The Problem
Why teams leave SendGrid (Twilio)
Volume-based pricing becomes expensive at scale
Marketing and API email are separate products
Post-Twilio acquisition price increases
Deliverability requires IP warming and management
Limited automation compared to marketing platforms
What We Build Instead
Your custom marketing tool
Transactional and marketing email from one platform
High-volume sending on your own infrastructure
Deliverability management with dedicated IPs
Email analytics with open, click, and conversion tracking
Template management and dynamic content
The Math
SendGrid (Twilio) vs. custom build
Based on 5 seats at $35/seat/month, with ~10% annual SaaS price increases.
Keep paying SendGrid (Twilio)
Build with 86 SaaS
3-year savings with 5 seats
-$19,895
-287% less than SendGrid (Twilio)
Pricing Breakdown
SendGrid (Twilio) tier pricing vs. one-time custom build
Compare what you pay per seat across SendGrid (Twilio)'s tiers against a single investment in software you own forever.
| Tier | Monthly/Seat | Annual/Seat | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $20/mo | $17/mo | 40,000 emails/month, Drag-and-drop editor, Deliverability insights, Ticket support |
| Pro | $50/mo | $42/mo | 100,000 emails/month, Email validation, Dedicated IP, Subuser management |
| Premier | $90/mo | $76/mo | Unlimited sending, Priority support, SSO, Advanced deliverability tools |
| Custom Build by 86 SaaS | $12,000–$25,000 one-time | $0/seat | Unlimited users, full ownership, no recurring fees |
Migration Timeline
From SendGrid (Twilio) to ownership — week by week
A structured migration plan to move off SendGrid (Twilio) in 3-6 weeks with zero downtime.
Discovery & Audit
1 weekMap current email infrastructure, sending patterns, and deliverability
Architecture & Design
1 weekDesign email sending infrastructure with deliverability management
Core Development
1-2 weeksBuild transactional and marketing email engine with API and analytics
Data Migration & Testing
1 weekMigrate templates, warm IP addresses, and validate deliverability
Deployment & Training
1 weekDeploy email infrastructure and train team on management
Total build time
3-6 weeks
Feature Comparison
What you keep, what you skip, and why
A transparent comparison of SendGrid (Twilio) features vs. your custom-built alternative.
| Feature | SendGrid (Twilio) | Custom Build | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transactional Email API | |||
| Marketing Campaigns | |||
| Email Template Builder | |||
| Deliverability Tools | |||
| Dedicated IP | |||
| Analytics & Reporting | |||
| Webhook Events | |||
| Email Validation | |||
| Twilio Ecosystem | Independent infrastructure — no ecosystem dependency | ||
| Unlimited Sending | No volume-based pricing tiers |
Your custom build focuses on the features your team actually uses — typically 15-20% of what SendGrid (Twilio) offers — built exactly for your workflow.
How It Works
From SendGrid (Twilio) to ownership in 3-6 weeks
Free Audit
We analyze your SendGrid (Twilio) usage and identify exactly which features your team actually uses.
Scope & Build
We build your custom marketing tool with only the features you need. 3-6 weeks.
Deploy & Migrate
We deploy to your infrastructure, migrate your data from SendGrid (Twilio), and train your team.
You Own It
Full source code, documentation, and optional maintenance retainer. No vendor lock-in. Ever.
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