Mailgun vs Unosend (2026): which should you pick?

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

Pick Unosend if

• Fits if you send a few thousand emails a month and want no subscription
• Works for developers who only need an API and SMTP relay

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a recurring free plan, because the 3,000 credits come once at signup
• Watch out: the cards say credits last 90 days with no minimum, while the FAQ data says 6 months and a $20 minimum
• Watch out: the site banner says Unosend is being acquired, with service continuing as normal
• Pricey if you need a dedicated IP, at $30 a month billed annually ($360 a year)
• Too light for marketing email, with no campaign tools 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.

Unosend

• The site banner says Unosend is being acquired, with service continuing as normal.
• The pricing cards and the page's structured data disagree: the cards say credits last 90 days with no minimum, while the FAQ data says 6 months with a 5-credit ($20) minimum.
• A dedicated IP is $30 per month, billed annually ($360 a year).
• There is no recurring free plan; the free credits are given once at signup.

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.

Unosend

REST API and SMTP relay

Send through an HTTP API or standard SMTP on ports 465 and 587.

Delivery logs

Real-time logs of sends, deliveries, bounces, opens and clicks.

Sending domains

Unlimited domains with SPF, DKIM and DMARC records.

Webhooks and tracking

Webhooks plus open and click tracking.

Auto top-up

Credits can be topped up automatically when the balance falls below a set level.

Dedicated IP

An optional dedicated sending IP for high-volume senders.

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.

Unosend

• Starter$4

  one-time top-up per 10,000 emails, used as you go

  Prepaid credits with no subscription, at $0.0004 per email. The pricing cards say credits last 90 days and that you can top up any amount.

• BusinessCustom

  Volume discounts for teams sending 500,000 or more emails, with an account manager, SLA and custom credit validity.