Postmark vs Mailgun Pricing at Every Monthly Volume

Mailgun is cheaper than Postmark at most monthly volumes: $35 against $55 at 50,000 emails and $75 against $115 at 100,000. Postmark wins in narrow bands just under the top of its committed steps, such as 300,000 emails ($245 against $260), 700,000 ($455 against $550) and 1.5 million ($775 against $950). Both cost $15 for 10,000, and neither allows cold email.

We read both price lists on October 9, 2026: Mailgun's published pricing file and the overage tooltips on its pricing page, and the plan data inside Postmark's pricing calculator, which holds prices for six volume steps the plan cards never show. Every total and crossover below is our arithmetic, using the cheapest published way to reach each volume on each platform.

Postmark vs Mailgun pricing by plan

The two lists are built differently. Mailgun sells plans that each cover a volume band (Basic, Foundation, Scale) with an overage rate per 1,000. Postmark sells three feature tiers (Basic, Pro, Platform) and lets you commit to one of six volume steps on any of them: 10,000, 50,000, 125,000, 300,000, 700,000 and 1.5 million.

The entry plans are identical to the cent, $15 for 10,000 emails with $1.80 per extra 1,000, which is why the comparison only becomes interesting once you send more than that. Full ladders sit on our Postmark pricing and Mailgun pricing pages.

Which is cheaper at your volume?

Mailgun is cheaper from about 25,000 to about 284,000 emails a month, and again across most of the range above that. Postmark is cheaper from about 14,000 to 25,000, and in three bands near its big steps: about 284,000 to 319,000, 574,000 to 760,000, and 1.15 million to 1.65 million.

The pattern is easy to use once you see it. Postmark sells large committed steps at a good price, so it wins when your volume sits just under one of them (300,000, 700,000, 1.5 million). Mailgun has more steps, so it wins everywhere you would otherwise be paying Postmark for a step you only half use. If your volume swings month to month, plan on the busy month, not the average.

The cheapest Postmark plan is often not Basic

Between about 15,000 and 41,000 emails a month, Postmark Pro or Platform with overage costs less than Basic, because their overage rates are lower: $1.30 and $1.20 per 1,000 against Basic's $1.80.

At 20,000 emails, Pro's 10,000 step at $16.50 plus 10,000 extra at $1.30 comes to $29.50. Basic costs $33.00 the same way, or $55 if you jump to its 50,000 step. At 30,000, Platform's $18 step plus 20,000 extra at $1.20 is $42.00, below Pro ($42.50) and Basic ($51.00 or $55). So a buyer who picks Basic because it looks like the budget tier can pay more for less: Pro adds inbound processing and Platform adds unlimited domains and users. This is the one place Postmark beats Mailgun on price below 250,000, and it is a band most comparisons never test.

Dedicated IP pricing

Mailgun includes dedicated IP pools on Scale, from $90 a month, and sells extra IPs at $59 per IP per month. Postmark sells dedicated IPs from $50 per IP per month, only on Pro or Platform and only for senders of 300,000 emails a month or more.

At the same 300,000 emails where Postmark wins on a shared IP, Mailgun wins by about $60 a month once a dedicated IP is part of the plan. Below 300,000, Postmark will not sell you a dedicated IP at all, and Mailgun puts it on Scale at $90 for 100,000.

Validations, logs and the rest of the bill

Mailgun sells email validation: Scale includes 5,000 a month, and extra validations cost from $1.20 per 100 on Basic and Foundation, dropping by tier. Postmark has no validation product, so you would buy it elsewhere. Mailgun keeps logs for 1 day on Basic, 5 days on Foundation and 30 days on Scale; Postmark sells custom activity retention from $5 a month. If you need delivery history longer than either provider stores it, export the webhook events to your warehouse and put freshness monitoring on that event table, so a silent webhook failure shows up the same day instead of at month end.

Neither provider sells annual plans on self-serve pricing. Mailgun's Foundation and Scale come with the first month free; Postmark's free tier is 100 emails a month that never expires, which is enough to test an integration and little else.

Can you send cold email through Postmark or Mailgun?

No. Postmark accepts permission-based mail only and holds senders to a 0.1% complaint ceiling. Mailgun requires that non-transactional email go only to recipients who gave express, provable consent and prohibits third-party lists. A cold prospect list fails both policies.

Shared sending infrastructure protects one IP reputation for every customer, so it closes accounts that draw complaints. Mailtrap, MailerSend and SendGrid take the same position; see our Mailtrap pricing breakdown for one more relay priced the same way. Cold outreach goes out from mailboxes you own, on a domain you control, at a pace each inbox can carry. ColdMailer is built for that: you connect your Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or SMTP inbox, import prospects, and it writes a personalized email for each one, runs follow-ups in the same thread and caps each inbox's daily sends. Plans start at $49 a month, and a new account gets 25 free emails to try it. Our guide to the best SMTP server for cold email quotes each provider's policy and covers the mailbox side.

Postmark vs Mailgun pricing questions

Is Mailgun cheaper than Postmark?

At most volumes, yes. Mailgun costs $35 for 50,000 emails and $75 for 100,000, against Postmark's $55 and $115. Postmark is cheaper at about 14,000 to 25,000 emails and just under its 300,000, 700,000 and 1.5 million steps. At 10,000 emails both cost $15.

Is Postmark worth the higher price?

Postmark is worth paying for when transactional mail that must arrive fast, such as password resets and login codes, matters more than unit cost, and when you want a provider that keeps marketing mail on a separate stream from transactional mail. For high volume application mail with tight budgets, Mailgun is the better value.

Which has a better free plan, Postmark or Mailgun?

Mailgun's free plan sends 100 emails a day, roughly 3,000 a month. Postmark's sends 100 a month but never expires. Mailgun also gives the first month free on Foundation and Scale, which is the better way to test at real volume.

Does Postmark or Mailgun include a dedicated IP?

Mailgun includes dedicated IP pools on Scale, from $90 a month, with extra IPs at $59 each. Postmark charges from $50 per IP per month on Pro or Platform, only for senders of 300,000 emails a month or more.

Do Postmark and Mailgun charge for overage?

Yes. Both start at $1.80 per 1,000 on their $15 entry plans. Mailgun falls to $1.30 on Foundation and from $1.10 to $0.40 on Scale. Postmark's rates fall to $1.30 on Pro and $1.20 on Platform, and to $1.70 on Basic's larger steps.