When it comes to email marketing platforms, two giants stand above the rest – Mailgun and Sendgrid. Choosing the right one is crucial for business owners who want to effectively engage customers, drive conversions, and grow their brand.
In this comprehensive Mailgun vs Sendgrid comparison, we evaluate both platforms across key criteria to help you determine which solution best fits your needs. Specifically, we analyze and contrast core features like blogging capabilities, e-commerce tools, SEO optimization, third-party integrations, analytics, speed, uptime, and more.
Our goal is to highlight the main pros and cons of each platform to provide clarity around what makes them similar and where they differ.
1. Understanding the Basics
Founded in 2010 by Aaron Powell and William Conway, Mailgun provides a suite of email infrastructure APIs and monitoring services. This email service provider currently serves over 150,000 customers of various sizes, cementing itself as a trusted leader in the industry.
With over $82 million in total funding raised, Mailgun maintains strong traction and a solid market position. Its comprehensive email APIs integrate smoothly with various web frameworks.
Launched in 2009 by Isaac Saldana, SendGrid specializes in cloud-based email delivery and tracking services. This Denver-based platform now serves around 80,000 customers worldwide.
In 2017, SendGrid went public after raising $131 million in venture capital funding over several rounds. The company continues to see strong growth, delivering over 60 billion transactional emails per month.
2. Features and Functionality
Automation
Mailgun
Mailgun offers robust email automation with its powerful Rules and Routes features. Users can create conditional “if-this-then-that” workflows to trigger actions like sending emails, adding labels, capturing new data, and more.
For example, you can set up automation so that when a customer makes their first purchase, they get an automated welcome email with special discounts. When someone fills out a contact form, their info automatically gets added to your CRM.
Key automation features include a drag-and-drop workflow builder for visual automation, event-driven rules based on opens, clicks, deliveries, unsubscribed, etc., schedule recurring emails like drip campaigns, dynamic email content using handlebars templating, and email routing to organize incoming emails.
With over 55 predefined triggers and unlimited combinations using Mailgun’s Boolean logic, users have incredibly granular control over email automation.
SendGrid
SendGrid provides automation for email sends, email insights, and cross-channel communications. The Workflow app allows you to create sequences triggered by time delays, email opens, clicks, etc. Use cases include a welcome series for new contacts, event-driven alerts to support reps, customer re-engagement campaigns, and email notifications based on activity.
While Workflow covers essential scenarios, it has a more basic rule builder than Mailgun. You are limited to only email actions rather than extensive integrations. SendGrid enables the creation of custom inbound parsers to route emails automatically. However, building complex logic requires coding knowledge.
Winner: Mailgun
Mailgun takes the win for best email automation due to its incredibly robust rules engine allowing intricate workflows without any code. The visual editor makes it easy for anyone to build automated sequences with deep personalization.
Email Templates
Mailgun
Mailgun provides both drag-and-drop and HTML email template builders to craft professional emails. It comes equipped with a template library spanning common transactional email service use cases like receipts, alerts, digests, etc. Users can fully customize colors, fonts, content blocks, and more.
Dynamic templates enable passing data to personalize messages. For example, you can insert customer names, purchase details, event specifics, etc. This works great for creating individualized emails at scale.
Handy features include version history to track changes, a team collaboration tool for feedback, free images and icons to spice up designs, and WYSIWYG editing for simple tweaks.
Overall, Mailgun focuses on ease of use – no coding is required to create beautiful, responsive templates ready to convert subscribers.
SendGrid
The SendGrid Email Templates experience aids rapid design without technical skills. Start with hundreds of professionally crafted free layouts or a visual editor.
Mustache templating syntax facilitates embedding dynamic attributes. Additional tools like multilingual content to localize messages, subscription center pages, campaign reporting, etc. further streamline template management.
However, background images are not supported out of the box. You’d need to write raw HTML/CSS for full customization flexibility. Access to Getty stock images requires a paid account. While suitable for simpler use cases, those desiring advanced branding control may find Sendgrid templates limiting.
Winner: Tie
Both email service providers offer excellent templating capabilities so users can create stylish emails. Mailgun’s drag-and-drop designer and dynamic template variables make painless work of fully customized, elegant messages. But SendGrid still provides solid functionality including their template library and Mustache language for personalization and localization.
