Two long-established email APIs with the same seven SDK languages, SMTP on every plan, webhooks, validation products and dedicated IPs on their higher tiers. They part on the entry point: Mailgun keeps a free plan of 100 emails a day and starts paid plans at $15 for 10,000; SendGrid has no free plan since May 2025 and starts at $19.95 for 50,000 to 100,000. The table reads both from their own pricing pages, with the read date, and puts Notix in a separate third column so you can see where a smaller service with more in the box sits against each.
Mailgun’s figures come from mailgun.com/pricing, read on 2026-09-13. SendGrid’s come from Twilio’s Email API pricing page, read on 2026-09-13. The Notix column is read from its own pricing page and is there as a third option, not as the subject of this page.
| Criterion | Mailgun | SendGrid | Notix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 100 emails a day, one inbound route | 60-day trial, 100 a day; sending stops when the trial ends (the free plan was retired from 27 May 2025) | 5,000 emails a month, 200 a day, no card, no end date |
| Entry paid plan | Basic $15 a month | Essentials from $19.95 a month | Pro $15 a month |
| Included on that plan | 10,000 emails a month (Foundation: $35 for 50,000) | 50,000 to 100,000 emails a month on Essentials, volume-priced | 50,000 emails, usage past that metered on the same invoice |
| SMTP relay | Yes, on every plan | Yes | Yes, on every plan |
| SDKs | Node, Python, PHP, Ruby, Go, Java, C# | Node, Python, PHP, Ruby, Go, Java, C# | TypeScript, Python, Go, PHP |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes | Yes, signed, for email, contact and domain events |
| OTP / verification API | No | No | Yes, email and SMS codes |
| Deliverability check before sending | Email validation as an add-on ($1.80 per 1,000 on Basic; 5,000 included from Foundation) | Email validation API on Pro and above | Yes, a pre-send check API |
| Billing outside USD | USD by card | USD by card | USD by card; naira and shillings from a prepaid wallet |
| SLA | Stated for Scale and above | Stated for Pro and Premier plans | 99.9% on Pro, credits on the pricing page |
| Prices and limits read from the vendors' own pages: www.mailgun.com on 2026-09-13. Notix figures are from its own pricing page. | |||
Mailgun’s free plan is 100 emails a day with one inbound route, and it does not end. SendGrid retired its free plan from 27 May 2025; a new account gets a 60-day trial of 100 emails a day, and sending stops when the trial ends unless the account moves to a paid plan. The daily allowance is identical; on Mailgun it is permanent, on SendGrid it is a trial.
Mailgun Basic is $15 a month for 10,000 emails, and Foundation is $35 for 50,000. SendGrid has no 10,000 tier: Essentials starts at $19.95 and covers 50,000 to 100,000 emails, volume-priced. At 10,000 a month Mailgun is cheaper by five dollars and sized to what you send. At 50,000, SendGrid’s entry price undercuts Mailgun’s Foundation plan, and its Pro and Premier tiers above take over at larger volumes; Mailgun’s Scale plan and above are where its own SLA is stated.
Both are a JSON endpoint that takes from, to, subject and a body, and both accept SMTP on every plan, so an existing SMTP integration moves to either with a credential change. SendGrid’s v3 API adds dynamic templates, personalizations and scheduled sends; Mailgun’s adds inbound routing, which its free plan includes one route of. Neither requires a client library.
The same seven languages on both sides: Node, Python, PHP, Ruby, Go, Java and C#. Nothing to choose on this row.
Both deliver webhooks for delivery, bounce and complaint events and both suppress hard bounces and complaints automatically. Both sell email validation: Mailgun as an add-on at $1.80 per 1,000 on Basic with 5,000 validations included from Foundation, SendGrid as an API on Pro and above. Both offer dedicated IPs on their higher tiers. Neither offers a pre-send deliverability check on the message itself.
Both bill in US dollars by card. Mailgun states a service level agreement for Scale and above; SendGrid states one for Pro and Premier. These are the commitments each vendor publishes, not measurements of either service’s uptime.
Pick Mailgun if you want a free plan that stays, send around 10,000 a month, use inbound routing, or want validation from the entry plan. Pick SendGrid if you send 50,000 or more, where its entry price is lower, want dedicated IPs with managed warm-up at scale, or already have Twilio as a vendor. The two services are alike in almost every row; the free plan and the tier that matches your volume decide it.
On the same criteria: a free plan of 5,000 emails a month and 200 a day with no card and no end date, Pro at $15 a month for 50,000 emails with usage past that metered on the same invoice, SMTP on every plan, TypeScript, Python, Go and PHP SDKs, signed webhooks, an OTP and verification API for email and SMS codes, a pre-send deliverability check, and billing in naira or shillings from a prepaid wallet as well as US dollars by card. It has fewer SDK languages than either, no inbound routing and no dedicated IPs.
The full picture is on Notix vs Mailgun and Notix vs SendGrid.
Same $15 entry, 50,000 emails instead of 10,000, and a suppression list shared across transactional and marketing.
AlternativesA free plan that does not end after 60 days, a suppression import, and an API you can move to in an afternoon.
CompareSame $15 entry, different included volume, and where Mailgun's inbound routing and validation matter.
CompareWhat changes when you leave a 60-day trial for a free plan that stays, and where SendGrid's scale still wins.
CompareEvery vendor in one table with read dates, and a straight answer to which transactional email API a startup should pick.
NotixA free plan with no card, and Pro at $15 a month for 50,000 emails. Only sent volume is metered.
Notix is free to try without a card: verify a domain, copy an API key, send one message, and compare it against the two above on your own traffic.