Migrating from Other Email Services

Migrating from Other Email Services

This guide covers migrating from popular email services including SendGrid, Mailgun, Resend, Postmark, and others to mailiam’s unified email infrastructure.

Why Choose mailiam?

Comparison with Popular Services

Feature	mailiam	SendGrid	Mailgun	Resend	Postmark
Configuration	YAML config	API/Dashboard	API/Dashboard	API only	Dashboard
Form Handling	Built-in	Manual	Manual	Manual	Manual
Email Forwarding	Native	Not available	Basic	Not available	Not available
Spam Protection	Comprehensive	Basic	Basic	Basic	Basic
Pricing Model	SaaS tiers	Per email	Per email	Per email	Per email
Developer UX	CLI + config	API integration	API integration	API integration	Dashboard
Template Management	File-based	Dashboard	API	API	Dashboard

Migration Benefits

• Simplified Architecture: One service for forms, forwarding, and sending
• Better Developer Experience: Configuration as code with Git workflow
• Cost Effective: Predictable SaaS pricing vs. per-email costs
• Enhanced Security: Built-in spam protection and rate limiting
• No Vendor Lock-in: Open configuration format

Pre-Migration Planning

Service Assessment

Document your current setup:

1. Email Volume: Monthly/daily sending volume
2. Email Types: Transactional, marketing, forms
3. Recipients: Internal vs. external email routing
4. Templates: Custom email templates in use
5. Integrations: Applications using the current service
6. Domains: All sending domains configured

Feature Mapping

Map current features to mailiam equivalents:

Current Feature	mailiam Equivalent
Transactional emails	Form submissions + templates
Contact forms	Built-in form handling
Email forwarding	Native forwarding rules
Email templates	YAML-defined templates
Webhooks	Built-in submission handling
Analytics	CLI analytics and reports

Migrating from SendGrid

Current SendGrid Setup

Typical SendGrid API usage:

const sgMail = require('@sendgrid/mail');
sgMail.setApiKey(process.env.SENDGRID_API_KEY);

const msg = {
  to: 'recipient@example.com',
  from: 'sender@yourdomain.com',
  subject: 'Contact Form Submission',
  text: `Name: ${name}\nEmail: ${email}\nMessage: ${message}`,
  html: `<strong>Name:</strong> ${name}<br><strong>Email:</strong> ${email}<br><strong>Message:</strong> ${message}`
};

sgMail.send(msg);

mailiam Equivalent

mailiam.config.yaml:

project:
  name: "My Application"
  slug: "my-app"

domains:
  yourdomain.com:
    forwarding:
      "contact@yourdomain.com": "team@company.com"
      "notifications@yourdomain.com": "alerts@company.com"

    forms:
      contact:
        name: "Contact Form"
        template: "contact-form"
        replyTo: "contact@yourdomain.com"

templates:
  contact-form:
    type: "form"
    subject: "Contact Form Submission"
    html: |
      <div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
        <h2>New Contact Form Submission</h2>
        <p><strong>Name:</strong> {{ form.name }}</p>
        <p><strong>Email:</strong> {{ form.email }}</p>
        <p><strong>Message:</strong></p>
        <p>{{ form.message }}</p>
      </div>
    text: |
      Name: {{ form.name }}
      Email: {{ form.email }}
      Message: {{ form.message }}

Frontend (replaces SendGrid API calls):

<form action="https://api.mailiam.dev/yourdomain.com/contact" method="POST">
  <input name="name" placeholder="Name" required>
  <input name="email" type="email" placeholder="Email" required>
  <textarea name="message" placeholder="Message" required></textarea>

  <!-- Spam protection -->
  <input type="text" name="_mailiam_honeypot" style="display:none" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off">

  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

SendGrid Template Migration

SendGrid Dynamic Template:

{
  "template_id": "d-abc123",
  "personalizations": [
    {
      "to": [{"email": "recipient@example.com"}],
      "dynamic_template_data": {
        "name": "{{name}}",
        "email": "{{email}}",
        "message": "{{message}}"
      }
    }
  ],
  "from": {"email": "sender@yourdomain.com"}
}

mailiam Template:

templates:
  dynamic-contact:
    type: "form"
    subject: "New message from {{ form.name }}"
    html: |
      <!DOCTYPE html>
      <html>
      <head>
        <style>
          .container { max-width: 600px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; }
          .header { background: #f8f9fa; padding: 20px; text-align: center; }
          .content { padding: 20px; }
          .footer { background: #e9ecef; padding: 10px; font-size: 12px; }
        </style>
      </head>
      <body>
        <div class="container">
          <div class="header">
            <h1>Contact Form Submission</h1>
          </div>
          <div class="content">
            <p><strong>Name:</strong> {{ form.name }}</p>
            <p><strong>Email:</strong> {{ form.email }}</p>
            <p><strong>Message:</strong></p>
            <blockquote>{{ form.message }}</blockquote>
          </div>
          <div class="footer">
            <p>Sent from {{ domain }} at {{ timestamp }}</p>
          </div>
        </div>
      </body>
      </html>

