Resend
Send a first transactional test email with Resend, safely
Resend is an email API for developers. Verify a domain, create an API key, and send one test message from a development project to yourself.
Written from the tool's official pages, listed under Official sources at the end of this guide. Check them for current features, limits and terms.
Try it (opens in a new tab)Steps to try
- Read the Introduction: you need your own domain, verified with Resend, and an API key before you can send.
- Decide what the first email is: a single event-driven message such as a sign-up confirmation, not a marketing broadcast. Write the text yourself.
- Add and verify the domain following the 'Add domain' docs. Prefer a subdomain dedicated to sending, and make the DNS changes only if you control the domain.
- Create an API key from the docs page and store it in your project's secret store or local environment settings, never in code, chat or version control.
- Pick the Quickstart that matches your stack (the docs list Node.js, Next.js, Python, Go, Laravel and others) and send one message to an address you own.
- Check delivery in the Logs, and read the Webhooks docs before relying on delivery events. Review the code, add a test, and only then connect real users.
Limitations
A working test send does not prove deliverability, inbox placement or legal compliance. Marketing and bulk email carry extra consent and unsubscribe duties that depend on where your recipients are. Domain and DNS mistakes can affect your existing email, so check records before editing.
Pricing
Check Resend's official pricing page for current free and paid allowances; we do not quote any. Sending volume and extra features may affect cost.
Privacy and data
Emails and recipient addresses pass through a third-party service. Use synthetic or your own addresses in development, never import a real customer list as a test, and obtain proper consent before sending to real people. Do not let a tool or coding agent install the integration or send to production unreviewed.
About the sources
Based on the vendor's published documentation, not hands-on testing. Deliverability was not tested.
Alternatives
Your existing hosting or domain provider may include SMTP sending. Other transactional email APIs exist; compare setup effort and logs with one test message each.
Official sources
The official pages this guide was written from. Read them for current features, limits and terms.