WordPress SMTP Services

Netcore Email API (formerly Pepipost) is an enterprise-focused relay. Pricing shifted to Growth and Enterprise tiers on the Customer Engagement Platform, billed by Monthly Tracked Users (Growth from ₹12,000/mo for 5,000 MTUs, channel delivery separate). Free tier allows 100 emails/day. Most WordPress sites should use simpler alternatives.

SparkPost operates as Bird’s email product after the 2022 acquisition. Self-service Startup (from $15/mo for 50K) and Growth (from $80/mo for 100K) tiers; dedicated IP is a $24.95/mo add-on on Growth and above. The official WordPress plugin remains closed as of March 2025.

SendGrid is a high-volume email platform owned by Twilio. Essentials plan starts at $19.95/month for 50,000 emails. Priced and featured above what most WordPress sites need, but a defensible choice at enterprise scale.

Postmark review, for WordPress: pricing from $15/mo for 10,000, stream separation, WP Mail SMTP setup. The right transactional default.

Maileroo is an Australian-owned, EU-resident transactional relay – 3,000 emails/month free, then $10 for 25,000, $15 for 50,000. Undercuts SMTP2GO and MailerSend at every tier, with feature parity across paid plans.

MailerSend is the MailerLite team’s transactional relay – 500 emails/month free, Hobby at $7/month for 5,000, Starter from $35 for 50,000. Priced above SMTP2GO but cleaner than most marketing-first platforms for WordPress transactional email.

Zeptomail (now Zoho CPaaS) is Zoho’s transactional email relay. $2.50 per 10,000-email credit, 6-month expiry, no monthly fee, first credit free. Best for sites already on Zoho.

MailHawk is a WordPress-native sending service from the Groundhogg team. $1/mo Basic tier for 1,000 emails, no external dashboard, plugin-only interface. Fits Groundhogg-based operations and WordPress operators who want sending managed entirely inside the admin.

Mailchimp Transactional Email runs on Mandrill’s infrastructure but requires a $20/month Mailchimp Standard plan before any 25,000-email block can be purchased.

SendLayer is a transactional relay from Awesome Motive (WPBeginner / WP Mail SMTP), with turnkey Quick Connect setup through Easy WP SMTP. Annual plans from $5/mo.

SMTP.com is a high-volume email relay with 22+ years of operation. Entry at $25/mo for 50K emails. Overpowered for typical WordPress sites; relevant for large WooCommerce or membership platforms.

Elastic Email’s transactional API starts at $19/month for 50,000 emails. The Free plan includes SMTP and API access with a 3,000 emails/month cap and 100 emails/day limit. Competitive at volume, overpriced below 30K sends/month for WordPress.

Brevo’s free tier sends 300 emails/day from WordPress via SMTP or API. A marketing platform that also handles transactional email – good fit for some sites, more platform than others need.

SMTP2GO is a transactional email relay with a free tier (1,000 emails/month) and no marketing overhead. Starter plan is $10/month. The right tool when WordPress just needs email to work.

Amazon SES is still the cheapest per-message option in this category, but new accounts default to the Essentials plan at $0.16 per 1,000 outbound; the $0.10 per 1,000 à la carte rate is still selectable, and Pro/Enterprise trade a monthly base fee for included deliverability tooling.

Mailgun is mature developer-focused email infrastructure. HTTP API and SMTP relay, permanent free tier of 100 emails/day, inbound routing, email validation, and granular event webhooks. Fits high-volume, developer-led projects and agencies running per-domain sending reputation.

MailPoet is a WordPress newsletter platform (500K+ installs, by Automattic) with its own sending service. Built for newsletters and marketing automation from inside WordPress; not designed as a standalone transactional SMTP relay.