Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Sparkpost VS Postmark

Compare Sparkpost VS Postmark and see what are their differences

Sparkpost logo Sparkpost

Deliver your app and website emails on time and to the inbox. Trusted to send 25% of the world's non-spam email. Email delivery for companies big and small.

Postmark logo Postmark

Postmark is the easiest and most reliable way to be sure your important transactional emails get to the inbox. Simply & reliably parse recieved email to JSON for your webapp.
  • Sparkpost Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-22
  • Postmark Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-03-19

Sparkpost

$ Details
Release Date
2008 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
Maryland
City
Columbia
Founder(s)
George Schlossnagle
Employees
250 - 499

Sparkpost features and specs

  • High Deliverability
    SparkPost is known for its high email deliverability rates, ensuring that your emails are less likely to end up in spam folders.
  • Comprehensive Analytics
    Provides detailed analytics and insights on email performance, including bounce rate, open rate, and click-through rates.
  • Scalability
    Capable of handling large volumes of emails, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.
  • Advanced API
    Offers a robust and easy-to-use API for effective email integration into various applications and platforms.
  • Template Management
    Supports advanced template management features, including dynamic content and personalization.
  • Deliverability Tools
    Provides tools and support for maintaining good sender reputation, such as list hygiene and feedback loops.
  • Security
    Strong security features including TLS encryption, compliance with GDPR, and authentication mechanisms like DKIM and SPF.

Possible disadvantages of Sparkpost

  • Pricing
    Can be more expensive than some of its competitors, particularly for users with very high email volumes.
  • Learning Curve
    The platform has a steep learning curve, especially for users who are not experienced with email marketing tools.
  • Support
    While support options are available, some users have reported slow response times when dealing with issues.
  • User Interface
    The user interface can be considered less intuitive and harder to navigate for beginners compared to other email platforms.
  • Integration
    Integrations with third-party services can sometimes be challenging and may require additional technical expertise.

Postmark features and specs

  • High Delivery Rates
    Postmark is known for its high email delivery rates, ensuring that transactional emails reach inboxes promptly.
  • Fast Sending Speed
    Emails through Postmark are processed and sent very quickly, which is crucial for transactional emails requiring immediate delivery.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform has an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface, making it accessible for users of varying technical skills.
  • Detailed Analytics
    Postmark provides comprehensive analytics, including open rates, click rates, and delivery logs, enabling detailed tracking of email performance.
  • Reliable API
    Postmark offers a highly reliable and well-documented API, facilitating seamless integration with various applications.
  • Top-Notch Customer Support
    The service is praised for its responsive and knowledgeable customer support team, available to assist with any issues.
  • Emphasis on Security
    Postmark prioritizes email security with features like two-factor authentication and SSL encryption.

Possible disadvantages of Postmark

  • Cost
    Postmark's pricing can be relatively high compared to some other email service providers, particularly for larger email volumes.
  • Lack of Marketing Email Features
    Postmark is primarily designed for transactional emails and lacks many advanced features needed for marketing emails, such as list segmentation and complex automation workflows.
  • Rate Limits
    Postmark imposes rate limits on sending emails, which might be a constraint for businesses with very high or bursty email volumes.
  • Limited Template Customization
    While Postmark allows for the use of email templates, the customization options are more limited compared to specialized email design tools.
  • Geographical Limits
    Postmark's server locations are primarily based in the U.S., which may affect email delivery speeds in other regions.
  • Lack of SMS Integration
    Postmark does not offer SMS sending capabilities, which may be a drawback for businesses looking to consolidate their communication channels.

Analysis of Sparkpost

Overall verdict

  • Sparkpost is generally considered a good choice for email delivery services, particularly for businesses that require reliable infrastructure and detailed analytics. Its combination of features and customer support makes it a competitive option in the email service provider market.

Why this product is good

  • Sparkpost is a popular email delivery service known for its high deliverability rates, robust analytics, and scalability. It provides powerful APIs and a user-friendly interface for managing email campaigns, making it a solid choice for businesses of all sizes. It also offers features like real-time analytics, email templates, and recipient engagement tracking, which help optimize email marketing strategies. Furthermore, its reputation for reliable infrastructure and customer support contributes to its positive standing among users.

Recommended for

  • Businesses looking for high email deliverability and detailed analytics
  • Companies that need scalable email solutions
  • Organizations that value reliable infrastructure and customer support
  • Marketing teams aiming to optimize their email campaigns

Analysis of Postmark

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Postmark is considered a good option for those needing a reliable and efficient transactional email service. It stands out due to its focus on speed, deliverability, and ease of use for both developers and businesses.

Why this product is good

  • Postmark is praised for its reliable email delivery service, which is specifically designed for transactional emails. It offers fast delivery times, extensive real-time tracking, and detailed analytics. Additionally, Postmark provides a user-friendly API and robust documentation, making it easy for developers to integrate and maintain. The service is known for its strong focus on sending emails quickly and efficiently, with a low probability of ending up in spam folders.

