Resend vs SendGrid
Compare Resend and SendGrid based on observed API performance, features, and pricing
Live performance comparison
Real-world performance data from messages sent through Knock
| Provider | Message volume | Growth | Status page updates (30d) | Status page updates (90d) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10M–25M | 1st of 10 → | 9 | 9 |
| 500M+ | 2nd of 10 → | 8 | 24 |
From May 3rd to August 1st, Knock routed 10M–25M messages through Resend and 500M+ through SendGrid. Resend reported 9 status page updates over the last 90 days, while SendGrid reported 24.
Response time
Response time measures how long each provider takes to accept an API request from Knock, including connection overhead and any automatic retries. Lower values mean faster message hand-off.
The chart above shows each provider's daily median response time (p50) from May 3rd to August 1st. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: Resend averaged 96ms compared to 22ms for SendGrid. Resend's highest daily p50 was 122ms; SendGrid's was 36ms. SendGrid is 74ms faster at the median, which can add up at high volumes.
The 90th percentile (p90) captures the slowest 10% of requests, revealing how each provider handles moderate stress. Averaged across all days, Resend has a p90 of 168ms compared to 78ms for SendGrid. The highest daily p90 was 221ms for Resend and 89ms for SendGrid. SendGrid handles these slower requests 90ms faster, suggesting more consistent performance across the board.
The 99th percentile (p99) represents the long tail — the slowest 1% of requests. Averaged across all days, Resend reached 486ms at p99 while SendGrid reached 263ms. The highest daily p99 was 10906ms for Resend and 1743ms for SendGrid, indicating the worst-case response time during spikes or provider-side congestion. SendGrid shows a tighter tail, which may matter for time-sensitive notifications like one-time passwords or real-time alerts where even rare delays can impact user experience.
Error rate
Error rate tracks the ratio of 5xx responses and timeouts to total requests. Knock automatically retries failed requests, so transient provider errors rarely affect end-user delivery.
| Provider | Avg. daily error rate | Highest daily rate | Peak error date | Zero-error days | Days above 0.01% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.05% | 3.52% | Jul 29 | 83 | 5 |
| 0.00% | 0.02% | May 8 | 90 | 1 |
Averaged across the date range, Resend shows a 0.05% daily error rate compared to 0.00% for SendGrid. The highest single-day error rate was 3.52% for Resend and 0.02% for SendGrid. SendGrid demonstrates a lower error rate, indicating slightly more consistent availability during this period. Knock automatically retries failed requests to both providers, minimizing the impact of transient errors on end-user delivery.
About these metrics: Data represents messages sent through Knock during the specified period. Response time measures time from Knock to provider acceptance. Error rate includes only provider 5xx responses and timeouts.
Recent Resend incidents
Recent status page incidents for Resend
Started Jul 30, 2026 — Resolved Jul 30, 2026
Status: Resolved We have resolved the underlying issue, and service has resumed. Domain verification has been restored, and affected verifications were re-triggered. Affected components Dashboard (Operational) General API (Operational)
Started Jul 29, 2026 — Resolved Jul 29, 2026
Status: Resolved Between 20:15 and 20:16 UTC, a brief database disruption caused elevated error rates for approximately 45 seconds. During this window, requests to the Resend API, SMTP relay, and dashboard may have returned 5xx errors or timed out. The issue resolved automatically at 20:16 UTC and all services have been operating normally since. Any request that failed during this window can be safely retried. Emails that had already been accepted before the disruption were not lost. They were
Started Jul 29, 2026 — Resolved Jul 29, 2026
Status: Resolved We have resolved the underlying issue and service has been resumed. Affected components General API (Operational) Single Email (Operational) Broadcast Emails (Operational) Batch Emails (Operational)
Started Jul 22, 2026 — Resolved Jul 22, 2026
Status: Resolved We have resolved the underlying issue and service has been resumed. Affected components Automations (Operational) Email Events (Operational) Broadcast Emails (Operational) General API (Operational) Website (Operational) Single Email (Operational) Dashboard (Operational) SMTP (Operational) Batch Emails (Operational) Webhooks (Operational)
Started Jul 21, 2026 — Resolved Jul 21, 2026
Status: Resolved Delivery to Microsoft has returned to normal. Thank you for your patience as we worked with them regarding this.
