Best Mailgun Alternatives (2026)
Tired of managing separate services for transactional and marketing emails? Looking for better support or more features? Here are the best Mailgun alternatives for SaaS teams.
Top Mailgun alternatives ranked
Sidemail
All‑in‑one email platform built for SaaS teams. Everything included in one plan – no separate services or accounts needed.
👍 Pros
- Transactional + marketing + automation in one plan
- 5‑star support (not just during business hours)
- 90‑day email history (vs Mailgun's 1‑7 days)
- Visual email editor and premade templates
- Markdown email support (best for AI)
- Setup in under 30 minutes
👎 Cons
- Smaller than Mailgun/Sinch
- Fewer raw API features for edge cases
Amazon SES
AWS's raw email infrastructure. Lowest cost but completely DIY.
👍 Pros
- Cheapest per-email cost
- Infinite scalability
- Part of AWS ecosystem
👎 Cons
- Zero features (no templates, no editor, no analytics)
- No support unless you pay extra
- Complex setup and maintenance
SendGrid
One of the largest email platforms. Offers both transactional and marketing, but as separate products.
👍 Pros
- Large, established platform
- Good deliverability reputation
- Extensive documentation
👎 Cons
- Separate pricing for transactional and marketing
- Support quality has declined since Twilio acquisition
- Only 3‑7 days email history
Postmark
Transactional email specialist with excellent deliverability and simple API.
👍 Pros
- Fast transactional delivery
- Clean, developer‑friendly API
- 45‑day email history
👎 Cons
- No marketing emails at all
- No automation features
- No visual editor
Mailchimp (+ Mandrill)
Marketing‑first platform with Mandrill as a paid add‑on for transactional email.
👍 Pros
- Advanced email marketing features
- Landing page builder included
- Solid free plan for email marketing
👎 Cons
- Most expensive option from this list
- Transactional email requires extra paid add‑on
- Historical data breach concerns
Mailgun vs alternatives – detailed comparison
| Mailgun | Sidemail | Amazon SES | SendGrid | Postmark | Mailchimp (+ Mandrill) | |
| Rank | - | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
| Best for | API‑focused developers | SaaS teams wanting everything in one place | High‑volume senders with engineering resources | Enterprise teams already in Twilio ecosystem | Teams that only need transactional emails | Teams prioritizing advanced marketing over transactional |
| Transactional emails | Separate pricing | |||||
| Marketing emails | Separate service | Separate pricing | Very limited | |||
| Email automation | Separate service | Separate pricing | ||||
| Contact profiles management | Yes (with marketing plan) | |||||
| Subscribe forms | Yes (with Mailjet plan) | Yes (with marketing plan) | ||||
| Visual editor | ||||||
| Premade templates | Only for marketing emails | Only for marketing emails | ||||
| Contacts | Unlimited | Unlimited | - | Limited, depends on tier | - | Limited, depends on tier |
| Team members | Unlimited on Mailgun, 10 on Mailjet | Unlimited | Unlimited | Default is 1, 1,000 on Pro ($89.95/mo) | Unlimited | Limited, unlimited on Premium ($350/mo) |
| Data history | 1 day (7 on Scale at $90) | 90 days | 0 | 3 days (7 on Pro at $89.95) | 45 days | 30 days |
| Ease of setup | Moderate | Fast (<30 min) | Complex | Moderate | Fast | - |
| Support | Tiered on Mailgun and Mailjet | Included in all plans | Paid add‑on | Personalized support is a paid add‑on | Included in all plans | Included in all plans except free |
| Based in | 🇺🇸 Mailgun, 🇪🇺 Mailjet | 🇪🇺 EU | 🇺🇸 US | 🇺🇸 US | 🇺🇸 US | 🇺🇸 US |
Why people look for Mailgun alternatives
🔀 Split services for transactional and marketing
Mailgun handles transactional emails well, but for marketing you need Mailjet (a separate product). That means two dashboards, two billing relationships, and no unified view of your email activity.
⏱️ Very limited email history
On Mailgun's Foundation plan, you only get 1 day of log retention. Even on Scale ($90/mo+), it's just 7 days. Debugging an email issue from last week is impossible.
📞 Support has become harder to reach
Since Sinch acquired Mailgun, many users report slower support response times and more generic, unhelpful replies. The hands-on developer support that made Mailgun great has faded.
Best Mailgun alternatives FAQ
What's the best Mailgun alternative?
For SaaS teams, Sidemail is the best alternative. It combines transactional, marketing, and automation in one service (no Mailjet needed), has better support, and keeps 90 days of email history. If you only need transactional emails, Postmark is also worth considering.
Is Sidemail better than Mailgun?
For most SaaS use cases, yes. Sidemail is simpler (everything in one service), has much longer email history (90 days vs 1‑7 days), and includes a visual editor and templates. Mailgun might be better if you need very specific email validation features or already have complex Mailgun-specific integrations.
How do I migrate from Mailgun?
Migration is straightforward: update DNS records, create new templates (or use premade ones), and swap your API calls. Sidemail's API is designed to be simple – most teams are sending in production within 30 minutes.
Want a deeper breakdown?
See our detailed Mailgun alternatives comparison with full pricing and feature analysis.