What are examples of ESPs (Mailchimp, Brevo, SendGrid, etc.)?
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ESPs split into two main categories, and picking from the wrong one is a surprisingly common mistake. Marketing ESPs handle campaigns, automation, and audience management. Transactional ESPs focus on triggered one-to-one sends (receipts, password resets, confirmations). Some try to do both.
Marketing ESPs you probably already know: Mailchimp (the one most people start with), Klaviyo (strong for ecommerce), Brevo (formerly Sendinblue, popular in Europe), ActiveCampaign (deeper automation), ConvertKit (built for creators and newsletters), and HubSpot if you want email bundled into a full CRM.
Transactional ESPs are built for volume, reliability, and API-first sending: Postmark (fast delivery, excellent bounce tracking), SendGrid (large scale, also has marketing functionality), Mailgun, and Amazon SES (cheapest at scale, but you're doing more yourself).
A few do both well enough: SendGrid markets to both use cases. Brevo has a transactional tier. Whether that's better than using separate platforms depends on your volume and operational complexity.
The most common mistake: using a marketing ESP for transactional sends. Marketing IPs and domains have different reputation histories than transactional ones. Mixing the two can hurt delivery of your most important emails (receipts, password resets) if your marketing reputation takes a hit.
If you're choosing an ESP and not sure which category fits, how to choose an ESP covers the key questions to ask.
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