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If SendGrid has turned into a support ticket queue and a bill that climbs faster than your list, there is a calmer way to send.
by Ozlem Yildirimer · Last updated: 2026-08-26Switching from SendGrid to Mailsoftly takes most teams a few hours, not days. You export your contacts, segments, and templates from SendGrid, hand them to Mailsoftly’s free migration team, verify your sending domain, and rebuild automations. Mailsoftly does the heavy lifting, so there is no downtime and nothing left behind.
This guide walks through every step in order: why teams leave, exactly what you can carry over, how the import works, and a side-by-side comparison so you know what you are getting. It is written for marketers and operators, not engineers, so you will not need to touch an API to follow along.
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Quick context: Mailsoftly offers transparent pricing, free hands-on migration, and human support. 500 contacts and 2,000 emails per month with your Gmail, Outlook, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 account, no credit card.
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Key Takeaways
Teams leave SendGrid for three recurring reasons: cost that balloons as volume grows, a developer-first interface that marketers find painful, and support that feels distant when a send is on the line. SendGrid was built as a transactional email API, so marketing workflows often feel bolted on rather than native.
The cost problem is the one people notice first. SendGrid’s Marketing Campaigns pricing scales with contacts and sends, and add-ons like dedicated IPs and higher support tiers stack on top. You can confirm the current tiers on SendGrid’s official pricing page, where the jump between plans is steep once your list grows past the free allowance.
The second reason is complexity. Setting up a simple welcome series shouldn’t require reading API docs. The third is support: when deliverability dips, you want a person, not a help center article. Since email still returns a strong payback for most senders, as ongoing HubSpot marketing statistics consistently show, the platform you send from should make that easier, not harder.
The three common pain points
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You can bring everything that matters: contacts, custom fields, segments, email templates, and the logic behind your automations. None of it is locked inside SendGrid. The only thing that does not transfer is your historical sender reputation, which is tied to SendGrid’s IPs, and that is actually an opportunity to start clean.
Contacts and custom fields export as a standard CSV, so every subscriber, tag, and attribute comes across intact. Segments can be rebuilt one-to-one using the same rules you already rely on. Templates export as HTML and are re-created inside Mailsoftly’s editor, where the migration team checks rendering across clients before anything ships.
Because templates are the most fragile piece, it is worth testing them before go-live. Broken layouts and dark-mode quirks are common when HTML moves between platforms, which is why the standard deliverability and rendering checklists from Litmus email testing resources are a useful reference during any migration.
Migrating follows four steps: export from SendGrid, import into Mailsoftly, verify deliverability, then rebuild automations. With Mailsoftly’s free hands-on migration, the team handles the import and automation rebuild for you, so your job is mostly to approve and test. Here is the full sequence.
In SendGrid, open Marketing, then Contacts, and use the export option to download your full list as a CSV. This includes every custom field and tag. To export contacts from SendGrid cleanly, export the whole list rather than individual segments, so nothing is missed, then note which fields you use for segmentation.
Send the CSV and your exported templates to the Mailsoftly migration team, or upload the CSV yourself through the contacts importer. Field mapping is matched to your existing structure so tags and attributes line up. This is where the free hands-on migration saves the most time, because the team maps fields and rebuilds segments for you.
Authenticate your sending domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records before your first broadcast. Mailsoftly provides the exact DNS entries to add, and the team confirms alignment. Verifying deliverability up front protects your inbox placement and means your reputation builds on clean records rather than inheriting any SendGrid baggage.
Finally, recreate your welcome series, drip campaigns, and triggered flows. Because you documented the logic during export, each trigger, delay, and branch maps across directly. Send test entries through every automation, confirm the right emails fire, and only then switch off the equivalent flows in SendGrid to avoid any overlap.
Free hands-on migration
Mailsoftly’s team imports your contacts, rebuilds your segments, re-creates templates, and sets up your automations at no cost. You review and approve. There is no downtime, because your SendGrid account stays live until you confirm everything works.
Mailsoftly is a contact-based marketing platform with transparent pricing and human support on every plan, while SendGrid is an API-first transactional tool where marketing features and priority support cost extra. All Mailsoftly prices below are verified (as of 2026-09-07). You can see the full breakdown on the Mailsoftly pricing page.
| Platform | Pricing | Free plan | Support | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailsoftly | Free, then $15/mo annual (Starter) up to $159/mo annual (Premium); Enterprise custom | Yes: 500 contacts, 2,000 emails/mo with your Gmail, Outlook, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 account | Human support on every plan, free migration | Growing teams that want simple, contact-based sending |
| SendGrid | Volume and contact based; priority support and dedicated IP cost extra | Limited free tier | Priority support gated behind higher tiers | Developers sending transactional email via API |
On ease of use, Mailsoftly leans marketer-first: a visual editor, drag-and-drop automations, and segmentation you configure without code. SendGrid is powerful for engineers but asks more of a marketing team. The Mailsoftly tiers are straightforward: Starter at $15/mo annual for 1,000 contacts and 10,000 emails, Basic at $39/mo annual for 5,000 contacts and 40,000 emails, Business at $79/mo annual for 15,000 contacts, and Premium at $159/mo annual for 30,000 contacts.
The support model is the clearest difference. With Mailsoftly, a real person helps you migrate, verify your domain, and troubleshoot a send, regardless of plan. That alone resolves the most common SendGrid complaint, and a usable interface matters because clean, scannable design drives engagement, a point reinforced by Nielsen Norman Group usability research.
In your first week, warm up gradually, watch your core deliverability metrics, and keep SendGrid as a fallback until you are confident. The goal is to prove inbox placement on Mailsoftly before you fully cut over, so start with engaged segments and scale volume up over a few sends.
Keep your SendGrid account open but idle for a couple of weeks as a safety net. Once a full broadcast and every automation have run cleanly on Mailsoftly, you can downgrade or close SendGrid with no risk of a gap in your sending.
The questions that come up most are about timing, data safety, and cost. The short version: migration is fast, your data is preserved, and switching itself is free. Below, the FAQ answers each directly so you can plan with confidence before you start.
For the broader landscape, see our full comparison of best email marketing services covering every major platform.
Most migrations finish within a few hours. Exporting contacts and templates from SendGrid takes minutes, and Mailsoftly’s team handles the import, segment rebuild, and automation setup the same day. Domain verification can take a little longer if DNS changes need to propagate, but sending is usually ready within one business day.
No. Your contacts, custom fields, segments, and templates all transfer, and your automation logic is rebuilt step by step inside Mailsoftly. Because your SendGrid account stays live until you confirm everything works, there is no window where data or active flows are at risk.
Switching is free. Mailsoftly’s hands-on migration is included at no charge, and you can start on the free plan with 500 contacts and 2,000 emails per month with your Gmail, Outlook, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 account, no credit card required. You only pay when you outgrow the free tier and choose a paid plan.
No developer is required. The export from SendGrid is a standard CSV download, and Mailsoftly’s team manages the import and automation rebuild for you. Domain authentication involves adding a few DNS records, and the team gives you the exact values to paste in.
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500 contacts, 2,000 emails per month with your Gmail, Outlook, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 account. Free hands-on migration. No credit card.
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