Public beta since 3000 BC.

Earth’s original messaging API

Pigeon is the open source, self-hosted, zero-dependency alternative to Resend. It costs $1. Forever. It also does nothing.

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What customers say

We moved password resets to Pigeon. Nobody has reset a password since.
Head of Growth, a startup that asked us not to name it
I asked for an SLA. The pigeon looked at me for a long time. Then it left.
VP of Engineering, still in procurement
Zero spam complaints. Zero complaints of any kind. Zero emails.
Deliverability lead, between jobs

Docs

Send your first pigeon in seconds. It lands in hours.

One method, no configuration, and a response object that is honest about what happens next.

pigeon.js
import { Pigeon } from 'pigeon';

const pigeon = new Pigeon({ apiKey: 'seeds' });

await pigeon.send({
  from: 'you@your-house',
  to: 'you@your-house', // homing pigeons only fly home
  subject: 'hello world',
  html: '<p>a very small piece of paper</p>',
});

// { id: 'kevin', status: 'flying', eta: 'unclear' }
Try it. Live sandbox.
  • readyPigeon idle on the windowsill. Press send.
$1Forever. No plans, no tiers, no invoices.
80 km/hMedian latency: hours.
p99: seasons.
0 spamAlso zero email.
150M yrsOf uptime. One asteroid. No postmortem.

Features

Everything Pigeon doesn't do.

Feature parity, roughly. Every row ends the same way.

Pigeon: 0 of 14Resend: 14 of 14
Feature
Pigeon
Resend
Send to anyone
✕Homing pigeons only fly home. You can email yourself.
✓Any inbox on Earth.
SPF, DKIM, DMARC
✕Authentication is a wax seal and good vibes.
✓Verified domains, DMARC and BIMI.
Webhooks
✕If the bird doesn't come back, assume it bounced. Or a hawk.
✓Real-time events for delivered, bounced, opened and clicked.
Bounce handling
✕Pigeons do bounce. Mostly off windows.
✓Automatic bounce and complaint suppression.
Open tracking
✕We can't tell if they read it. The pigeon can't read either.
✓Opens and clicks, per email.
Templates
✕Handwritten. Small. Smaller than that.
✓React Email.
Batch sending
✕One bird, one message. A batch is called a flock and the city fines you.
✓Up to 100 emails per API call.
Scheduled sends
✕Depends on wind, hawks, and whether Kevin feels like it.
✓Up to 30 days ahead. "in 1 hour" works.
Idempotency
✕Retrying sends a second, confused pigeon.
✓Idempotency keys. Retries never double send.
Attachments
✕Max payload is about one paperclip.
✓Up to 40 MB per email.
Inbound
✕You receive whatever lands on your balcony. It is not email.
✓Receive email in your app with a webhook.
Unsubscribe
✕There is no unsubscribe. The pigeon knows where you live.
✓One-click unsubscribe, handled for you.
Compliance
✕Your data is retained indefinitely. Inside the pigeon.
✓SOC 2 Type II and GDPR.
Support
✕A man at the park. He is not affiliated with us.
✓Humans who answer.

Pricing

One dollar. Forever.

No tiers, no usage, no surprises. One payment, lifetime access.*

How we comparePrice, speed, and whether the message reaches the person you sent it to
Option
Price
Delivery time
Delivered?
Pigeon
$1, forever
Hours to seasons
No. It flies home.
Resend
$20/mo for 50,000 emails
Seconds
Yes
Pony Express, 1860
$5 per half ounce
About 10 days
Usually
Vibe coded app
$0, plus your weekends
Once DNS works
Ask Gmail
Cost per email that reaches the recipient
PigeonInfinite
Resend$0.0004

Resend also has a free plan. It is cheaper than a pigeon. We're working on it.

FAQ

Questions, answered eventually.

Is Pigeon really cheaper than Resend?

No. Resend's free plan is $0 and Pigeon is $1. Also, your email doesn't arrive. We're working on both.

Isn't this just a pigeon wrapper?

Yes. We wrap the message around the pigeon's leg. That is the whole product. Our investors were aware.

Why use an AWS wrapper when you could use a pigeon wrapper?

A pigeon has no IAM policies, no console and no surprise bill. It also has no region. It goes where the bread is.

Do you have a roadmap?

Yes. It goes wherever the wind goes.

Are you profitable?

We spend nothing and earn nothing. Investors call this capital efficient.

How do I cancel?

Stop feeding it. It will keep coming back.

Is it open source?

The pigeon is not open source. It is open air.

Can I self-host?

Yes. Most people call this "having a pigeon". Your landlord may call it something else.

Does it scale?

Horizontally. Ask any city square.

What's the SLA?

Delivery within one to four business seasons.

Who built this?

Evolution. 150 million years of shipping without tests.

Ready to send real emails?

Send real email with