As the platforms take different yet equally effective approaches, we declare this category a tie. The ideal solution comes down to an individual business’s specific needs and design priorities.
Segmentation
Mailgun
Mailgun provides powerful segmentation options to target subscribers based on geography, email activity, purchase history, etc. You can create dynamic groups with custom filters like “clicked link A but not link B” or “made a purchase last month over $50”. Complex nesting with “and”, “or” operators are supported.
The visual campaign builder frames conditions through an intuitive node format for easy tweaking. Ultimately you can refine large audiences into hypertargeted segments to test content, track metrics per variant, improve conversions, etc.
Granular segmentation is readily available without specialized technical resources. This empowers fast optimization of customer outreach.
SendGrid
SendGrid focuses segmentation on email and purchase behaviors like opens, clicks, transactions, etc. You can target groups for re-engagement if they fail to open for 60 days or tailor content to past purchase preferences.
Segmentation relies primarily on activity tracking rather than more advanced options based on custom metrics, user profiles, demographics, etc. While essentials are covered, fewer targeting dimensions limit the specificity possible compared to Mailgun.
Still, if you just need basic segmentation, SendGrid provides the tools without complexity. The tradeoff is less customization for hyper-personalization.
Winner: Mailgun
Mailgun wins for the best email segmentation. Its robust functionality allows users to dive deep into subscriber data, combining any attribute to create laser-focused dynamic segments. Whether you want rolling 60-day buyer groups or single-send targeting, flexibility is unmatched.
Segmentation is supremely accessible without IT help required. One platform enabling sophisticated subscriber targeting makes Mailgun hard to beat.
Analytics
Mailgun
Mailgun offers real-time email analytics that comprehensively tracks customer engagement and campaign performance. Monitor email opens, clicks, unsubscribes, bounces, sent/delivered rates, etc. down to granular attributes like location, device type, link tracking, etc.
Visualize key metrics clearly on intuitive dashboards highlighting email effectiveness. Leverage an activity feed showing how subscribers interact in chronological order. Gain perspective on deliverability factors through advanced metrics like spam complaints.
Outside of self-service reporting, Mailgun integrates with business intelligence tools like Google Data Studio, Segment, Mixpanel, and more to flexibly extract and model email data. Whether you need campaign post-mortems or predictive modeling, robust analytics deliver insight.
SendGrid
SendGrid focuses its analytics on five key email engagement and deliverability metrics – opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribed, and spam reports. Dashboard visualizations present this clearly over custom time ranges. You can additionally access a full activity feed and run A/B tests to optimize email performance.
For those desiring more advanced analytics and segmentation beyond out-of-the-box functionality, SendGrid does offer an add-on Premium Stats module at extra cost with more visualizations and email validation API for fewer deliverability issues with your marketing emails. You can also utilize the SendGrid API to extract data and connect with external reporting tools.
Winner: Mailgun
Mailgun wins for best email analytics due to its real-time tracking and comprehensive visibility into subscriber engagement. Granular segmentation and activity analysis require no costly upgrades when you send email marketing campaigns. Integration flexibility further cements leadership positioning in this area. While covering basics well, SendGrid trails behind Mailgun’s richer, more accessible analytics.
Unique Features
Mailgun
In addition to all the usual features, Mailgun provides several exclusive capabilities to enhance deliverability, security, and analytics. These include a customizable Sender Score to determine email reputation and limit the impact of blacklisting. DNS records help validate domains to earn immediate trust from inboxes.
Subscriber Intelligence offers granular visibility into audience demographics like gender, age, geography, etc based on names and email patterns. This aids in deeply personalized content. An unsubscribe popularity report reveals why customers opt out of campaign improvements.
Mailgun further enables easy split testing of subject lines and content. Overall, it provides an array of innovative differentiators to maximize email success.
SendGrid
Unique SendGrid features revolve primarily around optimizing deliverability through tools like automated warning alerts about growing bounce rates, domain whitelabeling to build sender reputation, and contest management modules.
Senders can test drive SendGrid with free trial credits allowing 250,000 emails per month. This helps demonstrate reliability before fully onboarding.
