The Canadian alternative to US-based email APIs

1. 01

   CASL is left to you

   A US email API sends what you give it. Checking consent before a commercial email, and honouring an unsubscribe, is usually your job. HonkIO refuses a commercial email unless CASL consent is on file for the recipient.

2. 02

   Data stored south of the border

   US-based providers typically store account data, email logs included, in the United States. HonkIO stores your email records in Canada, like the rest of your HonkIO data.

3. 03

   Prices in USD

   US providers typically bill in USD, so what you pay in Canadian dollars moves with the exchange rate, and your card may add a conversion fee. HonkIO charges in CAD from a prepaid balance, with no monthly fee.

4. 04

   Replies land in the US

   Receiving email through a US provider usually means your customers' replies, attachments included, are stored in the United States. HonkIO receives at a managed address or on your own domain, stores received mail in Canada, and deletes the raw message and attachments after 40 days.

This is how HonkIO applies CASL, not legal advice about your own messages.

• One-click unsubscribe added to commercial email
  An unsubscribe footer and a one-click header (RFC 8058) on every commercial email. An unsubscribe blocks commercial email only; receipts and password resets still arrive.
• Automatic suppression of bounces and complaints
  A hard bounce or a spam complaint stops further email to that address.
• Pay per recipient, no monthly fee
  Pay only for what you send, from a prepaid balance in CAD.
• Free test mode with simulated bounces and complaints
  Test keys send nothing and charge nothing, but run the same checks and fire the same webhooks as a live key.
• Stored templates with versions
  Edit a draft, publish a numbered version, roll back, and send by id or alias.
• Official SDKs for Node.js, Python, PHP and Laravel
  Clients for sending email and reading received mail.
• MCP server for AI assistants
  The HonkIO MCP server’s email tools appear for accounts with email enabled.
• One account for every channel
  One prepaid CAD balance, one set of API keys and one webhook feed for email, shared with SMS, push notifications, Notify and Verify.
• Receiving email
  A managed address needs no domain setup; receiving on your own domain adds one MX record. See the receiving guide in the email docs.

• Billed per accepted recipient: To, CC and BCC alike, once each. A recipient the compliance check refuses is not billed.
• No monthly fee: a quiet month costs only what you send.
• In Canadian dollars: what you pay doesn’t move with the exchange rate. US providers typically bill in USD.
• Free testing: test keys send nothing and charge nothing, but run the same checks and fire the same webhooks as a live key.
• Attachments: 2 MB per recipient is included. Above that, HonkIO charges for each started MB of attachments.

POST /v1/emails takes the fields developer email APIs commonly use: from, to, cc, bcc, reply_to, subject, html, text and attachments. With the Node SDK, import from @honkio/node instead. The migration guide in the email docs lists the known differences, such as ISO 8601 dates for scheduled sends and the CASL rules for commercial email.

• Email from your app: receipts, password resets, notices and alerts sent through the API, with stored templates, scheduled sends and receiving.
• Made for email your app triggers: no campaign builder or list management to set up.

HonkIO stores email records in Canada and processes API requests there too. An email on its way to a recipient goes wherever their mail server is, as the privacy policy explains.