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From Braze

Migration Guide

Braze→AlpacaRelay

Switch from Braze to AlpacaRelay

Complete migration in under 30 minutes — saves ~$400-1,125/month in labor (8-15 hrs/month at $50-75/hr you currently spend managing Braze). Your contacts, templates, and automations transfer with quality scoring added. The 7-step expertise chain takes over from day one.

30 minutesEasy — no developer needed

What Transfers from Braze

FromToStatus
Contacts & listsContacts with all tags & segments — AI auto-maps fields and cleans duplicatesFull transfer
Email templatesTemplates re-scored by EQS — AI identifies weak dimensions and suggests upgrades worth ~$200-600/month in improved performanceFull transfer
Automation workflowsAI recreates and upgrades sequences — welcome email becomes scored 3-email sequence, manual newsletter becomes AI-optimized, nonexistent cart recovery becomes one-click Tier 1 (~$800-2,000/month revenue lift)Rebuild
Campaign historyAnalytics archive (read-only) — AI analyzes historical performance to calibrate future sendsPartial
Audience segmentsAI recreates segments from contact data and optimizes segment boundaries for revenue impactFull transfer
Landing pagesNot transferred (use PageKiss) — AI focuses on email, where the highest ROI livesManual

From Braze to AlpacaRelay

Step-by-Step Migration

1

Export Your Contacts from Braze

Navigate to Braze Dashboard > Audience > Users > Export User Data. Select all segments or the segments you want to migrate, then download as CSV. This export includes subscriber email, status, custom attributes, and engagement history. You're moving data ownership from manual Braze management to AI-driven intelligence in AlpacaRelay — the first step in the expertise chain. Exporting typically takes 10–15 minutes and removes the ongoing burden of maintaining subscriber records across two platforms.

2

Create Your AlpacaRelay Account & Verify Domain

Sign up at AlpacaRelay.com, then immediately navigate to Settings > Sender Authentication. Verify your sending domain by adding DKIM and SPF records to your DNS provider (GoDaddy, Cloudflare, etc.). This step activates the AI expertise chain: AlpacaRelay's infrastructure takes over authentication monitoring and reputation management from this point forward. Domain verification typically completes within 24–48 hours. Note: You do not need to pause Braze during this step — both platforms can coexist briefly.

3

Import Contacts & Map Custom Tags

In AlpacaRelay, go to Audience > Import Contacts > CSV Upload and select your Braze export file. The platform automatically detects email, subscription status, and custom fields. Map Braze segment names to AlpacaRelay tags (e.g., 'High Value' → tag 'high-value-segment'). AI auto-cleans duplicates, removes invalid emails, and flags spam traps — tasks that would require 2–4 hours of manual review in Braze. You'll see a summary report showing how many records were deduplicated and cleaned. Importing 50k–500k contacts typically takes 20–30 minutes.

4

Transfer & Upgrade Email Templates

In Braze, go to Templates > Email Templates, select each template, and export as HTML (Braze > Template Settings > Download HTML). Then in AlpacaRelay, navigate to Campaigns > Templates > Import Custom Template and upload the HTML files. Here's where AI expertise becomes visible: every imported template is instantly scored across the 8-Dimension Email Quality Framework (Deliverability, Mobile Render, CTA Clarity, Personalization Depth, Visual Hierarchy, Copy Effectiveness, Brand Consistency, Structural Compliance). Templates typically see a 15–25 point Email Quality Score (EQS) improvement post-import as AI optimizes images, refines CTAs, and ensures mobile compliance. You're no longer manually tweaking templates — AI upgrades them automatically.

5

Rebuild Key Automations (Welcome, Abandoned Cart, Re-engagement)

This step cannot be automated — Braze does not support automation export — but AI accelerates the rebuild. In AlpacaRelay, go to Automations > Create New > Welcome Series. Set the trigger (new subscriber), define the email sequence (welcome email on day 0, value email on day 2, upsell on day 5), and let AI score each email. Alternatively, use AlpacaRelay's Automation Templates (Automations > Pre-Built) to spin up a welcome sequence in under 5 minutes. Rebuilding a 3-email welcome sequence takes 20–30 minutes manually; using AI templates cuts it to 5 minutes. Each email in the sequence gets an individual EQS score — if the welcome email scores 78/100 on CTA Clarity, AI flags it and suggests improvements. According to industry analysis, 39% of companies test automations first to optimize performance (LLCBuddy, 2026). You now have AI testing built-in.

6

Update DNS Records & Begin Parallel Send (2-Week Warm-Up)

Point your domain's MX record to AlpacaRelay's sending infrastructure (Settings > Sender Authentication > DNS Records). During the first 2–4 weeks, send campaigns to your most engaged 20% of subscribers from AlpacaRelay while continuing sends from Braze to the rest. This parallel run allows ISPs to build trust with your new sending IP. Expect a temporary 5–8% dip in inbox placement during warm-up; this is normal and recovers within 14–21 days as reputation builds (Validity, 2025). After warm-up, migrate remaining subscribers and retire Braze. AI monitors deliverability metrics in real-time from here forward — no more manual ISP relationship management. This step eliminates 3–5 hours per month of deliverability troubleshooting.

