Email Gateway (Multi-Provider)

Status: Production Ready ✅ Last Updated: 2026-01-10 Providers: Resend, SendGrid, Mailgun, SMTP2Go

---

Quick Start

Choose your provider based on needs:

Provider	Best For	Key Feature	Free Tier
Resend	Modern apps, React Email	JSX templates	100/day, 3k/month
SendGrid	Enterprise scale	Dynamic templates	100/day forever
Mailgun	Developer webhooks	Event tracking	100/day
SMTP2Go	Reliable relay, AU	Simple API	1k/month trial

Resend (Recommended for New Projects)

const response = await fetch('https://api.resend.com/emails', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${env.RESEND_API_KEY}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    from: 'noreply@yourdomain.com',
    to: 'user@example.com',
    subject: 'Welcome!',
    html: '<h1>Hello World</h1>',
  }),
});

const data = await response.json();
// { id: "49a3999c-0ce1-4ea6-ab68-afcd6dc2e794" }

SendGrid (Enterprise)

const response = await fetch('https://api.sendgrid.com/v3/mail/send', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${env.SENDGRID_API_KEY}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    personalizations: [{
      to: [{ email: 'user@example.com' }],
    }],
    from: { email: 'noreply@yourdomain.com' },
    subject: 'Welcome!',
    content: [{
      type: 'text/html',
      value: '<h1>Hello World</h1>',
    }],
  }),
});

// Returns 202 on success (no body)

Mailgun

const formData = new FormData();
formData.append('from', 'noreply@yourdomain.com');
formData.append('to', 'user@example.com');
formData.append('subject', 'Welcome!');
formData.append('html', '<h1>Hello World</h1>');

const response = await fetch(
  `https://api.mailgun.net/v3/${env.MAILGUN_DOMAIN}/messages`,
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Basic ${btoa(`api:${env.MAILGUN_API_KEY}`)}`,
    },
    body: formData,
  }
);

const data = await response.json();
// { id: "<20111114174239.25659.5817@samples.mailgun.org>", message: "Queued. Thank you." }

SMTP2Go

const response = await fetch('https://api.smtp2go.com/v3/email/send', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    api_key: env.SMTP2GO_API_KEY,
    to: ['<user@example.com>'],
    sender: 'noreply@yourdomain.com',
    subject: 'Welcome!',
    html_body: '<h1>Hello World</h1>',
  }),
});

const data = await response.json();
// { data: { succeeded: 1, failed: 0, email_id: "..." } }

---

Provider Comparison

Features

Feature	Resend	SendGrid	Mailgun	SMTP2Go
React Email	✅ Native	❌	❌	❌
Dynamic Templates	✅	✅	✅	✅
Batch Sending	50/request	1000/request	1000/request	100/request
Webhooks	✅	✅	✅	✅
SMTP	✅	✅	✅	✅ Primary
IP Warmup	Managed	Manual	Manual	Managed
Dedicated IPs	Enterprise	$90+/mo	$80+/mo	Custom
Analytics	Basic	Advanced	Advanced	Good
A/B Testing	❌	✅	✅	❌

Rate Limits (Free Tier)

Provider	Daily	Monthly	Overage Cost
Resend	100	3,000	$1/1k
SendGrid	100	Forever	$15 for 10k
Mailgun	100	Forever	$15 for 10k
SMTP2Go	~33	1,000 trial	$10 for 10k

API Limits

Provider	Requests/sec	Burst	Retry After Header
Resend	10	Yes	✅
SendGrid	600	Yes	✅
Mailgun	Varies	Yes	✅
SMTP2Go	10	Limited	✅

Message Limits

Provider	Max Size	Attachments	Max Recipients
Resend	40 MB	40 MB total	50/request
SendGrid	20 MB	20 MB total	1000/request
Mailgun	25 MB	25 MB total	1000/request
SMTP2Go	50 MB	50 MB total	100/request

---

Configuration

Environment Variables

# Resend
RESEND_API_KEY=re_xxxxxxxxx

# SendGrid
SENDGRID_API_KEY=SG.xxxxxxxxx

# Mailgun
MAILGUN_API_KEY=xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx
MAILGUN_DOMAIN=mg.yourdomain.com
MAILGUN_REGION=us  # or eu

# SMTP2Go
SMTP2GO_API_KEY=api-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wrangler Secrets (Cloudflare Workers)

# Set secrets
echo "re_xxxxxxxxx" | npx wrangler secret put RESEND_API_KEY
echo "SG.xxxxxxxxx" | npx wrangler secret put SENDGRID_API_KEY
echo "xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx" | npx wrangler secret put MAILGUN_API_KEY
echo "api-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" | npx wrangler secret put SMTP2GO_API_KEY

