MailerSend and Notix are the closest pair in this section: a JSON send, templates, an SMTP relay, signed webhooks. They part on the free plan (5,000 emails a month against 500), on what $15 to $35 buys at 50,000 emails, and on the rows only one of them fills: one-time codes by email or SMS, a pre-send deliverability check, a 99.9% SLA on the $15 plan, and billing from a naira or shilling wallet. Teams that need a Ruby or Java client, a dedicated IP, or bulk address verification should stay; Notix offers none of those. For a team that sends and wants more room for the money, the move takes an afternoon.
MailerSend's pricing page puts Free at 500 emails a month on one domain, with 100 API requests a day, one webhook and one template. That is enough to wire the integration and not enough to run a side project; a few hundred sign-ups a month and you are on Hobby.
Starter is $35 a month for 50,000 emails with $0.90 for each extra 1,000; Hobby is 5,000 for $5.60 a month billed yearly with $1.50 per extra 1,000. The plans are cheap at the bottom and the overage is where a growing product pays.
MailerSend's verification product checks whether an address is valid, at $0.01 each. The one-time code for a sign-in flow, its expiry and the check are yours to build, and there is no pre-send test for whether a message is likely to land. A written SLA starts on Professional.
Every MailerSend figure was read from MailerSend's own pricing and help pages on 2026-09-13; the date sits under the table. If a number has changed since, the page is wrong and we would like to know.
| Criterion | MailerSend | Notix |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 500 emails a month, 1 domain, 100 API requests a day, 1 webhook, 1 template | 5,000 emails a month, 200 a day, no card, no end date |
| Entry paid plan | Hobby $5.60 a month billed yearly ($67.20 a year); $7 month to month | Pro $15 a month |
| Included on that plan | 5,000 emails a month, then $1.50 per extra 1,000 (Starter: 50,000 for $35, $0.90 per extra 1,000) | 50,000 emails, usage past that metered on the same invoice |
| SMTP relay | Yes, on every plan including Free | Yes, on every plan |
| SDKs | Node, PHP, Laravel, Python, Ruby, Go, Java | TypeScript, Python, Go, PHP |
| Webhooks | Yes, HMAC-SHA256 signed; 1 on Free and Hobby, 50 on Starter | Yes, signed, for email, contact and domain events |
| OTP / verification API | No | Yes, email and SMS codes |
| Deliverability check before sending | Email address verification as an add-on ($0.01 per address for the first 5,000; 10 credits on Free) | Yes, a pre-send check API |
| Billing outside USD | USD by card (EUR and GBP shown for information only) | USD by card; naira and shillings from a prepaid wallet |
| SLA | 99.5% on Professional and above | 99.9% on Pro, credits on the pricing page |
| Prices and limits read from the vendors' own pages: www.mailersend.com on 2026-09-13. Notix figures are from its own pricing page. | ||
Seven SDK languages to Notix's four: Ruby and Java teams get a typed client from MailerSend and a plain HTTP call from Notix. A 99.5% SLA is stated on Professional and above, and those plans offer a dedicated IP; Notix has no dedicated IPs. MailerSend sells address verification as an add-on, which Notix does not, and its cheapest paid plan is under $6 a month. If any of those is on your critical path, MailerSend is the right tool and this page is not for you.
Both send through a JSON API, both offer an SMTP relay on every plan including free, both sign webhooks with HMAC-SHA256, both have templates, and both verify a sending domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC records you add once. For a plain transactional send the two calls carry the same fields; the migration section shows how little changes.
5,000 emails a month and 200 a day on Free, with no card, no end date and no daily cap on API requests. Enough to run a small product, not only to test one.
$20 a month less than MailerSend Starter at the same volume. Past 50,000, the extra is metered on the same invoice; the pricing page has the per-unit rate.
One call sends a code by email or SMS, one call checks it. Expiry, attempts, rate limits and risk scoring are handled server-side. See OTP email.
