Choosing Your Lane Type
Understand the role of Relay Lanes vs IP Lanes in your email strategy. Make the right choice based on your volume, deliverability goals, and IP strategy.
Use existing email providers
Dedicated IP addresses
On this page
Overview
Laneful offers two types of email lanes, each optimized for different use cases. Understanding the differences will help you make the right choice for your business.
Key Concepts: Lanes, Tracks & Workspaces
Lane: A distinct delivery path for your emails. Think of it like a highway lane - each one has its own capacity, speed, and characteristics.
Track: A group of multiple email lanes with a unique API key. New accounts get a "Default" track ready to use. You can create additional tracks for different types of traffic (transactional vs marketing) or migration strategies.
Workspace: The top-level container that isolates domains, templates, API keys, tracks, and analytics. New accounts automatically get a "Default" workspace.
Relay Lanes (Free)
Relay Lanes route email through your existing ESP (SendGrid, Mailgun, AWS SES, etc.) while your dedicated IP lanes warm up. They are free and exist solely to ensure zero delivery disruption during your migration away from your current ESP. Once migration is complete, relay lanes are removed.
When to Use
- • ESP migration - Continuity while moving away from SendGrid, Mailgun, AWS SES, etc.
- • IP warmup period - Bridge delivery while your dedicated IP lanes build reputation
- • Zero disruption - Ensures no gap in email delivery during transition
Important Note
- • Temporary only - Relay lanes are removed once IP lanes are fully warmed
- • Shared reputation - Traffic routes through your existing ESP's infrastructure
- • Migration tool - Not a long-term or permanent delivery path
Supported ESP Providers for Migration
SendGrid
- • Use existing SMTP credentials
- • Maintains delivery during warmup
Mailgun
- • Use existing SMTP credentials
- • Seamless relay configuration
Other SMTP Providers
- • AWS SES, Postmark, and others
- • Any SMTP-compatible ESP supported
IP Lanes ($80/month per lane)
IP Lanes provide dedicated IP addresses with up to 20 concurrent connections to inbox providers. They are your primary delivery path — optimized for high-volume delivery and complete sender reputation isolation. Laneful routes your IPs on your behalf, operated by our engineers.
Best For
- • Senders near or above 1B emails/month
- • Owning your IPs and reputation - Not sharing with other senders
- • Email deliverability teams - Working alongside your experts
- • Regulated or private infrastructure - Deploy in your cloud
Key Features
- • Dedicated IP address - Your reputation only
- • AI-powered warmup - Automatic reputation building
- • 20 concurrent connections - High throughput
- • Millions of emails - Virtually unlimited capacity
- • Real-time monitoring - ISP feedback analysis
Considerations
Warmup Period: New IP addresses need 2-6 weeks to build reputation. Laneful's AI handles this automatically, with relay lanes bridging delivery in the meantime.
Minimum Engagement: The minimum is 256 lanes ($20,480/month). Laneful provides the IPs for customers under 200 lanes; above that, you purchase your own IP block.
Reputation Ownership: You own your IP reputation. Our engineers operate and optimize your lanes on your behalf, and are available in your Slack.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Here's a detailed comparison to help you choose the right lane type:
| Feature | Relay Lanes | IP Lanes |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | $80/lane/month (min. 256 lanes) |
| Purpose | ESP migration only (temporary) | Primary delivery path (permanent) |
| Volume Capacity | Existing ESP limits | Billions per month |
| Sender Reputation | Shared with ESP | Dedicated & isolated — yours only |
| Deliverability Control | Limited (ESP-dependent) | Full control |
| ISP Connections | Provider managed | Up to 20 concurrent per lane |
| Warmup Required | No (uses ESP's reputation) | Yes (AI-automated, 2–6 weeks) |
| Duration | Temporary — removed post-migration | Permanent |
Decision Guide
Use this guide to determine which lane type applies to your situation:
Are you migrating away from an existing ESP?
