The Top 7 Best Transactional Email Services in 2023
Using the best transactional email service is essential in maintaining and enhancing customer relationships. However, with so many transactional email providers and services in the market, choosing the right one can be a difficult task.
In this article, we'll clarify what a transactional email is, as well as what to look for when comparing transactional email services.
We'll also introduce our top 7 best transactional email services, focusing on options that allow both transactional emails and marketing automation features too, discussing their pros and cons to help you make a more informed decision.
Transactional email service provider comparison—let's get started!
What is transactional email?
To understand how important transactional email services are for your business, you must first have a sound understanding of what transactional emails are.
Transactional emails are automated emails that are sent as proof whenever a digital or financial transaction takes place, including orders, signups, receipts, feedback requests, settings changes, and more. All of these qualify as transactions warranting confirmation via transactional email using secure transactional mail services.
Types of transactional emails include, but aren't limited to:
account creation confirmations
verification email
monthly statements
shipping notifications
shipping confirmation emails
security alerts
expected delivery dates
delivery confirmation email
notifications about password resets
trial expiration emails
commercial messages to potential customers who sign up for your email list.
Transactional emails are an essential component of CRM, and while transaction email messages aren't the same as marketing emails, they serve a marketing role—because they build your business's reputation and they send an important commercial message.
Transactional email delivery is expected by clients because it provides digital proof of actions as required under both commercial and tax law—it's how we keep track of our expenses, our spending, and the products, services, or moneys owed to us.
Marketing emails are essential for boosting spontaneous sales and drawing customers, but not as welcome, expected, or essential to customers as transactional emails are.
Promotional and transactional messages are not the same thing, but transactional messages do play a promotional role—they promote your dedication, customer respect, service quality, and reliability.
What is a transactional email service?
Because these emails are sent automatically and in response to set client actions, business actions, transactions, and events, transactional email must link to the systems tracking these events.
As a result, transactional email has traditionally only been set up and managed by the developers that manage websites, apps, and SaaS from the backend.
The best transactional email service providers must allow developers to do all this, but they should also offer email analytics tools that track emails and report, SMTP relay, email API, bulk sending capabilities, automation tools, unsubscribe management, and more.
Furthermore, in 2023, it's not too wishful to ask for email marketing features as well, that allow you to send both your transactional emails and your marketing emails from the same provider.
Some questions to ask when selecting the best transactional email services include:
Do you value customer support?
Do you need unlimited emails?
Do you need to send automated transactional emails?
Do you need to send marketing emails too?
Do you require marketing automation tools
Do you want dedicated IP addresses to improve deliverability with high-volume sending?
Do you require email API functionality?
Do you want to send drip messaging that's timed from customer events?
Do you want real-time email and campaign analytics?
Do you prefer automated workflows?
Do you need a lean interface that's accessible to devs and marketing professionals alike?
Do you need a free plan?
Do you need fast email delivery?
Do you need advanced verification to advance deliverability?
Do you favor drag-and-drop email?
Traditionally, transactional email services have been inaccessible to marketing professionals in terms of interface and complexity, but that is slowly changing—and there are one or two examples of this in our list—such as Mailer To Go.
Explore our other posts for email best practices, tips, and the difference between transactional vs marketing email.
1. Mailer To Go
On the surface, MTG is a transactional email service. The interface has all the features devs require to muster professional transactional emails, but it's also easily accessible to marketing professionals looking to do marketing and promotional emails in bulk.
Mailer To Go allows you to send promotional and transactional messages, one, triggered, automated, one at a time, or in bulk.
It's the ideal way to interact with customers from your own domains, and from inside your own apps. Unlike other popular alternatives, it even has receiving functionality.
Mailer To Go does everything more affordably (i.e. at transactional email provider rates instead of at marketing email solution rates), and it offers a drip messaging functionality that is, quite simply, much harder to manage with other email platforms.
Mailer To Go helps users avoid deliverability issues and blocklists, by providing powerful SMTP server infrastructure and email validation tools. As an SMTP relay service, Mailer To Go allows you to send bulk email and manage complex unsubscribe and opt-out requirements.
