Overview
If you use SendGrid for transactional or marketing emails, you can integrate your account with Apollo to send higher volumes of emails. Apollo only recommends integrating your SendGrid account if you already actively use their platform for transactional or marketing emails. If you don't, consider using this Apollo partner to help you follow deliverability best practices.
Access to the Sendgrid integration depends on your Apollo plan. If you need access, upgrade your plan. If you have questions about upgrading, reach out to the Apollo sales team.
Before you can connect the SendGrid integration, you must configure your SendGrid account, which includes authenticating all domains on SendGrid that are used as both mailboxes and as user logins on Apollo.
Check out the following sections to integrate your SendGrid account with Apollo.
Connect the Integration
You must be an admin on Apollo to connect this integration. Once you configure your SendGrid account, you can connect it to Apollo.
If you use Sendgrid for open tracking, Apollo doesn't sync click events from Sendgrid like self-opens or bot-opens. Apollo only tracks process events from Sendgrid like dropped or not sent messages, bounced messages, and spam blocked messages. However, Sendgrid may count bot and self-opens in open tracking, which could lead to an inflated report on click events. To avoid this, consider using Apollo for open tracking.
To connect the SendGrid integration:
- Launch Apollo and click Integrations.
- Click Connect beside SendGrid.
- Paste your SendGrid API key, and click Link SendGrid.
You can access your SendGrid API key on SendGrid. Wondering how often you should update your API key? Apollo recommends you delete or update your API keys every 90 days to uphold security best practices and keep them safe. For more information on how to replace your SendGrid API keys, check out Replacing an Old API Key on SendGrid Support.
- Any time you update your API key, copy and paste the new key into Apollo. Then, click Update API key.
Next, enable access to SendGrid.
Enable SendGrid by Default for All Users
If you're an admin and want to set SendGrid to default for all users:
- Launch Apollo and click Integrations.
- Click View beside SendGrid.
- Toggle Use SendGrid as default for entire team.
- Click Make SendGrid default.
You have now enabled SendGrid by default for all users in your team. Your team can still decide whether to use SendGrid for each of their email accounts.
To deactivate SendGrid for a particular email address:
- Click Settings > Mailboxes.
- Click ... next to an email address > Stop sending emails from SendGrid.
Configure the Webhook Event Settings
To ensure accurate email event tracking with SendGrid, you must configure the webhook event settings in Apollo.
To configure webhook event settings:
- Launch Apollo and click Integrations.
- Click View beside SendGrid.
- Click Fix settings beside webhook event settings.
- Apollo populates the HTTP Post URL field, configures the necessary event types and tracking options, and enables the webhook authentication toggle for you.
You must not deactivate the webhook authentication toggle. This setting provides an additional layer of security and allows Apollo to track your SendGrid events. If you turn the toggle off, Apollo cannot track your email events.
Apollo automatically saves the changes. To enable additional engagement events, click the checkboxes and then click Save. 
When you configure the event webhook settings in Apollo, your SendGrid statistics sync with Apollo moving forward. However, the sync isn't retroactive. You must review previous statistics directly on SendGrid.
Enable SendGrid for a Mailbox
To enable SendGrid for a mailbox you've connected to Apollo:
- Launch Apollo and click Settings > Mailboxes.
- Click ... beside your mailbox, then click Send emails from SendGrid.
When you send emails via SendGrid, the emails don't appear in your mailbox sent folder. Reach out to SendGrid support to learn more.
Confirm Set Up
Add a contact to a sequence with an email step to confirm SendGrid is fully integrated.
Choose Send Emails From, and you should see SendGrid next to an email address. This confirms you've set up SendGrid correctly.
Edit Your Daily and Hourly Send Rates
You and your team must comply with SendGrid's opt-in and opt-out policy and follow email best practices to use SendGrid's server responsibly. If you email contacts without their consent, SendGrid may block your domain.
To make changes to your email sending limits for a connected mailbox on Apollo:
- Launch Apollo and click Settings > Mailboxes.
- Click a mailbox, then adjust the daily sending limit or the maximum emails sent per hour.
Although you can send more emails per day and hour with SendGrid, you must still be mindful of email best practices and comply with SendGrid's sending requirements.
SendGrid and Spam Filters
SendGrid replaces the tracking URLs and directs them to SendGrid servers to resolve deliverability issues. If you connect your Apollo account to SendGrid, you don't need to configure a tracking subdomain because SendGrid manages your tracking links. For more information, check out Configure Your SendGrid Account.
If your emails are flagged as spam when your Apollo account is connected to SendGrid, you may need to replace the tracking link in the emails within your SendGrid account itself. SendGrid includes a feature called link branding that functions the same as Apollo's tracking subdomain. Link branding feature provides the URL that you must replace to reset the deliverability on your account. In this scenario, contact SendGrid technical support so that they can help you update this configuration and provide any additional information about deliverability within your account.