Hey everyone,
I’m working on a small Django app and need some advice on email services. The main use will be for account verification after sign-up, and maybe later for sending updates to users.
I’ve heard of SendGrid and MailGun, but I’m wondering if there are any budget-friendly options out there. It would be great if they work well with Django’s email backend.
Does anyone have experience using Gmail for this kind of thing? Or any other suggestions for cheap but reliable email services?
I’m not expecting to send tons of emails, so a service with a decent free tier could work too.
Thanks in advance for any tips!
I’ve been in your shoes before, and I can tell you from experience that Mailjet is worth considering for your Django project. They offer a free tier that includes 6,000 emails per month (200 per day), which should be more than enough for account verifications and occasional updates.
What I particularly like about Mailjet is their Django integration. They have a specific Django package that makes setup a breeze. Just pip install mailjet-rest, add a few lines to your settings.py, and you’re good to go.
One thing to keep in mind though - their delivery rates aren’t always perfect. I’ve had a few emails end up in spam folders. But for a free service, it’s been reliable enough for my needs.
If you do outgrow the free tier, their paid plans are pretty reasonable too. Just make sure to keep an eye on your usage to avoid unexpected bills.
For a basic Django project, I’d recommend considering Amazon SES (Simple Email Service). It’s cost-effective and integrates well with Django. The pricing is pay-as-you-go, starting at $0.10 per 1,000 emails, which is quite economical for low-volume sending.
SES offers good deliverability and is easy to set up with Django using the django-ses package. You get 62,000 free outbound messages per month when sending from Amazon EC2, which could cover your needs for a while.
One caveat: you’ll need to request production access if you want to send to non-verified email addresses. This process can take a day or two but ensures better email practices.
I’ve used SES for several projects and found it reliable and straightforward. Just remember to monitor your sending quota and keep an eye on bounce rates to maintain a good sender reputation.
hey there, i’ve used mailgun for my django stuff and it’s pretty sweet. they got a free plan that lets u send like 5000 emails a month, which should work for ur needs. it’s super easy to setup with django too - just add a few lines to ur settings and ur good to go. the api is straightforward and they got good docs. just watch out for the spam folder sometimes