Choosing a connector
Pick the right delivery path for your workspace based on ownership, speed, analytics, and operational needs.
The best connector is usually the one that matches who owns deliverability in your company. Product-led teams often start with GenieOS Relay. Larger teams usually bring an ESP they already use. Lifecycle teams may prefer a platform connector so GenieOS sends also appear in journey analytics.
Decision guide
| Need | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Fastest setup with the least vendor work | GenieOS Relay | GenieOS owns the delivery integration and webhook normalization. |
| Existing sending domain and reputation | A transactional ESP connector | You keep your provider account while moving authoring and governance into GenieOS. |
| A legacy mail server or uncommon provider | SMTP | SMTP is simple and widely supported, but has fewer normalized events. |
| Lifecycle platform reporting and audience sync | Iterable | GenieOS creates triggered campaigns and receives Iterable events back by webhook. |
| Strict cloud or procurement requirements | Amazon SES | SES is common for teams standardized on AWS. |
What to evaluate
- Domain ownership: confirm the provider account can send from the same domain as your GenieOS workspace.
- Event depth: not every provider reports every state. SMTP has the thinnest event model; API ESPs and Relay provide richer timelines.
- Suppression source of truth: decide whether unsubscribes originate in GenieOS, your ESP, or both.
- Attachments and inline images: check provider-specific limits before using large files or embedded images.
- Regional requirements: choose the provider account region that matches your data residency needs where the provider supports it.
Recommended starting point
flowchart TD
Start[Do you already own ESP deliverability?]
Start -->|No| Relay[Use GenieOS Relay]
Start -->|Yes| Existing[Keep your existing ESP connector]
Existing --> Lifecycle{Need lifecycle journey reporting?}
Lifecycle -->|Yes| Iterable[Use Iterable]
Lifecycle -->|No| APIESP[Use the ESP API connector]
Existing --> SMTPOnly{Only SMTP credentials available?}
SMTPOnly -->|Yes| SMTP[Use SMTP]
SMTPOnly -->|No| APIESPYou can install a connector, test it, and switch back without changing the SDK calls in your application. Connector choice is a workspace setting, not a client-side integration detail.
Migration notes
When moving from one connector to another, send a small internal test first, then a low-risk transactional template, then high-volume campaigns. Watch bounces, spam complaints, and missing webhook events before moving critical traffic.