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Postmark API — pricing, free tier & how to get a token

Postmark is a transactional email API known for fast delivery and strong deliverability — receipts, password resets, alerts and other app-triggered email. It keeps transactional and broadcast streams separate so your important mail isn't slowed by bulk sends. Here's the pricing, the free test tier, and how to get a token.

Postmark pricing (reference, June 2026)

PlanPriceEmails
Developer free tier$0100 / mo (testing) + free DMARC
10kfrom ~$15/mo10,000 / mo
50kfrom ~$55/mo50,000 / mo
125kfrom ~$115/mo125,000 / mo
Higher volumecustom300k+, lower per-email rate
⚠️ Reference prices, June 2026 — tiers and email volumes change. Confirm on postmarkapp.com/pricing. Above the included volume, extra emails are billed per thousand, and the per-email rate falls as plans get larger.

The free tier

Postmark's free Developer tier sends 100 emails per month — enough to wire up and test your integration, but not for production. There's no perpetual large free tier like Resend's 3,000/mo, so Postmark is best thought of as a paid, deliverability-first service. The upside is free DMARC monitoring for your domain, which is genuinely useful for protecting your sending reputation even before you go paid.

How to get a Postmark API token (step by step)

1. Sign up at postmarkapp.com.
2. Create a Server (a logical sending environment — e.g. one for production, one for staging).
3. Verify your domain or sender signature by adding the SPF, DKIM and (recommended) DMARC DNS records Postmark shows you.
4. Open the server's API Tokens tab and copy the Server API Token — this is the token you send in the X-Postmark-Server-Token header.

Send a test email:

# replace $POSTMARK_TOKEN and emails
curl -X POST https://api.postmarkapp.com/email \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-Postmark-Server-Token: $POSTMARK_TOKEN" \
-d '{"From":"you@yourdomain.com","To":"to@example.com","Subject":"Hi","HtmlBody":"<p>Hello</p>","MessageStream":"outbound"}'

Cheaper / alternative options

Amazon SES is the cheapest at scale (~$0.10 per 1,000 emails) but bare-bones to set up. Resend (see our Resend guide) has a far more generous 3,000/mo free tier and great developer experience. SendGrid (SendGrid guide) adds marketing-email features, and Mailgun (Mailgun guide) is a solid mid-market option with EU regions. Postmark's edge is transactional deliverability and speed. Compare them all for your volume with the email API cost calculator. For SMS instead of email, see Twilio.

FAQ

Does Postmark have a free tier?

Yes, but small — 100 emails/month for testing, plus free DMARC monitoring. Production sending starts around $15/mo for 10,000 emails.

How do I get a Postmark API token?

Sign up, create a Server, verify your domain via DNS (SPF + DKIM + DMARC), then copy the Server API Token from the API Tokens tab and send it in the X-Postmark-Server-Token header.

Is Postmark or SendGrid cheaper?

For pure volume at scale, Amazon SES beats both. Between the two, SendGrid has a small ongoing free tier and more marketing features; Postmark charges from ~$15/mo but is prized for fast, reliable transactional delivery. Compare exact numbers in the email cost calculator.

What is a Message Stream in Postmark?

Postmark separates outbound mail into streams — typically a transactional stream and a broadcast/marketing stream — so bulk sends never delay time-sensitive transactional email. You set the stream in the MessageStream field of the API call.

Not affiliated with Postmark. Prices are reference estimates — always verify on the official pricing page.