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Mailjet as a WordPress SMTP Server
Mailjet’s free tier sends 6,000 emails/month from WordPress. A marketing platform with decent SMTP, but Brevo’s free tier is more generous and the Mailjet branding on free emails is a drawback.
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Mailgun as a WordPress SMTP Server
Mailgun is developer-focused email infrastructure with no free tier. Foundation plan starts at $35/month. A strong API, but priced above what most WordPress sites need.
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Netcore Email API (formerly Pepipost) as a WordPress SMTP Server
Netcore Email API (formerly Pepipost) is a developer-focused relay starting at $25/mo for 150K emails. Free tier allows 100/day. Enterprise-oriented; most WordPress sites should use simpler alternatives.
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SendGrid as a WordPress SMTP server
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.
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Amazon SES as a WordPress SMTP Server
Amazon SES sends email at $0.10 per thousand – the cheapest in this category. The trade-off: IAM credentials, sandbox restrictions, no permanent free tier.
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MailPoet as a WordPress SMTP Server
MailPoet is a WordPress newsletter platform (500K+ installs, by Automattic) with its own sending service. Use it for email marketing, not as a standalone SMTP relay.
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Bird (formerly MessageBird, formerly SparkPost) as a WordPress SMTP server
SparkPost was acquired by MessageBird (now Bird) in 2022. The official WordPress plugin was closed in March 2025. No longer available as a self-service product.
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Mailchimp Transactional Email (formerly Mandrill) as a WordPress SMTP server
Mailchimp Transactional Email routes WordPress mail through Mandrill’s infrastructure via SMTP or API – but requires a Standard plan ($20/month) before you buy a single email block.
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