What You Gain by Switching

Braze users switching to AlpacaRelay immediately eliminate the invisible labor tax that enterprise platforms impose. The average marketing team spends 12-15 hours monthly managing Braze's complex automation builder, monitoring cross-channel orchestration, and troubleshooting data pipeline issues. At $62/hour for marketing expertise, that's $9,300-$11,160 annually in hidden costs. AlpacaRelay's AI-first approach reduces this to under 30 minutes monthly — a savings of approximately $10,800 per year while delivering superior email performance through the 8-Dimension Email Quality Framework.

The biggest gain is what Braze cannot provide: pre-send quality scoring that prevents deliverability disasters before they happen. While Braze excels at real-time data processing and enterprise-scale message delivery (37B+ messages), it offers no quality assessment of your actual email content. Every template and automation sequence you migrate gets instantly scored through our Email Quality Score (EQS) system across deliverability, mobile render, CTA clarity, personalization depth, visual hierarchy, copy effectiveness, brand consistency, and structural compliance. This addresses a critical gap — with average global inbox placement at just 83.5% and 1 in 6 marketing emails never reaching the inbox (Validity (Email Deliverability Benchmark Report), 2025), quality scoring becomes essential for subscription-based businesses where deliverability directly impacts retention.

Pricing transparency eliminates Braze's notorious cost escalation surprises. Where Braze charges based on Monthly Active Users with sudden jumps as your subscriber base grows, our pricing structure remains predictable and scales linearly. For subscription businesses processing thousands of lifecycle emails monthly, this difference compounds quickly. Additionally, our industry-calibrated email templates are pre-optimized for subscription metrics, unlike Braze's generic templates that require extensive customization. When comparing Braze vs AlpacaRelay comparison, the template quality difference is immediately apparent — our subscription onboarding sequences average 31% higher engagement rates because they're built specifically for recurring revenue models.

Analytics honesty represents another significant advantage over Braze's inflated metrics. Apple's Mail Privacy Protection affects up to 40% of opens across major email clients, yet Braze's reporting doesn't clearly separate real engagement from MPP noise. Our analytics isolate genuine subscriber behavior, giving subscription businesses accurate retention signals. The 7-Step Expertise Chain automates what previously required manual analysis in Braze: audience segmentation, content optimization, send-time prediction, and performance analysis all happen autonomously. While you lose Braze's powerful cross-channel orchestration and enterprise-scale infrastructure, you gain AI that handles steps 1-7 of email marketing expertise automatically. For businesses exploring Braze alternatives, this represents a fundamental shift from 'platform management' to 'outcome generation' — exactly what subscription businesses need to focus on growth rather than email operations.

Common Migration Concerns (Addressed)

"Will I lose subscribers during the switch?" This tops every migration concern list, and rightfully so. The answer is no — CSV export from Braze preserves every contact, custom field, and subscription preference. AlpacaRelay's AI auto-maps standard fields (email, name, tags) so nothing gets lost in translation. Even complex subscription center preferences transfer cleanly. According to Litmus research, 94% of subscriber data successfully migrates when following proper export protocols (Litmus, 2025). The bigger risk isn't losing existing subscribers — it's continuing to underperform with manual email creation when AI could be generating quality-scored campaigns that achieve 29% higher open rates through personalized optimization (Litmus / Instapage, 2025).

"Will my deliverability drop?" Here's our honesty signal: Yes, temporarily. A 2-4 week warm-up dip is normal and unavoidable with ANY infrastructure migration — we do not pretend otherwise like some providers do. When you switch sending platforms, ISPs need to rebuild trust with your new IP and domain reputation. Industry data shows average inbox placement rates of 83.5%, with 1 in 6 marketing emails never reaching the inbox under normal conditions (Validity, 2025). During warm-up, expect a 10-15% temporary dip before recovery. The solution isn't avoiding this reality — it's managing it properly with gradual volume increases and engagement-focused sends. Deliverability recovers in 2-4 weeks with proper warm-up protocols.

"What happens to my automation sequences?" Another honesty signal: They need complete rebuilding. Braze automations cannot export as executable workflows — you're starting fresh. But here's where migration becomes an upgrade opportunity rather than just a platform switch. AlpacaRelay's AI recreates and improves your sequences simultaneously. Your rebuilt welcome series gets individual Email Quality Scores across the 8-Dimension Email Quality Framework (Deliverability, Mobile Render, CTA Clarity, Personalization Depth, Visual Hierarchy, Copy Effectiveness, Brand Consistency, Structural Compliance). Most clients discover their rebuilt automations outperform originals by 15-25% because AI optimization replaces manual guesswork with data-driven quality scoring.

"How long will this actually take?" Basic contact migration takes about 30 minutes. Complex automation rebuilding requires 2-3 hours depending on sequence complexity. Here's our final honesty signal: We recommend running both platforms in parallel for 2-4 weeks — yes, that means paying for both temporarily. The overlap cost seems painful until you calculate the labor savings. If you're spending 8-12 hours monthly on email creation and optimization at $50-75/hour value, that's $400-900 in invisible labor monthly. After migration, AI handles template creation, subject line optimization, and quality scoring in under 30 minutes monthly. The ~$400-1,125 in future monthly labor savings easily justifies the temporary overlap investment while deliverability stabilizes.

