AI Summary
Okay, let’s talk about Mailgun vs SendGrid. Are your WordPress emails landing in spam? Then one of these is likely on your shortlist, with Amazon SES.
All three send emails for you, but each suits different sites. No matter which option you choose, you’ll need to connect your WordPress site with an SMTP plugin. Our plugin, WP Mail SMTP, integrates natively with all three.
So is this a sales pitch? No. I’ve linked every vendor pricing page I used, so you can check my numbers.
Mailgun vs SendGrid vs Amazon SES: Quick Comparison
Mailgun suits small WordPress sites best. It’s the only one with a free plan that doesn’t expire.
SendGrid costs less than Mailgun from 50,000 emails up, and it adds marketing tools.
Amazon SES is the cheapest at almost any volume. But it takes the most work to set up.
Here’s how they line up at a glance:
| Feature | Mailgun | SendGrid | Amazon SES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free option | 100 emails a day, no end date | 60-day trial, 100 emails a day | Up to $200 in AWS credits for new customers |
| Paid plans from | $15/mo (10,000 emails) | $19.95/mo (50,000 emails) | $0.16 per 1,000 emails |
| About 100,000 emails a month | $75/mo (Foundation) | $34.95/mo (Essentials) | About $16 |
| Dedicated IP | Included at 100,000+ emails | 1 included on Pro | $24.95/mo per IP |
| Email log history | 1 to 30 days, by plan | 3 or 7 days, by plan | 30 days on the default plan |
| WP Mail SMTP version | Free version | Free version | Pro |
| Setup effort | Medium | Medium | High |
| Best for | Small sites and developers | Stores and marketing teams | High volume on a budget |
Mailgun vs SendGrid: The Full Breakdown
Neither one is better for every site. The right pick depends on how many emails you send. It also depends on how much setup you’ll do.
Here are the rounds I’ll walk through:
- First Impressions: What Each Service Is Built For
- Getting Started: Connecting Each One to WordPress
- Free Plans and Trials: What You Get Before You Pay
- Pricing and Plans: What You’ll Pay at 10k, 50k, and 100k Emails
- Email Logs and Analytics: Seeing What Happened to an Email
- Deliverability Tools: Dedicated IPs, Validation, and Reputation
- Where Each One Still Wins
1. First Impressions: What Each Service Is Built For
Mailgun is a developer email API, and SendGrid adds marketing tools to its API. SES is raw AWS infrastructure.
Their homepages tell you a lot about each one.
Mailgun
Mailgun is an email API built for developers. Sinch owns it, and its homepage leads with sending, deliverability, and inbox testing.
Mailgun primarily targets people who send email from code or apps. That includes a WordPress site, which sends email every time someone fills in a form.
Our full Mailgun review covers its features in more depth.
SendGrid
SendGrid is Twilio’s email service. It covers two jobs in one account.
Its Email API sends site emails, and Marketing Campaigns sends newsletters. Want order emails and newsletters in one place? That’s a real plus. Our SendGrid review goes deeper on its features.
Amazon SES
Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) is part of Amazon Web Services (AWS). It’s a sending engine first, with very little dashboard on top.
You manage it inside the AWS console, alongside every other AWS service.
First impressions verdict: SendGrid is the only all-in-one pick, with newsletters built in. Mailgun is built for developers, and SES is raw parts you assemble yourself.
2. Getting Started: Connecting Each One to WordPress
SendGrid is the quickest to connect, and Mailgun is close behind. Amazon SES takes the most work.
All three need you to add DNS records to your domain. DNS records are settings at your domain host that prove you own the domain.
The two you’ll mostly add are SPF and DKIM, which help inbox providers trust your email.
In WP Mail SMTP, you pick your service in the setup wizard or the plugin’s settings page. Mailgun and SendGrid both work with the free version of the plugin.
Mailgun
For Mailgun, you’ll paste 3 things into WP Mail SMTP:
- Mailgun API Key: the key from your Mailgun account.
- Domain Name: the sending domain you added in Mailgun, like
mg.example.com. - Region: US or EU, matching the region you picked in Mailgun.
Mailgun starts you on a test “sandbox” domain. It only sends to up to 5 approved addresses.
So add and verify your real domain early. Our guide to setting up Mailgun in WordPress covers each screen.
SendGrid
SendGrid is the simplest of the three to connect.
First, you authenticate your domain in SendGrid and create an API key. Then you paste that one key into WP Mail SMTP.
Our SendGrid setup tutorial walks through creating the key with the right permissions.
Amazon SES
SES takes the most work. You’ll create AWS access keys and verify your domain. Then you ask AWS to let you send to anyone.
Every new SES account starts in a “sandbox.” In the sandbox, you can only send to addresses you’ve verified.
AWS also caps you at 200 emails a day. To leave the sandbox, you’ll need to request production access. AWS says it replies within 96 hours.
Our Amazon SES setup guide walks through the access keys and the sandbox request.