Built from the ground up, this cloud email add-on lets you send developer-handled transactional emails and marketing-manager-handled bulk email marketing emails, all for next to nothing, offering full email marketing services with lower costs on your end—not to mention extra features, reliability, and customer support.
Pros
Easy to use, lean, and intuitive user interface
Allows you to send emails from inside your apps
Has email-receiving capabilities too
Dev-friendly transactional email handling
Drip/journey sequence functionality
Marketer-friendly, comprehensive email marketing solution
Jam-packed with email and campaign analytics features
Email marketing automation and segmentation tools to tailor your campaigns
Personalized customer journey builder
Drag-and-drop editor
Offers transactional email via SMTP or email API
Great for bulk emails and automation
MTG SMTP can integrate with WP mail SMTP, so WordPress emails and contact form infills land up in your Mailer To Go inbox
DKIM and Dmarc integration to boost your sender reputation
300 free emails per day with unlimited emails, depending on your plan
Free plan option
The cheapest option around—Amazon SES has a bigger free plan, but lacks in features and catches you on extras like attachments.
Cons
Some users have noted that SMS sending to certain regions was undeliverable or lacking entirely
No social media marketing messages
Limited customization options
High bounce rate/unsubscribe rate may limit your use.
Ideal for: Anyone who values lean interfaced but comprehensive solutions, along with customer support, reliability, and speed. Ideal for devs and marketers alike, as it sends transactional, marketing, drip, and regular emails from inside your apps.
Price: Price: $0.39 per 1000 emails.
2. Mailgun
Mailgun is a highly reliable transactional email service that offers transactional emails for businesses and developers of all sizes.
The service offers a suite of transactional email options that allow businesses to personalize and create engaging welcome emails and messages, optimize transactional emails, and ensure sender reputation is maintained.
Additionally, Mailgun provides email delivery services, such as dedicated IP addresses and IP access management, to maximize email campaign deliverability and effectiveness.
Overall, Mailgun is a trusted transactional email marketing platform and email API service provider that can help businesses boost customer engagement and drive growth.
Pros
Easy to send large volumes of transactional emails
Reliable email delivery, as Mailgun is able to handle millions of transactional emails per day without any issues
Receives emails too.
A/B testing functionality.
Email API and SMTP relay.
Real-time analytics, which can help you track the performance of your email campaigns and optimize them for better results.
Cons
Can be quite complex to set up and use, especially for those who are not familiar with email infrastructure
Beginners may find the documentation overwhelming, which could create difficulties in getting started with the platform
The pricing for the mid-tier plan is becoming increasingly expensive, well exceeding the price per email of its competitors.
Ideal for: designed with developers in mind; great for any small online business.
Price: $35 per month with 50,000 promotional emails included.
3. SendGrid
SendGrid is a widely-used, transactional email service provider that offers a plethora of features to users.
This popular email service provider is known for its easy-to-use interface, email analytics, and support for email templates.
Overall, SendGrid is a versatile transactional email service that can be a valuable asset for businesses looking to optimize their email marketing efforts.
Pros
High deliverability rates
Supports SMTP and email API integration
Great for bulk emails
Advanced features for marketing
Comprehensive documentation and support.
Cons
The free plan offers only 100 emails per day
Some users may find the pricing slightly higher than competitors.
Ideal for: businesses looking to have email marketing tools to engage with their customers through email and SMS channels.
Price: Pricing starts at $19.95 per month with 50,000 emails.
Explore other articles from our blog to learn all about transactional email types and best practices.
4. SendinBlue
SendinBlue is a comprehensive email delivery service that combines both marketing software and transactional email sending capabilities into one platform.
SendinBlue's automation capabilities allow businesses to use the provided email templates and also automate their email campaigns, saving time and resources while ensuring timely delivery and optimal results.
Overall, SendinBlue is a feature-rich email service that can be an effective tool for businesses looking to streamline and optimize their email marketing and transactional efforts.
Pros
Generous free plan, offering 300 emails per day
On-hand transactional email templates
Easy-to-use drag-and-drop email editor
Integrations with popular CMS and e-commerce platforms.
Cons
Limited API functionality in the free plan
Some users may find the email template library limited.
