# Resend vs Mailgun

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/resend-vs-mailgun/

Every value below is read from Resend's and Mailgun's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | Resend | Mailgun |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Entry paid plan | $20/month for Pro, the cheapest paid plan. | $15/month for Basic, described as a starting price. |
| Pricing model | Monthly plan with an included allowance, then $0.90 per 1,000 beyond it. Domains, dedicated IPs and SSO are priced as separate add-ons at $20, $30 and $150 a month. | Monthly plan by volume with per-1,000 overage, and email validations billed separately at around $1.20 per 100. |
| Emails included | 50,000 emails a month on Pro, the cheapest paid plan; 100,000 on Scale. The free plan allows 3,000 a month and caps the day at 100. | 10,000 a month on Basic; 50,000 on Foundation at $35. The free plan is capped at 100 a day rather than a monthly figure. |
| Price per 1,000 over | $0.90 per 1,000 on Pro and Scale, charged automatically in buckets of 1,000. Paid plans only — the free plan stops at its limit. | From $1.80 per 1,000 on Basic and from $1.30 on Foundation. Mailgun writes "from", so these are floors rather than fixed rates. |
| Log retention | 30 days. | 1 day on Free and Basic; 5 days of logs and 1 day of message retention on Foundation. |

## Where they differ

### Entry paid plan

- Resend: $20/month for Pro, the cheapest paid plan. ([source](https://resend.com/pricing))
- Mailgun: $15/month for Basic, described as a starting price. ([source](https://www.mailgun.com/pricing))

### Pricing model

- Resend: Monthly plan with an included allowance, then $0.90 per 1,000 beyond it. Domains, dedicated IPs and SSO are priced as separate add-ons at $20, $30 and $150 a month. ([source](https://resend.com/pricing))
- Mailgun: Monthly plan by volume with per-1,000 overage, and email validations billed separately at around $1.20 per 100. ([source](https://www.mailgun.com/pricing))

### Emails included

- Resend: 50,000 emails a month on Pro, the cheapest paid plan; 100,000 on Scale. The free plan allows 3,000 a month and caps the day at 100. ([source](https://resend.com/pricing))
- Mailgun: 10,000 a month on Basic; 50,000 on Foundation at $35. The free plan is capped at 100 a day rather than a monthly figure. ([source](https://www.mailgun.com/pricing))

### Price per 1,000 over

- Resend: $0.90 per 1,000 on Pro and Scale, charged automatically in buckets of 1,000. Paid plans only — the free plan stops at its limit. ([source](https://resend.com/pricing))
- Mailgun: From $1.80 per 1,000 on Basic and from $1.30 on Foundation. Mailgun writes "from", so these are floors rather than fixed rates. ([source](https://www.mailgun.com/pricing))

### Log retention

- Resend: 30 days. ([source](https://resend.com/pricing))
- Mailgun: 1 day on Free and Basic; 5 days of logs and 1 day of message retention on Foundation. ([source](https://www.mailgun.com/pricing))

## Which should you choose?

Pick Resend if Projects that want a generous paid allowance for the money — 50,000 emails at $20 is several times what the same spend buys at Postmark or Mailgun.

Pick Mailgun if Senders who want inbound routing included from the free plan up, and who treat the message log as a debugging tool rather than a record.

Consider something else: Resend — Log retention is 30 days and not extendable, and a dedicated IP needs the Scale plan plus 3,000 emails a day before it is offered at all.

Consider something else: Mailgun — One day of log retention on the entry plan is the shortest here by a wide margin, and the overage rate is quoted as "from", so the number you plan against is a floor.

## Documented by only one

- Dedicated IP: Resend: Limited
- Inbound email: Mailgun: Supported

## Questions this comparison answers

**Entry paid plan: Resend or Mailgun?**

Resend: $20/month for Pro, the cheapest paid plan.
Mailgun: $15/month for Basic, described as a starting price.

**Should I choose Resend or Mailgun?**

Pick Resend if Projects that want a generous paid allowance for the money — 50,000 emails at $20 is several times what the same spend buys at Postmark or Mailgun.
Pick Mailgun if Senders who want inbound routing included from the free plan up, and who treat the message log as a debugging tool rather than a record.