Facts read November 6, 2026
Postmark vs Resend
Resend is Cuely's default email pick when your description doesn't favor either one: simple API, React Email templates, and 3,000 free emails a month. Pick Postmark if you care most about compliance-heavy products.
Side by side
| Fact | Postmark | Resend |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Transactional email service focused on deliverability, with separate message streams. | Developer-first transactional email API with React Email templates. |
| Free plan | Free developer plan: 100 emails per month, no overage, does not expire. | Free: 3,000 emails per month, 100 per day, 3 domains, 30-day retention, no overage. |
| Paid from | Basic: $15/month for 10,000 emails. | Pro: $20/month for 50,000 emails ($0.90 per 1,000 overage). |
| At 1,000 users | $15/month | $20/month |
| Open source | No | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Best for | Mission-critical transactional email; Long activity retention for support | TypeScript and React apps; Transactional email at small to medium volume |
| Watch out | Free plan is 100 emails a month, enough for development only. | Free plan caps at 100 emails a day, which a busy invite flow can hit. |
Where they differ
The published scores, from −3 to +3, that decide which one Cuely picks for each need.
| Need | Postmark | Resend |
|---|---|---|
| keep costs as low as possible | −1 Only 100 free emails a month. | +2 3,000 free emails a month. |
| regulated or compliance-sensitive | +2 Activity retention up to 365 days on Pro helps audits and support. | 0 No particular strength here. |
| Next.js or React | 0 No particular strength here. | +2 React Email templates render from the same codebase. |
| high volume | 0 No particular strength here. | −1 Per-email cost is higher than SES at large volume. |
Sources: Postmark pricing (read November 6, 2026), Resend pricing (read November 6, 2026). No vendor pays for placement.