Mailgun review

Mailgun is an email delivery API and SMTP service for sending, receiving, and tracking email. Its tools also cover address validation, email previews, incoming-message parsing, and connecting email data to a CRM. The product is aimed at developers who need email delivery in an application, rather than a standalone mailbox service.

The homepage says Mailgun can handle sending volumes from thousands to millions of emails. That describes the range it targets, not a guarantee of delivery or inbox placement. Mailgun also offers deliverability tools intended to help improve delivery and engagement, plus previews that can help identify common accessibility issues before sending.

The pricing page lists a free plan for testing, capped at 100 emails per day, and paid plans starting at $15 per month. It also lists a 30-day free trial. Monthly pricing and usage charges are billed monthly; the page does not publish annual pricing.

Mailgun puts several practical email tasks under one service: sending through an API or SMTP, tracking messages, validating addresses, previewing email, and parsing incoming messages. That can make it a reasonable fit when a product needs both outbound and inbound email workflows, rather than just a way to send notifications.

The plan ladder gives buyers a clear starting point. The free plan includes 100 emails per day, one custom sending domain, two API keys, one-day log retention, and one inbound route. Basic costs $15 per month for 10,000 emails, with no daily email limit, one domain, two API keys, and five inbound routes. Foundation is $35 per month for 50,000 emails and full access to inbound routing. Scale is $90 per month for 100,000 emails, 5,000 validations, SAML SSO, 30-day log retention, and dedicated IP pools.

For growing senders, the included volume and controls are easier to assess than a custom quote. Extra email pricing starts at $1.10 per 1,000 on Scale; Enterprise pricing is not published.

The free plan is a testing tier, not much of a production allowance: the pricing page caps it at 100 emails per day, one sending domain, two API keys, one-day log retention, and one inbound route. Basic raises the limit to 10,000 emails per month for $15, but the included domain count remains one. Foundation costs $35 per month for 50,000 emails, and Scale costs $90 for 100,000. Extra email charges start at $1.80 per 1,000 on Basic, $1.30 on Foundation, and $1.10 on Scale. Additional dedicated IPs cost $59 per month each. Annual prices are not published.

The free allowance can also create misleading expectations when comparing older reviews or user accounts. One Reddit thread says a user’s free plan became a $35 monthly plan; the current pricing page still lists a free tier, so that report does not establish what happened to every account. Separately, a Reddit thread describes a legitimate ecommerce account being permanently disabled after attempting its first newsletter. That is one user’s account, not proof of a general policy, but it is worth considering if you need predictable account access.

Mailgun starts at $15 per month for Basic, after a Free tier capped at 100 emails per day. Basic includes 10,000 emails per month; Foundation costs $35 for 50,000, and Scale costs $90 for 100,000. That’s a $20 jump from Basic to Foundation, then $55 from Foundation to Scale. The pricing page lists no annual prices, and says monthly plan costs and usage charges are billed monthly. A 30-day free trial is listed, but the published pricing details don’t specify its terms.

Watch the overage rates: extra emails start at $1.80 per 1,000 on Basic, $1.30 on Foundation, and $1.10 on Scale. Extra validations start at $1.20 per 100 on Basic and Foundation, or $0.80 on Scale. Additional dedicated IPs cost $59 per month each. Scale includes 5,000 validations and dedicated IP pools; Enterprise pricing is not published. The Free tier is for low-volume testing, not generous ongoing sending.

Mailgun supports sending through an API or SMTP, so migration work depends on which connection your application uses. Before switching, inventory the services that send mail and identify which Mailgun features they rely on: validation, previews, inbound routes, or CRM data connections. The published material does not document export options or migration tools, so confirm how you can retrieve any needed data before closing an account.

Plan limits matter during a move: Free has one sending domain, two API keys, and one day of log retention; paid plans change those caps. Keep the relevant configuration and logs available while you verify the replacement setup. We don’t have Reddit posts or comments in the published material for this review, so we can’t substantiate what users report as reasons for leaving Mailgun. The clearest documented switching considerations are usage-based costs, the Free tier’s 100-email daily limit, and the absence of published annual pricing.