SendGrid vs Mailgun

SendGrid and Mailgun are the two best-known email APIs. Both send transactional and bulk email over an API or SMTP, both have been running at very large scale for more than a decade, and both are now part of larger companies: SendGrid belongs to Twilio, and Mailgun to Sinch. For most applications either will work. The choice comes down to pricing at your volume, how much marketing tooling you need, and which deliverability features matter to you.

At a glance

• SendGrid is best for teams that want an email API and a marketing campaign tool from the same vendor. Email API plans start at $19.95 a month. There is no permanent free plan, only a 60-day trial limited to 100 emails a day.
• Mailgun is best for developer teams that want a focused API with strong logs and routing. It has a free plan at 100 emails a day, and paid plans from $15 a month.

Where SendGrid is strong

SendGrid covers both halves of email. The Email API handles application mail, and Marketing Campaigns provides a visual editor, list management and automation for marketers. Having both under one account simplifies authentication and reputation management.

The Essentials plan starts at $19.95 a month and runs on shared IPs. The Pro plan starts at $89.95 a month and includes one dedicated IP, subuser management, single sign-on and 2,500 email validations. Subusers are particularly useful for SaaS platforms and agencies that need to separate sending streams or customers.

SendGrid's documentation, client libraries and integrations are extensive, and it is supported out of the box by a huge range of third-party software.

Where Mailgun is strong

Mailgun is built for developers first. Its API is clean, its event logs are detailed, and inbound routing lets you receive and parse email as easily as you send it.

Pricing is transparent. Basic costs $15 a month for 10,000 emails. Foundation costs $35 a month for 50,000 emails and supports up to 1,000 sending domains. Scale costs $90 a month for 100,000 emails and adds a dedicated IP, SAML single sign-on, send time optimization, 30 days of log retention and 5,000 email validations. Additional dedicated IPs cost $59 a month each.

Mailgun also sells Optimize, a separate deliverability suite with inbox placement testing, reputation monitoring and email validation.

Key differences

• Free tier. Mailgun has an ongoing free plan. SendGrid offers a 60-day trial.
• Marketing tools. SendGrid includes a full campaign product. Mailgun concentrates on the API, with a template builder.
• Dedicated IPs. SendGrid includes one from the Pro plan. Mailgun includes one on Scale and at higher Foundation volumes.
• Inbound email. Mailgun's routing and parsing are a core feature. SendGrid offers an inbound parse webhook.
• Log retention. Mailgun keeps logs for 1 to 30 days depending on plan. SendGrid's searchable history is 3 to 7 days, with more available to buy.

Deliverability notes

On entry plans, both providers send your mail from shared IP pools. Your results depend partly on the other senders in that pool, and both companies police their networks to keep quality up. Large, popular platforms attract abuse, so occasional blocklisting of shared IPs is a fact of life on any of them.

A dedicated IP gives you control, but it is only worth having once you send enough volume, regularly, to maintain a reputation on it. A common threshold is around 100,000 emails a month. Below that, a well-run shared pool usually performs better.

Whichever you choose, authenticate with your own domain. Set up custom DKIM and a custom return path so that both SPF and DKIM align with your From address, and publish a DMARC record.

Which should you choose?

• Choose SendGrid if marketers and developers will both use the platform, or you need subuser accounts for customers.
• Choose Mailgun if you want a developer-focused API, strong inbound handling, or a free tier for low-volume projects.

Pricing was checked on each vendor's pricing page in October 2026 and changes often. Confirm current rates before you buy.