Mailgun vs Bird Email
We give Mailgun a 2.4 GPA and Bird Email a 2.6, out of 4.0. Bird Email 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
Bird Email
SparkPost's successor: Bird's email API, paid from a prepaid balance
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAMailgunFair | 2.6GPABird EmailGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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, worked out from the listed rate: Startup charges $0.40 per 1,000, so that's $20 of balance a month, more than its $15 deposit covers. Unused balance carries forward. That's in the cheaper quarter of this category at that volume. |
| 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: 1,000 emails a month, but only 50 a day and 1 sending domain, and sending simply stops at the limit. Enough to try the API, not to run an app on. |
| 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, SMTP, typed SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server, inbound email and mailboxes, signed webhooks, DKIM and DMARC setup, templates and broadcasts, with SMS and WhatsApp on the same API. It covers the whole job; dedicated IPs start at $250. |
| 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 TypeScript, Python, Go and PHP plus a CLI, once a domain is set up. No rating on record. Coming from SparkPost means a new API, which Bird says to review with its team. |
| 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, SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server, plus Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Replit, Lovable, v0 and Bolt. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | sending and receiving email from an app | email, SMS and WhatsApp through one API |
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 Bird Email. 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. Bird Email 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 Bird Email 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. Bird Email starts at $15 per month, deposited to your Bird balance.
- Mailgun also covers email verification.
- Bird Email also covers email campaigns.
At a glance
| Mailgun | Bird Email | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per month for 10,000 emails | $15 per month, deposited to your Bird balance |
| 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. | 1,000 emails a month, limited to 50 a day, 1 sending domain, 5 mailboxes and 3 webhook endpoints. Sending stops at the limit. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of the Foundation and Scale plans | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Mailgun | Bird B.V. |
| Price read from | mailgun.com | bird.com |
| 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
Bird Email
- Existing SparkPost customers planning their next integration
- Teams that also send SMS or WhatsApp through one provider
- Developers giving AI agents their own email mailboxes
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.
Bird Email
- Bird Email has its own API: Bird says SparkPost integrations should be reviewed with an account team before moving traffic.
- Paid plans are deposits, not allowances: every email is charged at the plan's rate, and other Bird products draw on the same balance.
- Dedicated IPs and IP pools start with the $250 Growth plan.
- The free plan is limited to 50 emails a day and 1 sending domain.
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.
Bird Email
- Email API, SMTP, SDKs and MCP
- Send through the API or SMTP relay, with typed SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go and PHP, a CLI and a hosted MCP server for AI assistants.
- Mailboxes for agents
- Mailboxes that send, receive and store email for your app or AI agents: 5 on Free, 10 on Startup, 25 on Growth and 100 on Scale.
- Deliverability controls
- DKIM signing, SPF alignment, DMARC setup, suppression lists and managed dedicated IPs warmed over about 30 days, from the Growth plan.
- Analytics and signed webhooks
- Delivery, bounce, complaint, open and click data by domain, inbox provider and IP, plus signed, replay-protected webhooks for every event.
- Templates and campaigns
- Send raw HTML or React Email templates, and run broadcasts to opted-in audiences from the same platform.
- One API for other channels
- The same send call and webhook format cover Bird's SMS, WhatsApp and voice products, so a code can fall back from email to text.
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.
Bird Email
Free$0
1,000 emails a month and 50 a day, 1 sending domain, 5 mailboxes, inbound email and templates.
Startup$15
per month, deposited to your balance; email at $0.40 per 1,000
About 37,500 transactional emails if the whole deposit goes on email. 10 sending domains, 10 mailboxes, no daily limit; unused balance carries forward.
Growth$250
per month, deposited to your balance; email at $0.45 per 1,000
About 555,555 emails from the deposit. 500 sending domains, up to 5 dedicated IPs and IP pools, 25 mailboxes, 10 webhook endpoints.
Scale$1,000
per month and up, deposited to your balance; from $0.35 per 1,000
Deposits of $1,000 to $10,000 a month with rates falling to $0.20 per 1,000. 1,000 domains, up to 10 dedicated IPs, 100 mailboxes.
