SendGrid SMTP Settings
Twilio-owned email sending platform with an API-key-only SMTP login.
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Outgoing mail (SMTP)
SMTP server
smtp.sendgrid.net
Port. STARTTLS
587
Port. SSL/TLS
465
Security
STARTTLS on 587/2525/25 or SSL/TLS on 465.
Incoming mail (IMAP)
IMAP
Not supported. This is a send-only service.
Incoming mail (POP3)
POP3
Not supported by this provider.
Sending limits & login
Daily send limit
Set by your SendGrid plan.
Authentication
Use the literal username "apikey" and paste your SendGrid API key as the password.
App password
Create an API key under Settings > API Keys with Mail Send permission.
SendGrid is a send-only relay: there is no IMAP or POP inbox. The SMTP username is always the word apikey.
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SendGrid SMTP, IMAP and POP3 settings
SendGrid is a sending-only email platform owned by Twilio. Its SMTP login is unusual: the username is always the literal word apikey, and the password is the API key you create in the dashboard. Twilio retired SendGrid's permanent free plan in May 2025, so new accounts get a 60 day trial capped at 100 messages a day.
SendGrid is a send-only relay, so there's no IMAP or POP3 inbox. You only configure the SMTP server above. Use the tool to copy each value into your app or script.
Checked against SendGrid's own documentation: twilio.com, support.sendgrid.com. Ports and limits change, so check there too if something will not connect.
SendGrid settings at a glance
One card with every server and port on it. Right click to save it, or share the page and this is the preview people see.
What to enter as your SendGrid username and password
Wrong credentials, not a wrong port, are the usual reason a SendGrid connection fails. These are the exact values to type.
apikey
The full API key you created, pasted unencoded. SendGrid support describes it as a 69 character string.
Get your api keyHow to set up SendGrid in a mail client
The exact path through SendGrid's own settings, in order.
- 1
Verify the identity you send as
Go to Settings, then Sender Authentication, and either authenticate your whole domain or use Verify a Single Sender for one address.
- 2
Create an API key with Mail Send permission
Settings, then API Keys, then Create API Key at https://app.sendgrid.com/settings/api_keys. Copy the key immediately, because it is shown only once.
- 3
Point your client at smtp.sendgrid.net
Use port 587 with STARTTLS. Ports 25 and 2525 also accept TLS, and port 465 uses implicit SSL.
- 4
Enter apikey as the username
The username field takes the literal six-letter string apikey for every SendGrid account. The password is the full API key, pasted unencoded with no stray spaces or line breaks.
What SendGrid looks like filled in
Every mail client asks for the same handful of fields. Here they are with SendGrid's values already in place.
Account settings: SendGrid
Server
smtp.sendgrid.netPort
587Encryption
STARTTLSAuthentication
RequiredUsername
apikeyPassword
The full API key you created, pasted unencoded. SendGrid support describes it as a 69 character string.IMAP / POP3
Not applicable. SendGrid sends only, so there is no inbox to configure.An illustration of the fields, not a screenshot of any one app. Field names differ slightly between Outlook, Apple Mail and Thunderbird; the values do not.
SendGrid SMTP settings in Thunderbird
The outgoing server dialog with SendGrid's details entered. Outlook and Apple Mail ask for the same four things under slightly different names.
Which port should you use for SendGrid?
STARTTLS on 587/2525/25 or SSL/TLS on 465.
STARTTLS
Starts as a plain connection, then upgrades to an encrypted one. The modern standard for sending.
SSL/TLS
Encrypted from the first byte. Widely supported and a good choice when 587 is blocked.
Plain SMTP
Meant for server-to-server relay. Home networks and cloud hosts block it, so do not use it to send from a client.
Why your SendGrid connection is failing
The failures people actually hit with SendGrid, and what fixes each one.
Set the username to the literal string apikey rather than your account email, and paste the whole API key as the password with no base64 encoding or trailing newline.
Under Settings, then Sender Authentication, verify that exact From address as a Single Sender or authenticate the sending domain.
New accounts get a 60 day trial capped at 100 messages a day. Twilio retired the permanent free plan starting 27 May 2025, so a paid plan is needed to go further.