Recent SendGrid incidents
Recent status page incidents for SendGrid
Ongoing since Jul 29, 2026
Jul 29, 09:00 PDT In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary. Jul 9, 05:10 PDT Scheduled - On July 29, 2026 at 9:00 AM PT (originally planned for July 22), SendGrid incident and maintenance notifications will move to the Twilio Status Page: https://status.twilio.com. Your existing SendGrid Status Page subscription will be migrated. Depending on how you currently receive notifications, you may need to confirm your subscription to conti
Started Jul 24, 2026 — Resolved Jul 24, 2026
Jul 24, 12:31 PDT Resolved - Our engineers have monitored the fix and confirmed the issue has been resolved. All services are now operating normally at this time. Jul 24, 05:09 PDT Monitoring - At 4:21 PST our engineers have isolated the degraded region and removed it from load balancing and are now mitigated and observing. We will provide another update in an hour or as soon as more information becomes available. Jul 24, 05:06 PDT Investigating - Starting around 4:09 am PST on Jul/24, ou
Started Jul 24, 2026 — Resolved Jul 24, 2026
Jul 23, 21:07 PDT Resolved - Our engineers have monitored the fix and confirmed the issue with shared Ips has been resolved. All services are now operating normally at this time. Jul 23, 20:33 PDT Update - Our engineers are continuing to monitor the fix. Please note that email requests are now being delivered as expected for customers using shared IPs.We will provide another update in 4 hours or as soon as more information becomes available. Jul 23, 19:22 PDT Monitoring - Our engineers ha
Started Jul 16, 2026 — Resolved Jul 16, 2026
Jul 16, 11:15 PDT Resolved - Our engineers have monitored the fix and confirmed the issue with delay with account actions has been resolved. All services are now operating normally at this time. Jul 15, 20:12 PDT Monitoring - Our engineers have implemented a fix and are monitoring system performance. We will provide another update as soon as more information becomes available. Jul 15, 18:58 PDT Update - Our engineers are still investigating an issue with account actions. Users may experi
Started Jul 14, 2026 — Resolved Jul 14, 2026
Jul 14, 10:50 PDT Resolved - Our engineers have investigated and resolved the issues with email delays that involved a certain subset of users. From 10:20 AM PST to 10:25 AM PST customers may have experienced delays with email deliverability for a certain subset of users. This would have impacted Email API and Marketing mail sending. There was no data loss due to this incident. The issue has been resolved and all impacted services are operating normally.
Pros and cons
Resend
SendGrid
Pros
- Beautiful documentation with attention to detail and great developer experience
- Created and maintain React Email, the go-to framework for building email templates in React
- Minimalist, developer-optimized platform that avoids bloat with a focused UI
- Transparent observability with real-time visibility into sends, failures, and engagement
Pros
- Comprehensive documentation with SDKs for most major languages
- Rich analytics tools with programmatic API access to engagement data
- Strong focus on deliverability with AI-powered intelligent delivery
- Trusted by Uber, Booking.com, and Yelp for high-volume sending
Cons
- Newer and less battle-tested compared to incumbents like Mailgun or SendGrid
- Fewer enterprise features than established providers
- Limited marketing email capabilities
Cons
- Extended email activity history requires a paid add-on
- Pricing can become complex at higher volumes
- Support response times vary by plan tier
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Resend and SendGrid?
Resend is a modern email API built for developers, with React Email support and a focus on simplicity. SendGrid is a cloud-based email delivery platform owned by Twilio, known for high-volume transactional and marketing email. Resend is best suited for developer-first, react teams, while SendGrid is geared toward high-volume transactional + marketing.
Which is cheaper, Resend or SendGrid?
Free tier includes 3,000 emails per month and 100 emails per day. Paid plans start at $20/month for 50,000 emails with overages at $0.90/1K on Pro, scaling down to $0.46/1K on Scale 2.5M. Free tier includes up to 100 emails per day for 60 days. Paid plans start at $19.95/month for 50,000 emails on the Essentials plan, with an Essentials 100K tier at $34.95/month. Pro plans with dedicated IPs start at $249/month for 300,000 emails. The best value depends on your sending volume. Use the pricing calculator above to compare costs at your expected volume.
Which is faster, Resend or SendGrid?
Based on real-world data from Knock, Resend has a median API response time (p50) of 96ms compared to 22ms for SendGrid.
Which is more reliable, Resend or SendGrid?
From May 3rd to August 1st, Resend showed an error rate of 0.05% while SendGrid showed 0.00%. Both rates are within acceptable thresholds for production email delivery, and Knock automatically retries failed requests to minimize the impact of transient errors.
Which is more popular, Resend or SendGrid?
On the Knock platform, Resend handled 10M–25M messages from May 3rd to August 1st compared to 500M+ for SendGrid. Resend volume has remained stable, while SendGrid volume has remained stable.
Can I use both Resend and SendGrid together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple email providers into a single notification workflow. You can use Resend and SendGrid side by side, route traffic between them, or migrate from one to the other without changing your application code.
What are the main pros and cons of Resend vs SendGrid?
Resend strengths include beautiful documentation with attention to detail and great developer experience and created and maintain react email, the go-to framework for building email templates in react. SendGrid strengths include comprehensive documentation with sdks for most major languages and rich analytics tools with programmatic api access to engagement data. On the other hand, Resend drawbacks include newer and less battle-tested compared to incumbents like mailgun or sendgrid, while SendGrid drawbacks include extended email activity history requires a paid add-on.
Use either provider with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate Resend, SendGrid, or any combination of email providers into a single notification workflow. Manage templates, orchestrate cross-channel delivery, and switch providers without changing your code.