That said, beyond initial deliverability gains, SendGrid lacks the progressive tools Mailgun offers for continuous response rate improvements and subscriber analytics. Marketers may desire more innovation regarding campaign personalization and performance.
Winner: Mailgun
Mailgun takes the win for having more robust, marketer-friendly innovations that drive increased audience understanding and nurturing.
While SendGrid covers essentials, Mailgun goes deeper with unique differentiators to harness granular subscriber intelligence for customization coupled with proactive deliverability tools like Sender Score. With constantly evolving new features for current email demands, Mailgun comes up on top here.
3. Ease of Use
Mailgun
Mailgun prioritizes usability across its email platform with an intuitive drag-and-drop builder, interactive tutorials that get you up-to-speed quickly, and a cleanly organized interface. Navigating the varied features from templates to analytics happens seamlessly.
The dashboard neatly centralizes essential campaign components like recipient lists, templates, sending tools, reports, etc. in one view for rapid access. Despite powerful functionality under the hood, Mailgun’s design focuses on simplifying complex capabilities for do-it-yourself use without a steep learning curve.
First-timers can easily connect to email infrastructure as the platform handles complicated setups. For more advanced personalizations, an uncomplicated graphical workflow builder removes the need for any coding. Overall, Mailgun hits the sweet spot blending simplicity with customization capability.
SendGrid
The SendGrid interface effectively balances usability with messaging versatility featuring pre-built forms, a drag-and-drop editor, convenient templates, and an intuitive dashboard. The navigation stays user-friendly despite in-depth functionality spanning email delivery, automation, and insights.
Immediate wins come from starter layouts and templates paired with simple customization tools for tailoring content quickly without coding skills. Menu layouts keep options visible without overwhelming them. SendGrid delivers on core simplicity needs despite some advanced options requiring more technical buildout.
Winner: Tie
Both Mailgun and SendGrid invest heavily in strong usability through polished interfaces, automation tools minimizing complexity, and balanced feature accessibility suitable for both beginners and more advanced users. With equally satisfying experiences focused on easy email wins for all skill levels, we declare this category a tie.
4. Email Deliverability
Mailgun
Mailgun prioritizes deliverability through advanced infrastructure and monitoring capabilities to maximize inbox placement. Features like a dedicated IP address, white-labeling domain registration, and automatic link wrapping boost trust signals for more successful email marketing campaigns.
Granular analytics provide deep visibility into spam complaints, bounces, and other blocking factors. Proactive alerts notify when metrics reach risky thresholds before impacts cascade. Users can even test delivery to major inboxes to pinpoint external filtering issues.
For truly optimized performance, Mailgun offers deliverability consultants tailoring strategies to your sending profile and traffic. Whether ensuring every email arrives or scaling massive volumes, deliverability toolsets give precise control.
SendGrid
SendGrid powers dependable deliverability through simple or white-labeled domain setup, dedicated IP addresses to protect sender reputation, and real-time analytics tracking common email hazards like spikes in bounces. Automatically retry failed messages with an incremental approach to keep content landing.
Essential monitoring capabilities help users maintain healthy sending. However, relative to Mailgun, fewer advanced options exist to customize delivery beyond basics. Lacking mailbox provider testing and consultant-level services, some users may desire more preventative safeguards as volumes increase. But reliability remains strong.
Winner: Mailgun
Mailgun emerges as the winner for superior email deliverability thanks to its proactive guidance matching sender behavior to inbox standards, granular tracking, and custom consulting/tools mitigating future issues or scaling high volumes.
SendGrid competently covers fundamentals although falls short on next-level assistance. Mailgun simply has more robust science ensuring each message arrives reliably.
5. Customer Support and Community
Mailgun
Mailgun provides exceptional customer support through 24/7 email assistance, real-time live chat, and 12 hours per day of direct phone support. Response times are extremely fast – often within minutes for any inquiry type from technical issues to sales questions. This facilitates rapid solutions when hurdles emerge.
Supplementing direct outreach, Mailgun’s community forum presents an extensive knowledge base with hundreds of tutorials, troubleshooting guides, and how-tos written by subject matter experts on the platform’s capabilities. Users can also participate in active discussion boards to exchange ideas and advice or directly message other Mailgun customers for tips.
