9 Best Mailgun Alternatives in 2026 For Better Automation

Mailgun is well-known as an email infrastructure provider that any developer can depend on, but it is definitely not the only option available. Whether it is increased deliverability, competitive pricing, improved analytics, or niche features, finding the right alternative for Mailgun can be achieved by weighing the options.

According to the latest email marketing statistics, nearly three-quarters of marketers rely on email as their top ROI channel. Many also report up to a 2x year-over-year improvement after switching to more efficient tools.

In this complete guide, we will analyze the best alternatives to Mailgun and provide you with a clear understanding of which tool works best for your particular need, whether it is a transactional mail service, a marketing automation tool, or something else.

Why Look for Mailgun Alternatives?

To delve deeper into the alternatives listed below, it is important that one also understands the reasoning business organizations seek out Mailgun alternatives:

• Cost implications: The cost of using Mailgun can escalate quite rapidly when your mailing volumes grow, especially for startups and small businesses

• Feature limitations: Some teams may require features such as professional email marketing, multiple channels, and complex automation, which are not Mailgun's focus

• Deliverability issues: While Mailgun has good deliverability, some alternatives offer better deliverability insights and support for reaching inboxes

• User experience: Developers find Mailgun's technical aspect appealing, but the marketing side of the business favors more user-friendly solutions

• Support needs: Small to medium-sized companies would likely require support that the likes of Mailgun cannot offer

What to Expect When Considering Mailgun Alternatives

In assessing the competitiveness of Mailgun, consider the following factors:

• Deliverability Infrastructure: Inbox placement should not be a negotiated issue. The criteria for purchase would include solutions that are transparent about their deliverability statistics, IP reputation management capabilities, and have features such as dual delivery streams for the purpose of handling both transactional and promotional mail.

• Developer Experience: For technical teams, the availability of good API documentation, SDKs for various programming languages, web hooks, and easy integration is crucial.

• Meaning of Pricing Transparency: Knowing what you can expect your bill to be as you grow avoids financial surprises. Find a scalable software development service provider whose price structure is easily predictable and scalable.

• Alignment of Feature Sets: Make sure you match the strengths of the platform to your needs, and this could be transactional email alone, marketing automation, through a combination of the two.

• Analytics and Reporting: The performance data, engagement analysis, and troubleshooting functions provide valuable information for refining your email campaigns.

Quick Comparison: Top 9 Moosend Competitors

The 12 Best Mailgun Alternatives Compared

1. Mailmodo

Mailmodo is an AI-powered email marketing software that helps you create, automate, and optimize campaigns effortlessly. From planning strategy to writing copy and building journeys, Mailmodo’s AI Agents handle it all, with no technical expertise needed. It’s the fastest way to send smart, interactive, and high-performing emails.

Key Features

• Start your email marketing journey with AI. Get campaign strategies, subject lines, and contextual copy suggestions by simply chatting with Mailmodo’s AI Agents.

• Generate complete layouts or remix existing ones, and instantly change fonts, colors, or content using simple AI commands.

• Customize emails exactly the way you want using the drag-and-drop, WYSIWYG editor. Preview designs live to ensure perfect consistency before sending.

• Create dynamic, app-like experiences inside emails such as forms, polls, surveys, and product showcases to drive higher engagement and conversions.

• Target the right people effortlessly. Describe your audience, and Mailmodo’s AI automatically builds precise segments based on your data, ready for personalization.

Pros

• It's an AI email marketing tool with AI Agents that automate strategy, copywriting, and campaign creation, saving teams hours of manual effort.

• Modern, mobile-responsive templates.

Cons

• No SMS marketing-specifically email-only focus

• Slight learning curve when setting up AI agents for the first time.

• Advanced automation requires higher-tier plans.

Pricing

2. Postmark

Postmark is specifically designed for speedy, reliable, and fully transactional email delivery, with a strong emphasis on transparency regarding delivery statistics. Use cases involving high-priority transactional emails, such as password reset emails, order confirmations, and two-factor authentication tokens, will benefit from Postmark's lightning-fast delivery. 

The platform enables a greater message log retention cycle, 45 days versus 30 days, more informative delivery analytics, and focuses on transactional message quality rather than quantity. 

