What is the early access program?

Postmark’s early access program is an opportunity for you to be the first customer to test Postmark features, sharing feedback on how they can be improved before they go out into the world for all other customers to use.

What’s the difference between the Batch and Bulk API endpoints?#

Smaller payload:

With the Batch API, we ask you to submit email content (and attachments, if there are any) for every recipient you’d like to send to. For example, if you want to send an email to 1000 recipients, you’d have to submit the message content/HTML 100 times as well.  This increases payload dramatically. 

With the Bulk API, you define the message content (and attachments) only once and then use template variables to customize the message for each recipient, if needed. Postmark will then compile the individual messages on our end. This leads to a smaller payload, and customers can submit more emails with a single API call. 

Automatic send speed optimization/ throttling:

Inbox providers can get upset if you’re sending them too many emails too fast. In the past, if you were using our Batch API to send email at high volume, you’d have to make sure you put safeguards in place to prevent bounces or blocks—typically by cutting your sends into smaller chunks and then spacing those out over a certain period of time. 

With the Bulk API, we’ll handle this process of throttling/sending speed optimization for you. Whether you’d like to send thousands or millions of emails, you just let us know what message you’d like to send to which recipient—and then we’ll make sure we send them at a speed that gets them to the inbox reliably. 

Once we have this part of the product implemented, you can see the progress of your send (how many emails are already sent and how many are still in the queue to be released) by viewing the Bulk request tab in Activity or by polling the status of your bulk requests via the API. 

One more thing you get to control is that if you want several bulk-send requests in series, you can arrange it by sending them from the same stream. If you want bulk requests sent in parallel, you can arrange it by sending them from different streams, this will get them out simultaneously.

Current early access program:

Bulk API: This is an updated alternative to our Batch API endpoint. This new endpoint will simplify bulk email sends, reducing the payload for each send. For more, check out the Bulk API FAQ below, or sneak a peek at the developer documentation here.

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FAQs#

How do I submit feedback during early access#

Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us. Your insights will directly impact the ongoing development of Postmark, allowing us to refine and enhance its functionality to better meet your needs. You'll also have access to our product team via email for any questions or feedback during your onboarding and usage.

What do I need to know before joining early access?#

We might still make changes to the API and email processing behind it. We’ll notify you if there are chances that might impact your existing integration. While we’ve thoroughly tested this endpoint, it’s still new and it may not work exactly how it will once early access has ended and the feature is live for all customers. There’s a chance you might discover bugs that we haven’t found yet.

Do I need to be an existing Postmark customer?#

Nope. Whether you're new to Postmark or have been sending emails with us for years, you’re welcome to join early access. You can start with a free account so you’re all set once the early access begins.

How much do I need to know about Transactional or Broadcast email to participate?#

Wherever you’re starting is great. We appreciate having a range of experience levels to give us feedback, but some familiarity with Postmark, or implementing email APIs in general, will help you get started.

If I spend time and energy testing this, will I get some kind of reward?#

Early access participants receive perks, including a discount on their monthly Postmark subscription, but are otherwise not compensated. These programs are designed for volunteers, and there is no minimum time commitment to participate.

When do the early access programs begin?#

When do the early access programs begin?

Check out the “Current early access programs” section at the top of this page for what’s in process or coming soon. Each program may have different start and end dates, and there may be some overlap. You will be notified via email regarding the individual program(s) close to their start date(s).

When would I use the Bulk API endpoint?#

The Bulk API is a great fit if you’re looking to send the same email to a large number of recipients at once (for example newsletters.)

How can I get insights into the status of my bulk request?#

You can use the email/bulk/{bulk-request-id} endpoint to see the status of a single bulk send request.

Can I use the Bulk endpoint to send transactional email?#

Not just yet. For now, the Bulk API will work with Broadcast Streams only (even though we might be opening it up to transactional sending later, if customers have a need for it.)

How many emails can I include in one Bulk request?#

You can add as many recipients as you need per API call, as long as you stay within the 50MB payload size limit, including attachments.

Do I have to wait a certain amount of time between Bulk requests? #

Nope! You can send a Bulk request at any rate you want, and we’ll handle all of the sending speed optimizations for you.

Should I stop using the Batch endpoint and update all of that sending to come from the Bulk endpoint?#

The Batch endpoint isn’t going away, so if your current implementation fits your needs, there is no need for you to make changes right away. 

Can I send all emails by using Postmark now? Or are there still kinds of emails that I should use another ESP for?#

With Postmark, you can send emails via Transactional and Broadcast streams. Sending a ton of similar emails ( up to 50MB per API call) in one group via the Broadcast stream just got easier with the new Bulk API endpoint.