Prompt
I need an email API that works for a platform with many customers and different sending domains. What should I use?
Latest observation
If you need an email API for a multi-tenant platform with many customers and different sending domains, you should choose an email provider that supports:
- Multiple sending domains / subdomains
- API-based sending
- Domain authentication: SPF, DKIM, and ideally DMARC support
- Per-customer isolation for stats, suppression lists, and reputation
- Webhooks for delivery/bounce/open events
- Role-based API keys or subaccounts if you want to separate customers cleanly
Good options
1. SendGrid
Best if you want a mature API and strong support for multi-domain setups.
Pros
- Easy API
- Supports multiple domains and subusers
- Good deliverability tooling
- Webhooks and event tracking
- Widely used for SaaS platforms
Cons
- Can get expensive
- Account management can be a bit cumbersome at scale
2. Postmark
Best if you care most about high deliverability and transactional email.
Pros
- Excellent deliverability reputation
- Simple API
- Great event webhooks
- Strong support for message streams / separation
Cons
- Less focused on large-scale multi-tenant marketing use cases
- Usually not the cheapest option
3. Mailgun
Good if you want flexibility and domain management.
Pros
- Strong domain-based sending
- Good API
- Useful for multi-tenant apps
- Event webhooks and suppression handling
Cons
- Deliverability and support experience can vary
- Pricing can add up with volume
4. Amazon SES
Best if you want low cost and are comfortable managing more yourself.
Pros
- Very cheap at scale
- Supports many verified domains
- Reliable infrastructure
- Works well in high-volume systems
Cons
- More setup and more operational work
- Less polished UX
- You need to manage deliverability and reputation more actively
5. SparkPost / Resend / Brevo
These can also work depending on your needs, but the four above are the most common choices for multi-domain SaaS setups.
My practical recommendation
If you want the easiest production path:
SendGrid or Mailgun
If you want best transactional deliverability:
Postmark
If cost matters most and you can handle more ops:
Amazon SES
What to look for specifically for your use case
For a platform with many customers, ask the provider whether they support:
- Per-customer sending domains
- Automatic DKIM/SPF setup
- Subaccounts or tenant-level separation
- Dedicated IPs or IP pools if customers need isolation
- Webhook routing by domain or tenant
- Bounce/complaint suppression per tenant
- Sandbox/testing mode
- Template support and dynamic variables
Strong recommendation by scenario
- SaaS platform with many customers: SendGrid or Mailgun
- Transactional-first product: Postmark
- Need lowest cost at scale: Amazon SES
- Need per-tenant isolation and enterprise controls: SendGrid or SES with your own tenant abstraction
If you want, I can also give you a shortlist based on your exact requirements like:
- expected monthly volume
- transactional vs marketing
- need for dedicated IPs
- whether each customer must use their own domain