# Deploy to activate
npx wrangler deploy

TypeScript Types

// Resend
interface ResendEmail {
  from: string;
  to: string | string[];
  subject: string;
  html?: string;
  text?: string;
  cc?: string | string[];
  bcc?: string | string[];
  replyTo?: string | string[];
  headers?: Record<string, string>;
  attachments?: Array<{
    filename: string;
    content: string; // base64
  }>;
  tags?: Record<string, string>;
  scheduledAt?: string; // ISO 8601
}

interface ResendResponse {
  id: string;
}

// SendGrid
interface SendGridEmail {
  personalizations: Array<{
    to: Array<{ email: string; name?: string }>;
    cc?: Array<{ email: string; name?: string }>;
    bcc?: Array<{ email: string; name?: string }>;
    subject?: string;
    dynamic_template_data?: Record<string, unknown>;
  }>;
  from: { email: string; name?: string };
  subject?: string;
  content?: Array<{
    type: 'text/plain' | 'text/html';
    value: string;
  }>;
  template_id?: string;
  attachments?: Array<{
    content: string; // base64
    filename: string;
    type?: string;
    disposition?: 'inline' | 'attachment';
  }>;
}

// Mailgun
interface MailgunEmail {
  from: string;
  to: string | string[];
  subject: string;
  html?: string;
  text?: string;
  cc?: string | string[];
  bcc?: string | string[];
  'h:Reply-To'?: string;
  template?: string;
  'h:X-Mailgun-Variables'?: string; // JSON
  attachment?: File | File[];
  inline?: File | File[];
  'o:tag'?: string | string[];
  'o:tracking'?: 'yes' | 'no';
  'o:tracking-clicks'?: 'yes' | 'no' | 'htmlonly';
  'o:tracking-opens'?: 'yes' | 'no';
}

interface MailgunResponse {
  id: string;
  message: string;
}

// SMTP2Go
interface SMTP2GoEmail {
  api_key: string;
  to: string[];
  sender: string;
  subject: string;
  html_body?: string;
  text_body?: string;
  custom_headers?: Array<{
    header: string;
    value: string;
  }>;
  attachments?: Array<{
    filename: string;
    fileblob: string; // base64
    mimetype?: string;
  }>;
}

interface SMTP2GoResponse {
  data: {
    succeeded: number;
    failed: number;
    failures?: string[];
    email_id?: string;
  };
}

---

Common Patterns

1. Transactional Emails

Password Reset:

// templates/password-reset.ts
export async function sendPasswordReset(
  provider: 'resend' | 'sendgrid' | 'mailgun' | 'smtp2go',
  to: string,
  resetToken: string,
  env: Env
): Promise<{ success: boolean; id?: string; error?: string }> {
  const resetUrl = `https://yourapp.com/reset-password?token=${resetToken}`;

  const html = `
    <h1>Reset Your Password</h1>
    <p>Click the link below to reset your password:</p>
    <a href="${resetUrl}">Reset Password</a>
    <p>This link expires in 1 hour.</p>
  `;

  switch (provider) {
    case 'resend':
      return sendViaResend(to, 'Reset Your Password', html, env);
    case 'sendgrid':
      return sendViaSendGrid(to, 'Reset Your Password', html, env);
    case 'mailgun':
      return sendViaMailgun(to, 'Reset Your Password', html, env);
    case 'smtp2go':
      return sendViaSMTP2Go(to, 'Reset Your Password', html, env);
  }
}

async function sendViaResend(
  to: string,
  subject: string,
  html: string,
  env: Env
): Promise<{ success: boolean; id?: string; error?: string }> {
  const response = await fetch('https://api.resend.com/emails', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${env.RESEND_API_KEY}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      from: 'noreply@yourdomain.com',
      to,
      subject,
      html,
    }),
  });

  if (!response.ok) {
    const error = await response.text();
    return { success: false, error };
  }

  const data = await response.json();
  return { success: true, id: data.id };
}

2. Batch Sending

Resend (max 50 recipients):

async function sendBatchResend(
  recipients: string[],
  subject: string,
  html: string,
  env: Env
): Promise<Array<{ email: string; id?: string; error?: string }>> {
  const results: Array<{ email: string; id?: string; error?: string }> = [];