With reliably speedy, high-quality expert assistance and an engaging forum environment, Mailgun hits every mark for customer satisfaction and enriched community support during onboarding and continued use.
SendGrid
For resolving customer issues, SendGrid allows 24/7 live chat support, and email ticketing for around-the-clock assistance in addition to direct phone access facilitating urgent troubleshooting with account management.
SendGrid also enables self-service through their online knowledge base putting tips for managing emails, platform integration guidance, and getting started tutorials at users’ fingertips. Their community forums provide another avenue to ask other users questions if needed.
Overall SendGrid checks the boxes on versality in contact options and self-service content to address onboarding or troubleshooting issues users face.
Winner: Mailgun
Both email marketing services have much to offer, but Mailgun continues to edge out SendGrid for superior customer service and community backing. Ultra-fast sub-minute response times across more channels like phone and live chat create an overwhelmingly positive experience matching users quickly with solutions.
Mailgun’s hugely exhaustive community knowledge spans hundreds of actionable lessons far surpassing SendGrid’s smaller site. The community forums also drive valuable peer sharing to supplement top-notch direct support. Hands down Mailgun delivers immense value pre and post-purchase through stellar service and an enriched forum environment no competitor can rival.
6. Integrations
Mailgun
Mailgun seamlessly connects with over 550+ app integrations spanning top marketing, e-commerce, customer service, and productivity tools. Deeply integrate email with CRM platforms like Salesforce, Shopify, and Zendesk along with Google Workspace, AWS, Intercom, etc.
Workflows easily chain apps through Zapier while event APIs feed campaign data to analytics tools like Mixpanel and Google Analytics without complex mapping. Developers can also utilize code libraries for all languages and SMTP relay access to build custom programs on Mailgun’s secure infrastructure.
With robust bi-directional access to complement popular tech stacks, users unlock the full potential of their core systems with Mailgun as the linchpin driving enhanced workflows. Email sits closer than ever to critical business operations.
SendGrid
SendGrid Links provides 200+ out-of-the-box app integrations from CMS tools like Shopify to data platforms such as EventBridge and cloud storage on Google Drive or Dropbox. For connecting with marketing-focused solutions, APIs and SMTP setup streamline linking additional channels like social media alongside email workflows.
That said, relative to Mailgun, SendGrid offers fewer big-name native integrations that users likely already leverage day-to-day for CRM, support, etc. More upfront development work may be required through APIs to achieve the same consolidated tool access.
Winner: Mailgun
Of the two email services, Mailgun truly dominates this category with the deepest access to complementary business systems both common and niche across vastly more use cases.
Easy automation with an industry-leading app ecosystem saves users tremendous overhead by tying email workflows into critical systems enabling seamless cross-channel processes. SendGrid simply falls behind in the volume of out-of-box tool alignment available.
7. Pricing
Mailgun
Mailgun pricing is pay-as-you-go based on monthly email volume spanning a free tier up to enterprise-level packages. Approximately 10,000 emails per month are included free for low-volume senders.
The paid Essentials plan, Foundation, starts at $35/month for up to 50,000 emails including all Mailgun features like templates, automation tools, etc. Higher volumes scale at reasonable overage rates allowing flexibility.
Advanced plans for dedicated IPs, white-labeling, and custom deliverability further meet expanding demands at still affordable ranges despite added capabilities. Ultimately, Mailgun aligns pricing to usage avoiding overcharging.
SendGrid
SendGrid follows a similar pay-as-you-go model based on emails sent per month. Their free plan permits 100 emails daily with 40,000 monthly emails costing $35/month on the Basic plan. However, volume discounts only apply at very high ranges.
Feature add-ons like dedicated IPs require upgrading account types entirely at a higher cost versus Mailgun’s overage pricing model. Consequently costs ramp up rapidly in pursuit of extras despite lower baseline email rates. There’s less balance tailoring spend to needs.
Winner: Mailgun
Mailgun takes the win for being one of the best email marketing tools with the most customizable value-driven pricing accommodating all use levels. Very high email volumes or advanced tools carry an incremental reasonable premium not requiring entire package upgrades.
Smaller senders also see more generosity on the free tier. Ultimately Mailgun gives better access matching exact must-have features to budget.
