Mailgun vs Mailtrap
We give Mailgun a 2.4 GPA and Mailtrap a 2.6, out of 4.0. Mailtrap grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mailgun
Email API and SMTP relay for developers, with list validation
Mailtrap
Email API and SMTP for sending, with a sandbox for testing emails
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAMailgunFair | 2.6GPAMailtrapGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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 cheaper but stops at 10,000 emails, 1 domain and 1 day of logs. A dedicated IP means Scale at $90. | BGraded on 50,000 emails a month: Basic is $20 at that volume, in the cheaper quarter of this category, with 3 users and 5 domains. There's no yearly discount on sending, and dedicated IPs, SSO and live chat need Business at $85. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | CFree for good: 4,000 emails a month, but only 150 a day, with 1 user, 1 domain and 3 days of logs, and no extra emails allowed. Handy for a side project, tight for a live app. |
| Features | 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 whole job; inbox placement tests are a separate product. | BAPI and SMTP with SDKs, templates, webhooks, a separate bulk stream, inbound email, analytics by mailbox provider and a sandbox for test emails. It covers the whole job, though the sandbox is a separate plan and no address validation is on record. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CJudged on how fast a developer sends a first email: SDKs for five languages and SMTP, once a domain is verified, and the sandbox lets you test without emailing anyone. No rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb, with an API, SMTP and SDKs, plus Supabase, Vercel, Claude, Cursor, Windsurf and Antigravity. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | sending and receiving email from an app | testing and sending email from one provider |
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: Mailgun and Mailtrap. How we grade
Price against what you get
Mailgun starts at $15 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Mailtrap starts at $15 a month and scores 2.7.
On this chart the two sit in the same place: the same score for the same starting price. Of the other email sending services on the chart, none scores higher than Mailgun for less, and none scores higher than Mailtrap 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 starts at $15 per month for 10,000 emails. Mailtrap starts at $15 per month for 10,000 emails.
- Mailgun also covers email verification.
- Mailtrap also covers email campaigns.
At a glance
| Mailgun | Mailtrap | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per month for 10,000 emails | $15 per month for 10,000 emails |
| Free plan | 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. | 4,000 emails a month, limited to 150 a day, 1 user, 1 sending domain and 3 days of email logs, through the API or SMTP. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of the Foundation and Scale plans | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Mailgun | Railsware |
| Price read from | mailgun.com | mailtrap.io |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Mailgun
- Developers sending and receiving email from an app
- Teams that want address validation from the same provider
- Companies that need email data kept in the EU
Mailtrap
- Developers who want testing and sending from one provider
- Small teams sending up to 4,000 emails a month for free
- Companies moving from SendGrid, Mailgun or Amazon SES
Worth knowing
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.
Mailtrap
- Basic has no dedicated IP and keeps 5 days of logs; dedicated IPs, SSO and live chat support start with Business at $85 a month.
- The free plan caps sending at 150 emails a day and allows no overage.
- Email Sandbox for testing and Email Marketing for campaigns are priced separately; marketing starts at $15 a month for 10,000 contacts.
- Overages are capped, so senders far above their plan's volume are told to upgrade.
Key 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.
Mailtrap
- Email API and SMTP
- Send through a REST API with SDKs for Python, PHP, Ruby, Node.js and Java, or through SMTP, with hosted templates and webhooks for opens, clicks and bounces.
- Bulk stream
- Bulk and marketing email goes out on a separate stream, by API or SMTP, so it does not affect the reputation of transactional sending.
- Email Sandbox
- A fake SMTP server catches emails from dev, QA and staging, with HTML and spam checks, sold as separate plans from free for 50 test emails a month.
- Inbound email
- Dedicated inbound addresses, real-time webhooks and API access let your app or AI agents receive email.
- Deliverability analytics
- Stats for each mailbox provider, bounce categories and feedback-loop complaint data, with reputation alerts and dedicated IPs from Business.
- Security and accounts
- Two-factor sign-in and API key permissions on every plan, IP allowlisting from Basic, and SSO and subaccounts from Business.
Plans
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.
Mailtrap
Free$0
4,000 emails a month and 150 a day, 1 user, 1 domain, 3 days of logs, no extra emails.
Basic$15
per month for 10,000 emails
3 users, 5 domains, 5 days of logs, email support on weekdays. Extra emails $1 per 1,000. $20 a month at 50,000 emails and $30 at 100,000.
Business$85
per month for 100,000 emails
100 users, 100 domains, 15 days of logs, dedicated IP with warm-up, SSO, subaccounts, 24/7 chat. Extra emails $0.88 per 1,000.
Enterprise$750
per month for 1,500,000 emails
Unlimited users and domains, 30 days of logs, priority support. Extra emails $0.55 per 1,000; $1,250 at 2.5 million, custom above.