  // Chunk into groups of 50
  for (let i = 0; i < recipients.length; i += 50) {
    const chunk = recipients.slice(i, i + 50);

    const response = await fetch('https://api.resend.com/emails', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        'Authorization': `Bearer ${env.RESEND_API_KEY}`,
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        from: 'noreply@yourdomain.com',
        to: chunk,
        subject,
        html,
      }),
    });

    if (response.ok) {
      const data = await response.json();
      chunk.forEach(email => results.push({ email, id: data.id }));
    } else {
      const error = await response.text();
      chunk.forEach(email => results.push({ email, error }));
    }
  }

  return results;
}

SendGrid (max 1000 personalizations):

async function sendBatchSendGrid(
  recipients: Array<{ email: string; name?: string; data?: Record<string, unknown> }>,
  templateId: string,
  env: Env
): Promise<{ success: boolean; error?: string }> {
  const response = await fetch('https://api.sendgrid.com/v3/mail/send', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${env.SENDGRID_API_KEY}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      personalizations: recipients.map(r => ({
        to: [{ email: r.email, name: r.name }],
        dynamic_template_data: r.data || {},
      })),
      from: { email: 'noreply@yourdomain.com' },
      template_id: templateId,
    }),
  });

  if (!response.ok) {
    const error = await response.text();
    return { success: false, error };
  }

  return { success: true };
}

3. React Email Templates (Resend Only)

Install React Email:

npm install react-email @react-email/components

Create Template:

// emails/welcome.tsx
import {
  Html,
  Head,
  Body,
  Container,
  Heading,
  Text,
  Button,
} from '@react-email/components';

interface WelcomeEmailProps {
  name: string;
  confirmUrl: string;
}

export default function WelcomeEmail({ name, confirmUrl }: WelcomeEmailProps) {
  return (
    <Html>
      <Head />
      <Body style={{ fontFamily: 'Arial, sans-serif' }}>
        <Container>
          <Heading>Welcome, {name}!</Heading>
          <Text>Thanks for signing up. Please confirm your email address:</Text>
          <Button href={confirmUrl} style={{ background: '#000', color: '#fff' }}>
            Confirm Email
          </Button>
        </Container>
      </Body>
    </Html>
  );
}

Send via Resend SDK (Node.js):

import { Resend } from 'resend';
import WelcomeEmail from './emails/welcome';

const resend = new Resend(process.env.RESEND_API_KEY);

await resend.emails.send({
  from: 'noreply@yourdomain.com',
  to: 'user@example.com',
  subject: 'Welcome!',
  react: WelcomeEmail({ name: 'Alice', confirmUrl: 'https://...' }),
});

Send via Workers (render to HTML first):

import { render } from '@react-email/render';
import WelcomeEmail from './emails/welcome';

const html = render(WelcomeEmail({ name: 'Alice', confirmUrl: 'https://...' }));

await fetch('https://api.resend.com/emails', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${env.RESEND_API_KEY}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    from: 'noreply@yourdomain.com',
    to: 'user@example.com',
    subject: 'Welcome!',
    html,
  }),
});

4. Dynamic Templates

SendGrid:

// 1. Create template in SendGrid dashboard with handlebars
// Subject: Welcome {{name}}!
// Body: <h1>Hi {{name}}</h1><p>Your code: {{confirmationCode}}</p>

// 2. Send with template ID
const response = await fetch('https://api.sendgrid.com/v3/mail/send', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${env.SENDGRID_API_KEY}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    personalizations: [{
      to: [{ email: 'user@example.com' }],
      dynamic_template_data: {
        name: 'Alice',
        confirmationCode: 'ABC123',
      },
    }],
    from: { email: 'noreply@yourdomain.com' },
    template_id: 'd-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
  }),
});

Mailgun:

// 1. Create template in Mailgun dashboard or via API
// Use {{name}} and {{confirmationCode}} variables

// 2. Send with template name
const formData = new FormData();
formData.append('from', 'noreply@yourdomain.com');
formData.append('to', 'user@example.com');
formData.append('subject', 'Welcome');
formData.append('template', 'welcome-template');
formData.append('h:X-Mailgun-Variables', JSON.stringify({
  name: 'Alice',
  confirmationCode: 'ABC123',
}));

const response = await fetch(
  `https://api.mailgun.net/v3/${env.MAILGUN_DOMAIN}/messages`,
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Basic ${btoa(`api:${env.MAILGUN_API_KEY}`)}`,
    },
    body: formData,
  }
);

