specification: API Commons Plans
specificationVersion: '0.1'
schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/interface-research/main/schema/api-commons.yml#/$defs/Plans
provider: Plunk
providerId: plunk
created: '2026-06-20'
modified: '2026-08-13'
generated: '2026-08-13'
method: searched
source: https://www.useplunk.com/pricing
plan_count: 3
reconciled: true
tags:
- Email
- Transactional Email
- Marketing
- Automation
- Open Source
- SaaS
- Plans
description: >-
  Plunk offers a simple usage-based model on its hosted cloud: a Free Forever
  tier that includes 1,000 emails per month (with Plunk branding, no credit
  card required) and a Pay-as-you-grow tier billed at a flat $0.001 per email
  with no base fee. Contacts are unlimited on both tiers. Because Plunk is
  open-source under AGPL-3.0, the entire platform can also be self-hosted with
  Docker Compose at no per-email cost, where the only spend is your own
  infrastructure and outbound email provider.
notes: >-
  Cloud pricing as published on the Plunk pricing page; self-hosting is free of
  Plunk fees but incurs your own hosting and SMTP/provider costs. Re-verified
  2026-08-13 against https://www.useplunk.com/pricing.md and the billing
  concept page — rates unchanged, but the metering, activation charges and
  per-category caps below were not captured on the previous pass.
sources:
- https://www.useplunk.com/pricing
- https://www.useplunk.com/pricing.md
- https://docs.useplunk.com/concepts/billing
- https://github.com/useplunk/plunk
metering:
  unit: email
  docs: https://docs.useplunk.com/concepts/billing
  rules:
  - {source: 'Transactional sends (/v1/send)', cost: 1 credit per recipient}
  - {source: Campaigns, cost: 1 credit per recipient}
  - {source: Workflow SEND_EMAIL steps, cost: 1 credit per send}
  - {source: Inbound emails received at a verified domain, cost: 1 credit per received email}
  - {source: Emails carrying one or more attachments, cost: 2 credits per email, note: Doubles regardless of attachment size — 100 KB and 10 MB cost the same.}
  note: >-
    Marketing, transactional, workflow and INBOUND email all count against one
    monthly total. Inbound counting toward the allowance is easy to miss and
    matters for anyone using the receiving-emails feature.
activation_charges:
  note: >-
    Activating a paid subscription places two charges of 1.00 in the billing
    currency. Both are credited back to the account balance in full and applied
    against usage before any invoice, so activation costs nothing net.
  charges:
  - {name: Onboarding fee, when: at checkout, purpose: One-time fee supporting Plunk development}
  - {name: Card verification, when: immediately after checkout, purpose: Confirms the card accepts automatic monthly billing}
  failure_behavior: >-
    If the verification charge is declined, the onboarding fee is refunded in
    full and the subscription is cancelled. Most common with prepaid, virtual
    and single-use cards.
spend_controls:
  per_category_caps: [Transactional, Campaigns, Workflows, Inbound]
  console: Settings -> Billing -> Limits
  api:
  - "GET /users/@me/projects/{id}/billing-limits"
  - "PUT /users/@me/projects/{id}/billing-limits"
  - "GET /users/@me/projects/{id}/billing-consumption"
  - "GET /users/@me/projects/{id}/billing-invoices"
  exhaustion_behavior:
    outbound: 402 Payment Required with error code BILLING_LIMIT_EXCEEDED
    inbound: >-
      Inbound emails are DROPPED SILENTLY for the affected project until the cap
      resets. They are not queued and not replayed.
    reset: start of each billing period
  note: >-
    Caps are independent and optional. Their purpose is to keep transactional
    capacity available even if a campaign over-sends.
payment_processor: Stripe
tiering:
  feature_gating: none
  feature_gating_note: >-
    Plunk publishes no feature tiers, add-ons or enterprise plan. Every feature
    is on every plan; the paid tier removes Plunk branding and lifts the 1,000
    email allowance. There is no "contact sales" surface and no published SLA.
plans:
- id: plunk-free
  name: Free Forever
  type: free
  description: >-
    Free hosted tier including 1,000 emails per month with unlimited contacts.
    Messages carry Plunk branding. No credit card required.
  entries:
  - label: Included Emails
    name: free_emails
    type: included
    metric: emails
    limit: 1000
    timeFrame: month
    geo: global
    unit: 1
    price: free
    userMultiplied: false
  - label: Contacts
    name: free_contacts
    type: included
    metric: contacts
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: month
    geo: global
    unit: 1
    price: unlimited, free
    userMultiplied: false
  elements:
  - name: Transactional Send
  - name: Event Tracking
  - name: Contacts
  - name: Campaigns
  - name: Automations
- id: plunk-pay-as-you-grow
  name: Pay as you grow
  type: usage
  description: >-
    Usage-based hosted tier billed at a flat per-email rate with no base fee and
    unlimited contacts.
  entries:
  - label: Email Sends
    name: email_sends
    type: usage
    metric: emails
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: month
    geo: global
    unit: 1
    price: $0.001 per email
    userMultiplied: false
  - label: Contacts
    name: contacts
    type: included
    metric: contacts
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: month
    geo: global
    unit: 1
    price: unlimited, included
    userMultiplied: false
  elements:
  - name: Transactional Send
  - name: Event Tracking
  - name: Contacts
  - name: Campaigns
  - name: Automations
- id: plunk-self-hosted
  name: Self-Hosted (Open Source)
  type: free
  description: >-
    The full Plunk platform is open-source under AGPL-3.0 and can be deployed
    with Docker Compose. There are no Plunk per-email fees; you pay only for
    your own infrastructure and outbound email provider.
  entries:
  - label: Plunk Software
    name: self_hosted_software
    type: flat
    metric: license
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: month
    geo: global
    unit: 1
    price: free (AGPL-3.0)
    userMultiplied: false
  elements:
  - name: Full Platform
  - name: Full Data Ownership
  - name: No Per-Email Costs
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com