Key Features

• Lightning-fast email transmission for time-sensitive communication

• 45-day email logs and content retention for every plan

• Message Streams to separate transactional and bulk email traffic

• Deliverability tools like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configuration

• Public reporting of inbox placement metrics on a real-time basis

• Email templates for common transactions that have been tested

• Great documentation, including SDKs for Node.js, Python, Ruby, PHP, and others

Pros

• Exceptional deliverability rates with transparent metrics

• 45-day message retention across all plans

• Excellent documentation and developer experience

• Fast email delivery optimized for time-sensitive messages

• Separate streams for transactional and bulk email

Cons

• More expensive than high-volume alternatives like Amazon SES

• Limited marketing features compared to all-in-one platforms

• No built-in list management or subscriber tools

• Not ideal for bulk marketing campaigns

Pricing

3. Amazon SES

The uniqueness of Amazon SES lies in its ability to provide very cost-effective and easily scalable services for sending emails while being deeply integrated into the AWS environment. Teams working on engineering projects using AWS solutions, bulk email senders looking for cost-effective solutions, and software developers familiar with managing cloud infrastructure will find Amazon SES particularly valuable. SES has much lower pricing for large-scale mailouts but has higher technical complexity compared to managed solutions. 

Key Features

• Pay-as-you-go pricing at $0.10 per 1,000 emails

• Unlimited scalability within the AWS infrastructure

• Complete control over the infrastructure to broadcast and IP addresses

• Integration of AWS services like Lambda, SNS, CloudWatch, and others

• Global trusted IP addresses for deliverability

• Support for the API and SMTP interface

Pros

• Extremely low cost at $0.10 per 1,000 emails

• Virtually unlimited scalability within AWS

• Seamless integration with other AWS services

• Free tier includes 62,000 emails per month from EC2

• Full control over infrastructure and IP management

Cons

• Requires significant technical expertise to set up and manage

• Limited built-in analytics and reporting features

• No visual interface for campaign management

• Deliverability requires manual configuration and monitoring

• Support is limited compared to managed email services

Pricing

4. SendGrid

SendGrid (recently renamed Twilio SendGrid) is a delight for developers because of its strong API features; in other words, it's the perfect pick for a technical team. The network that SendGrid builds is of enterprise grade and aimed at very high volume scenarios. This is where the reliability and the scalability come from, the two most important features that are much sought after by tech companies and SaaS businesses for their transactional emails.

Key Features

• Email API and SMTP Relay for Transactional Emails

• Complete marketing campaign builder with drag and drop function

• Sophisticated segmentation and A/B testing tools

• Marketing automation workflows and drip campaigns

• Comprehensive system of webhooks for tracking events

• Extensive pre-built integration libraries

• IP addresses and reputation management

Pros

• Combines transactional and marketing email in one platform

• Extensive template library and visual campaign builder

• Robust API with comprehensive documentation

• Advanced segmentation and A/B testing capabilities

• Large ecosystem of integrations and plugins

Cons

• Can be expensive as volume increases

• The interface can be overwhelming for beginners

• Deliverability issues reported by some users

• Customer support quality varies by plan tier

• Pricing structure can be confusing with multiple plan types

Pricing

5. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

Brevo extends beyond email to offer SMS marketing, chat, CRM, and marketing automation in one integrated platform. Businesses that want to use multiple channels to communicate with their clients, startups that want an all-inclusive CRM, email, or SMS solution, will benefit from Brevo's comprehensive approach. Although Mailgun focuses on the infrastructure side of email, 

Key Features

• Transactional email API and SMTP relay

• Email marketing campaigns with a visual editor

• SMS marketing and integration with WhatsApp Business

• CRM System Included for Contact Management

• Marketing automation workflows

• Landing page maker

• Live chat widget for engaging with websites

• Competitive prices on all communication platforms

Pros

• Multi-channel platform including email, SMS, and chat

• Built-in CRM for contact management

• Very affordable pricing with a generous free tier

• Marketing automation is included in lower-tier plans

• Landing page builder and forms included

Cons

• Daily sending limits on free and lower-tier plans

• The email editor is less advanced than specialized competitors

• SMS credits are sold separately from email plans

• Limited customization options for advanced users

• Brevo branding on free plan emails

Pricing

6. MailerSend

MailerSend combines user-friendly APIs, collaboration tools for teams, and modern design. Teams of mixed skill levels, start-ups requiring tools for developers that are market-friendly, and agencies working with multiple clients will appreciate MailerSend's intuitive interface. About user interface, the current trend is leaning towards the sophistication that MailerSend has to offer, which is easier to use and more intuitive, even for those who are not tech-savvy. 

