Mailgun
performance benchmarks
Browse Mailgun's observed email API response time, error rates, and incident history over the last 90 days.
Live performance metrics
Real-world performance data from messages sent through Knock
| Message volume | Growth | Status page updates (30d) | Status page updates (90d) |
|---|---|---|---|
100M–500M | 5th of 10 → | 6 | 14 |
From June 12th to September 10th, Knock routed 100M–500M messages through Mailgun. For adoption, Mailgun ranks 5th of 10 providers based on new channel connections, with adoption holding steady over the period. Mailgun reported 14 status page updates over the last 90 days, 6 of which were in the last 30 days.
Response time
Response time measures how long Mailgun takes to accept an API request from Knock, including connection overhead and any automatic retries. Lower values mean faster message hand-off.
| Median (p50) | p90 | p95 | p99 |
|---|---|---|---|
120ms | 171ms | 187ms | 220ms |
From June 12th to September 10th, Mailgun averaged a daily median response time (p50) of 120ms across all days in the range, meaning half of all requests on a typical day complete in under 120ms. The 99th percentile averaged 220ms, with a peak daily p99 of 506ms. This is slightly higher than some providers, which may reflect additional processing Mailgun performs on message acceptance.
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.
| 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 |
From June 12th to September 10th, Mailgun averaged a 0.00% daily error rate for 5xx responses and timeouts, with the highest single-day error rate reaching 0.01%. This is one of the lowest error rates among providers on Knock, indicating strong reliability and consistent uptime. Knock automatically retries failed requests, so transient provider errors rarely affect end-user delivery.
About these metrics: Data represents messages sent through Knock to Mailgun 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 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
Started Aug 27, 2026 — Resolved Aug 27, 2026
Aug 27, 14:16 PDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Aug 27, 14:00 PDT Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results. Aug 27, 13:45 PDT Identified - We have identified the issue and working on restoring service. Aug 27, 13:38 PDT Investigating - We are currently investigating an outage in our EU datacenter
Started Aug 20, 2026 — Resolved Aug 20, 2026
Aug 20, 10:31 PDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Aug 20, 10:09 PDT Update - GCP has put a mitigation in place, we are monitoring the results. At this time we are experiencing no impacts. All delayed webhooks and logs have been processed. Aug 20, 09:30 PDT Update - Outbound delivery is operating normally. Currently there are delays for event logs and some webhooks. Aug 20, 09:19 PDT Monitoring - Mailgun is monitoring service impacts in GCP's us-west1 region. We are routing
Compare Mailgun with other providers
About Mailgun
Mailgun is a developer-focused email API platform owned by Sinch, known for flexible sending and receiving capabilities.
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
Frequently asked questions
What is Mailgun?
Mailgun is an email service provider commonly used for transactional email, application-generated email, inbound email processing. Mailgun is a developer-focused email API platform owned by Sinch, known for flexible sending and receiving capabilities.
How much does Mailgun cost?
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. Mailgun offers a free tier with up to 3,000 emails, with a hard sending limit on that plan.
How fast is Mailgun?
Based on real-world data from messages sent through Knock, Mailgun accepts API requests with a median response time of 120ms (p50) and 220ms at the 99th percentile.
How reliable is Mailgun?
From June 12th to September 10th, Mailgun showed an error rate of 0.00% for 5xx responses and timeouts across 100M–500M messages sent through Knock. Knock automatically retries failed requests, so transient provider errors rarely affect end-user delivery.
What are the pros and cons of Mailgun?
Key strengths include well-written documentation with comprehensive guides and best practices for deliverability and robust deliverability support with optional expert pairing to optimize sending. On the other hand, requires familiarity with email protocols and api integrations and pricing tiers can be confusing.
Does Mailgun work with Knock?
Yes. Knock has a native Mailgun integration that enables you to send email notifications through Mailgun as part of a cross-channel workflow. You can combine Mailgun with other channels like in-app feeds, push, SMS, and Slack from a single API call.
Use Mailgun with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate Mailgun alongside other notification channels, manage templates, and orchestrate cross-channel workflows from a single platform.