Compare Mailgun against Mailtrap API performance
Compare real-time performance, reliability, and uptime benchmarks for Mailgun and Mailtrap, powered by proprietary data from billions of messages sent through Knock.
Live performance comparison
Real-world performance data from messages sent through Knock.
| Provider | Message volume | Growth | Status page updates (30d) | Status page updates (90d) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 100M–500M | 5th of 10 → | 1 | 9 |
 | <1M | 9th of 10 ↓ | 0 | 3 |
From August 13th to November 11th, Knock routed 100M–500M messages through Mailgun and <1M through Mailtrap. Mailgun reported 9 status page updates over the last 90 days, while Mailtrap reported 3.
Response time
Response time measures how long each provider takes to accept an API request from Knock, including connection overhead and any automatic retries. Lower values mean faster message hand-off.
The chart above shows each provider's daily median response time (p50) from August 13th to November 11th. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: Mailgun averaged 121ms compared to 85ms for Mailtrap. Mailgun's highest daily p50 was 133ms; Mailtrap's was 218ms. Mailtrap is 36ms faster at the median, which can add up at high volumes.
The 90th percentile (p90) captures the slowest 10% of requests, revealing how each provider handles moderate stress. Averaged across all days, Mailgun has a p90 of 170ms compared to 161ms for Mailtrap. The highest daily p90 was 197ms for Mailgun and 907ms for Mailtrap. Both providers show similar performance at this percentile, indicating comparable consistency.
The 99th percentile (p99) represents the long tail — the slowest 1% of requests. Averaged across all days, Mailgun reached 225ms at p99 while Mailtrap reached 752ms. The highest daily p99 was 506ms for Mailgun and 1675ms for Mailtrap, indicating the worst-case response time during spikes or provider-side congestion. Mailgun shows a tighter tail, which may matter for time-sensitive notifications like one-time passwords or real-time alerts where even rare delays can impact user experience.
Error rate
Error rate tracks the ratio of 5xx responses and timeouts to total requests. Knock automatically retries failed requests, so transient provider errors rarely affect end-user delivery.
| Provider | Avg. daily error rate | Highest daily rate | Peak error date | Zero-error days | Days above 0.01% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00% | 0.01% | Aug 27 | 90 | 0 |
| 0.00% | 0.00% | Aug 13 | 91 | 0 |
Averaged across the date range, Mailgun shows a 0.00% daily error rate compared to 0.00% for Mailtrap. The highest single-day error rate was 0.01% for Mailgun and 0.00% for Mailtrap. Both providers show similar reliability levels, with error rates well within acceptable thresholds. Knock automatically retries failed requests to both providers, minimizing the impact of transient errors on end-user delivery.
About these metrics: Data represents messages sent through Knock during the specified period. Response time measures time from Knock to provider acceptance. Error rate includes only provider 5xx responses and timeouts.
Recent Mailgun incidents
Recent status page incidents for Mailgun
Started Oct 28, 2026 — Resolved Oct 28, 2026
Oct 28, 02:40 PDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Oct 28, 02:27 PDT Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results. Oct 28, 01:54 PDT Identified - The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented. Oct 28, 01:36 PDT Investigating - We are currently investigating this issue.
Started Sep 30, 2026 — Resolved Sep 30, 2026
Sep 30, 02:58 PDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Sep 30, 02:48 PDT Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results. Sep 30, 02:38 PDT Identified - The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented. Sep 30, 02:16 PDT Investigating - We are currently investigating this issue.
Started Sep 14, 2026 — Resolved Sep 14, 2026
Sep 14, 03:13 PDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Sep 14, 02:55 PDT Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results. Sep 14, 02:15 PDT Investigating - We are currently investigating this issue.
Started Sep 4, 2026 — Resolved Sep 4, 2026
Sep 4, 07:33 PDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Sep 4, 07:21 PDT Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results. Sep 4, 07:16 PDT Investigating - We are currently investigating this issue.
Started Sep 4, 2026 — Resolved Sep 4, 2026
Sep 4, 05:54 PDT Resolved - Microsoft has resolved the underlying issue, we are seeing deliveries to M365 process normally. Sep 4, 05:22 PDT Update - We are continuing to monitor for any further issues. Sep 4, 05:20 PDT Monitoring - Starting around 08:00 UTC, Microsoft began experiencing an incident causing an increased volume of deferred emails across all M365 regions. The affected responses are returning "451 4.7.500 Server busy". Our teams are actively monitoring the situation. Send
Recent Mailtrap incidents
Recent status page incidents for Mailtrap
Started Oct 8, 2026 — Resolved Oct 8, 2026
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Pros and cons
Compare the strengths and tradeoffs between Mailgun and Mailtrap.
Mailgun
Pros
- Well-written documentation with comprehensive guides and best practices for deliverability
- Robust deliverability support with optional expert pairing to optimize sending
- Powerful inbound email processing with customizable routing rules
- Trusted by Lyft, American Express, and Wikipedia since 2010
Cons
- Requires familiarity with email protocols and API integrations
- Pricing tiers can be confusing
- Email template features are basic without the Mailjet editor
Mailtrap
Pros
- Strong deliverability with dedicated IPs, auto warmup, and automatic authentication
- Great developer experience with comprehensive docs and MCP support for IDEs
- Combined testing sandbox and production sending in one platform
- Trusted by PayPal, Atlassian, Adobe, and Yelp
Cons
- Native integration ecosystem is smaller than established competitors
- Lower sending limits on free tier compared to some providers
- No rate limits by default, which may require custom throttling configuration
Pricing comparison
Compare Mailgun and Mailtrap as your email volume grows.
Frequently asked questions
Mailgun is a developer-focused email API platform owned by Sinch, known for flexible sending and receiving capabilities. Mailtrap is an email platform combining safe testing and sandbox environments with production sending capabilities. Mailgun is best suited for developer-focused sending + receiving, while Mailtrap is geared toward email testing + qa.
Free tier includes 100 emails per day with no expiration. Paid plans start at $15/month for 10,000 emails with overages at $1.80/1K. Free tier includes 4,000 emails per month (150/day limit). Paid plans start at $15/month for 10,000 emails with overages at $1.00/1K. The best value depends on your sending volume. Use the pricing calculator above to compare costs at your expected volume.
Based on real-world data from Knock, Mailgun has a median API response time (p50) of 121ms compared to 85ms for Mailtrap.
From August 13th to November 11th, Mailgun showed an error rate of 0.00% while Mailtrap showed 0.00%. Both rates are within acceptable thresholds for production email delivery, and Knock automatically retries failed requests to minimize the impact of transient errors.
On the Knock platform, Mailgun handled 100M–500M messages from August 13th to November 11th compared to <1M for Mailtrap. Mailgun volume has remained stable, while Mailtrap is seeing declining volume.
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple email providers into a single notification workflow. You can use Mailgun and Mailtrap side by side, route traffic between them, or migrate from one to the other without changing your application code.
Mailgun strengths include well-written documentation with comprehensive guides and best practices for deliverability and robust deliverability support with optional expert pairing to optimize sending. Mailtrap strengths include strong deliverability with dedicated ips, auto warmup, and automatic authentication and great developer experience with comprehensive docs and mcp support for ides. On the other hand, Mailgun drawbacks include requires familiarity with email protocols and api integrations, while Mailtrap drawbacks include native integration ecosystem is smaller than established competitors.