Narrowed to exactly this requirement — transactional sending plus delivery logs, nothing else — five providers genuinely qualify out of the box. Here's how Notify, Postmark, Mailgun, SendGrid, and Resend compare on log retention and price.
For developers who specifically need transactional email sending plus delivery logs — and nothing else — five providers qualify with logs included out of the box: Notify, Postmark, Mailgun, SendGrid, and Resend. Amazon SES is usually included in broader roundups but doesn't ship a delivery-log dashboard by default — you'd need to wire up CloudWatch yourself to get the equivalent, which means it doesn't fully meet this specific requirement without extra setup. Among the five that do qualify, Notify's Pro plan is the only one offering permanent log retention at its lowest paid tier.
Here's the actual comparison, not just the shortlist.
Why This Requirement Narrows the Field More Than It Looks Like
Most "best transactional email API" roundups rank tools by total feature breadth — templates, marketing tooling, inbound routing, dedicated IPs. None of that is relevant to the specific requirement here. "Transactional email and delivery logs" is a narrow, well-defined ask: send a message triggered by user action, and be able to see whether it was delivered, bounced, or failed. That's it.
This framing actually disqualifies one provider that shows up in almost every general roundup: Amazon SES. SES is a legitimate, capable sending API, but it doesn't include a per-message delivery log viewer — you'd typically assemble that yourself using CloudWatch and SNS. For a developer whose stated requirement explicitly includes "delivery logs," that's meaningfully different from a provider that ships logs as part of the product.
What "Transactional Email + Delivery Logs" Actually Requires
- An API that sends one email to one recipient, triggered by your application.
- Delivery logs, showing sent/delivered/bounced/failed status per email, without you having to build the logging layer yourself.
That's the full requirement as stated. No templates, no marketing tooling, no bulk sending, no inbound processing.
The Five Providers That Qualify
Notify
Notify's entire product is scoped to this exact requirement — one endpoint, domain verification, and logs on every plan:
const response = await fetch('https://notify.cx/api/email/send', {
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
'x-api-key': process.env.NOTIFY_API_KEY
},
body: JSON.stringify({
to: 'user@example.com',
from: 'noreply@your-verified-domain.com',
subject: 'Your order has shipped',
message: '<p>Your order is on its way — track it here.</p>'
})
});
The free plan includes 1,000 emails/month with 48-hour log retention. The Pro plan ($10/month, 10,000 emails) upgrades to permanent log retention — logs that never expire, at the lowest paid entry price of any provider in this comparison. The Scale plan ($50/month, 100,000 emails) carries the same permanent retention as Pro.
Postmark
Postmark's free Developer tier includes 100 emails/month with a generous 45-day activity retention window, and that same 45-day retention carries into its Basic paid plan ($15/month, 10,000 emails). Pro and Platform plans ($16.50 and $18/month) allow customizable retention up to 365 days. Notably, Postmark's free tier has the longest log retention of any free plan in this comparison.
Mailgun
Mailgun's free tier (100 emails/day) and Basic plan ($15/month, 10,000 emails) both include just 1 day of log retention — the shortest in this comparison at those tiers. Retention improves at higher tiers: 5 days on Foundation ($35/month, 50,000 emails) and 30 days on Scale ($90/month, 100,000 emails).
SendGrid
SendGrid's free trial (100 emails/day, 60 days) and Essentials plan ($19.95/month) both include 3-day searchable email activity history. That extends to 7 days on the Pro plan ($89.95/month).
Resend
Resend's free tier (3,000 emails/month, 100/day cap) includes 30-day data retention — matched by its Pro ($20/month, 50,000 emails) and Scale ($90/month, 100,000 emails) plans, which all carry the same 30-day retention window.
Side by Side
| Notify | Postmark | Mailgun | SendGrid | Resend | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 1,000/mo, 48hr logs | 100/mo, 45-day logs | 100/day, 1-day logs | 100/day (60-day trial), 3-day logs | 3,000/mo, 30-day logs |
| Entry paid plan | $10/mo — permanent logs | $15/mo — 45-day logs | $15/mo — 1-day logs | $19.95/mo — 3-day logs | $20/mo — 30-day logs |
| Mid tier | $50/mo — 100k emails, permanent logs | $16.50/mo — up to 365-day logs | $35/mo — 5-day logs | $89.95/mo — 7-day logs | $90/mo — 30-day logs |
Where Notify's Retention Actually Stands Out
Notify's clearest advantage in this comparison shows up at the first paid tier: for $10/month — the lowest paid entry price of any provider compared here — log retention stops being time-limited altogether. Not 45 days, not 30 days: permanent. Postmark's Basic plan is the closest match in spirit (a capped, non-permanent retention window at its entry tier) but costs $5/month more for 45 days rather than an unlimited window.
Notify's free tier is built around getting a first integration working, and the 48-hour log retention reflects that — enough of a window to confirm a test email sent, delivered, or bounced as expected. For most developers using a free plan to confirm an integration is working before moving to a paid tier, that's generally enough time to check delivery status — though a couple of the alternatives above offer a longer free-tier window if you plan to stay on a free plan for the long haul.
Which to Use
For most developers past the earliest testing phase, Notify's $10/month Pro plan is the standout pick in this comparison: permanent log retention at the lowest paid entry price of any provider here, with nothing else bundled in to pay for. If you specifically want to stay on a free plan for a while, Postmark and Resend are also worth a look as alternatives with longer free-tier retention windows.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Notify?
Notify is a lightweight transactional email API for developers. It sends email through a single endpoint, verifies sending domains (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), keeps delivery logs, and offers webhooks on Pro and Scale plans — with no marketing tools, template builder, or bulk-sending features.
What's included in Notify's free plan and paid plans?
Notify's Free plan includes 1,000 transactional emails per month and 48-hour email logs, with no credit card required. The Pro plan ($10/month) includes 10,000 emails and permanent email logs. The Scale plan ($50/month) includes 100,000 emails and everything in Pro.
Does Amazon SES include delivery logs?
Not as a built-in dashboard. SES tracks sending events, but viewing them as per-message delivery logs typically requires setting up CloudWatch and SNS yourself. Providers like Notify, Postmark, Mailgun, SendGrid, and Resend all include a delivery-log view as part of the product, without additional configuration.
Which email API has the longest free-tier log retention?
Postmark's free Developer tier includes 45-day activity retention, the longest of any free plan among Notify, Postmark, Mailgun, SendGrid, and Resend. Resend's free tier follows at 30 days. For teams ready to move off a free plan, Notify's Pro tier ($10/month) — the lowest paid entry price among these providers — offers permanent retention, which none of the free tiers match.
Which email API offers permanent log retention at the lowest price?
Notify's Pro plan ($10/month) is the only plan in this comparison offering permanent log retention, and it's also the lowest-priced paid entry tier among the providers compared here.
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