Migrating from Mailgun

Current Mailgun Setup

Mailgun API usage:

const mailgun = require('mailgun-js')({
  apiKey: process.env.MAILGUN_API_KEY,
  domain: 'yourdomain.com'
});

const data = {
  from: 'Contact Form <contact@yourdomain.com>',
  to: 'team@company.com',
  subject: 'Contact Form Submission',
  text: `Name: ${name}\nEmail: ${email}\nMessage: ${message}`
};

mailgun.messages().send(data);

mailiam Migration

Replace with mailiam configuration:

domains:
  yourdomain.com:
    forwarding:
      # Route emails to team
      "contact@yourdomain.com": "team@company.com"
      "support@yourdomain.com": "support-team@company.com"

    forms:
      contact:
        name: "Contact Form"
        replyTo: "contact@yourdomain.com"
        template: "mailgun-style"

templates:
  mailgun-style:
    type: "form"
    subject: "Contact Form Submission"
    text: |
      Name: {{ form.name }}
      Email: {{ form.email }}
      Message: {{ form.message }}
    html: |
      <p><strong>Name:</strong> {{ form.name }}</p>
      <p><strong>Email:</strong> {{ form.email }}</p>
      <p><strong>Message:</strong> {{ form.message }}</p>

Mailgun Webhook Migration

Current Mailgun webhook:

app.post('/mailgun/webhook', (req, res) => {
  // Process incoming email webhook
  const { sender, subject, body } = req.body;

  // Forward to internal system
  processIncomingEmail(sender, subject, body);
});

mailiam equivalent using email forwarding:

domains:
  yourdomain.com:
    forwarding:
      # Automatic forwarding replaces webhook processing
      "webhook@yourdomain.com": "internal-system@company.com"
      "*@yourdomain.com": "catch-all@company.com"

    # Optional: Process via collections for more control
    collections:
      webhooks:
        name: "Webhook Collection"
        settings:
          requireApiKey: true
        forms:
          mailgun-replacement:
            email: "internal-system@company.com"

Migrating from Resend

Current Resend Setup

Resend API usage:

import { Resend } from 'resend';

const resend = new Resend('re_123456789');

await resend.emails.send({
  from: 'onboarding@yourdomain.com',
  to: ['delivered@resend.dev'],
  subject: 'Contact Form',
  html: '<strong>Contact form submission</strong>',
});

mailiam Migration

Replace with form-based approach:

domains:
  yourdomain.com:
    forms:
      resend-replacement:
        name: "Contact Form"
        template: "resend-style"
        replyTo: "onboarding@yourdomain.com"

templates:
  resend-style:
    type: "form"
    subject: "Contact Form"
    html: |
      <div style="font-family: system-ui, sans-serif;">
        <h2>Contact Form Submission</h2>
        <p><strong>Name:</strong> {{ form.name }}</p>
        <p><strong>Email:</strong> {{ form.email }}</p>
        <p><strong>Message:</strong></p>
        <div style="background: #f6f8fa; padding: 16px; border-radius: 6px;">
          {{ form.message | nl2br }}
        </div>
      </div>

Migrating from Postmark

Current Postmark Setup

Postmark API usage:

const postmark = require('postmark');
const client = new postmark.ServerClient('your-api-key');

client.sendEmail({
  'From': 'sender@yourdomain.com',
  'To': 'recipient@example.com',
  'Subject': 'Contact form submission',
  'HtmlBody': '<strong>Hello</strong> from Postmark!',
  'TextBody': 'Hello from Postmark!'
});

mailiam Migration

Configuration-based approach:

domains:
  yourdomain.com:
    forms:
      postmark-replacement:
        name: "Contact Form"
        template: "postmark-style"
        acknowledgment:
          enabled: true
          template: "postmark-ack"

templates:
  postmark-style:
    type: "form"
    subject: "Contact form submission"
    html: "<strong>Contact Details:</strong><br>{{ form.name }} ({{ form.email }})<br>{{ form.message }}"
    text: "Contact Details:\n{{ form.name }} ({{ form.email }})\n{{ form.message }}"

  postmark-ack:
    type: "acknowledgment"
    subject: "Thanks for your message"
    html: "<strong>Hello</strong> {{ form.name }}!<br>We received your message and will get back to you soon."
    text: "Hello {{ form.name }}!\nWe received your message and will get back to you soon."

Multi-Service Migration Strategy

Phase 1: Assessment and Planning

1. Inventory Current Services:

   # Document all email services in use
   # Map current functionality to mailiam features
   # Identify migration priorities

2. Set Up mailiam:

   npm install -g mailiam
   mailiam signup
   mailiam init

Phase 2: Domain Migration

1. Configure Domains:

   domains:
     primary.com:
       forwarding:
         "admin@primary.com": "team@company.com"
       forms:
         contact:
           name: "Primary Contact"
   
     secondary.com:
       forwarding:
         "*@secondary.com": "catchall@company.com"

2. Set Up DNS:

   mailiam domains setup primary.com
   mailiam domains setup secondary.com

Phase 3: Template Migration

Convert templates from all services:

templates:
  # From SendGrid template
  sendgrid-contact:
    type: "form"
    subject: "{{ form.subject || 'Contact Form' }}"
    html_file: "./templates/sendgrid-style.html"

