Two transactional email providers, compared on price, features and ratings, so you can pick fast.
Updated October 2026
THE VERDICT
Loops wins on deliverability and developer experience. SparkPost wins on sending APIs and cost at scale.
Loops starts at Free versus SparkPost's $20. Pick based on volume and team, and the scorecard below breaks down where each one leads.
Winner cells are tinted, green where Loops leads, violet where SparkPost does.
FAQ
Loops starts at Free versus SparkPost's $20. Because pricing models differ by tier, the cheaper option depends on your monthly volume, so compare the pricing rows in the scorecard above.
Loops paid plans start at $49 per month for up to 5,000 subscribed contacts, and pricing is based on contact count rather than email volume. All features are included at every tier, and transactional sending is unlimited on paid plans. Some published sources cite a lower contact allowance at this price point, so check the live pricing slider for your exact contact count.
On current Bird pricing, signup provides a test API key for evaluation rather than an ongoing free production allowance. SparkPost historically offered a free monthly volume for some accounts, but the published Bird email plans now start with the paid Starter tier. Teams needing a permanent free sending quota should confirm current terms directly with Bird.
Yes. Many teams route different message types through different providers or fail over between them. Courier lets you send through both behind a single API and switch providers without changing your code.
Why not both?
Use both behind one API.
Route Loops, SparkPost, or both, and switch providers without changing your code. Courier sits in front of every channel.
Pricing, plans and feature availability as of October 2026 and may change. Ratings are aggregated from public review platforms. SparkPost is a Bird (MessageBird) product.