Top 10 Mailgun Alternatives
Tired of Mailgun's no permanent free tier (trial only)? Here are the best replacements for 2026.
If you're looking for an alternative to Mailgun, you're not alone. While Mailgun is a popular tool, many teams switch away due to no permanent free tier (trial only) and foundation plan is expensive for low-volume users.
Transmit is the top-ranked alternative to Mailgun, offering reputation isolation and 20x better pricing availability for scaling teams.
- Reputation Isolation ensures zero 'noisy neighbor' impact
- Volume-based pricing starting at $2/mo
- BYOK mode for full infrastructure control
- Automated domain warmup included
Transmit
Email that actually lands
Transmit is the best alternative to Mailgun because it solves the core issues of deliverability and pricing. With Reputation Isolation, your emails never land in spam because of a noisy neighbor.
Pros
- Volume-based pricing (pay for sends, not contacts)
- Built-in automated warmup with auto-pause on high bounce rates
- Reputation isolation (your sending is isolated)
- BYOK mode for full infrastructure control
Cons
- Setup requires DNS verification (standard)
- Newer platform than legacy giants
Postmark
Reliable transactional email delivery
Postmark is a strong contender if you prioritize teams that prioritize transactional email deliverability above all else. Excellent deliverability reputation
Pros
- Excellent deliverability reputation
- Fast delivery speeds
- Good documentation
- Honest about being transactional-first
Cons
- Expensive per-email pricing
- Marketing emails (Message Streams) limited
- No warmup features
- Strict content policies
Resend
Developer-first email API for modern teams
Resend is a strong contender if you prioritize developers who prioritize dx and don't need advanced deliverability controls. Beautiful developer experience
Pros
- Beautiful developer experience
- React Email integration
- Simple, clean API
- Modern dashboard
Cons
- Only 1 day of log retention on free tier
- No warmup automation
- No reputation isolation (shared infrastructure)
- No BYOK option for AWS SES control
Brevo
All-in-one marketing platform (formerly Sendinblue)
Brevo is a strong contender if you prioritize budget-conscious small businesses needing multiple marketing channels. Affordable entry-level pricing
Pros
- Affordable entry-level pricing
- All-in-one platform (SMS, chat, CRM)
- Good for small businesses
- Free plan includes decent volume
Cons
- Deliverability concerns on shared IPs
- Interface can feel cluttered
- Support quality varies
- No warmup automation
SendGrid
Twilio SendGrid - Cloud-based email delivery
SendGrid is a strong contender if you prioritize enterprise teams already using twilio ecosystem. Well-established brand with Twilio backing
Pros
- Well-established brand with Twilio backing
- Extensive documentation and tutorials
- Large ecosystem of integrations
- Strong marketing email features
Cons
- Frequent account suspensions without warning
- Shared IP pools hurt deliverability
- Pricing tiers jump quickly at scale
- No built-in warmup automation
Mailchimp
All-in-one marketing platform by Intuit
Mailchimp is a strong contender if you prioritize small businesses focused on marketing emails with minimal technical requirements. User-friendly drag-and-drop email builder
Pros
- User-friendly drag-and-drop email builder
- Strong brand recognition
- Good for beginners and small businesses
- Built-in CRM and landing pages
Cons
- Very expensive at scale (contact-based pricing)
- Transactional email is a separate product (Mandrill)
- Limited automation on free/lower plans
- No warmup features
Loops
Email for modern SaaS companies
Loops is a strong contender if you prioritize early-stage saas startups wanting a modern email platform. Beautiful, modern interface
Pros
- Beautiful, modern interface
- Built for SaaS use cases
- Good automation features
- Unified transactional + marketing
Cons
- Contact-based pricing scales poorly
- Relatively new, smaller feature set
- No SMTP support
- No warmup automation
Beehiiv
Newsletter platform built for growth
Beehiiv is a strong contender if you prioritize newsletter creators focused on audience growth and monetization. Purpose-built for newsletters
Pros
- Purpose-built for newsletters
- Built-in monetization features
- Referral program tools
- Good analytics for creators
Cons
- Newsletter-only (no transactional)
- Contact-based pricing
- Limited API capabilities
- No developer-focused features
ConvertKit
Email marketing for creators
ConvertKit is a strong contender if you prioritize content creators and bloggers building email lists. Built for content creators
Pros
- Built for content creators
- Simple automation builder
- Landing page builder included
- Good subscriber management
Cons
- No transactional email support
- Contact-based pricing gets expensive
- Limited design customization
- No API-first approach
Amazon SES
High-scale email sending service
Amazon SES is a strong contender if you prioritize cloud engineers who want the absolute lowest cost and don't mind complexity. Extremely low cost ($0.10/1k emals)
Pros
- Extremely low cost ($0.10/1k emals)
- High reliability and uptime
- Huge scalability
- Deep integration with AWS ecosystem
Cons
- Difficult setup and configuration
- Poor dashboard/UI for non-engineers
- Strict sandbox mode limitations
- Minimal support unless paying for AWS Support
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best alternative to Mailgun?
Why switch from Mailgun to Transmit?
Stop overpaying for email.
Switch from Mailgun to Transmit today and get better deliverability for a fraction of the cost.