SendGrid vs Sparkpost
Compare SendGrid and Sparkpost based on observed API performance, features, and pricing
Live performance comparison
Real-world performance data from messages sent through Knock
| Provider | Message volume | Growth | Status page updates (30d) | Status page updates (90d) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500M+ | 2nd of 10 → | 7 | 25 |
| <1M | 10th of 10 ↓ | 4 | 13 |
From February 17th to May 18th, Knock routed 500M+ messages through SendGrid and <1M through Sparkpost. SendGrid reported 25 status page updates over the last 90 days, while Sparkpost reported 13.
Response time
Response time measures how long each provider takes to accept an API request from Knock, including connection overhead and any automatic retries. Lower values mean faster message hand-off.
The chart above shows each provider's daily median response time (p50) from February 17th to May 18th. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: SendGrid averaged 22ms compared to 281ms for Sparkpost. SendGrid's highest daily p50 was 24ms; Sparkpost's was 336ms. SendGrid is 259ms faster at the median, which can add up at high volumes.
The 90th percentile (p90) captures the slowest 10% of requests, revealing how each provider handles moderate stress. Averaged across all days, SendGrid has a p90 of 76ms compared to 352ms for Sparkpost. The highest daily p90 was 98ms for SendGrid and 537ms for Sparkpost. SendGrid handles these slower requests 276ms faster, suggesting more consistent performance across the board.
The 99th percentile (p99) represents the long tail — the slowest 1% of requests. Averaged across all days, SendGrid reached 407ms at p99 while Sparkpost reached 582ms. The highest daily p99 was 2348ms for SendGrid and 31566ms for Sparkpost, indicating the worst-case response time during spikes or provider-side congestion. SendGrid shows a tighter tail, which may matter for time-sensitive notifications like one-time passwords or real-time alerts where even rare delays can impact user experience.
Error rate
Error rate tracks the ratio of 5xx responses and timeouts to total requests. Knock automatically retries failed requests, so transient provider errors rarely affect end-user delivery.
| Provider | Avg. daily error rate | Highest daily rate | Peak error date | Zero-error days | Days above 0.01% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00% | 0.02% | Feb 18 | 86 | 3 |
| 0.16% | 3.41% | Feb 24 | 89 | 2 |
Averaged across the date range, SendGrid shows a 0.00% daily error rate compared to 0.16% for Sparkpost. The highest single-day error rate was 0.02% for SendGrid and 3.41% for Sparkpost. SendGrid demonstrates a lower error rate, indicating slightly more consistent availability during this period. Knock automatically retries failed requests to both providers, minimizing the impact of transient errors on end-user delivery.
About these metrics: Data represents messages sent through Knock during the specified period. Response time measures time from Knock to provider acceptance. Error rate includes only provider 5xx responses and timeouts.
Recent SendGrid incidents
Recent status page incidents for SendGrid
Started May 14, 2026 — Resolved May 14, 2026
May 14, 10:47 PDT Resolved - Our engineers have monitored the fix and confirmed the issue with Sender Engagement Quality (SEQ) API endpoint has been resolved. All services are now operating normally at this time.May 14, 10:12 PDT Monitoring - Our engineers have implemented a fix and are monitoring system performance. SendGrid Engagement Quality API endpoint is now working as expected with API keys. We will provide another update in 30 minutes or as soon as more information becomes available.May
Started May 13, 2026 — Resolved May 13, 2026
May 12, 17:22 PDT Resolved - Our engineers have monitored the fix and confirmed all services are now operating normally.May 12, 16:48 PDT Monitoring - Between 16:10 PDT and 16:27 PDT on 05/12/2026, our engineers began investigating an issue with a subset of services experiencing 5xx errors. Users may have experienced issues when accessing subusers, authenticating domains and link branding records, accessing the account, and checking account stats. This does not impact mail send. Our engineer
Started May 12, 2026 — Resolved May 12, 2026
May 12, 11:20 PDT Resolved - Our engineers have monitored the fix and confirmed the issue with teammate account creation has been resolved. All services are now operating normally at this time.May 12, 10:13 PDT Monitoring - Our engineers have implemented a fix and are monitoring system performance. Teammates that were impacted by the issue need to request a new invite link and delete cache and cookies on their browsers before attempting to join again. We will provide another update in one hour o
Started May 8, 2026 — Resolved May 8, 2026
May 8, 01:09 PDT Resolved - Our engineers have monitored the fix and confirmed the issue with Mail delay has been resolved. All services are now operating normally at this timeMay 8, 00:04 PDT Update - Our engineering team has identified the root cause of the issue and is actively working on a resolution. Please note that new Mail Send requests are processing as expected and are not impacted. We will share another update within the next two hours, or sooner if additional information becomes av
Started May 6, 2026 — Resolved May 6, 2026
May 6, 16:22 PDT Resolved - Our engineers have monitored the fix and confirmed the issue with Twilio SendGrid invoices and the tax amounts has been resolved. All services are now operating normally at this time.May 6, 15:04 PDT Monitoring - Our engineers have implemented a fix and are monitoring system performance. We have resolved the tax calculation issue, and customer invoices have been corrected with the appropriate tax amounts. If you were overcharged, your refund will be automatically pr
Recent Sparkpost incidents
Recent status page incidents for Sparkpost
Started May 12, 2026 — Resolved May 12, 2026
May 12, 09:38 EDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved.May 12, 09:10 EDT Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.May 12, 08:48 EDT Identified - We’re currently investigating an issue that prevented some customers from updating their payment details. The root cause has been identified, and a fix is being implemented.
