Pricing overview
Loops provides a tiered pricing structure primarily based on the number of contacts stored and the total volume of emails sent per month. This model is designed to accommodate a range of users, from individual developers and small startups utilizing the free tier to growing businesses requiring extensive email capabilities. The pricing scales upward with increased usage, ensuring that costs are generally proportional to the size of the email audience and the frequency of communication. All paid plans include access to core features such as transactional email, marketing email, email automation, and audience segmentation, with no distinction in feature sets based on pricing tier, only on usage limits.
The service emphasizes a developer-first approach, offering comprehensive API documentation for integration. This focus extends to its pricing, which is transparently laid out on the official Loops pricing page. Users can monitor their usage against their plan limits through a dashboard, helping to manage costs effectively. The pricing model includes considerations for overages, which are typically charged on a per-1,000 email or per-1,000 contact basis once plan limits are exceeded.
Plans and tiers
Loops structures its offerings into several plans beyond its free tier, each designed to meet different usage requirements. The primary differentiators between plans are the maximum number of contacts that can be managed and the monthly email sending volume. All paid plans include identical feature access related to email sending, automation, and segmentation. Support levels may vary, with higher tiers often including priority support or dedicated account management.
The following table outlines the main paid plans offered by Loops, detailing their monthly cost, key usage limits, and typical use cases. It's important to note that specific pricing figures and exact limits can be subject to change, and the official Loops pricing page should be consulted for the most current information.
| Plan Name | Monthly Price | Contacts Limit | Emails Limit (per month) | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2,000 | 10,000 | Testing, very small projects, early-stage personal use |
| Starter | $29 | 5,000 | 50,000 | Early-stage startups, small businesses, initial product launches |
| Growth | $99 | 20,000 | 200,000 | Growing startups, established small businesses, moderate email marketing |
| Pro | $249 | 50,000 | 500,000 | Mid-sized businesses, extensive campaigns, high-volume transactional needs |
| Business | $499 | 100,000 | 1,000,000 | Large businesses, enterprise-level operations, critical email infrastructure |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Very large organizations, specific compliance needs, high-volume dedicated sending |
For plans exceeding the listed limits or requiring specialized features like dedicated IP addresses or advanced compliance, Loops offers custom enterprise solutions. These are typically negotiated directly with their sales team and can include tailored support agreements and infrastructure configurations.
Free tier and limits
Loops provides a comprehensive free tier designed to allow developers and small projects to get started without an upfront financial commitment. This free plan includes significant functionality for both transactional and marketing emails, along with access to features like audience segmentation and automation workflows, which are often restricted in free plans offered by other email service providers.
The limits for the Loops free tier are:
- Contacts: Up to 2,000 unique contacts. A contact is defined as any email address stored in the Loops system, regardless of whether they have received an email.
- Emails: Up to 10,000 emails sent per month. This volume includes all types of emails, such as transactional emails (e.g., password resets, order confirmations) and marketing emails (e.g., newsletters, promotional offers).
This free tier is particularly beneficial for:
- Testing and Development: Developers can integrate the Loops API into their applications and thoroughly test email functionality without incurring costs.
- Personal Projects: Individuals managing small blogs, portfolios, or community sites can use Loops to send updates or notifications.
- Early-Stage Startups: Startups with a small user base can manage their initial user onboarding, notifications, and early marketing efforts cost-effectively.
Once either the contact or email sending limit is exceeded, users will need to upgrade to a paid plan to continue sending emails or managing additional contacts. Loops typically provides notifications as users approach these limits, allowing for timely upgrades to avoid service interruptions.
Real-world cost examples
Understanding how Loops's pricing model translates into real-world costs helps in budgeting and planning. These examples illustrate typical scenarios based on the published pricing tiers (as of early 2026), assuming standard usage without significant overages.
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Small Blog Owner / Personal Project:
- Usage: Manages 1,500 subscribers, sending one newsletter per week, plus occasional transactional emails (e.g., password resets, contact form replies). Total emails sent: ~6,500 per month.
- Cost: $0 (Free Tier). This usage falls well within the free tier's limits of 2,000 contacts and 10,000 emails/month.