Key Features

• Clean, modern dashboard for non-technical team members

• Transactional Email API with top-notch documentation

• Template builder with collaborative editing

• Advanced email analytics and engagement tracking

• Inbound Routing for processing response emails

• Email verification API to ensure the quality of the lists

• Multiple user access with role-based privileges

• Generous free tier for testing and small projects

Pros

• Modern, intuitive interface for all skill levels

• Generous free tier with 12,000 emails/month

• Excellent collaborative features for team workflows

• Real-time template editing with multiple users

• Comprehensive analytics dashboard

Cons

• Smaller company with a less established reputation

• Limited advanced automation compared to enterprise platforms

• Fewer integrations than mature competitors

• Higher pricing at enterprise volumes

• The template library is smaller than established alternatives

Pricing

7. Mailtrap

Mailtrap offers a comprehensive infrastructure for testing emails, together with the service of sending emails in a production environment, featuring incredibly detailed statistics. Product firms and SaaS companies that focus on detailed performance analysis, development teams requiring testing and prod environments, and firms grappling with deliverability issues will find Mailtrap's dual approach valuable.

Key Features

• Email testing sandbox for development

• Email API for production SMTP service

• Transactional and bulk messages should be sent over different streams

• Helicopter view analytics dashboard monitoring performance among different providers

• High inboxing rates with fast delivery optimization

• Supports SendGrid and Mailgun API syntax for seamless transitions

• 24/7 expert delivery support

• Ready code snippets for over 25 programming languages

Pros

• Unique testing sandbox environment for development

• Exceptionally detailed analytics and deliverability insights

• Compatible with Mailgun API for easy migration

• Separate streams for transactional and bulk email

• 24/7 expert deliverability support

Cons

• Newer player in the production email market

• Higher pricing for advanced analytics features

• Testing environment may be overkill for simple use cases

• Smaller template library compared to competitors

• Less extensive integration ecosystem

Pricing

8. Mailchimp

Mailchimp has a very user-friendly interface with gorgeous templates, which makes it perfect for email marketing for startups. Thanks to its user-friendly design and vast template library, businesses can easily create professional-looking campaigns even if they have no technical or design skills.

Key Features

• API for triggered emails for transactions

• Integration with Mailchimp's marketing campaign tools

• Unified contact database for both marketing and transactional mailing purposes

• Customizable Dashboards And Analytics

• Automated drip marketing campaigns

• Mailchimp Template Management using Visual Editor

• Export API for Custom Reporting

Pros

• Seamless integration with the Mailchimp marketing platform

• Shared contact database across marketing and transactional

• Access to Mailchimp's extensive template library

• Unified reporting for all email activity

• Familiar interface for existing Mailchimp users

Cons

• Only available as an add-on to Mailchimp accounts

• More expensive than standalone transactional services

• Overkill if you don't need marketing features

• Less flexible than dedicated transactional platforms

• Pricing tied to Mailchimp subscription tiers

Pricing

9. Elastic Email

Elastic Email offers full-featured transactional and marketing emailing at very competitive prices. Startups and small businesses operating on tight budgets, businesses sending high volumes and focused on cost reduction, and businesses requiring basic marketing in combination with transactional email will find Elastic Email's pricing structure attractive. While Elastic Email has lower pricing, especially when it comes to high-volume email, it makes it ideal for businesses working with limited budgets. 

Key Features

• Transactional email API and SMTP relay

• Marketing Email Campaigns with Visual Builder

• Contact management and segmentation

• E-mail verification tools

• Landing page builder

• Marketing Automation Flows

• Private IP Addresses Available

• Highly Affordable Prices for Mass Production

Pros

• Extremely affordable pricing starting at $0.09 per 1,000 emails

• Includes both transactional and marketing features

• Email verification services included

• Landing page builder at no extra cost

• Private IP addresses available

Cons

• Deliverability reputation is not as strong as premium services

• Documentation less comprehensive than competitors

• User interface feels dated

• Customer support response times can be slow

• Fewer integrations with third-party tools

Pricing

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right email service goes beyond pricing and basic sending limits. Automation depth, deliverability, and reliability play a major role in long-term performance. While Mailgun works well for many use cases, growing teams often look for more flexibility and easier workflow management. Exploring alternatives helps identify platforms that better support both transactional and marketing emails. Testing a few options through free trials can reveal what fits your technical setup and business goals best. The right choice can improve inbox placement, engagement, and overall campaign efficiency.