Recommended for

  • Businesses needing efficient and reliable transactional email delivery.
  • Developers looking for easy API integration and robust documentation.
  • Organizations requiring real-time email tracking and detailed analytics.
  • Companies prioritizing quick email deliverability and avoiding spam filters.

Sparkpost videos

SparkPost Overview

Postmark videos

Using Postmark to send email from Darkroom Booth

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Sparkpost and Postmark)
Email Marketing
35 35%
65% 65
Email Marketing Platforms
Email Delivery
31 31%
69% 69
Newsletter Marketing
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Sparkpost and Postmark

Sparkpost Reviews

10 Top Mailgun Alternatives | Most Affordable Competitors 2019
SparkPost has got great uptime which is backed by SLAs. In fact, SparkPost’s burst SLAs assure sending of 10,000 emails per second.
Source: www.formget.com
8 Most Reliable Mandrill Alternative SMTP Relays
The first of the Mandrill Alternative SMTP Relays is the Sparkpost. Since 2001, Message Systems (SparkPost parent company) has built quite a reputation in email marketing platform. It is because Message Systems easily outperforms any other cloud or on-premises email marketing alternative, and provides the flexibility, deliverability, and control that is an absolute must in a...
Source: easysendy.com

Postmark Reviews

7 Best Transactional Email Services: Sendgrid vs. Mandrill & More
Postmark are the most expensive transactional email service (10x the cost of Amazon SES), so what do they do to justify the sky high pricing? Their focus seems to be on providing a high-end service using only the best hardware and software to keep your receive rates high, and your data secure. The impression I get with Postmark is that they’re one of the more transparent...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Postmark seems to be a lot more popular than Sparkpost. While we know about 52 links to Postmark, we've tracked only 3 mentions of Sparkpost. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Sparkpost mentions (3)

  • The 7 best transactional email services for developers in 2023
    Sparkpost. Good deliverability and a robust set of analytics tools make this a solid choice. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • What to do about outbound emails customers and vendors don't get?
    One of our staff was following up on orders to vendors via phone, and several said they didn't get our email with the PO. Someone said that sparkpost.com, Netsuite's email sender, was blacklisted. Blacklistings are hard (for me) to track down, especially since they clear up quickly. But blacklistings can trump most client's SPF/DKIM/whitelist guards. We are getting pushed by management to help ensure... Source: over 3 years ago
  • Post STMP Email Log Error
    Yes pretty much. In theory, you could use godaddy directly but sending emails through your web host is not something you want to do (They won't help much other than telling you to live with it). For better delivery of emails, you need transactional email providers. Not sure of your budget but my top choices are mandrillapp.com, sparkpost.com and sendgrid.com (in that order). Source: over 3 years ago

Postmark mentions (52)

  • Join the Postmark Challenge: Inbox Innovators - $3,000 in Prizes!
    We are thrilled to partner with Postmark to bring the community a brand new DEV challenge. - Source: dev.to / 17 days ago
  • DBOS-Cloud Simple and Robust Workflow Orchestration
    Have a Postmark account, username / password from the server (https://postmarkapp.com/), and a specific sending email address setup. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • 7 Best Transactional Email Platforms in 2024 Compared 📬
    Postmark is a transactional email service based in Chicago, Illinois. Postmark was a bootstrapped company founded in 2009 by two co-founders. After years of running the company together, the founders decided to step away and sold Postmark to ActiveCampaign in May 2022. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: What do you recommend for SaaS broadcast emails?
    I use Postmark (https://postmarkapp.com/) for transactional emails OnlineOrNot has an email-only auth option, and it was the only provider I found that could actually deliver emails in a second or so (rather than minutes). - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • A list of SaaS, PaaS and IaaS offerings that have free tiers of interest to devops and infradev
    Postmark - 100 emails/month free, unlimited DMARC weekly digests. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Sparkpost and Postmark, you can also consider the following products

Mailgun - A set of powerful APIs that enable you to send, receive and track email from your app effortlessly whether you use Python, Ruby, PHP, C#, Node.js or Java.

SendGrid - Learn why more developers choose SendGrid for their email deliverability service to send transactional emails triggered by web apps. Get started for free

Brevo - Innovative online Email Marketing solution to manage your contacts, create & send your newsletters and track your results. More than 80 000 clients. Best prices and attractive features.

MailChimp - MailChimp is the best way to design, send, and share email newsletters.

Mailjet - All-in-one email service provider that provides maximum insight and deliverability results for both marketing and transactional emails.

Pepipost - Use our powerful Email APIs to deliver all your business critical emails on time and to the Inbox. We are the world’s only ESP that gives cashback on emails opened.