- Scenario Details: This user benefits from the full feature set for managing their small audience and automating their communications without any recurring charges.
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Early-Stage SaaS Startup:
- Usage: Has 4,000 active users (contacts) and sends onboarding sequences, weekly product updates, and transactional notifications. Total emails sent: ~35,000 per month.
- Cost: $29/month (Starter Plan). The free tier is insufficient for both contacts and email volume. The Starter plan covers 5,000 contacts and 50,000 emails.
- Scenario Details: The startup can effectively manage its initial growth phase, nurturing new users and maintaining engagement with existing ones. The cost is fixed and predictable within these limits.
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Growing E-commerce Business:
- Usage: Manages 18,000 customer contacts. Sends order confirmations, shipping updates, abandoned cart reminders, and bi-weekly promotional campaigns. Total emails sent: ~180,000 per month.
- Cost: $99/month (Growth Plan). This plan accommodates up to 20,000 contacts and 200,000 emails, making it suitable for this scale.
- Scenario Details: This business leverages Loops for critical transactional communications and marketing campaigns, driving sales and customer retention. The price point offers a good balance for their growing operations.
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Mid-sized Online Platform:
- Usage: Has 45,000 registered users. Sends daily digest emails, critical service alerts, and targeted marketing promotions based on user activity. Total emails sent: ~450,000 per month.
- Cost: $249/month (Pro Plan). This plan supports up to 50,000 contacts and 500,000 emails, fitting the platform's high-volume needs.
- Scenario Details: The platform relies heavily on email for user engagement and critical notifications. The Pro plan provides the necessary capacity and ensures reliable delivery for a large user base.
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Large Enterprise with Global Audience:
- Usage: Manages 500,000 contacts across multiple segments. Sends millions of emails monthly for product announcements, security notifications, and personalized marketing.
- Cost: Custom (Enterprise Plan). While the Business plan handles up to 1 million emails, such a large contact base and potential for very high volume would likely necessitate a custom solution.
- Scenario Details: For this scale, dedicated IP addresses, specialized compliance features beyond GDPR, and potentially a custom service level agreement (SLA) would be required, leading to a negotiated price.
How the pricing compares
When evaluating Loops's pricing, it's useful to compare it against other prominent email API providers. The market for transactional and marketing email services is competitive, with providers like Postmark, Resend, and SendGrid offering various pricing models and feature sets. While direct price comparisons can be complex due to differing definitions of contacts, email types, and included features, some general observations can be made.
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Free Tier Generosity: Loops's free tier, offering 2,000 contacts and 10,000 emails/month, is competitive. For instance, Postmark's free tier offers 100 emails/month, which is significantly lower, though their paid plans begin at a similar price point for higher volumes. Resend's free tier also provides 3,000 emails/month, making Loops's free email volume more generous for initial testing and small projects.
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Contact-Based vs. Email-Based: Loops combines contact and email volume into its pricing. Some competitors, like SendGrid, offer plans that are primarily email-volume based, with contact management often a separate or add-on feature. This can make Loops more predictable for users who manage a stable contact list but have varying email send frequencies. For businesses with very large contact lists but infrequent sending, a pure email-volume model might seem cheaper, but the cost of contact storage can quickly add up with other providers.
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Feature Inclusion: Loops includes both transactional and marketing email capabilities, along with automation and audience segmentation, across all paid tiers. Some competitors might gate advanced automation or segmentation features behind higher-priced plans or offer them as premium add-ons. This integrated approach can offer better value for users needing a full-stack email solution from the start.
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Developer Focus: Loops positions itself with a developer-first approach, emphasizing ease of integration through its API documentation. While many email API providers cater to developers, Loops's pricing model seems geared towards providing a clear path from free testing to scalable paid usage, without hidden costs for essential developer tooling or core email functions.
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Overall Value for Startups: Loops appears particularly well-suited for early-stage startups due to its generous free tier and reasonably priced initial paid plans. The combined contact and email volume limits on the Starter and Growth plans offer a balanced package for companies scaling their user base and communication efforts, avoiding the complexities of separate charges for different email types or contact storage that some legacy providers might impose. The transparency of its pricing model, clearly outlined on the Loops pricing information page, helps in making informed decisions.