Ask HN: What's better for email deliverability? Own Server/AuthSMTP/SendGrid?

2 points by betterlabs 15y ago ↗ HN

We are running some experiments to decide which route to take for sending emails in our marketing automation SaaS product. I wanted to get advice/recommendation from you as well as learn from what you have experienced/decided on for "sending emails". We are experimenting to see what performs better for deliverability and here are our numbers for a recent very small test:<p>Our server: 408 sent / 60 opened - 14.7% open rate AuthSMTP: 300 sent / 23 opened - 7.67% open rate SendGrid: 206 sent / 27 opened - 13.01 open rate<p>Its cheapest for us to send email from our server, AuthSMTP is more expensive than that and SendGrid is more expensive than AuthSMTP. You really cannot compromise on deliverability but (1) costs are significantly different and (2) open's is really a partial measure of deliverability, meaning even with 7.67% open rate, AuthSMTP "may" have delivered disproportionately more than the other channels.<p>Would love to hear your experiences and suggestions.

2 comments

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emailexpert 15y ago ↗

I would suggest you check a few things out about your own IP. There are lots of things you can do tim improve your deliverability.

You also dont mention whether you have done any inbox placement testing, a better indicator than open rates.

You will want to check your IP reputation and see if that is causing you any problems.

AuthSMTP and Sendgrid are not the only options, you can try smtp.com

Also have you made sure that your Authentication is configured correctly on your own server SPF records, DKIM, DK....

best Andrew http://emailexpert.org

You might want to look at the powerMTA from Port25 Slutions. It is certainly best in its class when it comes to an outbound MTA and deliverability.