SendGrid
performance benchmarks
Browse SendGrid's observed email API response time, error rates, and incident history over the last 90 days.
Live performance metrics
Real-world performance data from messages sent through Knock
| Message volume | Growth | Status page updates (30d) | Status page updates (90d) |
|---|---|---|---|
500M+ | 2nd of 10 → | 9 | 25 |
From March 3rd to June 1st, Knock routed 500M+ messages through SendGrid. For adoption, SendGrid ranks 2nd of 10 providers based on new channel connections, with adoption holding steady over the period. SendGrid reported 25 status page updates over the last 90 days, 9 of which were in the last 30 days.
Response time
Response time measures how long SendGrid takes to accept an API request from Knock, including connection overhead and any automatic retries. Lower values mean faster message hand-off.
| Median (p50) | p90 | p95 | p99 |
|---|---|---|---|
23ms | 76ms | 82ms | 386ms |
From March 3rd to June 1st, SendGrid averaged a daily median response time (p50) of 23ms across all days in the range, meaning half of all requests on a typical day complete in under 23ms. The 99th percentile averaged 386ms, with a peak daily p99 of 4037ms. This places SendGrid among the fastest providers on the Knock platform for API response times.
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.
| Avg. daily error rate | Highest daily rate | Peak error date | Zero-error days | Days above 0.01% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
0.00% | 0.02% | Mar 24 | 87 | 2 |
From March 3rd to June 1st, SendGrid averaged a 0.00% daily error rate for 5xx responses and timeouts, with the highest single-day error rate reaching 0.02%. This is one of the lowest error rates among providers on Knock, indicating strong reliability and consistent uptime. Knock automatically retries failed requests, so transient provider errors rarely affect end-user delivery.
About these metrics: Data represents messages sent through Knock to SendGrid during the specified period. Response time measures time from Knock to provider acceptance. Error rate includes only provider 5xx responses and timeouts.
Recent SendGrid incidents
Recent status page incidents for SendGrid
Started May 29, 2026 — Resolved May 29, 2026
May 29, 07:30 PDT Resolved - Customers have experienced elevated latency occurring in US East region from 6:30 AM to 8:58 AM Pacific time. Our engineers have investigated and resolved the issue. All impacted services are operating normally.
Started May 22, 2026 — Resolved May 22, 2026
May 22, 11:50 PDT Resolved - Our engineers have monitored the fix and confirmed the issue with SenderAuth and Whitelabel domains has been resolved. All services are now operating normally at this time. May 22, 10:51 PDT Monitoring - Our engineers have implemented a fix and are monitoring system performance. We will provide another update in an hour or as soon as more information becomes available. May 22, 10:30 PDT Investigating - Starting around 10:17AM on May 22 2026, our engineers bega
Started May 14, 2026 — Resolved May 14, 2026
May 14, 10:47 PDT Resolved - Our engineers have monitored the fix and confirmed the issue with Sender Engagement Quality (SEQ) API endpoint has been resolved. All services are now operating normally at this time. May 14, 10:12 PDT Monitoring - Our engineers have implemented a fix and are monitoring system performance. SendGrid Engagement Quality API endpoint is now working as expected with API keys. We will provide another update in 30 minutes or as soon as more information becomes available
Started May 13, 2026 — Resolved May 13, 2026
May 13, 08:30 PDT Resolved - Customers in US-East may have experienced intermittent high mail send latency from 5/13/2026 to 5/27/2026. Our engineers have investigated and resolved the issue. All impacted services are operating normally.
Started May 13, 2026 — Resolved May 13, 2026
May 12, 17:22 PDT Resolved - Our engineers have monitored the fix and confirmed all services are now operating normally. May 12, 16:48 PDT Monitoring - Between 16:10 PDT and 16:27 PDT on 05/12/2026, our engineers began investigating an issue with a subset of services experiencing 5xx errors. Users may have experienced issues when accessing subusers, authenticating domains and link branding records, accessing the account, and checking account stats. This does not impact mail send. Our eng
Compare SendGrid with other providers
About SendGrid
SendGrid is a cloud-based email delivery platform owned by Twilio, known for high-volume transactional and marketing email.
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
- 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 SendGrid?
SendGrid is an email service provider commonly used for transactional email, marketing campaigns, password resets and account notifications. SendGrid is a cloud-based email delivery platform owned by Twilio, known for high-volume transactional and marketing email.
How much does SendGrid cost?
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. SendGrid offers a free tier with up to 3,000 emails, with a hard sending limit on that plan.
How fast is SendGrid?
Based on real-world data from messages sent through Knock, SendGrid accepts API requests with a median response time of 23ms (p50) and 386ms at the 99th percentile.
How reliable is SendGrid?
From March 3rd to June 1st, SendGrid showed an error rate of 0.00% for 5xx responses and timeouts across 500M+ messages sent through Knock. Knock automatically retries failed requests, so transient provider errors rarely affect end-user delivery.
What are the pros and cons of SendGrid?
Key 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, extended email activity history requires a paid add-on and pricing can become complex at higher volumes.
Does SendGrid work with Knock?
Yes. Knock has a native SendGrid integration that enables you to send email notifications through SendGrid as part of a cross-channel workflow. You can combine SendGrid with other channels like in-app feeds, push, SMS, and Slack from a single API call.
Use SendGrid with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate SendGrid alongside other notification channels, manage templates, and orchestrate cross-channel workflows from a single platform.