8 Best Mailgun Alternatives in 2026 (Pricing Compared)

The best Mailgun alternatives and competitors in 2026 are Resend, Mailtrap, SendGrid, Postmark, Amazon SES, Brevo, Loops, and Mailjet. Resend is the best all-round swap for developers, Amazon SES and Mailtrap are cheapest at volume, and Postmark is the pick if you want long message history for transactional email.

Last validated: September 2026. Pricing, free-tier limits, and product claims were checked against each provider's official pricing pages and docs, linked in References.

Why teams look for Mailgun alternatives

Mailgun is a reliable developer email API with sending, inbound routing, and email validation. Teams usually start comparing competitors for one of these reasons:

Short logs on lower plans. Mailgun keeps logs for one day on Free and Basic, five days on Foundation, and 30 days only on Scale. Debugging a "missing email" from last week needs a $90 plan.

Price steps. Mailgun pricing⁠ runs Basic $15 (10,000 emails, one custom domain), Foundation $35 (50,000) or $75 (100,000), and Scale $90 (100,000). Resend and SendGrid cover 100,000 emails for about $35.

No marketing or lifecycle tools. Mailgun sends what your application tells it to. Onboarding sequences, campaigns, and segmentation live in your code or another product.

Developer-only setup. Everything assumes someone who reads API docs and wires up webhooks, so non-developers can't change much without engineering help.

Mailgun alternatives compared

The 100,000 column uses the cheapest monthly plan that covers that volume without overage. Postmark's figure is its 125,000-email Basic tier. SES ranges from à la carte pricing ($0.10 per 1,000) to the Essentials plan new accounts start on ($0.16).

Pricing compared

Price to send 100K emails/mo

Price to send 100K emails/mo

Item	Value
Amazon SES	$10
Mailtrap	$30
SendGrid	$34.95
Resend	$35
Mailgun	$75
Brevo	$82
Mailjet	$112
Postmark	$115

1. Resend: best overall Mailgun alternative

Resend is a developer-first email API with clean docs, SDKs for major languages, and React Email templates. It covers the core Mailgun use case (transactional sending over API or SMTP) for less at 50,000 and 100,000 emails a month, and it has supported inbound email since November 2025.

Pros: a 3,000-email free tier, 30 days of logs on Free, Pro, and Scale, React Email, and $35 for 100,000 emails.

Cons: marketing broadcasts need a separate plan priced by contacts, and dedicated IPs are a $30 add-on on Scale. See our Resend alternatives breakdown.

Pricing: Free (3,000 emails a month, 100 a day). Pro $20 (50,000) or $35 (100,000). Scale from $90.

2. Mailtrap: cheapest full-service option at volume

Mailtrap and Mailgun differ most in how they isolate traffic. Mailgun gives you configurable domains and IP pools. Mailtrap starts with separate transactional and bulk streams on distinct IP pools, which is simpler for a standard two-stream setup but less flexible.

Mailtrap also includes a separate testing sandbox, reports broken down by mailbox provider, and hosted Agent Inboxes for receiving email. Treat its provider reports as diagnostic signals, not proof of inbox placement.

Pros: 4,000 free emails a month, $30 for 100,000 emails on Basic, and a built-in sandbox.

Cons: logs last 3 days on Free, 5 on Basic, 15 on Business, and 30 on Enterprise. Dedicated IPs and 24/7 support start on Business ($85).

Pricing: Free (4,000 emails a month, 150 a day). Basic $15 (10,000), $20 (50,000), or $30 (100,000). Business from $85. Enterprise from $750 (1.5 million).

3. SendGrid: best for dedicated IPs and a marketing add-on

SendGrid (owned by Twilio) is built for volume, with dedicated IPs, subuser management, and single sign-on on its Pro plan, plus a separate Marketing Campaigns product with a visual editor.

Pros: $34.95 for 100,000 emails on Essentials, a dedicated IP on Pro from $89.95, and marketing tools in the same account.

Cons: no permanent free plan, only 3 days of searchable activity on Essentials (7 on Pro), and shared IPs below Pro. See our SendGrid alternatives guide.

Pricing: 60-day trial at 100 emails a day. Essentials $19.95 (50,000) or $34.95 (100,000). Pro from $89.95. Premier custom.

4. Postmark: best for transactional focus and long history

Postmark is built around transactional email. It runs transactional and broadcast streams on separate infrastructure, keeps message content and events for 45 days by default, and has predictable per-tier pricing. ActiveCampaign acquired it in 2022; it still runs as a separate product.

Pros: 45 days of message history on every paid plan, strict stream separation, and inbound processing on Pro and Platform.

Cons: expensive at volume ($55 for 50,000 emails, $115 for 125,000 on Basic), a 100-email free tier, and broadcasts without marketing tools. See our Postmark alternatives roundup and Postmark vs SendGrid comparison.

Pricing: Basic $15, Pro $16.50, Platform $18, each for 10,000 emails. Overage runs $1.15 to $1.80 per 1,000, depending on plan and volume.

5. Amazon SES: cheapest if you can run it

SES is the cheapest way to send email at scale if your team can handle the setup. It stores templates and suppresses bounced addresses automatically, but writing the templates, routing bounce and complaint events into your app, and custom reporting are on you. Since July 21, 2026, new accounts start on the Essentials plan at $0.16 per 1,000 emails ($16 for 100,000), which bundles deliverability monitoring. Any account can switch to à la carte pricing at $0.10 per 1,000 ($10).

Pros: the lowest price here, AWS-grade infrastructure, and native links to other AWS services.

Cons: new accounts start in a sandbox limited to 200 emails per 24 hours to verified recipients until AWS approves production access. The SES free tier of 3,000 emails a month is closed to new customers. Not for non-technical teams.

