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Installation

MailBridge has a minimal core with optional extras for providers that need additional SDKs. SMTP and most providers work out of the box — only SendGrid and Amazon SES require an extra install.

Requirements

Python 3.10+
Minimum supported version
No hard dependencies
Core package installs nothing extra — only what you need per provider
Email account or API key
From whichever provider you choose to use

Install

bash
pip install mailbridge
bash
uv add mailbridge
bash
poetry add mailbridge

This installs the core package. SMTP, Postmark, Mailgun and Brevo are included and ready to use — no additional steps.

Optional Dependencies

SendGrid and Amazon SES require their official SDKs. Install only what you need:

SendGrid
optional
bash
pip install mailbridge[sendgrid]
Installs sendgrid SDK
Amazon SES
optional
bash
pip install mailbridge[ses]
Installs boto3 (AWS SDK)
All providers
all
bash
pip install mailbridge[all]
Installs sendgrid + boto3

Which providers need extras?

ProviderExtra neededInstalls
SendGrid pip install mailbridge[sendgrid] sendgrid
Amazon SES pip install mailbridge[ses] boto3
Postmark ✓ Included — no extra needed
Mailgun ✓ Included — no extra needed
Brevo ✓ Included — no extra needed
SMTP ✓ Included — uses Python stdlib

Verify Installation

Confirm MailBridge is installed correctly:

bash
python -c "from mailbridge import MailBridge; print('MailBridge OK')"

Or check the installed version:

bash
pip show mailbridge

If you're using an optional provider, verify that its SDK is also available:

bash
# SendGrid
python -c "import sendgrid; print('sendgrid OK')"

# Amazon SES
python -c "import boto3; print('boto3 OK')"

Which provider should I choose?

Not sure where to start? Here's a quick guide:

Getting started / development

Use SMTP with your Gmail or Outlook account. No sign-up, no API keys — works immediately with credentials you already have.

bash
pip install mailbridge   # SMTP works out of the box
Production transactional email

Use Postmark or SendGrid. Both have excellent deliverability, template support, and are easy to set up. Postmark requires no extra install.

bash
pip install mailbridge               # Postmark included
pip install mailbridge[sendgrid]     # SendGrid needs the SDK
Already on AWS

Use Amazon SES. If you're running on EC2 or Lambda, you can use IAM roles — no API keys needed in your code at all.

bash
pip install mailbridge[ses]
High volume / newsletters

Use SendGrid, Mailgun, or Brevo — all support native batch APIs for sending thousands of emails efficiently.

bash
pip install mailbridge[sendgrid]     # SendGrid
pip install mailbridge               # Mailgun or Brevo — included

You can switch providers at any time — the rest of your code stays the same. So starting with SMTP for development and switching to SendGrid for production is completely straightforward.