Mailgun vs SendGrid
A source-aware comparison of pricing, documented capabilities and workflow fit.
Short answer
- Price: not directly comparable — Mailgun is pricing not verified, SendGrid is free tier available.
- How to start: Mailgun is pricing not verified, SendGrid is free tier available.
- Where they differ: on what we checked they match — both offer public api and sso (saml).
These lines are generated from the pricing we track, not from a paid placement. How we score tools.
What Mailgun is
Mailgun is a developer-focused email API for sending, receiving and tracking mail at volume. Inbound routing and detailed logs make it a good fit when email is a data source and not just an output. The interface assumes a developer; marketing teams will not be composing anything here. Logs are the reason support tickets get resolved quickly.
What SendGrid is
SendGrid delivers email at scale through an API or SMTP, with deliverability tooling and analytics. It handles volume reliably and the deliverability tooling is mature, which is why it remains a default at scale. Support and shared-IP reputation are the recurring complaints, and dedicated IPs cost more.
Side by side
| Mailgun | SendGrid | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Marketing | Marketing |
| How to start | Not verifiednot a monthly price | Free tiernot a monthly price |
| Public API | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | not checked | No |
| Open source / self-hostable | not checked | No |
| SSO (SAML) | Yes | Yes |
| Visit | Mailgun ↗ | SendGrid ↗ |
What Mailgun is built to do
- Sending API
- Delivers mail programmatically with per-domain configuration.
- Inbound routing
- Parses received mail into webhooks for the application.
- Detailed logs
- Retains searchable delivery logs for debugging.
What SendGrid is built to do
- API and SMTP sending
- Accepts mail through a REST API or standard SMTP relay.
- Deliverability tooling
- Manages IP warm-up, authentication and reputation monitoring.
- Event webhooks
- Posts delivery, bounce and engagement events to your systems.
Choose Mailgun if
- Applications sending transactional email programmatically.
Choose SendGrid if
- Applications sending large volumes of email.
Evidence and freshness
Where a claim on this page comes from a vendor page, it is linked here.
Mailgun: pros & cons
- Strong API and inbound routing
- Detailed logs and analytics
- Scales to high volume
- Support tiers cost extra
- Deliverability depends on IP setup
- Interface is developer-oriented
SendGrid: pros & cons
- Handles very high volume
- Mature API and libraries
- Detailed delivery analytics
- Shared IP reputation affects deliverability
- Support quality is a common complaint
- Interface is dated
Our verdict on Mailgun
A solid technical choice. Budget for a dedicated IP if volume matters.
Our verdict on SendGrid
Reliable at volume. On shared IPs your deliverability depends partly on other senders.