Forward Email vs Mailgun (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Forward Email grades higher than Mailgun: 2.8 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Forward Email grades higher on value for money and platforms. Mailgun grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Forward Email
Open-source email forwarding and hosting for custom domains
Mailgun
Email API and SMTP relay for developers, with list validation
Which one is for you
Pick Forward Email if
- Fits if you want email on your own domain and don't want to pay per mailbox
- Works for developers who want open-source software they can also self-host
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need to send mail on the free plan, because it only forwards
- Watch out: outbound limits on the $3 plan depend on your sending reputation, not a stated number
- Watch out: forget your mailbox password and the mailbox is gone unless you kept offline backups
- Tight if you need over 10 GB of storage, as extra is $3 a month per 10 GB
- Pricey if you want team controls and priority support, which start at $9 a month
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
| 2.8GPAForward EmailGood | 2.4GPAMailgunFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$3 a month for unlimited domains and aliases, under the $6 that is 60% of the $10 where the cheaper quarter of sending services starts. It is mostly a mailbox and forwarding service, so the comparison is rough. | 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 | CThe free plan forwards unlimited inbound mail with catch-all addresses, but it cannot send or store mail, so for the sending job nothing free works. | 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 | CForwarding, IMAP mailboxes, outbound SMTP and an API on paid plans, but sending is an add-on to a mailbox service and the listing names no tracking, templates or dedicated IPs. | 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 | CNo store rating on record. You point your domain's DNS at the service and create aliases, and the site warns that a forgotten mailbox password loses the mailbox. | 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 | AApps for Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android plus the web, and a developer API with webhooks. | 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 | email on your own domain without per-mailbox fees | 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: Forward Email and Mailgun. How we grade
Price against what you get
Forward Email starts at $3 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Mailgun starts at $15 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Forward Email starts $12 a month lower. Of the other email sending services on the chart, none scores higher than Forward Email 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
- Forward Email is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Mailgun also covers email verification and transactional email.
At a glance
| Forward Email | Mailgun | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $3 per month for unlimited domains | $15 per month for 10,000 emails |
| Free plan | Unlimited inbound forwarding, catch-all addresses and webhooks for unlimited domains. It cannot send mail or store mail. | 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 | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Forward Email LLC | Mailgun |
| Price read from | forwardemail.net | mailgun.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Forward Email
- The free plan cannot send mail, so it does not work as a sending service.
- Sending limits on Enhanced Protection are reputation-based rather than a fixed monthly count.
- The site says that if you forget your mailbox password you lose the mailbox unless you have offline backups.
- Prices are listed per month for unlimited domains; no yearly billing is shown on the page.
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
Forward Email
- Forwarding on custom domains
- Receive mail at your own domain and forward it to an existing address, with catch-all aliases, multiple recipients per alias and regex filtering.
- Outbound SMTP
- Enhanced Protection and above send through SMTP, with unlimited outbound on a reputation basis and 900 a day at the start of Team.
- Mailboxes with IMAP storage
- Paid plans include 10 GB of pooled storage; extra storage is $3 a month per 10 GB. The site says mailboxes are encrypted with your password.
- Developer API and webhooks
- A developer API comes with paid plans, and mail on any plan can be sent to webhooks.
- Open source and self-hosting
- The software is open source and a self-hosted Docker version is listed among the features.
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
Forward Email
Free$0
Email forwarding only: unlimited inbound mail, spam protection, 50 MB attachments, catch-all addresses and regex filtering. No sending.
Enhanced Protection$3
per month for unlimited domains
Adds unlimited aliases, 10 GB pooled storage, outbound SMTP with reputation-based limits, DMARC reporting and API access.
Team$9
per month for unlimited domains
Everything in Enhanced, plus unlimited team members, permission management and priority support. Outbound starts at 900 a day.
Enterprise$250
per month for unlimited domains
Adds unlimited API requests, a dedicated support chatroom, a contract by DocuSign and onboarding help.
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, Forward Email or Mailgun?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Forward Email is cheaper to start with: $3 a month, against $15 a month for Mailgun. Forward Email starts at $3 per month for unlimited domains, and Mailgun starts at $15 per month for 10,000 emails.
Which has a free plan, Forward Email or Mailgun?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Forward Email and Mailgun have a free plan.
Which platforms do Forward Email and Mailgun run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Forward Email lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.