MailerSend vs Mailgun
MailerSend and Mailgun are both popular choices in the transactional email service space. Mailgun has been around since 2010, giving it a 10-year head start over MailerSend (founded 2020). MailerSend is the more affordable option at $6/mo — that's $9 less than Mailgun's $15/mo entry point. Both offer free plans to get started. MailerSend has the edge with A/B testing, SMS marketing, a drag-and-drop editor.
Quick Verdict
MailerSend wins on price.
Mailgun wins on deliverability, integrations.
Best for most users: Mailgun (developers).
MailerSend
Developer-friendly transactional email by the MailerLite team
MailerSend is a transactional email service built by the team behind MailerLite, launched in 2020 with over a decade of email deliverability expertise. It offers a polished developer experience with a full API, SMTP relay, drag-and-drop template builder, and SMS capabilities, making it an ideal choice for SaaS and app developers who need reliable transactional email delivery without the complexity of AWS.
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 | MailerSend | Mailgun |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.2/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Starting Price | $6/mo | $15/mo |
| Free Plan | 500 emails/month (100/day max), 1 domain, 1 template | 100 emails/day (5,000/month), 1 domain, basic tracking |
| Founded | 2020 | 2010 |
| Email Templates | 90 | 25 |
| Integrations | 29 | 40 |
| Deliverability Rate | 86.8% | 97% |
| Marketing Automation | ✕ | ✕ |
| A/B Testing | ✓ | ✕ |
| Landing Pages | ✕ | ✕ |
| Segmentation | ✕ | ✕ |
| Drag & Drop Editor | ✓ | ✕ |
| SMS Marketing | ✓ | ✕ |
| Ecommerce Features | ✕ | ✕ |
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-Language | ✕ | ✕ |
| Web Push Notifications | ✕ | ✕ |
| Live Chat | ✓ | ✕ |
| Advanced Analytics | ✓ | ✓ |
MailerSend: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Excellent developer experience with SDKs for Node.js, Python, Java, Laravel, PHP, Go, and Ruby
- +Strong deliverability averaging 86.8% inbox placement in EmailToolTester third-party tests (2nd best tested)
- +Intuitive drag-and-drop email builder with 90+ pre-built content blocks for quick template creation
- +Built by the MailerLite team with 10+ years of email deliverability expertise behind the platform
- +Includes SMS API for US and Canada on Starter plans and above at no extra base cost
Cons
- −Free plan reduced from 3,000 to just 500 emails/month in October 2025, with 100/day cap
- −No marketing automation or campaign features; purely transactional and lacks segmentation tools
- −Starter and Professional plans both start at $25/month for same 50,000 emails, confusing tier differentiation
- −Some users report sudden account suspensions for high bounce rates with no refunds offered
- −Pricing can become expensive at scale compared to Amazon SES or Elastic Email ($0.90 per 1,000 overage)
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
MailerSend and Mailgun are closely matched — both score within 0.0 points of each other in our overall rating. Your decision should come down to specific needs rather than overall quality. On deliverability, Mailgun reports 97% compared to 86.8% for MailerSend — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | MailerSend | Mailgun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $6/mo | $15/mo |
| Deliverability | 25% | 86.8% | 97% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.2/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 29 | 40 |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose MailerSend if…
- + You want lower starting costs ($6/mo)
- + You need SMS marketing
- + You need A/B testing
- + You're a developers building transactional email flows
Choose Mailgun if…
- + You're a developers
- + You're a saas companies
- + Powerful RESTful API with well-structured SDKs for Python, Ruby, Node.js and more, making integration painless for developers