Teams look past Mailgun when log retention is one day on the free and Basic plans, when SAML sign-on and dedicated IP pools wait for the $90 Scale plan, or when they would rather not contract with a Sinch group company. Most move to Postmark or Resend for a developer-first API, and to Amazon SES for the lowest per-message rate.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within
the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. The first three alternatives
go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the
established names follow in their ranked order. How it works:
placement disclosure · editorial process.
What each alternative does differently
1. Postmark
Transactional email with separate streams and long logs · United States
Built around transactional mail only, with separate message streams so bulk sends never share a stream with receipts. Retention is 45 days by default and configurable to 365 on Pro, far past Mailgun's lower tiers. Free allows 100 emails a month with no overage, and ActiveCampaign publishes the site.
Switch from Mailgun if you send receipts and password resets and want long, searchable activity history.
Pricing: Free at 100 emails a month, then Basic at $15 for 10,000 emails, Pro at $16.50 and Platform at $18, all with extra emails priced per thousand. (free plan)
Full review: #1 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Postmark →
2. Resend
Developer-first email API with React-based templates · United States
A newer API-first service with React Email templates, inbound email and official SDKs. Paid plans have no daily cap, while Free is limited to 100 a day. Billing is monthly only, with no annual discount, and Resend's SSO costs $150 a month as an add-on on Scale.
Switch from Mailgun if your developers write in React or TypeScript and want a small, modern API.
Pricing: Free at 3,000 emails a month (100 a day), Pro from $20 for 50,000 emails, Scale from $90 for 100,000, with overage per thousand. (free plan)
Full review: #2 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Resend →
3. SMTP2GO
SMTP relay and API with phone and chat support · New Zealand
Priced for ordinary SMTP relay, with phone, chat and ticket support on every plan and a 30-day refund promise. Extra email costs $1 per thousand on Starter and $0.85 on Professional. Reporting covers 30 days, and a dedicated IP arrives on Professional rather than as a priced extra.
Switch from Mailgun if you relay mail from existing applications over SMTP and want phone support included.
Pricing: Free for 1,000 emails a month; Starter lists at $10 a month for 10,000 emails and Professional at $75 for 100,000, with extra emails priced per thousand. (free plan)
Full review: #3 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit SMTP2GO →
4. Amazon SES
Pay-per-use email sending inside AWS · United States
Pay-as-you-go inside AWS with no contract, from $0.16 per 1,000 emails on the Essentials plan. Pro at $105 a month per account per region adds managed dedicated IPs. Inbound goes through Mail Manager. You assemble logs, alerts and templates yourself with other AWS services.
Switch from Mailgun if your stack already runs on AWS and per-message cost matters more than a console.
Pricing: Essentials lists $0.16 per 1,000 emails; Pro adds $105 a month per account per region, Enterprise $500; an a la carte rate card also exists. (none)
Full review: #4 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Amazon SES →
5. SendGrid
Twilio's email API, SMTP service and marketing campaigns · United States
Twilio's email product, now sold on twilio.com next to SMS, voice and a customer data platform, with Marketing Campaigns as a separate product. A free trial needs no credit card. Its pricing page, as we read it, shows no plan prices without a browser, so ask for a quote.
Switch from Mailgun if you already buy SMS or voice from Twilio and want one vendor and invoice.
Pricing: Monthly subscription plans by email volume with a free trial, no card required; the page we read renders its price figures client-side, so quote them from the vendor. (free trial)
Full review: #5 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit SendGrid →
6. MailerSend
Transactional email API with SMS and WhatsApp add-ons · United States
Plans are tiered by users, domains and API requests: Hobby has 1 domain and 1,000 daily API requests, Professional unlimited domains and 500,000. Overage is $0.90 per 1,000 on Starter and Professional. An SMS API for the US and Canada and a drag and drop builder are included.
Switch from Mailgun if you want a visual template builder next to the API and clear per-plan limits.
Pricing: Free for 500 emails a month; Hobby lists at $7 a month for 5,000 emails, Starter and Professional scale by volume, with a 14-day trial of Professional. (free plan)
Full review: #7 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit MailerSend →
7. MailPace
EU-hosted transactional email API and SMTP · United Kingdom
A small UK provider hosted in the European Union. Every feature is on every plan: unlimited domains, team members and webhooks, plus 30-day email retention. Billing follows volume with the first 10,000 emails as one block, and requests can carry an idempotency ID. No SAML sign-on or dedicated IP is listed.
