and SPF](https://www.mailerlite.com/help/how-to-verify-and-authenticate-your-domain#new/get-records-approved) support - ✅ [Email template editor](https://www.mailerlite.com/video-tutorials/drag-and-drop-editor#classic), so developers aren't involved in text edits. - ✅ [Pass template variables](hhttps://www.mailerlite.com/help/how-to-create-and-use-custom-fields) in API calls, with validation. - ✅ Handle [unsubscribing/resubscribing](https://www.mailerlite.com/video-tutorials/customize-unsubscribe-page) - ✅ [Automation workflows](https://www.mailerlite.com/features/automation) - ✅ [Automated A/B testing](https://www.mailerlite.com/features/ab-testing) of subject lines ## [MailerSend](https://www.mailersend.com/) Mailersend (from 25$ for my use calse) seems like a very well made, easy to use **transactional email provider**. Thumbs up! It's sister-company MailerLite handles the marketing part. - ✅ [Inbound email routing](https://www.mailersend.com/features/inbound-emails) (from $25) - ✅ DKIM and SPF support - ✅ Email template editor, so developers aren't involved in text edits. - 😶 [Pass template variables](https://www.mailersend.com/features/dynamic-email-templates) in API calls, with validation. - ❌ Handle unsubscribing/resubscribing - ❌ Automation workflows - ❌ Automated A/B testing of subject lines ## [Activecampaign](https://www.activecampaign.com/) Gives off a more marketing vibe than I'd want. Custom domain starts at "Contact sales" pricing, which kind of disqualifies it for transactional stuff ❌ ## [Mailchimp](https://mailchimp.com/) Mailchimp has been a big name in email for a long time. Unfortunately, they still process all emails in US only ❌ (though they [claim to be GDPR complaint](https://mailchimp.com/help/mailchimp-european-data-transfers/) still), and their [Trustpilot](https://no.trustpilot.com/review/www.mailchimp.com) reviews stink . - ✅ [Inbound email routing](https://www.mailersend.com/features/inbound-emails) (from $25) - ✅ DKIM and SPF support - ✅ Email template editor, so developers aren't involved in text edits. - ✅ [Pass template variables](https://www.mailersend.com/features/dynamic-email-templates) in API calls, with validation. - ✅ Handle unsubscribing/resubscribing - ✅ Automation workflows - ✅ Automated A/B testing of subject lines ## [Sendgrid](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/sendgrid.com) Like Mailchimp, Sendgrid has been a big name in email for a while. Similarly, they still process all emails in US only ❌ (though they [claim to be GDPR complaint](https://sendgrid.com/resource/general-data-protection-regulation-2/) still), and their [Trustpilot](https://no.trustpilot.com/review/www.sendgrid.com) reviews stink even worse than Mailchimps. - ✅ [Inbound email routing](https://docs.sendgrid.com/for-developers/parsing-email/setting-up-the-inbound-parse-webhook) (from $25) - ✅ DKIM and SPF support - ✅ Email template editor, so developers aren't involved in text edits. - ✅ [Pass template variables](https://www.mailersend.com/features/dynamic-email-templates) in API calls, with validation. - ✅ [Handle unsubscribing/resubscribing](https://docs.sendgrid.com/ui/account-and-settings/tracking#subscription-tracking) - ✅ [Automation workflows](https://sendgrid.com/solutions/email-marketing/automation/) - ✅ [Automated A/B testing of subject lines](https://docs.sendgrid.com/ui/sending-email/a-b-testing) ## Related links - [Email Deliverability: The Only Guide to Avoid The Spam Folder in 2022](https://moosend.com/blog/email-deliverability/)