--- title: "Pay as You Go vs Monthly: How to Choose the Right Email Plan" description: "Credits or a monthly plan? Worked numbers for every volume from 6,000 to 150,000 emails a month, the 26,000-email break-even point, and when bursty sending makes credits the cheaper choice." canonical: "https://reloop.sh/blog/pay-as-you-go-vs-monthly-email-pricing" last-updated: "2026-10-26" --- # Pay as You Go vs Monthly: How to Choose the Right Email Plan > For the site documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). Docs index: [llms-docs.txt](/llms-docs.txt). Marketing corpus: [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt). Docs corpus: [llms-full-docs.txt](/llms-full-docs.txt). Product skill: [skill.md](/skill.md). Prefer markdown URLs (append `.md`) when available. > Credits or a monthly plan? Worked numbers for every volume from 6,000 to 150,000 emails a month, the 26,000-email break-even point, and when bursty sending makes credits the cheaper choice. Source: https://reloop.sh/blog/pay-as-you-go-vs-monthly-email-pricing Published: 2026-10-26 Reloop has two ways to pay past the [free tier](/blog/reloop-free-tier): **credits** you buy once, or a **monthly plan**. Both cost $0.50 per 1,000 emails at the margin, so the right choice comes down to one question: **Is your volume steady, or does it spike?** This guide gives you the numbers to answer it. For what each option includes, see [introducing pay as you go](/blog/introducing-pay-as-you-go) and [introducing monthly plans](/blog/introducing-monthly-plans). ## The short answer - **Under 6,000 emails a month:** stay on **Free**. It costs nothing and never expires. - **Under about 26,000 a month, or spiky volume:** buy **credits**. - **Steady 26,000 to 66,000 a month:** **Pro**, $10 / month. - **Steady 66,000 to 250,000 a month:** **Growth**, $20 / month. - **Over 250,000 a month:** talk to us about **Enterprise**. The rest of this post shows where those lines come from. ## How each option is priced **Credits.** $0.50 per 1,000 emails, valid for 6 months. Your free 6,000 each month is used first, so you only spend credits on what goes past it. **Pro.** $10 a month for 50,000 emails, then $0.50 per 1,000. **Growth.** $20 a month for 100,000 emails, then $0.50 per 1,000. Monthly allowances reset every billing period. Credits carry over for 6 months. That one difference decides most cases. ## Steady volume: the numbers If you send roughly the same amount every month, here is what each option costs per month: | Emails / month | Credits | Cheapest plan | Best choice | |---|---|---|---| | 6,000 | $0 | $0 (Free) | Free | | 10,000 | $2 | $10 (Pro) | Credits | | 20,000 | $7 | $10 (Pro) | Credits | | 26,000 | $10 | $10 (Pro) | Either | | 30,000 | $12 | $10 (Pro) | Pro | | 50,000 | $22 | $10 (Pro) | Pro | | 75,000 | $34.50 | $20 (Growth) | Growth | | 100,000 | $47 | $20 (Growth) | Growth | | 150,000 | $72 | $45 (Growth) | Growth | Credits cost `(emails - 6,000) / 1,000 × $0.50`. The free 6,000 is why credits win at low volume: at 20,000 emails you only pay for 14,000. **Break-even with Pro is 26,000 emails a month.** That's 6,000 free plus 20,000 on credits ($10). Below it, credits are cheaper. Above it, Pro is. **Pro to Growth is around 66,000.** Past 50,000, Pro charges $0.50 per 1,000 on top of $10. At about 66,000 emails Pro reaches $18, and Growth's flat $20 for 100,000 becomes the better deal, with more inboxes, domains and a dedicated IP. Plan for the volume you expect in three months, not today. If you're at 20,000 and growing fast, you'll cross 26,000 soon and Pro will be cheaper. ## Spiky volume: where credits win Steady averages hide the real advantage of credits: **they don't reset every month.** Take an app that sends 5,000 emails most months and 40,000 in a launch month, twice a year. **On Pro:** 6 months × $10 = **$60**, and most of the 50,000 allowance goes unused in quiet months. **On credits:** quiet months are covered by the free 6,000. Each launch month needs 34,000 on credits. Two launches = 68,000 emails = **$34**. Same sending, about half the cost. The more your volume swings, the bigger the gap. Credits also fit: - **Seasonal businesses.** Big in November and December, quiet the rest of the year. - **New products.** You don't know your volume yet, and you don't want a subscription before you do. - **Agencies and side projects.** Many small projects that each send in bursts. - **One-off sends.** A migration notice or a policy update to your whole user base. ## When a monthly plan wins - **Steady volume above 26,000 a month.** Pro is simply cheaper. - **You want a fixed bill.** The same charge every month is easier to budget and expense. - **You need Growth's extras.** 10 agent inboxes, 10 webhooks, 10 domains, 3 of your own SMTP servers and a dedicated IP. - **You'd rather not watch a balance.** Plans keep sending and charge $0.50 per 1,000 past the allowance, so there's nothing to top up. ## A quick way to decide 1. **Look at your last 3 to 6 months of sending.** Your current provider's dashboard shows it, or check Reloop's analytics if you're already here. 2. **Find your average and your peak.** 3. **If your average is under 26,000, buy credits.** Size the pack to cover 6 months of sending past 6,000 a month. 4. **If your average is over 26,000 and your peak is less than double it, pick a plan.** Pro up to about 66,000, Growth above. 5. **If your peak is several times your average, run both numbers.** Credits usually win. You can switch whenever your volume changes. Your domains, templates, contacts and API keys stay the same, so there's nothing to migrate. ## FAQ No. Credits and plan overage both cost $0.50 per 1,000 emails. The difference is that a plan charges a fixed fee for an allowance that resets monthly, while credits last 6 months. Yes. Each month the free 6,000 is used first and credits only cover what goes past it. No. The 200-a-day cap only applies to the free tier. While you hold credits there is no daily cap. Switch to a plan from the billing page whenever your volume becomes steady. Your account, domains and API keys stay the same. Packs range from 3,000 to 100,000 emails. You can buy more than one, and each top-up resets the 6-month expiry on your whole balance.