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
Email Marketing Comparison
Mailgun vs. Zoho Campaigns
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for teams already running Zoho who want email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns synced to the same contact records.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Mailgun | Zoho Campaigns |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | 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. | Not stated |
| Free trial | Free tier: 100 emails per day | Forever Free plan for up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and 5 users |
| API | Yes, RESTful email API and SMTP relay, with official SDKs for Python, Ruby, PHP, Java, C#, Node.js and Go | Yes, a developer API with token-based authentication, exchanging data as XML or JSON |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS), with data centres in the US and the EU | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Campaign types | 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 | Email campaigns and newsletters, plus bulk SMS and WhatsApp campaigns from the same account with their own delivery dashboards |
| Automation and journeys | 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. | Yes, behaviour-triggered workflows for onboarding, nurture and abandoned cart; live workflows are editable without disrupting journeys in progress and contacts re-enroll as conditions change. Basic workflows from Standard, abandoned-cart workflows and frequency capping on Professional. |
| Segmentation and personalisation | 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. | Yes, basic segmentation on Standard and advanced segmentation on Professional combining several conditions with engagement criteria, plus dynamic content and send-time optimisation on Professional |
| Templates and editor | 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 | Yes, a drag-and-drop template editor with images, text blocks, buttons and social icons; 120+ templates from the Standard plan |
| Deliverability and testing | 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. | Reports cover bounces and unsubscribes with minute-level delivery statistics and deferred-email statuses explaining why a message is queued. A/B testing from the Standard plan, and a dedicated IP as a yearly add-on. |
| Ecommerce and CRM data | 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. | Yes, Shopify and WooCommerce for purchase activity and abandoned-cart triggers, two-way sync with Zoho CRM, and connectors for Salesforce, HubSpot, SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Bigin |
| Integrations and API | 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. | Yes, a developer API, plus integrations across the Zoho suite (CRM, Books, Desk, Commerce, Survey, Forms, Analytics, Flow), ecommerce and CRM systems, cloud storage and Zapier |
| AI features | No | stated Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat | Email helpdesk |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | 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 | Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, Zoho Desk, Zoho Commerce, Zoho Survey, Zoho Forms, Zoho Analytics, Zoho Flow, Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce, HubSpot, SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Bigin, SurveyMonkey, Zapier |
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
- Free trial Mailgun Free tier: 100 emails per day Zoho Campaigns Forever Free plan for up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and 5 users
- Hosting Mailgun Cloud (SaaS), with data centres in the US and the EU Zoho Campaigns Cloud (SaaS)
- Support Mailgun Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat Zoho Campaigns Email helpdesk
- AI features Mailgun No Zoho Campaigns Yes
- API Mailgun Yes, RESTful email API and SMTP relay, with official SDKs for Python, Ruby, PHP, Java, C#, Node.js and Go Zoho Campaigns Yes, a developer API with token-based authentication, exchanging data as XML or JSON
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
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
Zoho Campaigns
Strengths
- Forever Free plan for up to 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month with 5 users
- Priced by contact tier rather than per seat, with unlimited emails on the paid plans
- Two-way sync with Zoho CRM plus connectors for Salesforce, HubSpot, SugarCRM and Microsoft Dynamics 365
- Email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns run from one account
Limitations
- Advanced segmentation, dynamic content, send-time optimisation and abandoned-cart workflows require the Professional plan
- SMS and WhatsApp are credit-based add-ons on top of the plan
- A dedicated IP is a separate yearly purchase
- The free plan is capped at 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month
Plans
Pricing
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.
Zoho Campaigns
- Forever Free Not stated Up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and 5 users, with templates, list management, 35 app integrations and basic reporting.
- Standard Not stated From 500 contacts up to 100,000, unlimited emails and 10 users. Adds basic segmentation, 120+ templates, A/B testing, attachments, basic workflows, advanced analytics and 40+ app integrations.
- Professional Not stated From 500 contacts up to 500,000, unlimited emails and 20+ users. Adds advanced segmentation, dynamic content, send-time optimisation, abandoned-cart workflows and frequency capping.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
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. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Zoho Campaigns
- 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. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Mailgun https://www.mailgun.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-09
Zoho Campaigns https://www.zoho.com/campaigns/ · checked against the official source on 2026-09-12
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.