Ideal for: Anyone looking for an affordable, email marketing software solution with additional features such as automation and CRM.
Price: $25 per month.
5. PostMark
PostMark is a transactional email software service that prioritizes fast delivery and comprehensive analytics. Unlike the other options on our list, this provider will only send transactional emails and doesn't include an email marketing tool.
With that said, it's able to send transactional emails really, really well.
Among popular email service providers, Postmark is known for its high performance, enabling businesses to send out transactional messages and emails quickly and reliably.
The platform's user-friendly interface simplifies the process of managing and optimizing transactional emails, saving time and resources.
Overall, PostMark is an excellent option for businesses that value fast delivery and detailed analytics for their transactional email campaigns.
Pros
Excellent deliverability rates
In-depth email analytics and tracking
Strictly transactional, reducing the risk of spam.
Cons
No free plan, only a 100-email trial
Not an email marketing tool
Pricing can be high for smaller businesses.
Ideal for: Small companies with important transactional emails.
Price: 0.92$ per thousand emails.
6. Amazon SES
Another alternative is Amazon SES, or Amazon Web Services Simple Email Service. Amazon SES is a powerful tool for email marketing and customer communication.
Offering robust features for businesses and email programs of all sizes.
They also have a pay-as-you-go pricing model, which can be more cost-effective than Mailgun for those customers who send fewer emails.
Pros
Highly scalable and reliable
Pay-as-you-go pricing model
Integration with other AWS services.
Cons
The interface may be less user-friendly for non-technical users
Limited features compared to other providers on this list
basic plans do not include support from Amazon, leaving users to troubleshoot by themselves.
Ideal for: customers of AWS.
Price: free—up to 62,000 emails per month; emails above 62,000 per month are charged at a rate of $0.10 per 1000 emails. Dedicated IPs start at $24.95 per month.
7. MessageBird
MessageBird is a high-volume transactional email provider that prioritizes improving email deliverability.
Its powerful features make it one of the best transactional email services on the market, with an easy setup process and a user-friendly email API that enables businesses to send both promotional and transactional emails.
An ideal transactional email provider for businesses that require reliable and efficient email delivery, MessageBird is an excellent option for businesses looking for a great transactional email service provider that can handle high volumes and provide powerful features to improve email deliverability.
Pros
High deliverability rates
Advanced analytics and real-time reporting
Flexible pricing options, including a free tier.
Cons
The free plan is limited to only 500 emails per month
Some users may find the API documentation less comprehensive.
Ideal for: Larger companies.
Price: 0.85$ per thousand emails.
In closing
Selecting the best transaction email service for your business depends on your specific needs and requirements.
Consider factors like deliverability, pricing, ease of use, and available features when making your decision on the best transactional mailing services, add-ons, and providers.
The seven services listed above offer a diverse range of options, and we trust it will help you to find the perfect fit for your business.
Frequently asked questions
What are transactional email services?
Transactional email services like Mailer To Go are specialized email delivery services that ensure your business emails (like notifications, invoices, password resets, etc.) reach the recipient's inbox. They are designed to send high volumes of email with high delivery rates.
Because these emails are sent automatically and in response to set client actions, business actions, transactions, and events, transactional email must link to the systems tracking these events.
What are some of the best transactional email services?
While there are many transactional email services available, some of the most frequently recommended ones include Mailer To Go, SendGrid, Mailchimp Transactional Email, Amazon SES, and Postmark. Each of these services has its own strengths and special features, so the best one for you will depend on your specific needs.
Why should I use a transactional email service?
Transactional email services offer several benefits. They can improve your email deliverability rates, provide detailed analytics, and allow you to send large volumes of email. They also offer features like templates and personalization to help you create effective emails.
What should I look for in a transactional email service?
When choosing a transactional email service, consider factors like deliverability rates, ease of use, features, scalability, and price. You may also want to look for features like analytics, template support, and 24/7 customer support.
Why is Mailer To Go a good choice for a transactional email service?
Mailer To Go is a reliable and efficient transactional email service provider. It offers a range of features that can help you maintain your domain reputation and improve your email delivery rates. It's an excellent choice for businesses of all sizes looking to improve their email communication.