EU data residency needs an EU regional subuser with an EU dedicated IP and the smtp.eu.sendgrid.net host. Sending as the parent account falls back to the global endpoint.
SendGrid allows up to 5,000 messages per SMTP connection. Have your client close and reopen the connection before it reaches that number.
SendGrid sending limits
Paid plans are metered by monthly volume rather than a daily cap; SMTP separately allows 5,000 messages per connection and 10,000 concurrent connections from one server.
Per day
100 messages a day during the 60 day trial
Recipients per message
1,000 across To, Cc and Bcc (documented for the Mail Send API)
Max attachment
30 MB total message size including attachments (documented for the Mail Send API)
SendGrid servers by region and plan
SendGrid does not use one set of hostnames everywhere. Match the row to your account.
| Region or plan | SMTP | IMAP | POP3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global (default) | smtp.sendgrid.net | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| EU data residency (Pro, Premier and Custom plans) | smtp.eu.sendgrid.net | Not applicable | Not applicable |
SendGrid quirks by mail client
Outlook
Outlook's account wizard prefills your email address as the outgoing server username, so overwrite it with apikey or authentication fails.
Thunderbird
Set the outgoing server's authentication method to Normal password and the user name to apikey.
Sending cold email through SendGrid
Set by your SendGrid plan. Use the literal username "apikey" and paste your SendGrid API key as the password.
Those caps make single-mailbox sending fine for personal mail but a poor fit for cold outreach at volume. Emailchaser spreads sending across warmed inboxes and manages deliverability, so you can scale without burning SendGrid accounts.
Other smtp sending services
Setting up more than one mailbox? These sit in the same category as SendGrid.
Common questions about SendGrid SMTP settings
What are SendGrid's SMTP settings?
SendGrid's outgoing (SMTP) server is smtp.sendgrid.net. Use port 587 (STARTTLS) or 465 (SSL/TLS). STARTTLS on 587/2525/25 or SSL/TLS on 465. Sign in with the SMTP credentials SendGrid issues you, not a mailbox address and password.
What is SendGrid's IMAP or POP3 server?
SendGrid is a send-only service, so it has no IMAP or POP3 inbox. You configure it as an outgoing SMTP server only.
Which port should I use for SendGrid?
Use port 587 with STARTTLS wherever it's offered, it's the modern standard for authenticated sending. Port 465 with SSL/TLS is a solid alternative. Avoid port 25, which most networks block for client sending. SendGrid's recommended value is above.
Why won't my SendGrid SMTP connection work?
Check authentication first: Use the literal username "apikey" and paste your SendGrid API key as the password. Create an API key under Settings > API Keys with Mail Send permission. Then confirm the host, port and security method match exactly, a 587/SSL or 465/STARTTLS mismatch will fail to connect.
Can I send bulk or cold email through SendGrid?
Not at scale. Set by your SendGrid plan. Providers throttle bursts to fight spam, so pushing cold email through one mailbox hits limits and wrecks deliverability. High-volume outreach belongs on dedicated infrastructure that spreads sending across warmed inboxes, which is what Emailchaser does.
Why is my SMTP username apikey instead of my email address?
SendGrid authenticates SMTP with an API key rather than an account login, so the username slot is a fixed placeholder. Every SendGrid customer types the same word. The account-specific part is the password, which is the API key itself.
Does SendGrid still have a free plan?
No. Twilio began retiring the free Email API and free Marketing Campaigns plans on 27 May 2025. Accounts created from 25 March 2025 onward get a 60 day trial that allows 100 emails a day through the API or SMTP. After the trial you upgrade to a paid plan or sending stops.
How do I keep my email data inside the EU?
Three things have to line up: an EU-designated subuser, a dedicated EU IP assigned to it, and the EU endpoint smtp.eu.sendgrid.net (api.eu.sendgrid.com for the API). The EU IP alone only puts the delivering server in the EU; it is the EU subuser plus EU endpoint that keep content and event data there. Sending from the parent account or a non-EU subuser falls back to the global endpoint even if the IP is European, and SendGrid does not enforce this for you.
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