When is MailChannels the better choice?

You only need basic outbound sending and want the higher free cap of 3,000 emails per month. You want a cheaper first paid step at $10/month and do not need a larger feature bundle. You are mainly working with SMTP relay, REST API sending, and domain-based email infrastructure. You need up to 3 domains on the free tier and can live with the 100 emails/day cap.

When is Resend the better choice?

You want the free tier to cover more than sending, including scheduled emails, batch sending, webhooks, and React Email. You want a clearer developer workflow for transactional email and receiving in one place. You expect to grow into paid usage and want published overage pricing and explicit plan ceilings. You need features like AI credits, automation runs, dedicated IPs, or higher domain limits on paid plans.

MailChannels vs Resend: Free Tier Comparison

Q: How much does MailChannels cost after the free tier?

Pay as You Grow - From $10/mo. MailChannels starts paid access at $10/month and uses usage-based volume tiers from 10K to 1.5M emails/month, with custom pricing beyond that. Resend starts at $20/month for 50,000 emails/month and also uses usage-based pricing, with $0.90 per 1,000 extra emails and a larger Scale plan at $90/month. For small teams, MailChannels is cheaper at the first step; Resend becomes more attractive when you want the broader feature set and clearer scaling details. Neither product is pure flat-rate once you move past free.

Q: How much does Resend cost after the free tier?

Pro - $20 / mo. MailChannels starts paid access at $10/month and uses usage-based volume tiers from 10K to 1.5M emails/month, with custom pricing beyond that. Resend starts at $20/month for 50,000 emails/month and also uses usage-based pricing, with $0.90 per 1,000 extra emails and a larger Scale plan at $90/month. For small teams, MailChannels is cheaper at the first step; Resend becomes more attractive when you want the broader feature set and clearer scaling details. Neither product is pure flat-rate once you move past free.

Quick answer

Resend - Resend wins for most builders because its free tier is broader and its paid path is easier to understand, while MailChannels only pulls ahead if you need a higher free email cap or more domain allowance.

How the free tiers compare

Both products give builders a capped free email tier, REST and SMTP access, and 30-day retention, so the decision is not about basic sending. The difference is in what sits around the core mailbox workflow. MailChannels is more focused on email infrastructure and gives you a slightly larger free monthly cap at 3,000 emails, plus up to 3 domains and a simple jump to a $10 starting paid tier. Resend gives up the lower starting paid price, but its free tier includes more workflow features like scheduled emails, batch sending, React Email, webhooks, automation runs, and AI credits. Its paid plans also make the scaling path more explicit, with published email overage pricing and higher feature ceilings. If you are evaluating a free tier as a developer tool, Resend is usually the more complete starting point; MailChannels is the more straightforward volume-first option.

MailChannels vs Resend free tier, side by side

	MailChannelsFTV 42	ResendFTV 30
Free monthly emailsBoth are capped at 100 emails/day as well.	3,000	3,000
Free daily email capThis daily cap limits burst sending on both free tiers.	100 emails/day	100 emails/day
Free domainsMailChannels is more generous on the free tier.	Up to 3 domains	1 custom domain
Free data retentionSimilar retention window, worded differently.	30-day transaction log retention	30 days of data retention
Free API accessResend includes SDKs on the free tier.	REST API and SMTP integrations	RESTful API, SMTP relay, and official SDKs
Free workflow featuresThese are the main feature differences in the free tier.	Not listed in the provided free tier items	Scheduled emails, batch sending, open tracking, link tracking, 1 webhook endpoint, automation runs, and 5 AI credits/month

After you outgrow the free tier

MailChannels starts paid access at $10/month and uses usage-based volume tiers from 10K to 1.5M emails/month, with custom pricing beyond that. Resend starts at $20/month for 50,000 emails/month and also uses usage-based pricing, with $0.90 per 1,000 extra emails and a larger Scale plan at $90/month. For small teams, MailChannels is cheaper at the first step; Resend becomes more attractive when you want the broader feature set and clearer scaling details. Neither product is pure flat-rate once you move past free.

MailChannels next stepPay as You Grow - From $10/moUsage-based

Resend next stepPro - $20 / moUsage-based

Cost at real usage

Usage	MailChannels	Resend
10,000 emails/moResend Pro includes 50,000 emails/mo; MailChannels starts at 10,000 emails/mo.	$10/mo	$20/mo
50,000 emails/moMailChannels only lists 10K - 1.5M volume tiers, but no exact tier prices were provided beyond the $10 starting point.	est. above $10/mo	$20/mo
100,000 emails/moResend Scale includes 100,000 emails/mo; the provided pricing does not show exact MailChannels tier pricing at this volume.	est. above $10/mo	$90/mo
300,000 emails/moResend Pro charges $0.90 per 1,000 extra emails above 50,000, so 300,000 emails/mo implies about $20 + 250 x $0.90 = $245/mo if on Pro, but the plan likely does not remain the best fit at that level; since only the overage rate was provided, this is an estimate.	est. above $10/mo	est. $360/mo

Estimates, not quotes. Usage-based rates change - verify with the vendor's pricing page before committing.

When to pick each one

Pick MailChannels when…

You only need basic outbound sending and want the higher free cap of 3,000 emails per month.
You want a cheaper first paid step at $10/month and do not need a larger feature bundle.
You are mainly working with SMTP relay, REST API sending, and domain-based email infrastructure.
You need up to 3 domains on the free tier and can live with the 100 emails/day cap.

Pick Resend when…

You want the free tier to cover more than sending, including scheduled emails, batch sending, webhooks, and React Email.
You want a clearer developer workflow for transactional email and receiving in one place.
You expect to grow into paid usage and want published overage pricing and explicit plan ceilings.
You need features like AI credits, automation runs, dedicated IPs, or higher domain limits on paid plans.

Bottom line

For the most common builder use case, Resend wins because its free tier is more complete around the core email API and its paid ladder is easier to reason about as you scale. MailChannels is the better pick if your main concern is sending volume and you want the cheaper first paid step. If you are prototyping or building a product where email is one part of a broader developer workflow, Resend is usually the safer default. If you mostly need a simple relay with more free monthly sends, choose MailChannels.

Read the full listings: MailChannels and Resend. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more head-to-heads on /compare, or see the top-ranked free tiers on /top.