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Email Marketing · head to head

Resend vs Sendy

Resend logo

Resend

Email Marketing

Email API for developers to send transactional and marketing email

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sendy logo

Sendy

Email Marketing

Self-hosted newsletter app bought once for $69 that sends through your own Amazon SES account

From
$69/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Resend has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Resend free tier is capped at 100 emails per day, which is restrictive for apps with bursty transactional volume.; Sendy free updates run only to the next major version, so the one-time purchase is really one purchase per major release and the long-term cost is not zero.
  • They diverge on capability: Resend covers Email API and SDKs, Sendy covers One-time licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Resend and Sendy actually diverge.

Attributes where Resend and Sendy differ
AttributeResendSendy
Starting priceFree$69/one-time
Pricing modelfreemiumOne-time purchase
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, apiWeb, Linux

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Email Marketing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Resend

  • Email API and SDKs
  • Domain management
  • Audience and contacts
  • Automation workflows
  • Email analytics
  • Dedicated IPs

Only in Sendy

  • One-time licence
  • Amazon SES delivery
  • Multiple brands
  • Autoresponders
  • Segmentation
  • Bounce and complaint handling
  • Reporting
  • Client access

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Resend

  • Sending transactional emails from a web appnot Sendy
  • Running marketing email campaigns to contact listsnot Sendy
  • Automating onboarding or lifecycle email sequencesnot Sendy
  • Tracking deliverability and engagement analyticsnot Sendy

Sendy

  • A publisher with a large list sending frequently, where a hosted platform bills by subscriber count month after monthnot Resend
  • An agency managing newsletters for several clients who each get their own brand and login under one licencenot Resend
  • A business that must keep subscriber data on its own infrastructure for privacy or contractual reasonsnot Resend
  • A developer wiring signups from a custom application into a mailing list without paying platform API feesnot Resend

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Resend

  • Free tier is capped at 100 emails per day, which is restrictive for apps with bursty transactional volume.
  • Marketing and transactional plans are billed and priced separately, so a product needing both must budget for two tiers.
  • Dedicated IPs are only available on the Scale plan and require a minimum daily send volume.

Sendy

  • Free updates run only to the next major version, so the one-time purchase is really one purchase per major release and the long-term cost is not zero.
  • Deliverability becomes entirely your problem: SES gives you a raw sending pipe and no warm-up guidance, reputation dashboards or deliverability consultants when a campaign starts landing in spam.
  • Amazon SES requires production access approval and will suspend accounts on high bounce or complaint rates, which can take a list offline mid-campaign with little warning.
  • The template editor and design tooling are basic next to Mailchimp or Klaviyo, so anything visually ambitious means hand-written HTML email.
  • You own the server: PHP upgrades, database backups and patching are yours, and an unmaintained Sendy install holding a subscriber list is a data breach waiting to happen.

Pricing, plan by plan

Resend

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 3,000 emails/month
    • 100 emails/day
    • 3 domains
  • Pro$20/month
    • 50,000 emails/month
    • 10 domains
    • 100 AI credits/month
  • Scale$90/month
    • 100,000 emails/month
    • 1,000 domains
    • Slack and ticket support

Sendy

$69/one-time
  • Sendy licence$69/one-time
    • One-time purchase, no subscription
    • Free updates only up to the next major version
    • Unlimited lists, subscribers and campaigns
  • AI Assistant bundle$39/one-time
    • Optional add-on, listed at a discount from $49
    • AI writing assistance inside the campaign editor
  • Installation service$79/one-time
    • Optional one-off setup by the vendor
    • For buyers who do not want to configure hosting and SES themselves

Which should you pick?

Choose Resend if

  • You need email api and sdks.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want domain management.
Resend review

Choose Sendy if

  • You need one-time licence.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want amazon ses delivery.
Sendy review

Questions people ask

Is Resend or Sendy better?
Neither clearly leads. Resend starts at Free and Sendy at $69/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Resend or Sendy?
Resend has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Resend and $69/one-time for Sendy.
Does Resend or Sendy run on more platforms?
Resend runs on web, api. Sendy runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use Resend for free?
Yes. Resend has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sendy starts at $69/one-time.
What is Resend best used for?
Resend is most often used for sending transactional emails from a web app, running marketing email campaigns to contact lists, automating onboarding or lifecycle email sequences, tracking deliverability and engagement analytics. Of those, sending transactional emails from a web app and running marketing email campaigns to contact lists are not what Sendy is typically brought in for.
What can Resend do that Sendy cannot?
Resend covers Email API and SDKs, Domain management, Audience and contacts, Automation workflows. Sendy covers One-time licence, Amazon SES delivery, Multiple brands, Autoresponders.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Resend: What does Resend cost?

Transactional email starts free for 3,000 emails/month, then Pro is $20/month for 50,000 emails and Scale ranges from $90 to $1,150/month for up to 2.5M emails. Marketing email is priced separately by contact count, starting free for 1,000 contacts.

Source
Sendy: What does it actually cost to send?

The licence is $69 once. Delivery is Amazon SES at roughly $1 per 10,000 emails, plus your own hosting, so a 50,000-contact weekly newsletter costs a few dollars a month to send.

Resend: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

Yes, the free transactional plan allows 3,000 emails per month capped at 100 per day across 3 domains, and the free marketing plan allows up to 1,000 contacts.

Source
Sendy: Are updates free forever?

No. Updates are free up to the next major version, for example within 7.x. Moving from 7.x to 8.x is a paid upgrade.

Resend: How is usage metered?

Transactional plans are metered by number of emails sent, with overage billed per 1,000 emails. Marketing plans are metered by number of contacts rather than emails sent.

Source
Sendy: Do I need to know how to set up a server?

Standard PHP and MySQL hosting is enough and the vendor compares it to installing WordPress, but the SES side needs AWS configuration. An $79 installation service is offered if you would rather not.

Sendy: What happens if Amazon suspends my SES account?

Your sending stops until you resolve it with AWS. There is no alternative delivery route built in, and this is the single biggest operational risk of the model.

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