Setup verdict: SendGrid is the quickest for beginners, with Mailgun close behind. Pick SES only if you’re comfortable in the AWS console and can wait for approval.
3. Free Plans and Trials: What You Get Before You Pay
Only Mailgun has a free plan with no end date. It suits low-volume site owners.
Mailgun
Mailgun’s free plan sends 100 emails a day, and it doesn’t expire. It keeps 1 day of logs and gives you 1 custom domain.
For a small blog or a brochure site, 100 a day can be plenty. Contact form alerts, password resets, and new user emails rarely add up to that.
SendGrid
SendGrid no longer has a free plan that lasts. New accounts get a 60-day free trial at 100 emails a day.
When the trial ends, you’ll need a paid plan to keep sending.
Amazon SES
AWS doesn’t give SES its own free quota anymore. Instead, new AWS customers get up to $200 in Free Tier credits.
These cover SES and other AWS services, and the free plan runs for 6 months. SES costs $0.16 per 1,000 emails. So those credits go a long way.
Free plan verdict: Mailgun wins for small sites that send under 100 emails a day. SendGrid’s trial is fine for testing, but plan to pay after 60 days.
Our guide to free and paid email services explains when it’s worth upgrading.
4. Pricing and Plans: What You’ll Pay at 10k, 50k, and 100k Emails
Amazon SES is the cheapest at every volume we compared, by a wide margin. SendGrid comes second once you pass 10,000 emails.
Here’s what each costs at 3 common WordPress volumes:
| Emails a month | Mailgun | SendGrid | Amazon SES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $15 (Basic) | $19.95 (Essentials) | About $1.60 |
| 50,000 | $35 (Foundation) | $19.95 (Essentials) | About $8 |
| 100,000 | $75 (Foundation) | $34.95 (Essentials) | About $16 |
Prices change, so check each vendor’s page before you buy. Each pricing section below links to it.
Mailgun Pricing
Mailgun’s pricing page lists these plans:
- Free: $0, 100 emails a day.
- Basic: from $15 a month for 10,000 emails.
- Foundation: $35 a month for 50,000 emails, or $75 for 100,000. The first month is free.
- Scale: $90 a month for 100,000 emails, with longer logs and more extras.
Extra emails over your plan cost from $1.80 per 1,000 on Basic. That drops to $1.30 on Foundation and $1.10 on Scale.
SendGrid Pricing
SendGrid’s paid Email API plans start at $19.95 a month after a 60-day free trial. Here’s the full list from SendGrid’s pricing page:
- Free Trial: $0 for 60 days, 100 emails a day.
- Essentials: $19.95 a month for 50,000 emails, or $34.95 for 100,000.
- Pro: from $89.95 a month, with a dedicated IP and longer logs.
- Premier: custom pricing.
Something to keep in mind: these are “starting at” prices. The price rises as you slide up to a bigger email volume.
Amazon SES Pricing
New SES accounts start on the Essentials plan at $0.16 per 1,000 emails. There’s no monthly fee, so 100,000 emails cost about $16.
You can switch to pay-per-use pricing at $0.10 per 1,000 instead. That drops the 30-day email search, which then costs $0.07 per 1,000 extra.
There are a few extras to know about:
- Attachments: $0.12 per GB of attachment data you send.
- Dedicated IP: $24.95 a month per IP, if you want one.
- AWS charges: your site may also pay AWS data transfer fees.
Pricing verdict: SES costs the least by far. SendGrid beats Mailgun from 50,000 emails up, but Mailgun’s $15 plan wins for small sites.
5. Email Logs and Analytics: Seeing What Happened to an Email
Mailgun keeps up to 30 days of logs on Scale. SendGrid keeps 3 to 7 days, and SES keeps 30 on its default plan.
When a customer says, “I never got my receipt,” you’ll want to look it up. So how long each service keeps that history matters.
Mailgun
Mailgun keeps logs for 1 day on Free and Basic. Foundation keeps 5 days, and Scale keeps 30.
That’s a long history, but only on the bigger plan.
SendGrid
SendGrid keeps 3 days of email activity on the trial and Essentials. Pro and Premier keep 7 days.
You can search by recipient and see whether an email was delivered, opened, or bounced.
Amazon SES
SES’s search tool is called Virtual Deliverability Manager. It lets you search 30 days of sent emails in the AWS console.
It’s included in the default Essentials plan. With pay-per-use pricing, it costs $0.07 per 1,000 emails. Without it, SES only publishes events to other AWS services.
Logs verdict: Mailgun Scale and SES’s default plan both keep 30 days. On smaller plans, SendGrid’s 3 days beat Mailgun’s 1 day.
6. Deliverability Tools: Dedicated IPs, Validation, and Reputation
All three send from shared IP addresses by default. A dedicated IP is one only your account uses.
That way, other senders can’t hurt your reputation. Most WordPress sites don’t need one, though. It only pays off once you send a steady, high volume.
Mailgun
Mailgun includes a dedicated IP on plans of 100,000 emails or more. It also sells inbox placement testing and email validation as extras.
