What SendGrid is (in plain English)

• SendGrid (by Twilio) is an email backbone for your business. Developers plug in the Email API for things like receipts, alerts, and password resets, while marketers use Marketing Campaigns to design, automate, and track newsletters and promos—all on the same, deliverability‑first platform. It’s built to scale and is used to send well over 190 billion emails per month in 2024, so reliability is the default, not the exception. (twilio.com)

Why back‑office teams pick it

• Reliable delivery at scale. Purpose‑built infrastructure, dedicated IP options, automated IP warmup, and strong reputation tooling help your messages land in the inbox as you grow. (twilio.com)

• One roof for transactional and marketing. Keep receipts, statements, and onboarding emails in the same ecosystem as newsletters and lifecycle campaigns for consistent branding and easier reporting. (twilio.com)

• Data you can act on. Real‑time event webhooks and a Deliverability Insights dashboard turn opens, clicks, blocks, and bounces into operational signals your systems can use. (twilio.com)

• Security and governance baked in. 2FA is required, API keys with least‑privilege scopes, SSO (SAML 2.0), signed webhooks, and domain authentication (SPF/DKIM with DMARC guidance) make InfoSec happy. (twilio.com)

• Fits compliance and regional needs. Optional EU data residency via EU‑region subusers and endpoints helps meet regional controls. (twilio.com)

What you actually get

• Email API for developers

• Send via REST or SMTP, use client libraries, and design with Dynamic Templates. Track everything with the Event Webhook; receive and process replies/attachments using Inbound Parse. (twilio.com)

• Marketing Campaigns for marketers

• Drag‑and‑drop and HTML editing, segmentation, automation (drips and triggers), A/B testing, signup forms, and email testing before you hit send. (twilio.com)

• Deliverability tools

• Domain authentication (SPF/DKIM with DMARC), dedicated IPs and pooling, bounce and block classifications, and the Deliverability Insights dashboard with mailbox‑provider views. (twilio.com)

• Data quality

• Email Address Validation API helps catch typos, disposables, and risky addresses before they pollute your lists. (twilio.com)

• Collaboration and controls

• Teammates with granular permissions, subusers to separate traffic (e.g., transactional vs. marketing), and SSO for centralized identity. (support.sendgrid.com)

Security and compliance notes you’ll care about

• 2FA is mandatory for all accounts; production access uses API keys (preferred) with scoping. SSO is available on higher‑tier plans. (twilio.com)

• Signed Event Webhooks (ECDSA) and/or OAuth 2.0 verify that webhook payloads are authentic before your systems act on them. (twilio.com)

• Domain authentication steps include SPF/DKIM and optional DMARC with automated security to keep records current. (twilio.com)

• Privacy and security features include TLS, IP access management, and certifications called out in plan matrices (e.g., SOC 2 Type II, GDPR alignment). (twilio.com)

Analytics you can act on (without babysitting)

• Event Webhook streams delivered, bounced, opened, clicked, spam reports, unsubscribes, and more to your data stack in real time. Use it to clean lists, trigger workflows, and update CRM/ERP records. (twilio.com)

• Deliverability Insights highlights trends, mailbox‑provider issues, and classifies bounces/blocks so ops teams know where to fix first. (twilio.com)

• Standard Stats reports cover requests, deliveries, opens, clicks, spam, blocks, and bounces for easy roll‑ups and reviews. (twilio.com)

Pricing at a glance (as of November 2025)

• Email API

• Free trial: $0 for 60 days. Essentials starts at $19.95/mo, Pro at $89.95/mo, Premier is custom. Pro/Premier include things like a dedicated IP, SSO, subusers, and 2,500–5,000 validation credits included. (sendgrid.com)

• Marketing Campaigns

• Basic starts around $15/mo, Advanced around $60/mo (pricing scales by contacts and send volume). Purchase is separate from the Email API. (twilio.com)

• Note: the legacy “free forever” plans were retired in late May 2025; today it’s a time‑boxed free trial followed by paid tiers. (twilio.com)

Where it helps your back office, concretely

• Finance & billing: Send invoices, dunning notices, payout confirmations, and monthly statements via the API. Use the Event Webhook to reconcile bounces and update the ERP so no one is left in the dark. (twilio.com)

• IT & security: Dependable delivery for verification codes, password resets, and access approvals using domain‑authenticated mail and signed webhooks. SSO plus 2FA simplify user lifecycle management. (twilio.com)

• Support & operations: Pipe replies and attachments from customers into ticketing with Inbound Parse. Route events to BI for SLA dashboards. (twilio.com)

• Marketing ops: Keep lists clean with Validation, segment by lifecycle stage, and run A/B tests and