5. Attachments

Resend:

const fileBuffer = await file.arrayBuffer();
const base64Content = btoa(String.fromCharCode(...new Uint8Array(fileBuffer)));

await fetch('https://api.resend.com/emails', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${env.RESEND_API_KEY}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    from: 'noreply@yourdomain.com',
    to: 'user@example.com',
    subject: 'Your Invoice',
    html: '<p>Attached is your invoice.</p>',
    attachments: [{
      filename: 'invoice.pdf',
      content: base64Content,
    }],
  }),
});

SendGrid:

const fileBuffer = await file.arrayBuffer();
const base64Content = btoa(String.fromCharCode(...new Uint8Array(fileBuffer)));

const response = await fetch('https://api.sendgrid.com/v3/mail/send', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${env.SENDGRID_API_KEY}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    personalizations: [{
      to: [{ email: 'user@example.com' }],
    }],
    from: { email: 'noreply@yourdomain.com' },
    subject: 'Your Invoice',
    content: [{ type: 'text/html', value: '<p>Attached is your invoice.</p>' }],
    attachments: [{
      content: base64Content,
      filename: 'invoice.pdf',
      type: 'application/pdf',
      disposition: 'attachment',
    }],
  }),
});

Mailgun (uses FormData with File):

const formData = new FormData();
formData.append('from', 'noreply@yourdomain.com');
formData.append('to', 'user@example.com');
formData.append('subject', 'Your Invoice');
formData.append('html', '<p>Attached is your invoice.</p>');
formData.append('attachment', file); // File object directly

const response = await fetch(
  `https://api.mailgun.net/v3/${env.MAILGUN_DOMAIN}/messages`,
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Basic ${btoa(`api:${env.MAILGUN_API_KEY}`)}`,
    },
    body: formData,
  }
);

6. Webhooks (Event Tracking)

Resend Webhooks:

Events: email.sent, email.delivered, email.delivery_delayed, email.bounced, email.complained, email.opened, email.clicked

// Verify webhook signature
import { createHmac } from 'crypto';

export async function verifyResendWebhook(
  request: Request,
  secret: string
): Promise<boolean> {
  const signature = request.headers.get('svix-signature');
  const timestamp = request.headers.get('svix-timestamp');
  const body = await request.text();

  if (!signature || !timestamp) return false;

  const signedContent = `${timestamp}.${body}`;
  const expectedSignature = createHmac('sha256', secret)
    .update(signedContent)
    .digest('base64');

  return signature.includes(expectedSignature);
}

// Handle webhook
export async function handleResendWebhook(request: Request, env: Env) {
  const isValid = await verifyResendWebhook(request, env.RESEND_WEBHOOK_SECRET);
  if (!isValid) {
    return new Response('Invalid signature', { status: 401 });
  }

  const event = await request.json();

  switch (event.type) {
    case 'email.bounced':
      // Mark email as invalid
      await markEmailInvalid(event.data.email);
      break;
    case 'email.complained':
      // Unsubscribe user
      await unsubscribeUser(event.data.email);
      break;
  }

  return new Response('OK');
}

SendGrid Webhooks:

// Verify webhook signature (requires express-style body parser)
import { EventWebhook, EventWebhookHeader } from '@sendgrid/eventwebhook';

export async function verifySendGridWebhook(
  request: Request,
  publicKey: string
): Promise<boolean> {
  const signature = request.headers.get(EventWebhookHeader.SIGNATURE());
  const timestamp = request.headers.get(EventWebhookHeader.TIMESTAMP());
  const body = await request.text();

  const eventWebhook = new EventWebhook();
  const ecPublicKey = eventWebhook.convertPublicKeyToECDSA(publicKey);

  return eventWebhook.verifySignature(
    ecPublicKey,
    body,
    signature!,
    timestamp!
  );
}

// Handle webhook
export async function handleSendGridWebhook(request: Request, env: Env) {
  const events = await request.json();

  for (const event of events) {
    switch (event.event) {
      case 'bounce':
        await markEmailInvalid(event.email);
        break;
      case 'spamreport':
        await unsubscribeUser(event.email);
        break;
    }
  }

  return new Response('OK');
}

Mailgun Webhooks:

