Mailgun Alternatives 2026: 5 Free Options
Mailgun alternatives: Amazon SES, Resend, Postmark, MailerSend and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 25, 2026.
•3 min read•Email Marketing & Newsletters
Verdict:Mailgun's Free plan is limited to 100 emails a day, one custom domain and one day of logs, and Basic costs $15 a month for 10,000 emails. If that has started to pinch, the right alternative depends on volume. At high volume Amazon SES is the cheapest, at $0.10 per 1,000 emails, and new AWS accounts get up to $200 in free-tier credits. You pay for that with setup work: moving out of the sandbox, handling bounces and complaints, and building your own dashboards. For a small app that wants a simple API, Resend's free tier of 3,000 emails a month (100 a day) covers more than Mailgun's does, and Brevo's free plan allows 300 a day. Postmark focuses on transactional mail and has a free plan of 100 emails a month, and Basic is priced the same as Mailgun's. MailerSend is the budget pick at $7 a month for 5,000 emails on monthly billing. You give up Mailgun's inbound routing, email validation and the longer log retention on paid tiers, so check whether you actually use those. Whichever you choose, plan the move around deliverability: warm up a new sending domain, set SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, and keep Mailgun running in parallel for a week while you compare bounce rates. Moving the code is a day's work; fixing a damaged sender reputation takes much longer.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon SES | Free (new AWS accounts get up to $200 in free-tier credits); paid from $0.1 per 1,000 emails sent (pay-as-you-go, plus $0.12 per GB of attachments) | Web API | Cheap high-volume sending if you are comfortable with AWS | Docs only |
| Resend | Free (3,000 emails/month, 100/day, 3 domains); paid from $20 per month (50,000 emails) | Web API | A developer-friendly API with a bigger free tier | Docs only |
| Postmark | Free (100 emails per month, no expiry); paid from $15 per month (Basic, 10,000 emails) | Web API | Transactional email where delivery matters | Docs only |
| MailerSend | Free (500 emails per month); paid from $7 per month, billed monthly (Hobby, 5,000 emails) | Web API | Low-cost transactional sending | Docs only |
| Brevo | Free (300 emails per day, no time limit) | Web API | Free daily volume plus marketing email | Docs only |
| SendGrid | Paid from $19.95 per month (Essentials) | Web API | Email API | Docs only |
| Mailjet | Free (6,000 emails a month, capped at 200 a day); paid from $9 per month (Starter, 8,000 emails a month, no daily limit) | Web browser | Email API | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You send a lot of email and can manage AWS (Amazon SES is the pick)
- You want the biggest free tier for a small app (Resend is the pick)
- Delivery speed and reputation matter most (Postmark is the pick)
- You want transactional and marketing email in one (Brevo is the pick)
- You want the cheapest low-volume paid plan (MailerSend is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Mailgun features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Mailgun today: Free (100 emails per day, 1 custom domain, 1 day of logs); paid from $15 per month (Basic, 10,000 emails) (Mailgun pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Mailgun alternatives
Mailgun's free plan is capped at 100 emails per day, with one custom sending domain and one day of log retention. Paid Basic starts at $15 per month for 10,000 emails but keeps one domain and one day of logs. Five days of logs and 1,000 domains arrive with Foundation at $35, while 30-day logs, SAML SSO, dedicated IP pools and live phone and chat support need Scale at $90. Overage runs from $1.10 to $1.80 per 1,000 emails depending on plan, and extra dedicated IPs are $59 each per month.
Amazon SES
Compared with Mailgun: Amazon SES charges $0.10 per 1,000 emails sent, and new AWS accounts get up to $200 in free-tier credits. Mailgun's Basic plan is $15 for 10,000 emails. SES is cheaper at volume but needs an AWS account, sandbox exit and your own bounce handling.
Price: Free (new AWS accounts get up to $200 in free-tier credits); paid from $0.1 per 1,000 emails sent (pay-as-you-go, plus $0.12 per GB of attachments) (Amazon SES pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web API. Proprietary.
Best for: Cheap high-volume sending if you are comfortable with AWS.
Worth knowing: Essentials plan is $0.16 per 1,000 emails with no fixed fee.
Resend
Compared with Mailgun: Resend's free tier gives 3,000 emails a month, capped at 100 a day, with 3 domains; 50,000 emails cost $20. Mailgun Free gives 100 a day and 1 domain. Resend is simpler to start, though it is a newer vendor with fewer features.
Price: Free (3,000 emails/month, 100/day, 3 domains); paid from $20 per month (50,000 emails) (Resend pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web API. Proprietary.
Best for: A developer-friendly API with a bigger free tier.
Postmark
Compared with Mailgun: Postmark's free plan is 100 emails a month with no expiry, and Basic is $15 for 10,000, the same price as Mailgun Basic. It focuses on transactional delivery rather than Mailgun's broader inbound routing and validation tools.
Price: Free (100 emails per month, no expiry); paid from $15 per month (Basic, 10,000 emails) (Postmark pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web API. Proprietary.
Best for: Transactional email where delivery matters.
MailerSend
Compared with Mailgun: MailerSend's free plan allows 500 emails a month, and Hobby is $7 a month for 5,000 on monthly billing. That is cheaper than Mailgun Basic at $15, but with a lower included volume and a smaller developer community.
Price: Free (500 emails per month); paid from $7 per month, billed monthly (Hobby, 5,000 emails) (MailerSend pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web API. Proprietary.
Best for: Low-cost transactional sending.
Brevo
Compared with Mailgun: Brevo's free plan allows 300 emails a day with no time limit, three times Mailgun's 100 a day. It bundles marketing campaigns and contacts, so it is broader than Mailgun, but check Brevo's pricing page for paid plans.
Price: Free (300 emails per day, no time limit) (Brevo pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web API. Proprietary.
Best for: Free daily volume plus marketing email.
Other popular options (paid)
SendGrid
Compared with Mailgun: Twilio's email API starts at $19.95 per month for Essentials, with a 60-day trial at 100 emails a day and Pro from $89.95 per month. There is no permanent free tier.
Price: Paid from $19.95 per month (Essentials) (SendGrid pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Mailjet
Compared with Mailgun: Free plan sends 6,000 emails a month capped at 200 a day; Starter is $9 per month for 8,000 emails with no daily limit. A cheap entry step for low-volume senders.
Price: Free (6,000 emails a month, capped at 200 a day); paid from $9 per month (Starter, 8,000 emails a month, no daily limit) (Mailjet pricing, checked 2026-10-25).
Which one to pick
- You send a lot of email and can manage AWS: Amazon SES
- You want the biggest free tier for a small app: Resend
- Delivery speed and reputation matter most: Postmark
- You want transactional and marketing email in one: Brevo
- You want the cheapest low-volume paid plan: MailerSend
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Amazon SES, Resend, Postmark, MailerSend, Brevo: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Mailgun. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-25: Mailgun, Amazon SES, Resend, Postmark, MailerSend, Brevo, SendGrid, Mailjet. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.