Resend is Free (100/day) / $20/mo. Pony Express is a self-hosted alternative at $0.99/mo. Here's when each makes sense.
| Pony Express | Resend | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-hosted, your infra | Managed SaaS (cloud only) |
| Data location | Your server, your disk | Resend's cloud |
| Free tier | 500 emails/mo | Free |
| Pro pricing | $0.99/mo | Free (100/day) / $20/mo |
| Dependencies | None (single binary + SQLite) | N/A (managed) |
| Setup time | ~30 seconds | Account signup |
| Dashboard | Built-in at /ui | Cloud dashboard |
| License | BSL 1.1 | Proprietary SaaS |
Pony Express is a single Go binary with embedded SQLite. Install it with one command, and you are running in under a minute. Your data stays on your server.
curl -fsSL https://stockyard.dev/ponyexpress/install.sh | sh
The pricing math between Pony Express and Resend changes depending on team size. Resend at Free (100/day) / $20/mo is reasonable for a solo user. At ten seats, the difference compounds. Pony Express is a flat $0.99/mo regardless of seats — the binary does not count how many people use it. For growing teams, this makes Pony Express progressively cheaper while Resend gets progressively more expensive.
The operational difference is significant. Resend requires you to trust their infrastructure, their security practices, and their business continuity. Pony Express requires you to run a process and keep the data directory backed up. If your server dies, restore the binary and the SQLite file to a new server. The entire recovery procedure fits in a single paragraph because there is nothing else involved.
If you are currently using Resend and considering Pony Express, start by running both in parallel. Install Pony Express on a test server, point your workflow at it for a week, and compare the experience. Pony Express's data directory is isolated — running a trial costs nothing beyond the compute. If Pony Express does not fit, delete the binary and the data directory. There is nothing else to clean up.
Single binary. Free to start. $0.99/mo for Pro.