MailChannels vs Mailgun (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, MailChannels 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
MailChannels grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
MailChannels
Email API and SMTP relay for platforms with many downstream senders
Mailgun
Email API and SMTP relay for developers, with list validation
Which one is for you
Pick MailChannels if
- Fits if you run a platform that sends mail for many customers
- Works for developers who want a free tier to prototype on
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want email support on a small plan, as it is listed only from 300,000 emails a month
- Tight if you stay free, because it stops at 100 emails a day with no overage
- Watch out: the page says no tier sits between the free plan and the 10,000-email paid plan
- Watch out: Outbound Filtering for hosting providers is a separate product from $99.99 a month
- Not for you if you want open and click tracking for free, as it comes with the paid plan
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
| 2.8GPAMailChannelsGood | 2.4GPAMailgunFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$10 a month for up to 10,000 emails, the top of the category's cheaper quarter, rising to $30 at 100,000. | 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 | B3,000 emails a month, 100 a day, 3 domains and no overage charges, which a small project can live on, though open and click tracking need a paid plan. | 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 | BA REST API and SMTP, per-tenant sub-accounts, bounce and complaint webhooks, threat filtering and approval hooks. The core sending job is covered. | 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 verify a sending domain with DNS records and wire up SMTP credentials or an API key before the first email goes out. | 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 | BA web console and an API; the listing names Laravel, Symfony, Nodemailer, Django, FastAPI and cPanel. | 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 | platforms that send mail for many customers | 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: MailChannels and Mailgun. How we grade
Price against what you get
MailChannels starts at $10 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 MailChannels starts $5 a month lower. Of the other email sending services on the chart, none scores higher than MailChannels 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
- Mailgun also covers email verification.
At a glance
| MailChannels | Mailgun | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $10 per month for 10,000 emails, billed monthly | $15 per month for 10,000 emails |
| Free plan | Up to 3,000 emails a month and 100 a day, no overages, 3 domains, 30-day logs 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 | MailChannels Corporation | Mailgun |
| Price read from | mailchannels.com | mailgun.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
MailChannels
- The free plan has no overages and stops at 100 emails a day.
- The page says there is no tier between the free plan and the 10,000-email paid plan.
- Email support is listed only for plans of 300,000 emails a month and up; lower plans list community support.
- Outbound Filtering for hosting providers is a separate product, from $99.99 a month for 40,000 emails.
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
MailChannels
- REST API and SMTP relay
- Mail goes out through a REST API or an SMTP relay with the same controls on either path.
- Sub-account isolation
- Each tenant, workspace or AI agent gets its own sender identity, with reputation, limits and policy scoped to it.
- Bounce and complaint webhooks
- Webhooks report delivery events, including feedback-loop complaints, so a platform can retry, pause or suspend a single sender.
- Inline threat filtering
- Outbound messages are scanned for phishing, malware and known abuse patterns before they leave the network.
- Approval hooks for agents
- A human or programmatic checkpoint can be placed in the send path, which the vendor suggests for AI agents sending high-risk messages.
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
MailChannels
Free$0
Up to 3,000 emails a month and 100 a day, REST API and SMTP, up to 3 domains and community support.
Pay as You Grow$10
per month for up to 10,000 emails, billed monthly
Adds open and click tracking and up to 1,000 domains. Price rises with volume: $30 a month at 100,000 emails, $300 at 1,000,000.
CustomCustom
For 1,500,001+ emails a month, with custom policies and domain limits. Contact sales.
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, MailChannels or Mailgun?
As of Nov 12, 2026, MailChannels is cheaper to start with: $10 a month, against $15 a month for Mailgun. MailChannels starts at $10 per month for 10,000 emails, billed monthly, and Mailgun starts at $15 per month for 10,000 emails.
Which has a free plan, MailChannels or Mailgun?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both MailChannels 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.