Mailgun vs Sparkpost
Compare Mailgun and Sparkpost 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 ↑ | 1 | 1 |
 | <1M | 10th of 10 ↑ | 8 | 11 |
From December 12th to March 12th, Knock routed 100M–500M messages through Mailgun and <1M through Sparkpost. Mailgun reported 1 status page update over the last 90 days, while Sparkpost reported 11.
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 December 12th to March 12th. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: Mailgun averaged 123ms compared to 288ms for Sparkpost. Mailgun's highest daily p50 was 136ms; Sparkpost's was 336ms. Mailgun is 165ms 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 176ms compared to 347ms for Sparkpost. The highest daily p90 was 215ms for Mailgun and 402ms for Sparkpost. Mailgun handles these slower requests 171ms 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 381ms at p99 while Sparkpost reached 544ms. The highest daily p99 was 451ms for Mailgun and 31566ms for Sparkpost, 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% | 0.00% | Dec 12 | 91 | 0 |
| 0.22% | 3.41% | Feb 24 | 90 | 1 |
Averaged across the date range, Mailgun shows a 0.00% daily error rate compared to 0.22% for Sparkpost. The highest single-day error rate was 0.00% for Mailgun and 3.41% for Sparkpost. Mailgun demonstrates a lower error rate, indicating slightly more consistent availability during this period. 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
Status page incidents from the last 30 days for Mailgun
Started Feb 25, 2026 — Resolved Feb 25, 2026
Feb 25, 13:45 PST Resolved - This incident has been resolved.Feb 25, 13:36 PST Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.Feb 25, 12:25 PST Update - We are continuing to work on a fix for this issue.Feb 25, 11:47 PST Update - We are continuing to work on a fix for this issue.Feb 25, 11:30 PST Update - We are continuing to work on a fix for this issue.Feb 25, 11:29 PST Identified - Domain verification is also impacted. Increased chances of domain verification failin
Recent Sparkpost incidents
Status page incidents from the last 30 days for Sparkpost
Ongoing since Mar 16, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Mar 16, 15:00 - 18:00 EDTMar 12, 11:24 EDT Scheduled - On March 16th between 19:00 UTC, we will be performing maintenance on our EU routers. During this planned maintenance, you may experience slightly longer initial delivery times, up to 15 minutes, between 19:00 and 22:00 UTC each day. During the full duration of this maintenance all emails will continued to be accepted. This maintenance only impacts our EU sending infrastructure. We appreciate your understanding
Started Mar 12, 2026 — Resolved Mar 12, 2026
Mar 12, 07:25 EDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved.Mar 12, 06:03 EDT Monitoring - System functionality has been fully restored and all emails are being transmitted correctly without added latencies; we are actively monitoring.Mar 12, 04:00 EDT Investigating - Email delivery in US is impacted, experiencing elevated delays.Mar 12, 03:48 EDT Monitoring - System is fully recovered and under monitoring.Mar 12, 02:51 EDT Investigating - We are currently investigating issues with delivery of
Started Mar 5, 2026 — Resolved Mar 5, 2026
Mar 4, 20:24 EST Resolved - This incident has been resolved.Mar 4, 20:00 EST Monitoring - We are observing recovery in email delivery performance and are actively monitoring.Mar 4, 19:51 EST Investigating - We are investigating an increase in delivery latency for some outbound messages.