  # From Mailgun template
  mailgun-notification:
    type: "form"
    subject: "Notification: {{ form.type }}"
    text: |
      Type: {{ form.type }}
      Details: {{ form.details }}

  # From Resend template
  resend-welcome:
    type: "acknowledgment"
    subject: "Welcome {{ form.name }}"
    html_file: "./templates/welcome.html"

Phase 4: Application Integration

Update applications to use mailiam:

Before (multiple services):

// SendGrid for transactional
await sgMail.send(sendGridEmail);

// Mailgun for notifications
await mailgun.messages().send(mailgunData);

// Postmark for marketing
await postmarkClient.sendEmail(postmarkEmail);

After (unified mailiam):

<!-- Single endpoint for all forms -->
<form action="https://api.mailiam.dev/yourdomain.com/unified" method="POST">
  <input name="type" value="contact" type="hidden">
  <input name="name" placeholder="Name" required>
  <input name="email" type="email" placeholder="Email" required>
  <textarea name="message" placeholder="Message" required></textarea>
  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

Advanced Migration Scenarios

Multi-Domain Setup

If you have multiple domains across different services:

domains:
  # Main website (from SendGrid)
  company.com:
    forwarding:
      "hello@company.com": "team@company.com"
    forms:
      contact:
        name: "Main Contact"

  # Support portal (from Mailgun)
  support.company.com:
    forwarding:
      "*@support.company.com": "support@company.com"
    forms:
      ticket:
        name: "Support Ticket"
        template: "support-ticket"

  # Marketing site (from Postmark)
  marketing.company.com:
    forms:
      newsletter:
        name: "Newsletter Signup"
        template: "newsletter-signup"
        acknowledgment:
          enabled: true

High-Volume Migration

For high-volume senders:

1. Gradual Migration:

   settings:
     # Start with higher rate limits
     rate_limit: 100
   
   domains:
     yourdomain.com:
       forms:
         high-volume:
           rateLimit: 1000  # Higher limits for migration period

2. Load Testing:

   # Test with expected volume
   mailiam test send --volume 1000 --duration 1h

3. Monitoring:

   # Monitor performance during migration
   mailiam analytics --real-time

Testing Your Migration

1. Functionality Testing

# Test each migrated form
curl -X POST https://api.mailiam.dev/yourdomain.com/contact \
  -F "name=Migration Test" \
  -F "email=test@company.com" \
  -F "message=Testing migration from [previous service]"

# Test email forwarding
mailiam test send team@company.com

# Test templates
mailiam templates preview contact-form

2. Load Testing

# Simulate previous service load
for i in {1..100}; do
  curl -X POST https://api.mailiam.dev/yourdomain.com/contact \
    -F "name=Load Test $i" \
    -F "email=test$i@example.com" \
    -F "message=Load testing migration" &
done
wait

3. Feature Parity Testing

Verify all previous functionality works:

• Email delivery to all recipients
• Template rendering with dynamic content
• Rate limiting appropriate for traffic
• Spam protection enabled
• Error handling for invalid submissions
• Analytics and reporting

Post-Migration Optimization

1. Enhanced Features

Take advantage of mailiam’s additional features:

domains:
  yourdomain.com:
    forms:
      enhanced-contact:
        # Better spam protection than previous service
        spam_protection:
          level: "strict"
          honeypot: "_bot_trap"

        # Reply forwarding (not available in most services)
        replies: true
        replyTo: "hello@yourdomain.com"

        # Advanced rate limiting
        rateLimit: 10

2. Cost Optimization

Monitor usage and optimize:

# Review usage patterns
mailiam analytics usage --last-month

# Optimize rate limits based on actual traffic
mailiam analytics rate-limits --recommendations

3. Team Training

Ensure your team understands the new workflow:

• Configuration management with Git
• Deploying changes with mailiam push
• Monitoring with CLI analytics
• Troubleshooting common issues

Migration Checklist

Pre-Migration

• Current service inventory completed
• mailiam account created and CLI installed
• Domain ownership verified
• Templates converted to mailiam format
• Test environment set up

During Migration

• DNS records updated for each domain
• Application code updated to use mailiam
• Templates deployed and tested
• Email forwarding rules configured
• Rate limiting and spam protection configured

Post-Migration

• All functionality tested and verified
• Previous service integrations removed
• Previous service subscriptions cancelled
• Team trained on new workflow
• Documentation updated
• Monitoring and alerting set up

Getting Migration Help

Support Resources

• Migration Consultation: Free consultation for enterprise customers
• Professional Services: Migration assistance available
• Documentation: Comprehensive guides for each service
• Community Support: Discord community for migration questions

Contact Information

• Migration Support: migration@mailiam.dev
• Enterprise Sales: enterprise@mailiam.dev
• Technical Support: support@mailiam.dev

Include in your migration request:

• Current email service(s) used
• Monthly email volume
• Number of domains to migrate
• Timeline requirements
• Any custom integrations or complex requirements

Migrating to mailiam consolidates your email infrastructure, reduces complexity, and provides better developer experience while maintaining all functionality from your previous services.