Elastic Email vs Mailgun
Elastic Email and Mailgun are both popular choices in the transactional email service space. Mailgun is the more affordable option at $15/mo, which is $4 less than Elastic Email's $19/mo entry point. Both offer free plans to get started. Elastic Email has the edge with marketing automation, A/B testing, landing pages.
Quick Verdict
Elastic Email wins on rating.
Mailgun wins on price, deliverability, integrations.
Best for most users: Mailgun (developers).
Elastic Email
Budget-friendly email delivery with marketing features
Elastic Email is a budget-friendly email delivery platform founded in 2010 that offers both transactional email API and marketing email capabilities. Built entirely in-house down to the protocol level, it serves tens of thousands of companies sending over 100 million emails monthly, with API plans starting at just $19/month for 50,000 emails.
Mailgun
Developer-focused transactional email API by Sinch
Mailgun is a Sinch-owned transactional email API platform founded in 2010, designed for developers who need reliable, high-volume email delivery via REST API or SMTP. It offers email validation, inbox placement testing, and send-time optimization, making it a solid choice for SaaS companies and engineering teams building custom email workflows.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Elastic Email | Mailgun |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.4/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Starting Price | $19/mo | $15/mo |
| Free Plan | 3,000 emails/month (100 emails/day); Email Marketing: up to 1,000 contacts | 100 emails/day (5,000/month), 1 domain, basic tracking |
| Founded | 2010 | 2010 |
| Email Templates | 100 | 25 |
| Integrations | 30 | 40 |
| Deliverability Rate | 95% | 97% |
| Marketing Automation | Yes | No |
| A/B Testing | Yes | No |
| Landing Pages | Yes | No |
| Segmentation | Yes | No |
| Drag & Drop Editor | Yes | No |
| SMS Marketing | No | No |
| Ecommerce Features | No | No |
| API Access | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-Language | No | No |
| Web Push Notifications | No | No |
| Live Chat | Yes | No |
| Advanced Analytics | Yes | Yes |
Elastic Email: Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Very affordable pricing starting at $19/month for 50,000 emails via the API plan
- + Combines both transactional API and marketing email features in one platform
- + Custom-built infrastructure written from the protocol level up for optimized performance
- + Includes landing page editor, signup forms, and segmentation even on marketing plans
- + Unlimited contacts on API plans and up to 1M contacts on marketing plans
Cons
- − Free plan severely limited to 100 emails/day and sending only to yourself
- − Third-party deliverability tests show inconsistent results averaging around 59.5% inbox placement (EmailToolTester)
- − Customer support response times can be slow; dedicated support costs an extra $100/month
- − Template editor feels limited compared to competitors unless you code custom HTML
- − Automation trigger options are very limited compared to full-featured marketing platforms
Mailgun: Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Powerful RESTful API with well-structured SDKs for Python, Ruby, Node.js and more, making integration painless for developers
- + Real-time dashboards for delivery, bounce, spam complaints, and click rates provide clear campaign health visibility
- + Handles very high email volumes reliably with strong deliverability and fast sending speeds
- + Built-in email validation and inbox placement testing tools (Mailgun Optimize) for deliverability optimization
- + Flexible routing rules, webhooks, and event tracking simplify debugging and monitoring email performance
Cons
- − Pricing escalates quickly at higher volumes and premium features like dedicated IPs ($59/mo) and validations cost extra
- − No built-in drag-and-drop email editor or marketing automation features — purely developer-focused
- − Setup requires technical knowledge; non-developers will struggle with DNS configuration and API integration
- − UI dashboard feels outdated in certain sections compared to modern competitors like Resend
- − Lower-tier plans use shared IP addresses which can impact deliverability if other senders have poor practices
The Verdict
Elastic Email edges ahead with a 4.4/5 rating compared to Mailgun's 4.2/5. The gap comes mainly from feature depth (4.4 vs 3.8) and ease of use (4.2 vs 3.6). On deliverability, Mailgun reports 97% compared to 95% for Elastic Email — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | Elastic Email | Mailgun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $19/mo | $15/mo Winner |
| Deliverability | 25% | 95% | 97% Winner |
| Rating | 25% | 4.4/5 Winner | 4.2/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 30 | 40 Winner |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose Elastic Email if…
- + You need marketing automation
- + You need built-in landing pages
- + You need A/B testing
- + You're a budget conscious startups
Choose Mailgun if…
- + You want lower starting costs ($15/mo)
- + You're a developers
- + You're a saas companies