Ask HN: Is there any mail-by-API provider for personal use?

6 pointsby harrid3 anni fa25 comments

I remember using mailgun a decade ago or so. But every single site I check now requires me to enter a company name or work mail address (no Gmail etc). So where to go when I want to send some simple alert mails to myself when something in my scripts goes wrong?

25 comments

blamarvt3 anni fa

Isn’t SMTP an API? Why would you pay or complicate things when you can just send email with libraries available in every language?

harrid3 anni fa

But Gmail SMTP doesn't work anymore because they disabled 'less secure apps' or something like that

predictabl33 anni fa

That's absolutely not true. I receive SMS daily that is sent to my Telnyx number in my Gmail account via Gmail SMTP from a pipedream workflow.

Gmail SMTP for small personal use cases is very convenient for something like this. Matrix a nice option, too.

harrid3 anni fa

I went back and actually managed to do this. For future readers: it's true that in 2022 Google disabled login with the normal login/pw but you can create app passwords to do this.

Thanks! This was actually the only working solution from at least 15 different sites.

predictabl33 anni fa

:) hurray. I'm very happy it was helpful. I remember your exact sense of exasperation when my original SMTP provider started doing the same crap as the rest and I felt similar despair.

gnz113 anni fa

Assuming you have shell access, why not use mutt or sendmail?

harrid3 anni fa

When I'm reading correctly, that's a Unix program. That's a pretty tight constraint and not one I can satisfy

LinuxBender3 anni fa

Fastmail has an API [1]

[1] - https://www.fastmail.com/for-developers/integrating-with-fas...

harrid3 anni fa

Thanks, that seems doable!

Edit: but not free, ugh. Understandable, but annoying to send a mail every couple of weeks

przeor3 anni fa

Try pay-per-message via www.smsapi.com

You will pay circa 10 cents per month if you use it once a month via pre paid

harrid3 anni fa

Again requiring a business mail, not for private use.

byoung23 anni fa

Why not just use the Gmail API? https://developers.google.com/gmail/api/guides

KomoD3 anni fa

> But every single site I check now requires me to enter a company name or work mail address (no Gmail etc).

Which have you checked?

harrid3 anni fa

5 or so. All the usual suspects from the sites that list alternatives. I didn't keep a list

AlexITC3 anni fa

AWS SES works nicely and the costs for personal usage will likely be close to 0.

harrid3 anni fa

AWS requires a credit card, which is not really a thing in Europe

isbvhodnvemrwvn3 anni fa

It does not...

harrid3 anni fa

Are you sure? It requires me to enter one upon registration.

isbvhodnvemrwvn3 anni fa

A debit card works fine, and even Germans got that far in finance tech.

harrid3 anni fa

Available but still far from common. I don't have one and most of my peers don't either.

mcwhy3 anni fa

3,000 emails are included in oracle free tier

shaunpud3 anni fa

smtp2go

harrid3 anni fa

Also only for commercial use, not private use

shaunpud3 anni fa

Free plan allows 1000 emails a month, which I'm using for personal server and script alerts.

harrid3 anni fa

It explicitly asks for a work mail at signup, blocking Gmail etc