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Why NylasNylas or SendGrid email API: Which is best for my use case?
Looking for an email API that can connect directly to any service provider and power two-way, conversational email in your app? Transactional APIs like SendGrid are great for one-way, mass email notifications, but Nylas is the only email API that supports contextual email use cases with near-perfect deliverability.
Request a demo today to:
- Learn how to build engaging, unified email and scheduling solutions
- Explore pricing options tailored to your business needs and growth
- Choose the right partner when considering Nylas vs SendGrid
Schedule a demo
Select the right email API for your use case
Contextual APIs connect directly to users’ email accounts for a more conversational email experience, while Transactional APIs support large-scale outreach beyond rate limits. Many teams use both APIs to deliver a unified experience.
Contextual use cases
Build an integrated email client, power automated outreach, and centralize all conversations in one view.
Combined use cases
Send high volumes of personal email messages with high deliverability through a shared address.
Transactional use cases
Send and track templated, large-scale marketing campaigns, product alerts, and promotional offers.
Email designed for two-way communication
We built Nylas on a secure, performant platform trusted by 200,000+ developers.
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Integrate with any email provider
Empower users to send messages through their preferred email address. Nylas supports 100% of service providers through a single API, including Google. Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, and more. -
Confidently deliver email
Don’t stress about sender reputation. Instantly tap into 99.6% (industry-leading) deliverability and avoid one of the primary signals service providers use to flag SPAM by sending directly from service providers. -
Manage replies with ease
Intuitive, out-of-the-box reply management. Unlock conversational, contextual email use cases by surfacing replies in your application without additional processing.
Nylas’ Contextual vs. Sendgrid’s Transactional Email APIs
Connectivity
Nylas connects directly to email service providers (ex: Gmail, Outlook). Emails sent and received in your email client are viewable in your application, and vice versa.
Twilio SendGrid connects to a third-party IP to deliver email from a single address or domain (such as do-not-reply@
Deliverability
Get near-perfect (99.6%) deliverability by sending from user inboxes using Nylas, not a proxy IP.
Transactional APIs send email through proxy (third-party) IPs, resulting in 80% deliverability on average.
Rate limits
Nylas sends email through service providers, meaning we’re restricted to daily rate limits (these vary by provider).
Twilio SendGrid is not beholden to provider rate limits, meaning you can deliver mass email campaigns within a short period of time.
Reply management
With Nyas, it’s easy and intuitive to sync replies within your app thanks to our bi-directional sync.
With SendGrid, you’ll need to set up an inbound parse webhook to receive replies.
Quality-of-life inbox features
Nylas supports threading, folders, labels, search, and other quality-of-life features out of the box.
Transactional APIs aren’t built with reply management in mind and offer no out-of-the-box support for critical quality-of-life features.
Nylas API powers top applications worldwide
Over 250,000 developers at industry-leading brands and fast-growing companies use the Nylas API to deliver core communication features
Harness the power of contextual email
“One of the top three reasons our customers churned was email deliverability. Nylas solved a top-three problem for us overnight. We went from close to 0% to nearly 100% deliverability.”
Justin Belobaba
CEO at NowSite
How NowSite achieved unmatched email deliverability overnight
NowSite used Nylas’ Email API to connect directly with service providers and power contextual email in its app. See how NowSite:
- Added $1M+ ARR
- Cut customer churn by 75%
- Increased NPS from 25 to 49
“The first thing every customer asks is: Do you connect with Google or Microsoft? You will not win the customer without that.”
Daniel Miller
Chief Product Officer at RecruiterPM
How RecruiterPM saves HR team 10 hours a week
RecruiterPM wanted a unified, intuitive email solution to save end-users time and resources. They used Nylas to:
- Build a single view of all candidate communications
- Launch features 8x faster with 55% fewer resources
- Reduce opt-out rates for recruiter emails by 40%
“Once we found Nylas, we didn’t consider any other product. A contextual email API was a perfect fit for our use case, giving sales reps direct access to their personal email inbox,”
Taiwo Oyenyi
CTO at Distrobird
How Distrobird built a unified view of sales conversations to triple sales productivity
Distrobird needed to expand channel offerings to support email in light of overwhelming customer requests. They used Nylas to:
- Launched email features 4x faster than building from scratch
- Increase sales productivity 3x
Conserved half of its development team to focus on other projects
Industry recognitions and awards
- Nylas ranks on the 2023 Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ for the second consecutive year
Attributes enhanced onboarding experiences, new generative AI features, and strategic partnerships to its revenue growth and second year of recognition. Read more
- Nylas named a 2023 Gartner Cool Vendor
Nylas was recognized as a Cool Vendor in the 2023 Gartner “Cool Vendors™ in composable customer engagement platforms report”. Read more
- CPaaS and business scheduling software
Nylas has been recognized in the G2 Winter 2023 Reports for CPaaS, and Business Scheduling. Read more
Nylas security and compliance
With security built into the core of our products, you can rest assured knowing your data will always be safe, secure, and protected. Learn more about Nylas security
.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the Sendgrid email API?
SendGrid is a leading marketing and transactional email API that developers can use to deliver messages at scale. With the Twilio SendGrid Email API, developers can send transactional emails programmatically, create templates, and track marketing campaign performance.
What should I consider when choosing Nylas vs SendGrid?
When deciding between Nylas and SendGrid, the first question you should ask yourself is: What am I trying to build? If, for example, you’re integrating email in a CRM so that users can view and send emails from their inbox without switching tools, then a contextual email API like Nylas is the best option for your use case. But if you’re supporting mass send use cases in your product such as email marketing campaigns, automated billing updates, or product alerts, then Twilio is likely your best fit.
What is a contextual email API?
Contextual email APIs offer direct access to data from users’ personal accounts with email service providers (such as Google or Microsoft). Contextual email APIs are designed for devs that need to embed send and receive email capabilities, inbox management tools, and analytics in their app—all with near-perfect deliverability.
What is a transactional email API?
Transactional email APIs deliver email through proxy or third-party IPs. Transactional APIs are designed for developers who need to deliver email at a massive scale, well beyond daily provider rate limits.
Data privacy and security are top priorities. How secure is Nylas?
Nylas adheres to the most stringent security standards such as GDPR, CCPA, GLBA, and DPA. With security built into the core of our products, we also engage with respected 3rd party firms to audit our infrastructure and security practices, resulting in a SOC 2 Type II audit report, SOC 1 Type I audit report, HIPAA/HITRUST report, and ISO 27001 certification.