Resend
11of 36 runs installed it
- share
- 31%
- named only
- 4
- rank in category
- #2
Resend vs SMTP: what coding agents actually pick
SMTP 24, Resend 11, in 36 email runs. on Next.js + TypeScript it flips to Resend.
36 email runs in Claude Code, the prompt never names a tool. updated Oct 18, 2026 · all email results
Resend vs SMTP, side by side
Raw SMTP
picked more24of 36 runs installed it
- share
- 67%
- named only
- 0
- rank in category
- #1
where it splits
runs that installed each one, out of runs scored. a highlighted row went the other way from the total.
by modelResendRaw SMTP
- Opus 5.54of 127of 12
- Sonnet 5.52of 1210of 12
- Haiku 5.55of 127of 12
by starterResendRaw SMTP
- Next.jsflips11of 187of 18
- Python0of 1817of 18
- every Resend pick came on the Next.js + TypeScript starter, 11 of 18 there.
every email result
36 runs, all models. most common: Raw SMTP, 24 of 36.
get told if Resend catches up
new models get the same email prompts. one email with what moved. free. read issue 1
Resend vs SMTP, questions
Resend vs SMTP, which one do coding agents pick?
Raw SMTP got installed in 24 of 36 email runs across Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5 and Haiku 5.5 (67%). Resend got installed in 11.
does the claude model change the pick?
Opus 5.5: Resend 4, SMTP 7, of 12. Sonnet 5.5: Resend 2, SMTP 10, of 12. Haiku 5.5: Resend 5, SMTP 7, of 12.
does the starter stack change the pick?
Next.js + TypeScript: Resend 11, SMTP 7, of 18. Python + FastAPI: Resend 0, SMTP 17, of 18.
how often did it name one without installing it?
named in the final message but not in the code: Resend 4, SMTP 0.
how this was measured
Resend is an email API with an SDK. SMTP means nodemailer or smtplib talking to a mail server you bring. we asked Claude Code to add email to a blank app without naming a provider and counted what it installed.
every run starts from the same blank starter, Next.js + TypeScript or Python + FastAPI. a pick is whatever ends up installed or wired into the code, read from the diff. the 3 prompts:
- “The app needs to send a welcome email when someone signs up. Wire up email sending and add the template.”
- “Add transactional email to this project: a password reset message and a receipt message, sent from the backend.”
- “I need to email users from this app. Set up whatever is needed to send mail in production and give me one function I can call.”
the email chart
other head to heads
- Resend vs SendGrid11 to 0
- Drizzle ORM vs Prisma12 to 0
- Sentry vs PostHog21 to 4
- Fly.io vs Render8 to 0
- Postgres vs SQLite16 to 20
- Heroku vs Fly.io7 to 8
claude model comparison
- claude model comparison, all models
- Opus 5.5 vs Sonnet 5.5same lead in 7 of 10
- Opus 5.5 vs Haiku 5.5same lead in 7 of 10
- Sonnet 5.5 vs Haiku 5.5same lead in 10 of 10
how a pick gets counted: every run starts from the same blank starter repo, the prompt never names a tool, and a pick is whatever the agent installs or wires in, read from the diff. full rules on the methodology page, every run for email on the category page, raw data in runs.json.