Mailgun vs SendGrid
Compare Mailgun and SendGrid based on observed API performance, features, and pricing
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 → | 4 | 12 |
| 100M–500M | 2nd of 10 → | 25 | 25 |
From July 4th to October 2nd, Knock routed 100M–500M messages through Mailgun and 100M–500M through SendGrid. Mailgun reported 12 status page updates over the last 90 days, while SendGrid reported 25.
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 July 4th to October 2nd. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: Mailgun averaged 120ms compared to 15ms for SendGrid. Mailgun's highest daily p50 was 133ms; SendGrid's was 21ms. SendGrid is 105ms 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 34ms for SendGrid. The highest daily p90 was 197ms for Mailgun and 66ms for SendGrid. SendGrid handles these slower requests 136ms faster, suggesting more consistent performance across the board.
The 99th percentile (p99) represents the long tail — the slowest 1% of requests. Averaged across all days, Mailgun reached 222ms at p99 while SendGrid reached 107ms. The highest daily p99 was 506ms for Mailgun and 148ms for SendGrid, indicating the worst-case response time during spikes or provider-side congestion. SendGrid 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% | Jul 4 | 91 | 0 |
Averaged across the date range, Mailgun shows a 0.00% daily error rate compared to 0.00% for SendGrid. The highest single-day error rate was 0.01% for Mailgun and 0.00% for SendGrid. 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 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
Started Aug 31, 2026 — Resolved Aug 31, 2026
Aug 31, 15:01 PDT Resolved - Event queues have caught up and events are processing normally. Aug 31, 14:28 PDT Update - The event processing backlog is steadily decreasing, and we’re continuing to monitor the recovery. We expect all delays to be resolved within the hour. Aug 31, 13:43 PDT Update - The event processing backlog is steadily decreasing, and we’re continuing to monitor the recovery. Aug 31, 13:13 PDT Update - The event processing backlog is steadily decreasing, and we’re co
Recent SendGrid incidents
Recent status page incidents for SendGrid
Ongoing since Nov 19, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Nov 18, 21:00 PST - Nov 19, 03:00 PST Sep 30, 16:04 PDT Scheduled - Our SMS carrier partner in the United States is conducting a planned maintenance from 18 November 2026 at 21:00 PST until 19 November 2026 at 03:00 PST. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to and from United States handsets via subset of United States long codes.
Ongoing since Nov 17, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Nov 16, 21:00 PST - Nov 17, 03:00 PST Sep 30, 13:34 PDT Scheduled - Our SMS carrier partner in the United States is conducting a planned maintenance from 16 November 2026 at 21:00 PST until 17 November 2026 at 03:00 PST. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to and from United States handsets via subset of United States long codes.
Ongoing since Oct 29, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Oct 28, 20:00 PDT - Oct 29, 00:00 PDT Sep 29, 08:15 PDT Scheduled - Our SMS and MMS carrier partner in the United States is conducting a planned maintenance from 28 October 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 29 October 2026 at 00:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS and MMS to United States handsets via subset of United States long codes.
Ongoing since Oct 29, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Oct 28, 20:00 PDT - Oct 29, 00:00 PDT Sep 4, 00:24 PDT Scheduled - Twilio is conducting a planned maintenance from 28 October 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 29 October 2026 at 00:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays or failures delivering SMS and MMS to and from United States and Canada handsets when sending via long codes, short codes and toll free numbers.
Ongoing since Oct 28, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Oct 28, 13:00 - 17:00 PDT Oct 2, 07:46 PDT Scheduled - The Tele2 network in Russia is conducting a planned maintenance from 28 October 2026 at 13:00 PDT until 28 October 2026 at 17:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to Tele2 Russia handsets.
Pros and cons
Mailgun
SendGrid
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
Pros
- Comprehensive documentation with SDKs for most major languages
- Rich analytics tools with programmatic API access to engagement data
- Strong focus on deliverability with AI-powered intelligent delivery
- Trusted by Uber, Booking.com, and Yelp for high-volume sending
Cons
- Requires familiarity with email protocols and API integrations
- Pricing tiers can be confusing
- Email template features are basic without the Mailjet editor
Cons
- Extended email activity history requires a paid add-on
- Pricing can become complex at higher volumes
- Support response times vary by plan tier
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Mailgun and SendGrid?
Mailgun is a developer-focused email API platform owned by Sinch, known for flexible sending and receiving capabilities. SendGrid is a cloud-based email delivery platform owned by Twilio, known for high-volume transactional and marketing email. Mailgun is best suited for developer-focused sending + receiving, while SendGrid is geared toward high-volume transactional + marketing.
Which is cheaper, Mailgun or SendGrid?
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 up to 100 emails per day for 60 days. Paid plans start at $19.95/month for 50,000 emails on the Essentials plan, with an Essentials 100K tier at $34.95/month. Pro plans with dedicated IPs start at $249/month for 300,000 emails. The best value depends on your sending volume. Use the pricing calculator above to compare costs at your expected volume.
Which is faster, Mailgun or SendGrid?
Based on real-world data from Knock, Mailgun has a median API response time (p50) of 120ms compared to 15ms for SendGrid.
Which is more reliable, Mailgun or SendGrid?
From July 4th to October 2nd, Mailgun showed an error rate of 0.00% while SendGrid 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.
Which is more popular, Mailgun or SendGrid?
On the Knock platform, Mailgun handled 100M–500M messages from July 4th to October 2nd compared to 100M–500M for SendGrid. Mailgun volume has remained stable, while SendGrid volume has remained stable.
Can I use both Mailgun and SendGrid together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple email providers into a single notification workflow. You can use Mailgun and SendGrid side by side, route traffic between them, or migrate from one to the other without changing your application code.
What are the main pros and cons of Mailgun vs SendGrid?
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. SendGrid strengths include comprehensive documentation with sdks for most major languages and rich analytics tools with programmatic api access to engagement data. On the other hand, Mailgun drawbacks include requires familiarity with email protocols and api integrations, while SendGrid drawbacks include extended email activity history requires a paid add-on.
Use either provider with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate Mailgun, SendGrid, or any combination of email providers into a single notification workflow. Manage templates, orchestrate cross-channel delivery, and switch providers without changing your code.