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Migration guide

How to move from SendGrid by Twilio to MailNesto

Export your contacts and designs from SendGrid by Twilio, bring them into MailNesto and send your first campaign — usually within a day.

Start freeMailNesto vs SendGrid by Twilio
Overview

Moving from SendGrid by Twilio to MailNesto

Many SendGrid accounts started as a sending API and later picked up Marketing Campaigns. Moving the marketing side to MailNesto doesn’t mean leaving SendGrid: add it as a delivery server with an API key and MailNesto sends through SendGrid’s SMTP relay, with your authenticated domain and sending history untouched, while lists, templates, automations and reports live in MailNesto. Connecting your own servers depends on your plan; see pricing.

Contact lists export as CSV, and every suppression page can be downloaded. Designs come out as HTML through the code editor or the Templates API. Automations and Marketing Campaigns statistics don’t move. If your app sends receipts or OTPs through SendGrid’s API, that can stay exactly as it is, or move to MailNesto’s transactional API later.

Step by step

Five steps to switch

  1. 1

    Export from SendGrid by Twilio

    Marketing > Contacts > Action menu (⋮) next to the list > Export; when emailed, download from mc.sendgrid.com/contacts/exports > Download CSV (link valid 12 hours). All contacts/segments via Export Contacts API. Suppressions: Suppressions > Global Unsubscribes > action menu > Download as CSV.

  2. 2

    Import into MailNesto

    Contacts → Import: upload the CSV or Excel file (or paste it), map the columns, choose a list. Import only subscribed people, then paste unsubscribed, bounced and complained addresses into Audience → Suppression list so they never get email again.

  3. 3

    Bring your designs

    Copy HTML from the code editor or fetch dynamic templates via the Templates API. Then import the .html or .zip in Templates, or start from one of ours.

  4. 4

    Authenticate your domain

    Add the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records MailNesto shows you, then send a test. New senders ramp up gradually to protect your reputation.

  5. 5

    Rebuild automations

    Start from a recipe (welcome, birthday, win-back, abandoned cart) or build your own journey with branches and goals. Note: Merge tags use Handlebars: {{first_name | Valued Customer}} or {{insert first_name 'default=...'}}. Bounces, blocks and spam reports should be exported too; automations must be rebuilt.

Before you cancel SendGrid by Twilio

A short checklist

Keep SendGrid by Twilio running until your first campaigns from MailNesto look right.

  • Export unsubscribed, bounced and complained contacts too — they must stay suppressed
  • Note when and how people subscribed (consent) and keep it in a field
  • Download reports you want to keep; engagement history doesn’t move between tools
  • Replace merge tags — MailNesto uses {{first_name}} with optional fallbacks {{first_name|there}}
  • Update signup forms on your website to MailNesto’s forms or the WordPress plugin
  • Send to your most engaged people first while the new sender warms up
In SendGrid by Twilio

Exporting everything from SendGrid by Twilio

Menu names change from time to time — the steps below follow SendGrid by Twilio’s own help pages, linked at the bottom.

  1. 1

    Export each contact list. Go to Marketing → Contacts, click the action menu (⋮) next to a list and choose Export. When it’s done you get an email; open mc.sendgrid.com/contacts/exports and click Download CSV. Files can be downloaded for 12 hours from when you started the export, so do it in one sitting.

  2. 2

    Export everyone at once (developers). For all contacts or for segments, SendGrid’s Export Contacts API produces the same CSV without going list by list.

  3. 3

    Download global unsubscribes. Open the Global Unsubscribes page under Suppressions, use the action menu at the top and choose Download as CSV.

  4. 4

    Download bounces, spam reports and invalid emails. Go to Suppressions → Bounces, click the gear icon and choose Export CSV, then do the same on the spam reports and invalid emails pages. Skip blocks: SendGrid treats them as temporary problems with the IP or content, not as addresses to stop mailing.

  5. 5

    Note unsubscribe groups. Group unsubscribes are opt-outs from one kind of email, such as a weekly digest. Note who left which group and keep them off the matching MailNesto list rather than suppressing them everywhere.

  6. 6

    Copy designs. Copy the HTML of each design you keep from the code editor. Developers can fetch dynamic templates through the Templates API.

Translation guide

SendGrid by Twilio terms and merge tags in MailNesto

In SendGrid by TwilioIn MailNestoNotes
Contact listsLists
SegmentsSegments
Custom fieldsCustom fields
{{first_name}}{{first_name}}Same text, so simple tags need no change.
{{first_name | Valued Customer}} or {{insert first_name …}}{{first_name|Valued Customer}}
{{#if}}, {{#equals}}, {{#greaterThan}}Conditional blocksShow a block when a field equals, contains, exists or is empty, or by tag.
Global unsubscribes, bounces, spam reportsSuppression listUse the reasons Imported, Bounced and Spam complaint.
Unsubscribe groupsLists shown as topics in the preference centre
Single SendsCampaigns
SendGrid API key with Mail SendDelivery server: SendGridThe username is always the word apikey.
Automations

Rebuilding your SendGrid by Twilio automations

  • Welcome automation → Welcome series, starting when someone joins the list.
  • Drip series → Getting-started course for customers, or Lead nurture series for prospects.
  • Inactive contacts → Offer fewer emails at the first sign of slowing down, then Win back inactive.
  • Receipts and password resets aren’t automations in MailNesto: send them with POST /transactional/send and a templateId, through the same SendGrid server if you like.
Watch out for

Common mistakes when leaving SendGrid by Twilio

  • Simple tags carry over, but Handlebars helpers don’t. {{#if}}, {{#each}} and formatDate print as text in MailNesto, so rebuild them as conditional blocks or product blocks before you send.
  • Point SendGrid’s Event Webhook at the SendGrid URL from the “Bounce & complaint webhooks” card on the Sending page, with at least bounced, dropped and spam report events. If your own app already listens to that webhook, decide which system needs it first.
  • MailNesto tracks opens and clicks itself. If SendGrid’s click tracking is also on, links are wrapped twice; turn it off for mail sent from MailNesto.
  • The default speed for a SendGrid server is 20 emails a second. Lower it, or set a daily limit, if your SendGrid plan allows less.
  • Contact exports expire 12 hours after you start them. Export, download and import list by list in one session rather than starting every export at once.
FAQ

Questions about moving from SendGrid by Twilio

Do I need SendGrid’s Marketing Campaigns after moving?

No. MailNesto only uses SendGrid to deliver mail over SMTP, so you can drop the marketing add-on and keep the email API.

Can some campaigns go through SendGrid and others through another server?

Yes. With several servers connected, a campaign’s delivery settings let you choose which ones carry it; otherwise routing follows priority and weight.

What happens if I stop using SendGrid later?

Add another provider, give it a warm-up plan if the domain or IP is new to it, and pause or remove the SendGrid server. Campaigns don’t need changing.

Does my domain authentication still count?

Yes for mail sent through SendGrid. Add include:sendgrid.net with the SPF builder and check DKIM and DMARC under Deliverability, which shows live checks for your domain.

Where these facts come from (28 sources)

SendGrid by Twilio is a trademark of its owner. This comparison is our own, made from public information on each vendor’s website (checked November 2026); we aren’t affiliated with them. Plans and prices change — check the vendor’s site before you decide, and tell us if something here is out of date and we’ll fix it.