Mailgun
Email API and SMTP service for developers, with email validation and inbound routing.
Updated · AppBreakup editorial · Web
Is Mailgun free?
Free plan, plus paid plans
- Starting paid plan:
- $35/month for 50,000 emails
- Free plan:
- Yes, 100 emails/day
Checked on Mailgun's site Nov 8, 2026
Full Mailgun pricing and plansSwitch from Mailgun to
All 8
Twilio SendGridComparePaid
PostmarkStarting price: $15 a month (Basic, 10,000 emails)
Elastic EmailStarter price: $29/month for 2,500 contacts
- Verified facts
- 8 of 8
- Alternatives ranked
- 8
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About Mailgun
Mailgun is an email sending service aimed at developers. Apps send transactional mail such as sign-up confirmations, receipts and alerts through its REST API or SMTP relay, and Mailgun handles queuing, delivery, bounces, tracking and logs. It also parses inbound email and forwards it to your app through routes and webhooks, and sells an email validation API for cleaning address lists. Optimize tools add inbox placement tests, blocklist monitoring and reputation checks. Mailgun is part of Sinch, which also owns Mailjet. There is a free plan that allows 100 emails a day for testing and small projects, and paid plans are monthly with a set email allowance and per-thousand overage, starting with a one-month free trial on the Foundation tier. It is a hosted service with SDKs for common languages. It suits developers who want more control and logging than a marketing-first tool gives, though it has no visual campaign editor of its own.
Best for: Developers who need a reliable email API with inbound routing and address validation.
Mailgun pricing (checked Nov 8, 2026)
Each line is quoted from Mailgun's own site, with the page it came from.
| Plan or term | What it says | Checked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, 100 emails/day | Nov 8, 2026 | mailgun.com |
| Starting paid plan | $35/month for 50,000 emails | Nov 8, 2026 | mailgun.com |
| Extra emails | From $1.80 per 1,000 (Basic) | Nov 8, 2026 | mailgun.com |
| Starting price | $15/month for 10,000 emails (Basic) | Nov 8, 2026 | mailgun.com |
| Foundation plan | $35/month for 50,000 emails | Nov 8, 2026 | mailgun.com |
| Scale plan | $90/month for 100,000 emails | Nov 8, 2026 | mailgun.com |
| Free trial | 1 month (Foundation and Scale) | Nov 8, 2026 | mailgun.com |
Pros and cons
What works
- Permanent free plan with 100 emails a day
- Inbound email parsing and routing to your app
- Email validation API from the same vendor
- Detailed logs and deliverability tooling
Why people leave
- Free plan's daily limit only suits testing and tiny apps
- Validation and extra emails are billed on top of the plan
- No drag-and-drop marketing editor
Mailgun vs Twilio SendGrid, Postmark and Elastic Email
From each app's listing and the prices verified on its own site. A dash means we haven't verified it yet.
| Attribute | Mailgun | Twilio SendGrid | Postmark | Elastic Email |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan + paid | Paid | Free plan + paid | Free plan + paid |
| Verified price | $35/month for 50,000 emails | — | $15 a month (Basic, 10,000 emails) | $29/month for 2,500 contacts |
| Free plan | Yes, 100 emails/day | No | Yes, 100 emails a month | 1,000 contacts, 3,000 emails/month |
| Open source | No | No | No | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No | No | No |
| Platforms | Web | Web | Web | Web |
Top Mailgun alternatives
See all 8- 1Twilio SendGrid68.8
Similar API at huge scale, with a marketing campaign editor from the same vendor.
- 2Postmark64.8
Narrower focus on transactional speed with clear per-email pricing.
- 3Elastic Email64.0
Lower-cost sending API with pay-as-you-go pricing for teams sending in bulk.
- 4
Resend59.4Developer-first email API with React Email templates and a simpler dashboard, plus a free tier.
- 5
Mailjet52.6Sister product from Sinch with a visual editor for marketing email.
Why people left Mailgun
In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.
No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Mailgun, review the app you switched to and tell us why.
Reviews
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Mailgun: common questions
What is Mailgun?
Mailgun: Email API and SMTP service for developers, with email validation and inbound routing. Best for developers who need a reliable email API with inbound routing and address validation. Available for Web.
Is Mailgun free?
Mailgun has a free plan and paid plans. Free plan: Yes, 100 emails/day (checked on Mailgun's own site).
How much does Mailgun cost?
Mailgun is free with paid plans. Free plan: Yes, 100 emails/day; Starting paid plan: $35/month for 50,000 emails; Extra emails: From $1.80 per 1,000 (Basic); Starting price: $15/month for 10,000 emails (Basic). Checked on Mailgun's own site, November 2026.
Does Mailgun have a free trial or refund?
Free trial: 1 month (Foundation and Scale). Source: Mailgun's own site.
Is Mailgun open source?
No, Mailgun is not open source.
What platforms does Mailgun run on?
Mailgun is available for Web.
What are the best alternatives to Mailgun?
The highest-ranked Mailgun alternatives right now are Twilio SendGrid, Postmark and Elastic Email. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.
Mailgun vs Twilio SendGrid: what's the difference?
Mailgun is free with paid plans; Twilio SendGrid is a paid product. Both run on Web.