Overview
Understand how to manage billing, plan limits, and overage charges for SendGrid accounts provisioned through the Azure Marketplace. Because these accounts are integrated with your Azure subscription, all billing cycles, plan upgrades, and tier adjustments must be handled directly through Azure Support or the Azure portal rather than the SendGrid dashboard.
What You Need To Know
When using SendGrid via Azure, your account adheres to specific feature sets and a unique billing model. Key details include:
| Plan Type | IP Addresses | > 1 IP | Subusers | Teammates | Overages |
| Free 100 | Shared IP Pools | NO | NO | 1 | YES |
| Essentials 40K | Shared IP Pools | NO | NO | 1 | YES |
| Essentials 100K | Shared IP Pools | NO | NO | 1 | YES |
| Pro 100 | 1 Dedicated IP | NO | YES | 1000 | YES |
| Pro 300K | 1 Dedicated IP | NO | YES | 1000 | YES |
| Pro 700K | 1 Dedicated IP | NO | YES | 1000 | YES |
| Pro 1.5M | 1 Dedicated IP | NO | YES | 1000 | YES |
| Pro 2.5M | 1 Dedicated IP | NO | YES | 1000 | YES |
| HV Plans | 1 Dedicated IP | YES | YES | 1000 | YES |
Hourly Overage Accrual
Unlike standard monthly billing, Azure overages are calculated using an hourly accrual model:
- Earned Volume: You "earn" your monthly email allowance hourly throughout the billing cycle.
- The Calculation: If your sending exceeds the volume earned at any specific point in the month, you are charged overages. This is calculated by dividing the excess volume by the hours remaining in the period.
- Increasing Costs: The cost per hour for overages increases as you get closer to the end of your billing cycle. This system encourages upgrading to a higher, more cost-effective tier if your volume spikes early.
Sending Caps (Hard Limits)
To prevent unexpected costs, Azure accounts have a hard cap of 2.5x your plan's monthly limit.
- Prevention: Once you reach 250% of your plan allowance (e.g., 250,000 emails on a 100K plan), all outbound sending is automatically paused until the next cycle or an upgrade occurs.
Upgrades and Credit Resets
- Reset Dates: Your credits reset on the anniversary of your initial sign-up date, not necessarily the 1st of the month.
- Mid-Cycle Upgrades: Upgrading does not reset your usage to zero. Your current usage carries over into the new plan’s limit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't SendGrid Support change my billing plan?
Azure Marketplace accounts are managed within the Microsoft ecosystem. Because your billing is tied to your Azure subscription, SendGrid does not have the administrative permissions to manually adjust your tiers or billing cycles.
If I upgrade mid-cycle, do I get a fresh set of credits?
No. Your usage history stays with you. For example, if you have used 400,000 emails on a 100K plan and upgrade to a 700K plan, the 400,000 emails are still counted, leaving you with 300,000 emails for the remainder of that cycle.
What happens if I hit my 2.5x hard limit?
Your account will stop sending emails immediately to protect you from further overage charges. To resume sending, you must upgrade to a higher volume tier through the Azure portal.
Conclusion
Managing your SendGrid account through Azure requires monitoring your hourly usage to avoid escalating overage costs. If you find your sending volume consistently exceeding your "earned" hourly limit or approaching the 2.5x hard cap, we recommend upgrading your plan early in the cycle via the Azure portal. For assistance with billing adjustments or account tiering, please contact Azure Support.
Additional Information
- Twilio SendGrid Overage Rates
- Understanding the "Maximum Credits Exceeded" error
- Marketing Campaigns for Partner Reseller Accounts
- Additional Dedicated IPs for Partner Reseller Accounts Overview