Send email from FastAPI
Async-first. Provider SDKs without async support need an httpx wrapper or a thread pool.
FastAPI runs on uvicorn or hypercorn. Sends should be non-blocking; workers handle retries.
Send patterns
- Async send through httpx for providers without async SDKs.
- BackgroundTasks for fire-and-forget sends.
- Pydantic models for outbound payload validation.
- Webhook routes with signature verification.
Common mistakes
- Calling sync SDKs in async handlers blocks the event loop.
- BackgroundTasks for production sends drops on crash. Use a real queue.
provider picks for FastAPI
- 01
Postmark
TransactionalStable HTTP API; easy to wrap in httpx.
100/mo developer plan · $15/mo for 10,000 emails - 02
Amazon SES
Transactionalaiobotocore for async SES.
Up to $200 in AWS Free Tier credits for new accounts · $0.10 per 1,000 emails - 03
Mailgun
TransactionalHTTP API and async-friendly via httpx.
100/day permanent free plan · $15/mo for 10,000 emails (Basic)
reading this as developers picking email infrastructure
The question here is which one a backend engineer would rather operate. That means SDK depth in the language already in use, whether a retry can safely be replayed, how much the event log tells you when a customer says the email never arrived, and whether the pricing curve stays sane as volume grows.
Applied to sending email from FastAPI, that means weighing developer experience, SDK breadth, idempotency keys, and operating track record ahead of the rest, against password resets, receipts, and magic links shipped from application code.