SparkPost, now sold as Bird, gives 1,000 emails a month free and starts paid plans at $15. Notix Free is 5,000 emails a month with no card and no end date, and Notix Pro at $15 includes 50,000 emails, an OTP API, a pre-send deliverability check and one suppression list across transactional and marketing mail. Teams that need SparkPost's scale, its Recipient Validation API or a dedicated IP should stay; Notix offers none of those.
Bird's email pricing page gives SparkPost's free plan 1,000 emails a month with no card and no time limit. That is enough to test with and not enough to run a small product on; most teams reach the $15 Startup plan within the first month of real traffic.
SparkPost is now sold under the Bird name: the pricing page is Bird's, the documentation and client libraries still say SparkPost. Teams choosing a provider for the next few years reasonably ask which name, which plans and which console they will be on.
SparkPost is a delivery API with SMTP, webhooks and a validation product. The one-time code for a sign-in flow, its expiry and the check are yours to build, there is no pre-send test for whether a message is likely to land, and marketing mail is a separate concern with its own suppression handling.
Every SparkPost figure was read from Bird's own email pricing page on 2026-09-13; the date sits under the table. Where the page does not state something, the cell says so.
| Criterion | SparkPost (Bird) | Notix |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 1,000 emails a month, no card, no time limit | 5,000 emails a month, 200 a day, no card, no end date |
| Entry paid plan | Startup from $15 a month | Pro $15 a month |
| Included on that plan | 50,000 to 100,000 emails a month on Startup; Growth from $80 for 100,000 to 2.5 million; overage $0.90 per 1,000 | 50,000 emails, usage past that metered on the same invoice |
| SMTP relay | Yes | Yes, on every plan |
| SDKs | PHP, Node, Python, Go | TypeScript, Python, Go, PHP |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes, signed, for email, contact and domain events |
| OTP / verification API | No | Yes, email and SMS codes |
| Deliverability check before sending | Recipient Validation API; price not stated on the pricing page | Yes, a pre-send check API |
| Billing outside USD | USD | USD by card; naira and shillings from a prepaid wallet |
| SLA | Not stated on the pricing page | 99.9% on Pro, credits on the pricing page |
| Prices and limits read from the vendors' own pages: bird.com on 2026-09-13. Notix figures are from its own pricing page. | ||
Scale. SparkPost's Growth plan runs from 100,000 to 2.5 million emails a month from $80, with overage at $0.90 per 1,000, and a dedicated IP is a $24.95 a month add-on for teams that want their own reputation. It offers a Recipient Validation API for checking a list before you send to it, and client libraries for PHP, Node, Python and Go. If your volume is in the millions or a dedicated IP is on your list, SparkPost is the right tool and this page is not for you.
Both send through a JSON API, both offer SMTP, both post webhooks for delivery events, both bill in US dollars, and both verify a sending domain with DNS records you add once. Neither pricing page states an uptime commitment except Notix on Pro. 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, no card, no end date. Pro is $15 for 50,000 emails, with usage past that metered on the same invoice at the rate on the pricing page.
One call sends a code by email or SMS, one call checks it. Expiry, attempts and rate limits 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. Read how it works on the deliverability check page.
Bounces and complaints suppress across transactional and marketing mail in one account, with contact books, campaigns and journeys included rather than sold separately.
A prepaid wallet in NGN or KES, topped up locally. Pro is charged from the balance each month; no dollar card needed.
A transmission and a send carry the same fields: a sender, recipients, a subject and a body. Swap the client and the key, or the SMTP host, verify your domain, and the rest of your code stays as it is.
// Before: your SparkPost client, whichever library you use.
// The transmission carries a sender, recipients and content.
const result = await sparkpost.transmissions.send({
content: {
from: "receipts@acme.com",
subject: "Your receipt",
html: "<p>Thanks for your order.</p>",
},
recipients: [{ address: "customer@example.com" }],
});
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=<your SparkPost SMTP host>
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=SMTP_Injection
SMTP_PASS=<SparkPost API key>
# 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 SparkPost's records, so both services can send while you switch. The quickstart walks through it.
Replace the SparkPost transmission with notix-js and the key in your environment, and add an idempotency key so a retried request never sends twice. 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 SparkPost's suppression list, save it 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 | SparkPost (Bird) | Notix |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | Startup, from $15 (Free stops at 1,000) | Pro, $15 (Free stops at 5,000) |
| 50,000 | Startup, from $15 | Pro, $15 |
| 100,000 | Startup's top tier, or Growth from $80 | Pro, $15 plus the 50,000 above the allowance, metered on the same invoice |
At 10,000 and 50,000 the two entry plans cost the same. At 100,000, SparkPost's Startup plan tops out and Growth starts at $80; Notix keeps you on Pro and adds the overage to the same invoice at the per-unit rate on the pricing page, where you can run the estimate for your own volume. SparkPost prices read on 2026-09-13; the pricing page shows Startup as a range of tiers, so the exact figure at 100,000 depends on the tier you choose.
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.
A free plan with no card, and Pro at $15 a month for 50,000 emails. Only sent volume is metered.
AlternativesA Mailchimp Transactional (Mandrill) alternative without the Standard-plan requirement: a free tier, per-email pricing and an OTP API.
AlternativesSame $15 entry, 50,000 emails instead of 10,000, and a suppression list shared across transactional and marketing.
ProductPoint any framework's mailer at one host and port; the relay turns SMTP into the same tracked, suppressed send.
LearnWhat a pre-send deliverability check looks at, the verdict and score it returns, and the four findings that block a send.
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.