// Verify webhook signature
import { createHmac } from 'crypto';

export function verifyMailgunWebhook(
  timestamp: string,
  token: string,
  signature: string,
  signingKey: string
): boolean {
  const encoded = createHmac('sha256', signingKey)
    .update(`${timestamp}${token}`)
    .digest('hex');

  return encoded === signature;
}

// Handle webhook
export async function handleMailgunWebhook(request: Request, env: Env) {
  const data = await request.json();

  const isValid = verifyMailgunWebhook(
    data.signature.timestamp,
    data.signature.token,
    data.signature.signature,
    env.MAILGUN_WEBHOOK_SIGNING_KEY
  );

  if (!isValid) {
    return new Response('Invalid signature', { status: 401 });
  }

  switch (data['event-data'].event) {
    case 'failed':
      if (data['event-data'].severity === 'permanent') {
        await markEmailInvalid(data['event-data'].recipient);
      }
      break;
    case 'complained':
      await unsubscribeUser(data['event-data'].recipient);
      break;
  }

  return new Response('OK');
}

SMTP2Go Webhooks:

// Verify webhook signature
import { createHmac } from 'crypto';

export function verifySMTP2GoWebhook(
  body: string,
  signature: string,
  secret: string
): boolean {
  const expectedSignature = createHmac('sha256', secret)
    .update(body)
    .digest('hex');

  return expectedSignature === signature;
}

// Handle webhook
export async function handleSMTP2GoWebhook(request: Request, env: Env) {
  const signature = request.headers.get('X-Smtp2go-Signature');
  const body = await request.text();

  if (!signature || !verifySMTP2GoWebhook(body, signature, env.SMTP2GO_WEBHOOK_SECRET)) {
    return new Response('Invalid signature', { status: 401 });
  }

  const event = JSON.parse(body);

  switch (event.event) {
    case 'bounce':
      await markEmailInvalid(event.email);
      break;
    case 'spam':
      await unsubscribeUser(event.email);
      break;
  }

  return new Response('OK');
}

---

Error Handling

Resend Errors

Status	Error	Cause	Fix
401	Unauthorized	Invalid API key	Check RESEND_API_KEY
422	Validation error	Invalid email format	Validate emails before sending
429	Rate limit exceeded	Too many requests	Implement exponential backoff
500	Internal error	Resend service issue	Retry with backoff

Common validation errors:

• to field required
• Invalid email format
• from domain not verified
• Attachment size exceeds 40 MB

Error response format:

{
  "statusCode": 422,
  "message": "Validation error",
  "name": "validation_error"
}

SendGrid Errors

Status	Error	Cause	Fix
400	Bad request	Malformed JSON	Check request structure
401	Unauthorized	Invalid API key	Check SENDGRID_API_KEY
413	Payload too large	Message > 20 MB	Reduce attachment size
429	Too many requests	Rate limit	Implement backoff

Common errors:

• Missing personalizations
• Invalid template ID
• Unverified sender address
• Attachment encoding issues

Error response format:

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "The from email does not contain a valid address.",
      "field": "from.email",
      "help": "http://sendgrid.com/docs/API_Reference/Web_API_v3/Mail/errors.html#message.from.email"
    }
  ]
}

Mailgun Errors

Status	Error	Cause	Fix
400	Bad request	Invalid parameters	Check FormData fields
401	Unauthorized	Invalid API key	Check MAILGUN_API_KEY
402	Payment required	Quota exceeded	Upgrade plan
404	Not found	Invalid domain	Check MAILGUN_DOMAIN

Common errors:

• Domain not verified
• Wrong region (US vs EU)
• Invalid template variables
• Recipient address syntax

Error response format:

{
  "message": "Domain not found: invalid.domain.com"
}

SMTP2Go Errors

Status	Error	Cause	Fix
401	Unauthorized	Invalid API key	Check SMTP2GO_API_KEY
422	Validation error	Invalid email format	Validate recipients
429	Rate limit	Too many requests	Implement backoff

Common errors:

• Sender domain not verified
• Invalid recipient format (must use angle brackets: <email@domain.com>)
• API key not activated

Error response format:

{
  "data": {
    "error": "Invalid sender email address",
    "error_code": "E_ApiResponseCodes_INVALID_SENDER_ADDRESS"
  }
}

---

Rate Limiting & Retry

Exponential Backoff Pattern

async function sendWithRetry(
  sendFn: () => Promise<Response>,
  maxRetries = 3
): Promise<Response> {
  let lastError: Error | null = null;

  for (let attempt = 0; attempt < maxRetries; attempt++) {
    try {
      const response = await sendFn();

      if (response.ok) {
        return response;
      }

      // Check if retryable
      if (response.status === 429 || response.status >= 500) {
        const retryAfter = response.headers.get('Retry-After');
        const delay = retryAfter
          ? parseInt(retryAfter) * 1000
          : Math.pow(2, attempt) * 1000;

        await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay));
        continue;
      }