Started May 11, 2026 — Resolved May 11, 2026
May 11, 16:02 EDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved.May 11, 15:46 EDT Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.May 11, 14:55 EDT Identified - We are experiencing an elevated level of errors and latency on the Suppression List API for some SparkPost customers. Please retry any 5xx error. Note: This issue does not impact SparkPost customers hosted in the EU.
Started May 9, 2026 — Resolved May 9, 2026
May 9, 18:17 EDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved.May 9, 18:05 EDT Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.May 9, 17:50 EDT Identified - The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented.May 9, 17:39 EDT Investigating - We are looking into why some messages are seeing delayed delivery.
Started May 8, 2026 — Resolved May 8, 2026
May 8, 07:31 EDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved.May 7, 06:49 EDT Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.May 7, 05:31 EDT Investigating - We are currently investigating this issue.
Started Apr 5, 2026 — Resolved Apr 5, 2026
Apr 5, 15:01 EDT Resolved - Delivery rates to Apple domains have returned to normal with no further elevated delays or bounces. We will perform any necessary post-incident cleanup of suppression lists to ensure no recipients were incorrectly suppressed during the outage. NOTE: As of Monday April 5th at 9PM EDT the cleanup has been completed. All recipient addresses to Apple or Apple Private Relay domains that were suppressed during Apple's incident window were removed.Apr 5, 14:27 EDT Monito
Pros and cons
SendGrid
Sparkpost
Pros
- Comprehensive documentation with SDKs for most major languages
- Rich analytics tools with programmatic API access to engagement data
- Strong focus on deliverability with AI-powered intelligent delivery
- Trusted by Uber, Booking.com, and Yelp for high-volume sending
Pros
- Delivers nearly 40% of all commercial email worldwide
- Subaccount support for isolated sending streams under one billing account
- On-premise mail sending solution available for very high volume workloads
- Great analytics tools with predictive health scores for email deliverability
Cons
- Extended email activity history requires a paid add-on
- Pricing can become complex at higher volumes
- Support response times vary by plan tier
Cons
- Documentation can be hard to navigate with less beginner-friendly getting started content
- Higher price point than basic providers
- Now part of Bird (formerly MessageBird), which may affect product direction
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between SendGrid and Sparkpost?
SendGrid is a cloud-based email delivery platform owned by Twilio, known for high-volume transactional and marketing email. SparkPost is a data-driven email delivery platform with advanced analytics and predictive tools for high-volume senders. SendGrid is best suited for high-volume transactional + marketing, while Sparkpost is geared toward data-driven, high-volume.
Which is cheaper, SendGrid or Sparkpost?
Free tier includes up to 100 emails per day for 60 days. Paid plans start at $19.95/month for 50,000 emails on the Essentials plan, with an Essentials 100K tier at $34.95/month. Pro plans with dedicated IPs start at $249/month for 300,000 emails. Free tier includes 500 emails per month with community support. Paid plans start at $20/month for 50,000 emails with premium deliverability features. The best value depends on your sending volume. Use the pricing calculator above to compare costs at your expected volume.
Which is faster, SendGrid or Sparkpost?
Based on real-world data from Knock, SendGrid has a median API response time (p50) of 22ms compared to 281ms for Sparkpost.
Which is more reliable, SendGrid or Sparkpost?
From February 17th to May 18th, SendGrid showed an error rate of 0.00% while Sparkpost showed 0.16%. Both rates are within acceptable thresholds for production email delivery, and Knock automatically retries failed requests to minimize the impact of transient errors.
Which is more popular, SendGrid or Sparkpost?
On the Knock platform, SendGrid handled 500M+ messages from February 17th to May 18th compared to <1M for Sparkpost. SendGrid volume has remained stable, while Sparkpost is seeing declining volume.
Can I use both SendGrid and Sparkpost together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple email providers into a single notification workflow. You can use SendGrid and Sparkpost side by side, route traffic between them, or migrate from one to the other without changing your application code.
What are the main pros and cons of SendGrid vs Sparkpost?
SendGrid strengths include comprehensive documentation with sdks for most major languages and rich analytics tools with programmatic api access to engagement data. Sparkpost strengths include delivers nearly 40% of all commercial email worldwide and subaccount support for isolated sending streams under one billing account. On the other hand, SendGrid drawbacks include extended email activity history requires a paid add-on, while Sparkpost drawbacks include documentation can be hard to navigate with less beginner-friendly getting started content.
Use either provider with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate SendGrid, Sparkpost, or any combination of email providers into a single notification workflow. Manage templates, orchestrate cross-channel delivery, and switch providers without changing your code.