Mailgun vs Amazon SES
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Mailgun and Amazon SES.
Quick Verdict
3.7/5
Mailgun
63 reviews
5.0/5
Amazon SES
268 reviews
Amazon SES is rated higher (5.0 vs 3.7). Mailgun is a developer-focused email API service owned by Sinch. Inbound email parsing, email validation API, and detailed analytics. Popular for startups building email features into their apps. Amazon Simple Email Service is the cheapest bulk email option — $0.10 per 1,000 emails. EC2-hosted apps get 62,000 emails/month free. SMTP and API. Requires AWS account and setup effort.
Mailgun Email API for developers — by Sinch |  Amazon SES Cheapest bulk email API — $0.10 per 1,000 emails | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.7 (63 reviews) | 5.0 (268 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best for | Developers who need inbound email parsing alongside transactional sending in their web app | AWS-based applications sending bulk email at scale who want the lowest per-email cost available |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tierapi access | free tierapi accessus datacentereu datacenterapac datacenter |
| Visit Mailgun → | Visit Amazon SES → | |
Mailgun
Pros
- + Inbound email parsing built-in
- + Email validation API
- + 100 emails/day free for 3 months
Cons
- - Trial period expires — free credits not ongoing
- - Account setup requires domain verification
Amazon SES
Pros
- + $0.10/1,000 emails — industry's lowest price
- + Free if sending from EC2 (62,000/month)
- + AWS reliability
Cons
- - Complex AWS setup and IAM configuration
- - Not beginner-friendly
- - Requires warming IP reputation
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