Pricing: $0.10 per 1,000 emails à la carte or $0.16 on Essentials, $0.12 per GB of attachments, $24.95 a month per standard dedicated IP, and $0.10 per 1,000 inbound emails.

6. Brevo: email, SMS, and CRM in one tool

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) combines transactional email with campaigns, marketing automation, SMS, WhatsApp, and a CRM. It suits small and mid-size businesses that want one tool instead of five.

Pros: 300 free emails a day, a visual automation builder on Standard and up, and multiple channels.

Cons: the interface covers a lot of ground and can feel cluttered, and developers wanting a pure sending API usually prefer a specialist. See our Brevo alternatives guide.

Pricing: Free (300 emails a day). Starter from $9 a month for 5,000 emails, or $82 for 100,000. Standard from $18. Professional from $499. Enterprise custom.

7. Loops: SaaS lifecycle email with contact-based pricing

Loops is built for SaaS companies that want transactional and marketing email under one roof, priced by subscribed contacts rather than send volume. Transactional email has been unlimited on paid plans since December 2024.

Pros: unlimited sends on paid plans, a sequence builder marketers can use, and a clean interface.

Cons: contact-based pricing hurts if you have a big list but send rarely, and your app still has to send Loops the events that trigger emails. See our Loops alternatives comparison.

Pricing: Free (1,000 contacts, 4,000 sends in any rolling 30 days, with Loops branding). Paid from $49 a month for 5,000 contacts.

8. Mailjet: campaigns and API sending, same parent as Mailgun

Mailjet is owned by Sinch, the same company as Mailgun. It pairs marketing campaigns with transactional sending, a drag-and-drop editor, and team collaboration, which suits companies where marketing and product share one tool.

Pros: 6,000 free emails a month, a visual editor, and campaigns plus API in one account.

Cons: pricier than developer APIs at volume ($112 for 100,000 emails on Premium), and prices rose on September 9, 2026, with existing subscriptions moving at renewal.

Pricing: Free (6,000 emails a month, 200 a day). Starter $9 (8,000). Essential $19 (15,000). Premium from $29.

Pricing compared

Cheapest paid plan entry price

Cheapest paid plan entry price

Item	Value
Brevo	$9/mo
Mailjet	$9/mo
Mailgun	$15/mo
Mailtrap	$15/mo
Postmark	$15/mo
SendGrid	$19.95/mo
Resend	$20/mo
Loops	$49/mo

Which Mailgun alternative should you pick?

• You want a better developer API at a lower price: Resend.
• You want the lowest price: Amazon SES with engineers to run it, Mailtrap without.
• You need a dedicated IP at 100,000 emails a month: SendGrid Pro ($89.95), or stay on Mailgun Scale ($90).
• Support and engineering need long message history: Postmark.
• Marketers need campaigns too: SendGrid, Brevo, or Mailjet; Loops for SaaS lifecycle email.
• You depend on inbound routes or list validation: compare carefully before leaving. SendGrid, Postmark, Resend, Mailtrap, and SES all receive email, and SendGrid Pro includes 2,500 email validations a month.

Whichever you pick, authenticate your domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) before moving traffic, and shift volume gradually. Our email deliverability guide covers the setup.

Where Dreamlit fits

Dreamlit, the company behind this blog, isn't a Mailgun competitor: it doesn't sell a sending API. For password resets, receipts, and alerts, pick from the list above.

Dreamlit does the activation work for you. Our experts pinpoint where users drop off and send the emails that turn them into paying customers, and own the program through measurement. You get a weekly report on what moved. The best fit is 500+ signups a month.

If what you actually want is more activated users, not another API to integrate, see how Dreamlit works.

References

• Mailgun pricing⁠
• Mailgun: Sinch to acquire Pathwire⁠
• Resend pricing⁠
• Resend: receiving emails⁠
• Mailtrap pricing⁠
• Mailtrap bulk stream⁠
• Mailtrap Agent Inbox⁠
• Twilio SendGrid Email API pricing⁠
• Twilio SendGrid trial plan⁠
• Postmark pricing⁠
• Amazon SES pricing⁠
• AWS: Introducing Amazon SES pricing plans⁠
• Brevo pricing⁠
• Loops pricing⁠
• Loops: transactional email is now free⁠
• Mailjet pricing⁠

---

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Mailgun alternative?

For most developers, Resend: a cleaner API, 3,000 free emails a month, 30 days of logs, and $35 for 100,000 emails versus $75 on Mailgun. Pick Postmark for long message history, Amazon SES or Mailtrap for the lowest price, and SendGrid for a bundled marketing product.

What's the cheapest Mailgun alternative for 100,000 emails a month?

Amazon SES, at $10 to $16, if you can run it yourself. Among full-service providers, Mailtrap's Basic plan costs $30, and SendGrid and Resend cost about $35. Mailgun's cheapest plan for 100,000 emails is Foundation at $75.

Can I migrate from Mailgun without rewriting my code?

Mostly. Every sending API here supports SMTP, so an SMTP integration can often switch by changing the host and credentials. API integrations need a new client and new webhook handlers, and inbound routes must be rebuilt on the new provider.

How does Mailgun compare to Amazon SES?

SES is much cheaper: $10 to $16 for 100,000 emails versus $75 on Mailgun Foundation. Mailgun gives you a dashboard, logs, validation, and inbound routes; with SES you build more of that yourself on AWS.

Which Mailgun alternatives support inbound email?

SendGrid (Inbound Parse), Postmark (Pro and Platform plans), Resend, Mailtrap, and Amazon SES all receive email. On SES, receiving costs $0.10 per 1,000 emails and you process messages with other AWS services.

Who owns Mailgun?

Sinch. It acquired Pathwire, the owner of Mailgun and Mailjet, in 2021. Mailgun was founded in 2010.