Switch from Mailgun if you want EU hosting and a short feature list that is identical on every plan.
Pricing: Pay by volume with the first 10,000 emails priced as one block, advertised from under $4 a month; a free plan of 100 emails exists on request. (none)
Full review: #8 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit MailPace →
8. Mailtrap
Email sending API combined with an email testing sandbox · United States
Pairs a sending API with an email sandbox for testing messages before release, and lists migration help from Mailgun. Free is 4,000 emails a month with a 150 a day cap. Log retention runs 3, 5, 15 and 30 days by plan, and Business adds a dedicated IP.
Switch from Mailgun if you want sending and pre-release testing in one account, and a free tier with room to grow.
Pricing: Free at 4,000 emails a month, Basic from $15 for 10,000, Business $85 for 100,000, Enterprise from $750 for 1.5 million. (free plan)
Full review: #9 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Mailtrap →
9. Brevo
CRM and marketing suite with an SMTP and API transactional channel · France
A marketing platform first, where transactional email is one channel among SMS, WhatsApp, chat and a CRM. The free plan sends up to 300 emails a day. Mailgun's plans list no campaign automation or contact scoring, so Brevo suits teams that want one tool for newsletters and receipts.
Switch from Mailgun if marketing sends newsletters and campaigns from the same account as your application mail.
Pricing: Free plan with up to 300 emails a day; paid Starter plans start from 5,000 emails a month, with higher plans priced by volume. (free plan)
Full review: #10 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Brevo →
10. Elastic Email
Email API, SMTP relay and bulk sending platform · Canada
Offers a free plan of 3,000 emails a month and Starter and Pro plans by volume. Inbound processing, webhooks, sub accounts and reseller features start on Pro, and private IPs are a paid add-on. Log storage is 3 days on Free and Starter and 7 on Pro.
Switch from Mailgun if you resell sending to clients and need sub accounts and white label options.
Pricing: Free at 3,000 emails a month; Starter at $19 a month for 50,000 emails and Pro at $49 a month for 50,000, with features added on Pro. (free plan)
Full review: #11 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Elastic Email →
11. Mailjet
Email API and SMTP relay with campaign editor · France
Also part of Sinch Email, so it does not take you out of Mailgun's ownership. It leans toward marketing: Free covers 6,000 emails a month with a 200 a day cap, and the MJML editor, segmentation and automations appear on higher plans. Dedicated IP is available on request from the 100k plans.
Switch from Mailgun if you want a Sinch-owned sender with a campaign editor and a larger free tier.
Pricing: Free at 6,000 emails a month (200 a day); Essential at $19 for 15,000 emails, Premium at $29, with annual billing offering a 10% discount. (free plan)
Full review: #12 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Mailjet →
Questions and answers
Can I export my suppression lists from Mailgun?
Yes, through the API. Mailgun exposes endpoints for bounces, complaints, unsubscribes and the allowlist, and the data sits in the region of the domain, US or EU. Export all four before you cancel, and import them into the new service before sending.
What happens to my bill when I cancel Mailgun?
Mailgun charges any remaining balance before the account can be closed. Its FAQ says plan cost and extra emails or validations are billed at the start of each month for the previous month, so expect a final invoice for the last partial period.
Do Mailgun inbound routes work at another provider?
No, routes are configured inside your Mailgun account and have to be recreated. Targets that handle inbound mail include Postmark on its Pro plan, MailPace, Amazon SES through Mail Manager, Resend and Elastic Email on Pro. Check each vendor's inbound limits before you commit.
Can I keep EU data residency after leaving Mailgun?
Yes, but check each vendor. Mailgun lets one account provision sending domains in the EU, and keeps messages, logs and suppressions in that region. MailPace states it is hosted in the European Union, and Amazon SES works per AWS region. Several others do not state a region on their pricing pages.
Which Mailgun alternative has the biggest free plan?
Mailjet lists 6,000 emails a month with a 200 a day cap, and Mailtrap lists 4,000 a month. Elastic Email offers 3,000 a month and SMTP2GO 1,000. Mailgun's Free plan sends 100 emails a day. Free plans differ in log retention and support, not only volume.
Is Mailjet a real escape from Mailgun's ownership?
No. Mailgun's terms place Mailjet inside Sinch Email, along with Email on Acid, and Mailjet's own pricing page links to Sinch. It can still be the right move for a campaign editor or a different pricing model, but it does not change who owns the sender.
