SendGrid vs Mailgun (2026): Which Email API Should You Choose?

Last updated: September 2026 | Pricing checked on both vendors’ sites on September 28, 2026 | 10 min read

SendGrid and Mailgun are the two best-known email APIs, and on paper they look almost identical. Both do REST and SMTP, webhooks, templates and inbound parsing, and both charge about $90 a month for 100,000 emails. The differences show up in the details: how long you can see your logs, whether email validation is included, how many teammates you can add, and what you get before you pay.

We compared them over eight rounds using each vendor’s current pricing page and published documentation. Short answer: Mailgun wins 5–3. It’s the better pick for most developers at small and mid volumes, thanks to longer logs at the same price point, validation included from Foundation, unlimited users and a permanent free tier. SendGrid wins on price at 50,000 emails, SDK coverage and marketing features, and it’s the natural choice if you already use Twilio.

SendGrid vs Mailgun at a Glance

Round 1: Pricing at Real Volumes

Prices from the SendGrid Email API pricing page and Mailgun pricing page, checked September 28, 2026.

SendGrid’s Essentials plan covers up to 50,000 emails for $19.95, which makes it much cheaper in the 20,000–50,000 range, where Mailgun jumps to $35. Below 10,000 emails Mailgun’s $15 Basic plan is cheaper. At 100,000 they’re effectively the same price, and both include a dedicated IP at that level.

Winner: SendGrid (cheaper across the 20K–50K range most growing apps sit in).

Round 2: Free Plan and Trial

Mailgun has a permanent free plan: 100 emails a day, one custom domain and one inbound route, with one-day logs. SendGrid replaced its long-running free plan with a 60-day free trial at 100 emails a day. After 60 days you pay or stop sending.

Winner: Mailgun (a free tier that doesn’t expire).

Round 3: Logs and Visibility

This is the round developers feel most. Mailgun keeps logs for 1 day on Free and Basic, 5 days on Foundation and 30 days on Scale. SendGrid’s Email Activity feed keeps only a short default history on every plan, and longer history is a paid add-on. If you debug delivery problems from “last Tuesday”, Mailgun Scale or Foundation gives you more to work with without extra fees.

Winner: Mailgun.

Round 4: Deliverability

Both run large shared IP pools with dedicated IPs on the higher plans (SendGrid Pro, Mailgun Scale), and both support SPF, DKIM, link branding and automated IP warm-up. Independent data is thin. In Mailtrap’s published head-to-head, Mailgun reached the inbox 71.4% of the time and SendGrid 61.0%. SendGrid had fewer messages going missing but more going to spam. Mailtrap sells a competing API, so read that as one data point, not a verdict. In our experience, authentication (see our SPF, DKIM and DMARC guide) and list quality move placement more than the choice between these two, especially a DMARC policy.

Winner: Mailgun (narrowly, on the only published head-to-head).

Round 5: Email Validation and Inbound Routing

Validation. SendGrid includes 2,500 validations on Pro and 5,000 on Premier, and none on Essentials. Mailgun includes 5,000 validations on both Foundation and Scale, and sells them as an add-on on Basic.

Inbound. Both parse incoming email and post it to your app. Mailgun’s routes are the more flexible rules engine (1 route on Free, 5 on Basic, unlimited from Foundation). SendGrid’s Inbound Parse webhook is simpler to set up and works for most reply-handling needs.

Winner: Mailgun (validation at the $35 tier; richer routing).

Round 6: Developer Experience

SendGrid has the bigger ecosystem: seven official client libraries (including C# and Go), dynamic templates with Handlebars, and more third-party plugins and tutorials than anyone else in the category. Mailgun’s docs are excellent, and it ships official libraries for the main languages (PHP, Ruby, Go, JavaScript and Java). But you’ll find fewer plug-and-play integrations.

Winner: SendGrid.

