SendGrid vs Mailgun Pricing (2026)
Compare / SendGrid vs Mailgun
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Team size
25 seats

SendGrid vs Mailgun

Email API & Delivery pricing comparison · 2026

SendGrid has a free plan, then $19.95–$89.95/mo, while Mailgun has a free plan, then $15–$90/mo. Mailgun is typically 36% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.

Visit
See pricing on each vendor's site
Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit SendGrid pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Mailgun pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Compare
2 products · Email API & Delivery
Side-by-side · live
SendGrid
SendGrid pricing starts with a free tier for up to 100 emails/day.
verified 2d ago
$502 $37K
View pricing →
Mailgun
Mailgun pricing starts at $0/month on the Free plan (100 emails/day), with paid plans begi
verified 2d ago
$502 $37K
View pricing →
Recorded annual contract medians
SendGrid median is $37K less than Mailgun · different customer contracts; not a quote
Cheapest $502
Spread 99%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Usage-based
Custom rates
see vendor pricing for volume tiers
Usage-based
Custom rates
see vendor pricing for volume tiers
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$502/yr
Vendr · n=122
Median annual
$37K/yr
Vendr · n=115 avg 7% negotiated
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 20 sourced facts
14 hidden-cost · 4 contract · Vendr median · 1 review platform
Last verified 2d ago
Confidence High confidence
Sources 18 sourced facts
13 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median · 3 review platforms
Last verified 2d ago
Confidence Medium confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
5 documented
  • Dedicated IP/Server Costs
    20-40% of license costs
    1 source
  • Account Verification and Reputation Management Overhead
    $5,000-$50,000
    4 sources
  • Support Access Requires Login (Catch-22)
    5-15% of license costs
    3 sources
  • Deliverability Issues Despite Clean Record
    10-25% of license costs
    1 source
  • Billing Continues During Account Suspension
    $20-$90/month
    2 sources
5 documented
  • Dedicated IP Address
    $59 per month per IP
    1 source
  • Email Validations
    $1.20 per 100 validations
    1 source
  • Overage Charges
    40-60%
    1 source
  • Optimize Suite Add-on
    $49/month
    1 source
  • Limited Log Retention
    1 source
REF · 04

Contract terms

The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.

SendGrid
Mailgun
Auto-renewal
Yes
Yes
Cancellation
—
—
Commitment
✓ Monthly billing
—
Price escalation
Users report that previously free services started being charged without notice
—
Can downgrade
No
—
Based on 5 verified sources (Vendr · TrustRadius · BBB)
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
Trustpilot
1.2out of 5 (25)
Best for
Developers testing SendGrid integration
Watch out
Account suspensions without warning or clear reason
TrustRadius
9.2out of 5 (67)
Trustpilot
1.5out of 5 (24)
G2
4.2out of 5 (320)
Best for
Testing and development
Watch out
Slow or unresponsive support (24-48+ hour response times for critical production issues)
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit SendGrid pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Mailgun pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
Email API & Delivery

SendGrid

Free plan; paid $19.95–$89.95
/mo
4 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Email API & Delivery

Mailgun

Free plan; paid $15–$90
/mo
5 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →

SendGrid and Mailgun both operate in the email api & delivery category. This page compares their list pricing.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan SendGrid Mailgun
Free Trial Free /month Free /month
Essentials $19.95 /month $15 /month
Pro $89.95 /month $35 /month
Premier Custom $90 /month
Enterprise — Custom

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

SendGrid

4 scenarios
$0/month (100 emails/day)
Startup (Free)
$19.95/month
Growing SaaS (Essentials)
$89.95/month
High-Volume (Pro)
+ extra IPs
See all 4 scenarios →

Mailgun

3 scenarios
$420/year
Small Business (Foundation plan)
$1,080/year
Growing Team (Scale plan)
$37,188/year
Enterprise Buyer (Vendr median)

Market Intelligence

SendGrid

Median annual cost
$502
Based on
122 deals

Mailgun

Median annual cost
$37,188
Average negotiated discount
7%
Based on
115 deals

What Users Say

SendGrid

Trustpilot
1.2out of 5 (25)
Top complaints
  • Account suspensions without warning or clear reason
  • Extremely slow or unresponsive customer support (days to respond)
  • Login issues (authenticator failures, IP access blocks, password resets)

Mailgun

G2
4.2out of 5 (320)
Trustpilot
1.5out of 5 (24)
TrustRadius
9.2out of 10 (67)
Top complaints
  • Slow or unresponsive support (24-48+ hour response times for critical production issues)
  • Account suspended or permanently disabled without explanation
  • Shared IP deliverability problems affecting Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, and Outlook

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

SendGrid 6 hidden costs

high
Dedicated IP/Server Costs 20-40% of license costs
critical
Account Verification and Reputation Management Overhead $5,000-$50,000 (source dated Mar 2025)
critical
Support Access Requires Login (Catch-22) 5-15% of license costs
high
Deliverability Issues Despite Clean Record 10-25% of license costs
high
Billing Continues During Account Suspension $20-$90/month
See all SendGrid hidden costs →

Mailgun 9 hidden costs

medium
Dedicated IP Address $59 per month per IP (source dated Jul 2026)
medium
Email Validations $1.20 per 100 validations
high
Overage Charges 40-60%
low
Optimize Suite Add-on $49/month
low
Limited Log Retention
See all Mailgun hidden costs →

Contract Terms

Term SendGrid Mailgun
Auto-renewal Yes Yes
Cancellation — —
Minimum commitment Monthly billing —
Price escalation Users report that previously free services started being charged without notice —
Can downgrade No —

Continue researching

SendGrid

Mailgun

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