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Mailgun vs SendGrid
Comparing two transactional email platforms on pricing, features, free tier, and trade-offs.
Quick summary
Mailgun — Transactional email API service. Mailgun offers powerful transactional email APIs with email validation and routing capabilities.
SendGrid — Email delivery service. SendGrid (Twilio) is a veteran transactional and marketing email provider with high deliverability.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Mailgun | SendGrid |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Paid | Freemium |
| Starting price | $15/mo | $19.95/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | No | No |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| Free Tier | 100 emails/day (trial) | 100 emails/day |
| React Email | No | No |
| Batch Sending | Yes | Yes |
| Inbound Email | Yes | Yes |
| EU Data Residency | Yes | Yes |
Mailgun
Transactional email API service
Pros
- Good deliverability
- Powerful routing
- Email validation add-on
Cons
- Pricing complexity
- Free trial only, no permanent free tier
SendGrid
Email delivery service
Pros
- Mature deliverability
- Huge scale (billions of emails)
- Marketing campaigns built-in
Cons
- Dated dashboard
- Free tier very limited
- Support can be slow
Which should you choose?
Choose Mailgun if a free tier is important for your stage, and you need production-grade features and are ready to pay. Choose SendGrid if a free tier is important for your stage.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, Mailgun or SendGrid?
There is no universal “better.” For most teams, SendGrid is the safer default because SendGrid has a larger community and more third-party integrations, which often translates to better long-term support. For edge cases, the comparison table above highlights where each tool wins.
Is Mailgun cheaper than SendGrid?
Mailgun starts at $15/mo, while SendGrid starts at $19.95/mo. Exact costs depend on usage — check both vendors' calculators before committing.
Can I migrate from Mailgun to SendGrid?
Migration difficulty depends on how deeply Mailgun-specific features (APIs, SDK conventions, data schemas) are baked into your app. Most transactional email migrations take days to weeks. Both vendors typically publish migration guides — check their docs.
Is Mailgun or SendGrid open source?
No — both Mailgun and SendGrid are proprietary managed services. If open source is a requirement, see our alternatives pages.
Does Mailgun or SendGrid have a free tier?
Both Mailgun and SendGrid offer a free tier.
Which is best for startups and indie hackers?
Startups usually optimize for the lowest friction to ship and the cheapest possible free tier. The one with the most generous free tier here is SendGrid. For production workloads, revisit the trade-offs in the feature table above.