AhaSend vs Mailgun (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, AhaSend and Mailgun share a 2.4 GPA, both have a free plan, and AhaSend starts cheaper, at $10 a month against $15 a month.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
AhaSend grades higher on value for money. Mailgun grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
AhaSend
EU-hosted transactional email API and SMTP relay with a free tier
Mailgun
Email API and SMTP relay for developers, with list validation
Which one is for you
Pick AhaSend if
- Fits if you want a flat monthly price for transactional email with unlimited domains
- Works for developers who want sandbox mode and inbound routing
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 1,000 emails a month and 1 to 7 days of logs
- Watch out: the page says dedicated IPs start on Pro, but its feature table ties IP access to 100,000 emails a month
- Skip it if you want single sign-on, dedicated IP pools or phone support, which are Max only at $80
- Watch out: the page shows prices in USD or EUR, and the listing records the USD ones
- Not for you if you want ready-made integrations, as none are listed
Pick Mailgun if
- Fits if your app needs to receive email and pass it on to a webhook
- Works for teams whose email data has to stay in the EU
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're on Free or Basic, with 1 sending domain and 1 day of logs
- Not for you if you want an editor to write and send campaigns, since it's all code
- Pricey if you need a dedicated IP, which starts with Scale at $90 a month, with extra IPs at $59 each
- Watch out: inbox placement tests and reputation monitoring are a separate product, Mailgun Optimize
- Watch out: Free stops at 100 emails a day, and Basic charges $1.80 per 1,000 past 10,000
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAAhaSendFair | 2.4GPAMailgunFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$10 a month for 25,000 emails is inside the cheapest quarter of email sending tools, which starts at $10. Max is $80 for 100,000 emails, and extras are $0.50 per 1,000. | CGraded on 50,000 emails a month: Foundation is $35 at that volume, toward the dear end of this category, with the first month free. Basic is $15 but stops at 10,000 emails, 1 domain and 1 day of logs. A dedicated IP means Scale at $90. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan with 1,000 emails a month, 3 domains and 1 to 7 days of log retention, no card needed. It is a cap you will hit. | CFree for good: 100 emails a day through the API or SMTP, with 1 domain, 1 inbound route and 1 day of logs. Enough to build against, not to run a live app on. There's also a 30-day trial of Foundation and Scale. |
| Features | BREST API and SMTP relay, sandbox mode, local webhooks, inbound routing, a campaign builder and a management API. The listing shows no gap in the core job. | BAPI and SMTP with SDKs in six languages and an MCP server, inbound routing, webhooks, templates, address validation, US or EU regions and dedicated IPs. It covers the job; inbox placement tests are a separate product, Mailgun Optimize. |
| Ease of use | CA web dashboard and API with no rating on record. You verify domains and wire it into your code. | CJudged on how fast a developer sends a first email: grab an API key, use an SDK or SMTP, and verify a sending domain. No rating on record. There's no send button at all, so everything goes through code. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with an API and no integration list on the pages read. | BWeb, with an API, SMTP, SDKs and an MCP server, plus Zapier, Make, n8n, Shopify, HubSpot, Salesforce, WordPress and Datadog. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | developers sending transactional email | sending and receiving email from an app |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: AhaSend and Mailgun. How we grade
Price against what you get
AhaSend starts at $10 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Mailgun starts at $15 a month and scores 2.7.
Mailgun scores higher, and starts $5 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other email sending services on the chart, 4 score higher than AhaSend for less, and none scores higher than Mailgun for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- AhaSend also covers email campaigns.
- Mailgun also covers email verification.
At a glance
| AhaSend | Mailgun | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $10 per month for 25,000 emails, billed monthly | $15 per month for 10,000 emails |
| Free plan | 1,000 emails a month, 3 domains, campaign builder, full Management API, 1 to 7 days of log retention and community support. | 100 emails a day, 1 custom sending domain, 1 user, 1 inbound route, 1 day of logs and ticket support, through the API or SMTP. |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial of the Foundation and Scale plans |
| Web | ||
| Made by | AhaSend | Mailgun |
| Price read from | ahasend.com | mailgun.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
AhaSend
- The free plan stops at 1,000 emails a month and 1 to 7 days of log retention.