SendGrid
SendGrid includes 1 dedicated IP on Pro and Premier.
Pro also includes 2,500 email address checks a month. These flag bad addresses before you send.
Amazon SES
SES charges $24.95 a month per dedicated IP. Its Virtual Deliverability Manager also tracks your sending reputation, on the default plan.
Deliverability verdict: It’s a tough choice. When I tested the email providers, all emails arrived timely. But since they all use a shared IP by default, I’ll judge this one by dedicated IP availability. Mailgun adds a dedicated IP at 100,000 emails for $75. SendGrid bundles one with validation on Pro. SES lets you add only what you need.
7. Where Each One Still Wins
Each of these does something the other two can’t match. Here’s the honest version.
Mailgun
It’s the only free plan that never ends. Developers also like its detailed API and long logs on Scale.
SendGrid
You get a dashboard built for email, plus newsletters in the same account. SendGrid says it sends over 183 billion emails a month.
Amazon SES
It’s the lowest price at every volume. If you already use AWS, it fits right in.
Where each wins verdict: It’s the same pattern you’ve seen in every round. You trade money for convenience, so match the service to your volume and setup skills.
Amazon SES vs Mailgun: Running Costs Compared
Amazon SES costs less to run than Mailgun at every volume. At 100,000 emails a month, SES costs about $16, and Mailgun’s Foundation plan costs $75.
But Mailgun gives you more for that money:
- A free plan: 100 emails a day, forever. SES only has time-limited AWS credits.
- Logs: built into every plan, and readable without the AWS console.
- Setup: Mailgun has no production access request to wait on.
- WP Mail SMTP: Mailgun works with the free version. SES needs Pro.
So pick SES if price matters most and you know AWS. Pick Mailgun if you want logs and a quicker start.
Amazon SES vs SendGrid: Cheapest vs Easiest
Amazon SES is the cheapest, and SendGrid is the easiest. That’s the whole trade-off between them.
| Feature | Amazon SES | SendGrid |
|---|---|---|
| 100,000 emails a month | About $16 | $34.95 (Essentials) |
| Dashboard | AWS console | Built for email |
| Marketing emails | No newsletter editor | Marketing Campaigns built in |
| WP Mail SMTP version | Pro | Free version |
With SendGrid, you don’t need to understand AWS charges. That’s a fair point. SES bills can include data transfer and attachment fees.
Does your site send a lot of email? Does someone on your team know AWS? Then SES will save you money.
If not, SendGrid is the easier choice.
My Verdict: Choosing Between Mailgun, SendGrid, and Amazon SES
Choose Mailgun for small sites, SendGrid for stores with newsletters, and SES for high volume. Here’s how I’d choose, based on your site:
- A small site sending under 100 emails a day: I’d choose Mailgun. Its free plan covers you, and it works with WP Mail SMTP Lite.
- A store or membership site that also sends newsletters: I’d choose SendGrid. You get email and marketing tools in one account.
- A busy site with 100,000+ emails a month: I’d choose Amazon SES. Pair it with WP Mail SMTP Pro.
To be fair to Mailgun, SendGrid’s free trial does end. But if you’ll pay $19.95 a month, SendGrid is the least fuss of the three.
Whichever you pick, WP Mail SMTP connects it to WordPress in a few minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are quick answers to the questions people ask most about these three services.
Is SendGrid better than Mailgun?
No, not for most small WordPress sites. Mailgun has a free plan that never ends. SendGrid’s free trial stops after 60 days.
SendGrid is the better pick from 50,000 emails a month up. It costs less there and adds marketing emails.
Is SendGrid still free?
No. SendGrid replaced its free plan with a 60-day trial of 100 emails a day. After that, you’ll need a paid plan from $19.95 a month.
Is Mailgun still free?
Yes. Mailgun’s free plan sends 100 emails a day and doesn’t expire. It keeps 1 day of logs and includes 1 custom domain.
Is Amazon SES cheaper than SendGrid and Mailgun?
Yes. SES charges $0.16 per 1,000 emails on its default plan, so 100,000 emails cost about $16. SendGrid costs $34.95 and Mailgun $75 for that volume.
The trade-off is a harder setup, and you’ll read logs in the AWS console.
What should I look for in a WordPress mailer?
Start with how many emails your site sends each month. Then check 3 things:
- Does it have a plan that fits?
- Does it keep logs long enough?
- Does it work with your SMTP plugin?
Mailgun, SendGrid, and Amazon SES all support SPF and DKIM, which you’ll need for deliverability.
Next, Set Up Your Mailer in WordPress
Picked one? Jump into the setup tutorial for your choice and send your first test email.
Want a wider view first? Our guide to the best transactional email providers compares more services I’d consider for WordPress.
Ready to fix your emails? Get started today with the best WordPress SMTP plugin. If you don’t have the time to fix your emails, you can get full White Glove Setup assistance as an extra purchase, and there’s a 14-day money-back guarantee for all paid plans.
If this article helped you out, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more WordPress tips and tutorials.