Post the message and get back a verdict, a score and the findings that would block a send before a single recipient sees it.
MailerSend states 99.5% from Professional; Notix states 99.9% on Pro, with service credits set out on the pricing page.
A prepaid wallet in NGN or KES, topped up locally. Pro is charged from the balance each month; no dollar card needed.
The send call carries the same fields. Swap the request and the key, or the SMTP host, verify your domain, and the rest of your code stays as it is.
// MailerSend send over its REST API
const response = await fetch("https://api.mailersend.com/v1/email", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.MAILERSEND_API_KEY}`,
"Content-Type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({
from: { email: "receipts@acme.com" },
to: [{ email: "customer@example.com" }],
subject: "Your receipt",
html: "<p>Thanks for your order.</p>",
}),
});
import { Notix } from "notix-js";
const notix = new Notix(process.env.NOTIX_API_KEY);
const { data, error } = await notix.emails.send(
{
from: "receipts@acme.com",
to: "customer@example.com",
subject: "Your receipt",
html: "<p>Thanks for your order.</p>",
},
{ idempotencyKey: "order-48213-receipt" },
);
# Before
SMTP_HOST=smtp.mailersend.net
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=<MailerSend SMTP username>
SMTP_PASS=<MailerSend SMTP password>
# After
SMTP_HOST=smtp.usenotix.dev
SMTP_PORT=465 # or 587 for STARTTLS
SMTP_USER=notix
SMTP_PASS=<your Notix API key>
Add the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records Notix gives you. They sit beside MailerSend's records, so both services can send while you switch. The quickstart walks through it.
Replace the MailerSend request with notix-js and the key in your environment; add an idempotency key named after the thing you are sending about. Over SMTP, point your mailer at smtp.usenotix.dev on 465 or 587 with user notix and your API key as the password; the SMTP relay takes the message your mailer already builds.
Export MailerSend's suppressions, save them as a .csv or .txt with one address per line, and upload the file under Suppressions in the dashboard, so the first sends from Notix never reach an address that has already said no. Webhook URLs move last, once traffic has.
| Emails a month | MailerSend | Notix |
|---|---|---|
| 3,000 | Hobby, $5.60 billed yearly or $7 month to month (Free stops at 500) | Free, $0 |
| 50,000 | Starter, $35 | Pro, $15 |
| 100,000 | Starter, $35 plus 50 extra thousand at $0.90, $80 | Pro, $15 plus the 50,000 above the allowance, metered on the same invoice |
At 3,000 Notix is free and MailerSend is on Hobby. At 50,000 MailerSend Starter is $35 while Notix stays on Pro at $15. At 100,000 MailerSend's overage takes Starter to about $80; Notix keeps you on Pro and adds the overage at the per-unit rate on the pricing page, where you can run the estimate for your own volume. MailerSend prices read on 2026-09-13.
Teams in Nigeria and Kenya fund a prepaid wallet in naira or shillings through local payment methods and Pro is charged from that balance each month, so nobody needs a dollar card that clears international charges. The free plan is the same everywhere. The local price per email is on the pricing page when you open it from either country, and every receipt is in the wallet currency.
Free tiers, per-email pricing, the sending API, deliverability tooling and billing regions, side by side with a read date.
NotixA free plan with no card, and Pro at $15 a month for 50,000 emails. Only sent volume is metered.
AlternativesSame free tier shape, $5 a month less at 50,000 emails, plus OTP and deliverability APIs and naira or shilling billing.
AlternativesA Brevo alternative when you need an email API first: templates, idempotency keys, an OTP API, one suppression list and billing in naira or shillings.
ProductOne JSON API for transactional and marketing email: send, batch, schedule, webhooks, typed SDKs.
AlternativesHonest switch pages for the email APIs people move away from, with the vendor's own numbers and read dates.
5,000 emails a month on Free. When you outgrow it, Pro is $15 for 50,000, payable by card or from a naira or shilling wallet.