- Dedicated IPs appear from Pro, but the feature table says IP access is at 100,000 emails a month.
- Single sign-on, dedicated IP pools and phone support are limited to the Max plan.
- The page shows prices in USD or EUR; the figures here are the USD ones.
Mailgun
- Free and Basic allow 1 sending domain and keep 1 day of logs; unlimited users and 1,000 domains start with Foundation at $35 a month.
- There is no send button: Mailgun sends through code, not a campaign editor.
- A dedicated IP comes with Scale at $90 a month; extra IPs are $59 each a month.
- Inbox placement tests and reputation monitoring are a separate product, Mailgun Optimize.
Key features
AhaSend
- REST API and SMTP relay
- Mail goes out through a RESTful API or an SMTP relay, with official SDKs, a command-line tool and scheduled sending.
- Sandbox mode and local webhooks
- An integration can be built without sending real email, and webhooks and inbound routes can be tested on localhost.
- Inbound email routing
- Incoming mail can be routed to an application, with signed endpoints for webhooks and inbound routes.
- Campaign builder
- A simple and a full editor, contact lists with custom fields, reusable templates, scheduling and test sends are listed, on every plan.
- Platform partner features
- Sub accounts, DNS whitelabeling, per-domain DKIM selectors and bring-your-own DKIM keys are listed for platforms that send for their customers.
Mailgun
- Email API and SMTP relay
- Send from an app through a RESTful HTTP API or SMTP, with SDKs for Go, Node.js, PHP, Java, Ruby and Python, plus an MCP server.
- Inbound routing
- Receive email and forward it to your app or a webhook by rules called routes: 1 on Free, 5 on Basic and unlimited from Foundation.
- Email validation
- Check addresses by API or upload a whole list; Scale includes 5,000 validations and other plans pay from $1.20 per 100.
- US or EU data regions
- One account can send through either the US or the EU region, so message data can stay in the region you choose.
- Logs, analytics and webhooks
- Tracking, bounce classification and event webhooks on every plan, with log retention growing from 1 day on Free and Basic to 30 days on Scale.
- Dedicated IPs
- Scale includes a dedicated IP, IP pools and automated warm-up; more IPs cost $59 each a month.
Plans
AhaSend
Free$0
1,000 emails a month, 3 domains, campaign builder, community and best-effort support. No card needed.
Pro$10
per month for 25,000 emails, billed monthly
Flat rate with unlimited domains, dedicated IPs, 0 to 14 days of retention and email support seven days a week.
Max$80
per month for 100,000 emails, billed monthly
Adds OIDC single sign-on, dedicated IP pools, archiving to your own object storage and phone support. Extra emails $0.50 per 1,000.
Mailgun
Free$0
100 emails a day, 1 sending domain, 2 API keys, 1 inbound route, 1 day of log retention and ticket support.
Basic$15
per month for 10,000 emails
No daily limit, 1 sending domain, 5 inbound routes, 1 day of logs. Extra emails $1.80 per 1,000.
Foundation$35
per month for 50,000 emails
1,000 sending domains, unlimited users, template builder, 5 days of logs, full inbound routing. Extra emails from $1.30 per 1,000; first month free.
Scale$90
per month for 100,000 emails
Dedicated IP and IP pools, SAML SSO, 5,000 validations, send-time optimization, chat and phone support, 30 days of logs. Extra emails from $1.10 per 1,000.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Scale plus custom features, deliverability services and a burst sending SLA.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AhaSend or Mailgun?
As of Nov 12, 2026, AhaSend is cheaper to start with: $10 a month, against $15 a month for Mailgun. AhaSend starts at $10 per month for 25,000 emails, billed monthly, and Mailgun starts at $15 per month for 10,000 emails.
Which has a free plan, AhaSend or Mailgun?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both AhaSend and Mailgun have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.