Round 7: Teams, Support and Account Management

Mailgun gives unlimited users from the Basic plan and 1,000 custom domains from Foundation. SendGrid’s Essentials plan includes a single teammate, and team features such as subusers and SSO arrive on Pro. For support, Mailgun is ticket-only until Scale, which adds chat and phone. SendGrid adds phone support from Pro. Both have long-running user complaints about slow support on entry plans.

Winner: Mailgun (unlimited users and domains without upgrading to the top tier).

Round 8: Marketing Email and Roadmap

SendGrid offers Marketing Campaigns as a separate product with its own pricing, so product and marketing email can live in one Twilio account. Mailgun is API-first. Marketing email in its family sits with sister brand Mailjet, under the same owner, Sinch (which bought Mailgun’s parent, Pathwire, in 2021). Twilio acquired SendGrid in 2019. Both products have since leaned towards larger enterprise customers.

Winner: SendGrid (marketing in the same account).

Final Scoreboard: Mailgun 5, SendGrid 3

A Simple Way to Decide: Your Volume and Your Team

Most comparisons stop at features. In practice two numbers decide this: how many emails you send a month, and how many people need access.

• Under 10,000 emails a month: Mailgun Basic ($15) or its free tier. SendGrid’s trial runs out after 60 days.
• 20,000–50,000 emails, small team: SendGrid Essentials ($19.95) is the cheapest option. Accept the short logs and single seat.
• 20,000–50,000 emails, several developers or many domains: Mailgun Foundation ($35), with unlimited users, 5-day logs and 5,000 validations.
• 100,000+ emails: Price is a tie. Choose SendGrid if you’re on Twilio or need Marketing Campaigns. Choose Mailgun Scale for 30-day logs and phone support.

SendGrid Pros and Cons

Mailgun Pros and Cons

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mailgun better than SendGrid?

For most developers at small and mid volumes, yes. Mailgun wins our comparison 5–3 on logs, free tier, validation, inbound routing and team access. SendGrid is better if you send 20,000–50,000 emails a month on a single seat, need the widest SDK ecosystem, or want marketing email in the same Twilio account.

Which is cheaper, SendGrid or Mailgun?

It depends on volume. Mailgun is cheaper below 10,000 emails ($15 vs $19.95). SendGrid is much cheaper at 50,000 ($19.95 vs $35). At 100,000 emails they cost about the same ($89.95 vs $90).

Does SendGrid still have a free plan?

No. SendGrid now offers a 60-day free trial at 100 emails a day instead of a permanent free plan. Mailgun still has a permanent free plan at 100 emails a day with one-day logs.

Which has better deliverability, SendGrid or Mailgun?

The only published head-to-head we found, by Mailtrap, measured Mailgun at 71.4% inbox placement and SendGrid at 61.0%. Treat it as one data point. Authentication, list hygiene and sending practices usually matter more than the choice between the two.

Can I migrate from SendGrid to Mailgun (or the reverse)?

Yes. Both support SMTP and REST, so migration means authenticating your domain on the new provider, recreating templates and webhook handlers, and running both in parallel before cutting over. Our guide to transactional email best practices covers what to check.

What are the alternatives to SendGrid and Mailgun?

Postmark, Amazon SES, Resend, Brevo and MailerSend are the most common alternatives. We compare them in our SendGrid alternatives, Mailgun alternatives and best transactional email services guides.

Final Verdict

Choose Mailgun if you want a free tier that lasts, logs you can actually debug from, validation and inbound routing included, and a whole team on one account. Choose SendGrid if you send up to 50,000 emails a month on a tight budget, live in the Twilio ecosystem, or want transactional and marketing email under one roof. Either way, set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC before you send your first message. Google’s email sender guidelines and Yahoo’s sender best practices now require all three for bulk senders, and Microsoft has similar rules for Outlook.com.

Looking for a Simpler Alternative?

If neither fits, perhaps because you want flat pricing and to see whether your emails land in the inbox or spam, Mailercloud’s Email API is worth a look. It costs $10/month for 50,000 emails and $100 for 500,000, with REST and SMTP, webhooks, 7–30 day activity retention and an optional Inbox Tracker for placement at Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo. It has a 14-day trial and no credit card is needed.