Best for
Best for teams that want an email marketing platform with designed templates, automation and AI writing tools, and a Marketing API to connect their own data.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Email Marketing Comparison
Mailchimp vs. Mailgun
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for engineering teams sending at high volume that need an API and SMTP relay, with the option of an EU data centre.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Mailchimp | Mailgun |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | lower value From $13 / month Essentials plan; the price scales with the number of contacts. | Free tier; Basic from $15 / month Basic $15 per month for 10,000 emails, Foundation $35 for 50,000 and Scale $90 for 100,000, then Enterprise on request. Overage is $1.80 per 1,000 on Basic and Foundation and $1.10 on Scale. Foundation and Scale are free for the first month. |
| Free trial | Free plan available for up to 500 contacts | Free tier: 100 emails per day |
| API | Yes, a Marketing API for audiences, automations and data sync, plus more than 300 integrations | Yes, RESTful email API and SMTP relay, with official SDKs for Python, Ruby, PHP, Java, C#, Node.js and Go |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS) | Cloud (SaaS), with data centres in the US and the EU |
| Campaign types | Yes, email newsletters and campaigns, with A/B testing and scheduling on paid plans | Transactional and bulk sending over the RESTful API or the SMTP relay, batch sending of up to 1,000 personalised messages per call, scheduled messages, and inbound routing that parses received mail into UTF-8 JSON |
| Automation and journeys | Yes, automation flows, up to 3 steps on Essentials and up to 200 flows on Standard and Premium | No journey builder. Sends are triggered by your own application, with message scheduling and Send Time Optimization placing individual messages when a recipient is most likely to engage. |
| Segmentation and personalisation | Yes, segmentation and dynamic content, with predictive segmentation on Premium | Per-recipient personalisation through batch sending, which substitutes recipient variables for up to 1,000 addresses in a single API call; mailing lists are documented in the user manual. |
| Templates and editor | Yes, professionally designed templates and an editor, with custom-coded templates on Premium | Reusable templates, documented in the user manual alongside mailing lists, batch sending and scheduling; there is no drag-and-drop campaign designer in the sending product |
| Deliverability and testing | Yes, A/B testing and scheduling on paid plans | Authentication covers SPF, DKIM, DMARC and BIMI, with suppression management and an email validation API. Deeper tooling sits in Mailgun Optimize, priced separately: inbox placement testing down to the tab or folder, blocklist and spam trap monitoring with Google Postmaster Tools and Microsoft SNDS integration, preview rendering on 100+ devices and clients, and deliverability consulting. One dedicated IP is included from Foundation; extra IPs are $59 per month. |
| Ecommerce and CRM data | Yes, audience data with tags and more than 300 integrations | No store or CRM data model of its own; orders and customer records stay in the system they come from. The integrations directory connects Salesforce, Salesforce Agentforce Marketing, HubSpot, SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud Edition and WordPress, whose free Mailgun plugin also carries the mail from plugins running on it such as WooCommerce. Shopify runs through Zapier rather than a Shopify app, triggering on events such as a new order to send a message or add the customer to a Mailgun list. |
| Integrations and API | Yes, a Marketing API for audiences, automations and data sync | Yes, RESTful email API and SMTP relay, plus an SMTP API for finer sending control, webhooks for real-time event data and an email validation API. Official SDKs for Python, Ruby, PHP, Java, C#, Node.js and Go. |
| AI features | stated Yes | No |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Email helpdesk, Chat, Phone | Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Guided onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Shopify, WooCommerce, Canva, Zapier, Square, Wix, Squarespace, Stripe, Salesforce, LinkedIn, WordPress, Facebook | more entries Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce, SAP S/4HANA, Zapier, Make, n8n, Pipedream, Workato, Slack, Asana, Google Analytics, Datadog, Splunk, Heroku, GitHub Actions, Replit, Lovable |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Mailchimp From $13 / month Mailgun Free tier; Basic from $15 / month
- Free trial Mailchimp Free plan available for up to 500 contacts Mailgun Free tier: 100 emails per day
- Hosting Mailchimp Cloud (SaaS) Mailgun Cloud (SaaS), with data centres in the US and the EU
- Support Mailchimp Email helpdesk, Chat, Phone Mailgun Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat
- AI features Mailchimp Yes Mailgun No
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Mailchimp
Strengths
- Generative AI writing and design tools on the Standard and Premium plans
- Marketing API with webhooks and OAuth 2 for audiences and automations
- More than 300 integrations
- Free plan for up to 500 contacts
Limitations
- Prices scale with the number of contacts
- Predictive segmentation and custom-coded templates are reserved for the top plans
Mailgun
Strengths
- RESTful API and SMTP relay as two routes into the same sending infrastructure
- Batch sending of up to 1,000 fully personalised messages in one API call
- Data centres in both the US and the EU
- Official SDKs for seven languages
- Inbound routing parses received mail into UTF-8 JSON for other systems
Limitations
- Log retention is one day on Free and Basic and five days on Foundation
- Deliverability tooling sits in Mailgun Optimize and is priced separately from sending
- No journey or campaign builder; marketing automation lives in the sibling product Mailjet
- Additional dedicated IPs cost $59 per month each
- Phone and chat support require the Scale plan
- Messages sent in test mode are still charged
Plans
Pricing
Mailchimp
- Free $0 / month Up to 500 monthly sends and 250 contacts, with a limited set of templates.
- Essentials From $13 / month Designed templates, A/B testing, scheduling and up to 3 automation flow steps. Scales with contacts.
- Standard From $20 / month Adds AI writing and design tools and up to 200 automation flows. Scales with contacts.
- Premium From $350 / month Adds unlimited contacts and seats, predictive segmentation, phone and priority support and custom-coded templates.
Mailgun
- Free $0 100 emails per day, with one day of log and message retention and knowledge centre support only.
- Basic $15 Per month for 10,000 emails, overage $1.80 per 1,000. One day of log and message retention, ticket support.
- Foundation $35 Per month for 50,000 emails, free for the first month, overage $1.80 per 1,000. Five days of log retention and one dedicated IP included.
- Scale $90 Per month for 100,000 emails, free for the first month, overage $1.10 per 1,000. 30 days of log retention, up to seven days of message retention, phone and chat support.
- Enterprise Not stated Custom pricing on request.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Mailchimp
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
Mailgun
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
Before sending, the author has to confirm three things: that they have used the product themselves, that they work neither for the vendor nor for a competitor, and that nobody is paying them for the review. We also ask whether the vendor invited them to write it. That answer is required, either answer is accepted, and it stays with the review.
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What we cannot do is verify a purchase. There is no shop here and no account, so whether the author really used the tool rests on their own declaration, on whatever we ask them for, and on the plausibility of what they write. We say so rather than implying a check that does not exist.
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Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Mailchimp https://mailchimp.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-19
Mailgun https://www.mailgun.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-09
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.