How to Migrate From Mandrill to Pepipost

Posted March 10, 2016

Savvy businesses want a dynamic transactional email delivery system without the high fees. Mailchimp recently announced that on April 27, Mandrill will become a paid add-on of the email marketing powerhouse.

For current customers, this means more than moving from a Free to a Paid account. It will be making a move from a simple transactional email delivery product to a full-on marketing tool. For advanced marketers, the efficiency of having everything they need on a single platform makes sense. But for a majority of the IT or developer transactional email senders, the added resources gained by a paid account are unnecessary clutter. That's where Pepipost comes in.

Good sending encouraged

Pepipost's transactional email delivery platform is built on a good sender philosophy that encourages senders to keep the email ecosystem clean. A startling 85% of today’s emails go directly to 'spam'; we want to help yours make it to their intended destinations. Staying true to our philosophy, we've created a pricing model that encourages that cleaner ecosystem. We never charge for emails that your customers open. Emails that are clicked, opened or engaged with in some way will always be free.

Industry stats estimate the average open rate at 35-40%. By following best practices and tips from the Pepis for responsible email sending to ensure high open rates, a large volume of your emails will be on us. There is no limit. The more your customers engage, the less you spend. It's pretty simple. We keep the pricing model in your hands.

Your experience is key

We understand the concerns of current Mandrill customers. You want to ensure that your provider is as efficient as your previous transactional email platform. That's why Pepipost is offering Mandrill customers an exclusive 3-month free trial to send unlimited transactional emails. We don't just want to tell you what our customers already know. We want you to experience it yourself.

Simplified API integration

We know that as a Mandrill customer you have already spent countless hours integrating and fine-tuning your transactional email strategies. We don’t want your efforts to go to waste, so we've kept migration simple

Enter the Mandrill to Pepipost migration API. The process is straightforward: just replace the API key and URL in your current Mandrill API code or SDK. The parameter name and output will remain the same. Our goal is to keep transactional emails painless, saving you the time and the headache of a multi-step migration.

Use these API Calls for Mandrill and Pepipost:

Mandrill API URL: https://mandrillapp.com/api/1.0/messages/send.json

Pepipost API URL: https://api.pepipost.com/api/1.0/messages/send.json

Mandrill Parameters

Pepipost

key*
string

a valid API key

message*

The information on the message send

html
string

the full HTML content to be sent

YES

subject
string

the message subject

YES

from_email
string

the sender email address.
email

YES

from_name
string

optional "from" name to be used

YES

to
array

an array of recipient information.

to[] struct

a single recipient's information.

email*
string

the email address of the recipient

required

name
string

the optional display name to use for the recipient

type
string

the header type to use for the recipient, defaults to "to" if (to, cc, bcc) is not provided

YES

global_merge_vars
array

global merge variables to use for all recipients. You can override these per recipient.

global_merge_vars[] struct

a single global merge variable

name string	the global merge variable's name. Merge variable names are case-insensitive and may not start with _
content mixed	the global merge variable's content

YES

merge_vars
array

per-recipient merge variables, which override global merge variables with the same name.

merge_vars[] struct

per-recipient merge variables

rcpt*
string

the email address of the recipient that the merge variables should apply to

required

vars
array

the recipient's merge variables

vars[] struct

a single merge variable
name string	the merge variable's name. Merge variable names are case-insensitive and may not start with _
content mixed	the merge variable's content

YES

tags
array

an array of strings to tag the message with. Stats are accumulated using tags, though we only store the first 100 we see, so this should not be unique or change frequently. Tags should be 50 characters or less. Any tags starting with an underscore are reserved for internal use and will cause errors.

tags[]*
string

a single tag - must not start with an underscore

required

YES

attachments
array

Example Request JSON (copy paste the below code in your terminal, after editing it with your API key):

curl -d \
'{

    "key":"yourapikey",
    "message":{
        "html":"<p>hi [% FIRST_NAME %], Pepipost Mandrill Migration API Testing</p>",
        "subject":"hi [% FIRST_NAME %], Pepipost Mandrill Migration API Testing",
        "from_email":"test@mydomain.com",
        "from_name":"Pepipost Testing",
        "tags":[
            "Tag Of Mail"
        ],
        "to":[
            {
                "email":"mytestid@gmail.com",
                "name":"Mike",
                "type":"to"
            },
            {
                "email":"mytestid2@yahoo.com",
                "name":"Steve",
                "type":"to"
            }
        ],
        "merge_vars":[
            {
                "rcpt":"mytestid@gmail.com",
                "vars":[
                    {
                        "name":"FIRST_NAME",
                        "content":"Steve"
                    },
                    {
                        "name":"LAST_NAME",
                        "content":"Tally"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "rcpt":"mytestid2@yahoo.com",
                "vars":[
                    {
                        "name":"FIRST_NAME",
                        "content":" Mike"
                    },
                    {
                        "name":"LAST_NAME",
                        "content":"Shabby"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}' 'https://api.pepipost.com/api/1.0/messages/send.json'

If you are currently using Mandrill SMTP, it's a simple change. You can replace your current Mandrill SMTP credentials with the following:

SMTP Host: smtp.pepipost.com

Username: Your Pepipost username

Password: Your Pepipost password

Port: 25/587/2525

Still confused or looking for additional help to complete the integration? We're available 24/7 over live chat, or by email at support@pepipost.com.