Started Feb 27, 2026 — Resolved Feb 27, 2026
Feb 27, 12:38 EST Resolved - Microsoft has confirmed that they made additional changes the night of Thursday, Feb 26th that should have remediated most IP rate limiting and rejection issues. If you are still seeing impacts, please reach out via your normal support channels and our team can investigate and escalate with Microsoft.Feb 26, 12:55 EST Monitoring - We are currently seeing elevated temporary rejection rates for email delivered to Outlook.com, Hotmail, and other Microsoft-hosted addres
Started Feb 24, 2026 — Resolved Feb 24, 2026
Feb 24, 14:41 EST Resolved - This incident has been resolved.Feb 24, 14:38 EST Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.Feb 24, 14:34 EST Identified - The team has identified the root cause. There is a core networking issue that has impacted sending across the clusters.Feb 24, 14:25 EST Update - We are continuing to investigate this issue. We still see 5xx errors on mail injections and degradation.Feb 24, 14:07 EST Update - We are continuing to investigate this
Started Feb 24, 2026 — Resolved Feb 24, 2026
Feb 24, 13:17 EST Resolved - This incident has been resolved.Feb 24, 12:34 EST Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.Feb 24, 12:19 EST Identified - The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented.Feb 24, 10:01 EST Investigating - We are currently investigating this issue. No messages are lost.
Started Feb 20, 2026 — Resolved Feb 20, 2026
Feb 20, 11:33 EST Resolved - This incident has been resolved.Feb 20, 11:15 EST Update - We are continuing to monitor for any further issues.Feb 20, 11:14 EST Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.Feb 20, 11:06 EST Investigating - We are currently investigating this issue.
Started Feb 18, 2026 — Resolved Feb 18, 2026
Feb 18, 12:06 EST Resolved - This incident has been resolved.Feb 18, 11:15 EST Update - We have seen recovery. We will continue monitoring for the next 60 minutes to ensure message queues stay stable.Feb 18, 10:59 EST Monitoring - We continue to see strong recovery of the mail queues and message delivery. We expect all remaining delayed messages to be delivered in the next 5 minutes.Feb 18, 10:15 EST Update - We have begun to see improvements to outbound mail delivery delays. We anticipate fu
Pros and cons
Mailgun
Sparkpost
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
- Delivers nearly 40% of all commercial email worldwide
- Subaccount support for isolated sending streams under one billing account
- On-premise mail sending solution available for very high volume workloads
- Great analytics tools with predictive health scores for email deliverability
Cons
- Requires familiarity with email protocols and API integrations
- Pricing tiers can be confusing
- Email template features are basic without the Mailjet editor
Cons
- Documentation can be hard to navigate with less beginner-friendly getting started content
- Higher price point than basic providers
- Now part of Bird (formerly MessageBird), which may affect product direction
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Mailgun and Sparkpost?
Mailgun is a developer-focused email API platform owned by Sinch, known for flexible sending and receiving capabilities. SparkPost is a data-driven email delivery platform with advanced analytics and predictive tools for high-volume senders. Mailgun is best suited for developer-focused sending + receiving, while Sparkpost is geared toward data-driven, high-volume.
Which is cheaper, Mailgun or Sparkpost?
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 500 emails per month with community support. Paid plans start at $20/month for 50,000 emails with premium deliverability features. 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 Sparkpost?
Based on real-world data from Knock, Mailgun has a median API response time (p50) of 123ms compared to 288ms for Sparkpost.
Which is more reliable, Mailgun or Sparkpost?
From December 12th to March 12th, Mailgun showed an error rate of 0.00% while Sparkpost showed 0.22%. 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 Sparkpost?
On the Knock platform, Mailgun handled 100M–500M messages from December 12th to March 12th compared to <1M for Sparkpost. Mailgun is currently trending upward in adoption, while Sparkpost is trending upward.
Can I use both Mailgun and Sparkpost together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple email providers into a single notification workflow. You can use Mailgun and Sparkpost 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 Sparkpost?
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. Sparkpost strengths include delivers nearly 40% of all commercial email worldwide and subaccount support for isolated sending streams under one billing account. On the other hand, Mailgun drawbacks include requires familiarity with email protocols and api integrations, while Sparkpost drawbacks include documentation can be hard to navigate with less beginner-friendly getting started content.
Use either provider with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate Mailgun, Sparkpost, or any combination of email providers into a single notification workflow. Manage templates, orchestrate cross-channel delivery, and switch providers without changing your code.