Head to head
Mailgun vs SendGrid
As a transactional email API, SendGrid rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 85.6 to 82.1, a 3.5-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Mailgun | SendGrid |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 82.1 | 85.6 |
Specifications
| Mailgun | SendGrid | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Developer email infrastructure at scale | Enterprise-scale email infrastructure |
| Free tier | 100 emails/day (forever) | 100 emails/day (after 60-day trial) |
| Pricing | Per monthly email volume | Per monthly email volume |
| Official SDKs | 9 languages | 8 languages |
Is Mailgun better than SendGrid?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, SendGrid rates higher (85.6 vs 82.1). It leads on the four weighted criteria, but price is reported separately, so the best choice still depends on your budget.
Verdict in one line
SendGrid leads by 3.5 points (85.6 vs 82.1) and wins 4 of 4 criteria.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 80 | 82 | |
| Reliability | 86 | 90 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 84 | 90 | |
| Accessibility | 78 | 80 |
Choose Mailgun if… / choose SendGrid if…
- →you need broad SDK coverage (9 official SDKs vs 8)
- →your use case matches its focus: developer email infrastructure at scale
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (82 vs 80)
- →reliability matters most to you (90 vs 86)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (90 vs 84)
- →accessibility matters most to you (80 vs 78)
- →your use case matches its focus: enterprise-scale email infrastructure
Pricing side by side
- Model
- Per monthly email volume
- Free tier
- 100 emails/day (forever)
- Free$0/mo
- Basicfrom $15/mo
- Foundation$35/mo
- Scale$90/mo
- EnterpriseCustom (contact sales)
- Model
- Per monthly email volume
- Free tier
- 100 emails/day (after 60-day trial)
- Free Trial$0 (60 days)
- Email API, Essentialsfrom $19.95/mo
- Email API, Profrom $89.95/mo
- Email API, PremierCustom
- Marketing Campaigns, Basic$15.00/mo
- Marketing Campaigns, Advanced$60.00/mo
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-06-27 (Mailgun) and 2026-06-27 (SendGrid).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 8
PythonRubyPHPJavaC#/.NETNode.jsGoSMTP relay
Only Mailgun · 1
REST API
Only SendGrid · 0
None
Strengths and weaknesses
- +Clean, well-documented REST API plus SMTP relay; reviewers report integration in minutes
- +Seven official, actively maintained SDKs (Python, Ruby, PHP, Java, C#, Node.js, Go)
- +Contractual 99.99% uptime SLA on core API/SMTP/outbound delivery for all plan tiers
- –Pricing escalates steeply with volume; reviewers say it has gotten 'pricier and pricier'
- –Legacy pay-as-you-go Flex plan doubled to $2.00/1K in Dec 2025 and is closed to new users
- –Recurring abrupt account suspensions, sometimes right after signup or mid-integration, with no clear reason
- +Mature, stable v3 REST API plus SMTP relay with over a decade of production hardening
- +Official, well-maintained SDKs in seven languages (C#, Go, Java, Node.js, PHP, Python, Ruby)
- +Single account spans both transactional email and marketing campaigns
- –Mediocre shared-IP deliverability in independent tests (~61% inbox placement, Mailtrap 2025)
- –Strong deliverability effectively requires paying for a dedicated IP (Pro plan)
- –Frequent reports of abrupt account suspensions with little explanation, especially for new accounts
Mailgun vs SendGrid: questions
- Which has better documentation, Mailgun or SendGrid?
- SendGrid scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 82 vs 80 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, Mailgun or SendGrid?
- SendGrid scores higher on reliability: 90 vs 86 out of 100.
- Do Mailgun and SendGrid have a free tier?
- Mailgun: yes (100 emails/day (forever)). SendGrid: yes (100 emails/day (after 60-day trial)).
- How are Mailgun and SendGrid priced?
- Mailgun: Per monthly email volume. SendGrid: Per monthly email volume.
- Which has more official SDKs?
- Mailgun lists 9 official SDKs, SendGrid lists 8.