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Mailgun vs Postal

A side-by-side look at Mailgun (the paid SaaS) and Postal (the open source alternative). Use this page to decide if the switch fits your team and workflow.

Mailgun Postal
Tagline Developer-focused transactional email and SMTP relay. Self-hosted mail server for sending transactional and bulk email.
License Proprietary SaaS MIT
Pricing Flex pay-as-you-go from $0.80/1000 emails; Foundation from $15/month. Free to self-host
Self-host option No Yes — difficulty 4/5
Hosted cloud available Yes (only option) No
Desktop apps Varies by product Web only
Mobile apps Official apps typically available None official
Ad slot — between tables

Best for

A batteries-included self-hosted replacement for the Mailgun SMTP relay.

Postal strengths

  • Web UI, SMTP and HTTP API out of the box.
  • Per-server tracking (opens, clicks, bounces).
  • Modular MariaDB + RabbitMQ architecture.

Postal weaknesses

  • Running a real mail server is a deliverability project, not an install.
  • IP warm-up and SPF/DKIM/DMARC on you.
  • Many cloud providers block outbound :25 entirely.

What's the catch with Mailgun?

  • Deliverability varies heavily by region and plan.
  • Validation and inbound parsing are separate paid add-ons.
  • Log retention is limited on lower tiers.

Still unsure?

Check the full list of alternatives to Mailgun: see Mailgun alternatives, or learn more about Postal on its project page.

Other comparisons

Mailgun vs Haraka

Scriptable SMTP on Node.js for teams that want a custom mail pipeline.

Mailgun vs Mautic

When you need marketing automation on top of transactional sending.

Recommended reading

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Will the open source project you depend on still exist in three years?

Bus factor, maintainer burnout, funding models, and the signals that separate OSS projects that survive from those that quietly decay.

From SaaS to self-hosted: a 30-day migration playbook

A week-by-week plan to move one service off SaaS and onto your own server without breaking your team's workflow.