8. Reviews and Reputation
Mailgun
Mailgun enjoys excellent customer feedback across major software review sites. Praised for convenient APIs, many users call core capabilities like deliverability, segmentation, and automation both intuitive and effective. As one GetApp user said, “Mailgun has helped us engage our audience and enabled us to provide real value through personalized communication.”
The greatest downside cited surrounds complex documentation and learning curve. However, considering most rate Mailgun 5 stars out of 5 for performance once mastered, this appears a short-term hurdle. Overall Mailgun wins consistent applause as a go-to email API solution.
See full Mailgun user reviews on G2.
SendGrid
Current SendGrid reviews praise reliable email delivery at affordable rates for mid-market usage although some smaller users feel oversold on higher tiers. Ease of use, quality templates, and seamless Shopify integration rank as high points. As an example positive review, SoftwareAdvice marked SendGrid as a “leader in the field” with good deliverability.
On the flip side, some users consider integrations overly complicated for non-developers. Support needs improvement in responding to issues per a TrustRadius review. Still on the whole reviews applaud SendGrid as a competent email provider covering all basics well at its core.
Check additional SendGrid user reviews on G2.
Winner: Mailgun
With superlative feedback on usability, performance, and support, Mailgun leads competitor perception. More users highlight email capabilities aligning strategically with business goals for segmentation, automation, and analytics exceeding expectations.
While still rating SendGrid positively, substantially higher satisfaction with Mailgun merits the win for trust and recommendation. The results speak for themselves reading validated peer experiences.
9. FAQ’s
Mailgun FAQs
- What type of email can I send with Mailgun?
Mailgun is optimized for sending high-volume transactional emails including receipts, notifications, alerts, and newsletters. It also enables targeted marketing messages. - Does Mailgun work with CRMs and email clients?
Yes, Mailgun seamlessly integrates with popular CRMs, email clients like Gmail and Outlook as well as e-commerce platforms through its ecosystem of app integrations. - How does Mailgun handle email deliverability?
Mailgun has dedicated deliverability tools like whitelabeling, sender reputation monitoring, and inbox testing to maximize email reach, as well as deliverability experts to optimize for specific sending needs. - What analytics does Mailgun offer?
Mailgun provides real-time visibility into opens, clicks, unsubscribes, bounces, and more down to granular segmentation analytics. It also integrates easily with external analytics tools.
SendGrid FAQs
- What types of transactional emails can I send with SendGrid?
SendGrid specializes in high-volume shipping notifications, receipts, password resets, and other transactional communication. It also enables targeted campaigns. - How does SendGrid handle spam complaints?
SendGrid has safeguards to protect the sender’s reputation like dedicated IPs, domain authentication, and automatic blacklisting monitoring with support specialists to quickly resolve issues. - What integrations does SendGrid offer?
SendGrid offers 200+ app integrations with leading tools like Shopify and EventBridge as well as APIs to connect other channels like social media and external data services. - Is SendGrid GDPR compliant?
Yes, SendGrid helps support GDPR compliance through encrypted data transfers, data processing agreements and the ability to export, retrieve, and delete audience contact data on request per regulation.
Final Thoughts
Choose Mailgun if…
Mailgun balances robust email functionality and marketer-friendly ease of use in a powerfully scalable package. Mid-market to large brands benefit most from flexible volumes, granular segmentation capabilities, and next-level automation coupled with strong deliverability. If you seek mature, enterprise-level email marketing beyond basic sends and need customization without added complexity, Mailgun delivers on all fronts.
Choose SendGrid if…
SendGrid hits the core basics of reliable email delivery with good starter usability. The templates, account management guidance, and fundamental features cater best to growing SMBs desiring a capable marketing and automation foundation without overpaying.
Only if/when sophisticated subscriber segmentation, flexible app integration, or consulting-backed deliverability become must-haves might businesses require expanding past SendGrid’s core, but well-serviced, capabilities.
Choosing an appropriate email service aligned closely with your goals and technical requirements ensures long-term returns on investment. We hope this comparison gave greater clarity around what separates Mailgun’s and SendGrid’s offerings. Please ask any other questions in the comments below for further advice on selecting the best platform for your unique needs.