We need an email API that our backend can call and then get delivery events back. What are our options?

If your backend needs to send email via an API and receive delivery events back, you’re generally looking for an email sending service with webhooks/event callbacks.

Main options

1. Transactional email providers with event webhooks

Best fit for most app/back-end use cases.

Common options:

• SendGrid
• Mailgun
• Postmark
• Amazon SES
• MailerSend
• SparkPost
• Brevo (Sendinblue)

What you typically get:

• REST API to send email
• Delivery/bounce/open/click/unsubscribe events via webhooks
• Suppression lists / bounce handling
• Templates and tracking
• Domain authentication support (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

Good choices by use case:

• Postmark: very strong for transactional email and event reliability
• SendGrid: broad feature set, common choice
• Mailgun: developer-friendly, strong API/webhook support
• Amazon SES: lowest cost, more setup/ops burden
• Brevo/MailerSend: often simpler pricing/UI for smaller teams

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2. ESPs with marketing automation features

If you need more than transactional mail:

• HubSpot
• Mailchimp
• Klaviyo
• ActiveCampaign

These can send via API too, but they’re usually better for:

• newsletters
• campaigns
• segmentation
• automation journeys

They do have event/webhook support, but they’re usually heavier than needed if you only want backend-triggered mail.

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3. Self-hosted SMTP + event tracking

Possible, but usually not ideal unless you have special requirements.

You’d run:

• your own SMTP server or relay
• your own bounce processing and tracking infrastructure

Pros:

• more control
• can reduce vendor dependence

Cons:

• much more operational work
• deliverability is hard
• event handling is complex

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What “delivery events back” usually means

Make sure the provider supports the exact events you need:

Typical events:

• accepted / queued
• delivered
• deferred / retrying
• bounced
• blocked / rejected
• opened
• clicked
• spam complaint
• unsubscribed

These usually come back via:

• webhooks
• sometimes event streams / message logs APIs

For backend integration, webhooks are the most common pattern.

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What to evaluate before choosing

1. API reliability and webhook delivery guarantees
2. Event coverage you need: delivered only, or also bounce/open/click?
3. Pricing: per email, tracking, dedicated IPs, logs
4. Deliverability reputation
5. Template support
6. Suppression management
7. EU/US data residency if relevant
8. Sandbox/staging support
9. Ease of setup: SPF/DKIM/DMARC, webhook verification

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Quick recommendations

• If you want the safest transactional choice: Postmark
• If you want a popular all-around option: SendGrid
• If you want a developer-friendly API: Mailgun
• If you want lower cost and don’t mind AWS complexity: Amazon SES

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Typical architecture

1. Your backend calls provider’s send email API
2. Provider returns a message ID
3. Provider sends webhook events to your backend
4. You store/update email status in your DB
5. Your app reacts to delivered/bounced/complaint events

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If you want, I can narrow this down based on:

• your expected volume,
• whether it’s transactional vs marketing,
• region/compliance needs,
• and whether you need just delivery or also open/click tracking.