→ Use Relay Lanes (free) alongside IP Lanes. Laneful will use your existing ESP credentials to maintain delivery continuity while your dedicated IP lanes warm up. Once migration is complete, relay lanes are removed.
→ IP Lanes only. Your dedicated IP lanes are your primary and permanent delivery path. Laneful engineers operate and optimize them on your behalf.
Is Laneful right for you?
Ideal Laneful Customers
- • Sending close to or over 1 billion emails/month
- • Want to own their IP reputation
- • Have (or want) an email deliverability team
- • Need private or regulated email infrastructure
Typically Not the Right Fit
- • Small or medium volume senders with no IP ownership goals
- • Senders comfortable sharing IP reputation
- • Teams without deliverability expertise or ambition
- • Companies that prefer per-message billing models
Not sure? Reach out. Some senders need private infrastructure regardless of volume — we evaluate every engagement individually.
Mixed Lane Strategy During Migration
How migration works: Both lane types coexist in the same track during migration. Laneful progressively shifts traffic to IP Lanes as they warm up. The relay lane handles overflow until the IP lanes are fully operational.
Retry Policy: If any relay provider rejects messages due to rate limits or temporary errors, Laneful automatically retries for up to 3 days.
IP Thresholds & Pricing
IP Lane pricing is based on the number of lanes. Engineers are assigned per class C block (256 IPs).
IP Provisioning
| Tier | Lanes | Monthly Cost | Engineers | Infrastructure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | 256 lanes (1 class C) | $20,480/month | 1 engineer | Laneful provided |
| Mid | 512 lanes (2 class C) | $40,960/month | 2 engineers | Included or your cloud |
| Maximum flat-rate | 1,024 lanes (4 class C) | $81,920/month | 4 engineers | Included or your cloud |
| Above 1,024 lanes | 1,024+ lanes | $81,920 + infrastructure costs* | Economies of scale | Your cloud or negotiated |
* Infrastructure costs are waived if Laneful operates within your own cloud environment.
Migration Strategy
Migrating from your current ESP to Laneful's dedicated IP infrastructure? Here's how the process works:
Phase 1: Configure Your Relay Lane
Laneful uses your existing ESP credentials (SendGrid, Mailgun, AWS SES, etc.) to set up a free relay lane. This keeps email delivery running without interruption from day one.
Phase 2: IP Lanes Warm Up
Your dedicated IP lanes begin warming up alongside the relay lane. Laneful's AI automatically manages warmup pacing based on real-time ISP signals.
Phase 3: Migration Complete
After 4–6 weeks, your IP lanes are fully warmed and handling all traffic. The relay lane is removed.
Ready to Get Started?
Laneful is built for senders approaching or exceeding a billion emails per month who want to own their IPs and work alongside the world's best email engineers. Our team embeds directly in your Slack.
Glossary
Key terms and concepts for understanding Laneful's email infrastructure:
Core Concepts
Workspace
The top-level container in Laneful. Each workspace isolates domains, templates, API keys, tracks, and analytics. New accounts automatically get a "Default" workspace.
Track
A track groups multiple email lanes and has a unique API key. New accounts get a "Default" track ready to use. You can configure additional tracks for different types of traffic (transactional vs marketing). When all lanes are the same type, the track load balances between them. Mixed-type tracks enable migration strategies where Laneful gradually shifts traffic from relay lanes to IP lanes during warmup.
Lane
A distinct delivery path for your emails. Relay Lanes use existing providers like Gmail, while IP Lanes provide dedicated IP addresses with up to 20 concurrent ISP connections.
Email Infrastructure
Authenticated Domains
Every domain used in the From: address must be authenticated with DNS records. This enables Laneful to send on behalf of your domain, use secure SSL email links, and track DMARC performance. You cannot send emails without domain authentication.
IP Warmup
The process of gradually building reputation for new IP addresses. Laneful's AI agent automatically manages this by analyzing bounce patterns, engagement, and ISP responses to optimize sending volume increases.
Tag
A label assigned to emails to aggregate and group statistics. Use tags to organize campaigns, track performance, and analyze email effectiveness.