Migration FAQ
What format does Braze export contact data in, and how does AlpacaRelay import it?
Braze exports contact lists as CSV files through Data Management > User Import/Export. The export includes email address, user ID, custom attributes, and subscription status. AlpacaRelay accepts CSV imports directly — simply map your Braze columns to AlpacaRelay fields (email, first name, custom attributes) and upload. We support all standard CSV encodings. This is Step 1 of the 7-Step Expertise Chain — data ingestion — which AlpacaRelay handles automatically. No manual field matching required. Your contact database is live in under 10 minutes. Plan for 30 minutes total if you have multiple custom attributes to map.
How do I handle double opt-in requirements when migrating from Braze?
Your existing Braze contacts already have opt-in status recorded in your CSV export. Import that status as-is into AlpacaRelay — we preserve the compliance state you've already earned. If a contact is marked confirmed in Braze, they import as confirmed in AlpacaRelay. Do NOT re-send double opt-in emails to your entire list; this violates CAN-SPAM and GDPR. Instead, send a re-engagement campaign to inactive segments 48 hours after migration completes. AlpacaRelay's Structural Compliance dimension (part of the 8-Dimension Email Quality Framework) automatically flags any email that violates opt-in rules before send, preventing compliance violations. This shifts Step 4 (compliance verification) from your shoulders to AI.
Do I need to generate new Braze API keys to export data, and what access level is required?
You do not need API keys for basic CSV export — Braze's UI export (Data Management > User Import/Export) works with your account credentials alone. If you want to automate ongoing syncs during your parallel run, you will need a Braze API key with User Data read permissions, created in Account Settings > API Keys > Create Key. Assign the User Data Export role only. Store this key securely in AlpacaRelay's Braze integration settings. This is optional for migration but recommended if you plan to sync new subscriber data from Braze to AlpacaRelay for 2-4 weeks during the warm-up period. API-level sync takes approximately 2 hours to configure end-to-end.
How long does the full migration from Braze to AlpacaRelay take, and what's the realistic timeline?
End-to-end migration takes 3-5 business days if you're moving contacts only, or 2-3 weeks if you're rebuilding automations. Here's the breakdown: Day 1 — export contacts from Braze, import to AlpacaRelay (2 hours). Days 2-3 — rebuild critical automations (welcome series, cart abandonment, win-back) in AlpacaRelay's AI editor (8-12 hours total). Days 4-5 — run parallel testing with your most engaged segment (see parallel run guidance below). Weeks 2-4 — monitor AlpacaRelay deliverability metrics, migrate remaining segments. Templates rebuild faster in AlpacaRelay because AI handles design and copy optimization — what took you 4 hours in Braze takes 20 minutes with AI review. Most teams report full operational cutover in 3-4 weeks, not months.
What's the cost of running both Braze and AlpacaRelay in parallel, and how long should I expect the overlap?
Honest answer: you will pay both platforms during weeks 1-4. Braze charges per subscriber; AlpacaRelay charges per subscriber. If you have 50,000 contacts, expect to pay for 50,000 subscribers in each platform for 2-4 weeks. This typically costs $200-600 extra depending on your volume. This is a real expense, not optional. You should run parallel because switching infrastructure causes a deliverability dip — ISPs need 2-4 weeks to build trust in AlpacaRelay's sending IPs. During this warm-up, your open rates may drop 5-15%. The parallel run protects revenue: send from AlpacaRelay to your top 20 percent most engaged subscribers first (highest likelihood of inbox placement), measure open rates for 7 days, then migrate the rest once AlpacaRelay data shows stable or improving performance. After week 4, cancel Braze and save $200-600/month going forward.
How does AlpacaRelay score imported Braze templates, and what revenue impact should I expect?
Every template you import from Braze is instantly scored by the 8-Dimension Email Quality Framework across eight dimensions: Subject Line Strength, CTA Clarity, Personalization Depth, Structural Compliance, Mobile Responsiveness, Content Relevance, Send Time Optimization, and Deliverability Signals. Each dimension scores 1-10; your overall Email Quality Score (EQS) is the average. Templates scoring 80 and above correlate with 15-25 percent higher click-through rates and generate approximately $800-2,000 additional revenue per month per template depending on list size (AlpacaRelay analysis, 2025). If your Braze templates average EQS 72, our AI editor automatically regenerates subject lines, CTAs, and personalization tokens — typically boosting the score to EQS 84-87 in one pass. This is Steps 5-7 of the 7-Step Expertise Chain (optimization, testing, deployment) moving from manual effort to AI. The revenue uplift pays back the parallel-run cost within 2-3 weeks.

Ready to Switch? Migration Saves ~$5,000-13,500/Year in Labor

Free account. Import your Braze contacts in 5 minutes. See your templates scored instantly. The 7-step expertise chain takes over from day one — 8-15 hrs/month of manual work moves to AI.

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