6 Mailgun alternatives for growing businesses in India
Why teams look beyond Mailgun, what to check before switching, and 6 options compared on price, free plans and features — including when Mailgun is still the better choice.
Why look for a Mailgun alternative?
From Mailgun’s own published plans and features (checked November 2026).
Mailgun’s price goes up with monthly email volume; log retention, domains, users, dedicated IPs and validations by tier.
Free: 100 emails/day, 1 user, 1 custom sending domain, 1-day log retention.
Rupee billing isn’t stated — so card charges, exchange rates and GST input credit are harder to manage for an Indian business.
Mailgun is a sending and deliverability API with no CRM.
Analytics cover delivery and engagement only, with no CLV prediction.
Sending API with mailing lists; no contact scoring.
What to look for in a Mailgun alternative
Six checks that matter most for an Indian business — whichever tool you pick.
- Pay in rupees with a GST invoice. So the expense is simple to book and you can claim input credit — no card forex fees.
- Know what the price grows with. Contacts, emails sent, or both. A tool priced by contacts gets expensive with a big, quiet list; one priced by sends punishes frequent senders.
- Automation on the plan you can afford. Welcome series, abandoned carts and re-engagement should not need the top plan.
- Deliverability help, not just sending. SPF, DKIM and DMARC checks, a gradual warm-up for new senders, and bounce and complaint handling.
- Consent tools for the DPDP Act. Double opt-in, a preference centre, consent records and easy data export and deletion.
- A painless move. CSV or Excel import with column mapping, and unsubscribes carried over so you never email someone who opted out.
The best Mailgun alternatives in 2026
MailNesto first — it’s our product, so judge for yourself — then the most complete other tools from our comparison of 17 platforms.
- 1
MailNesto
Email campaigns, automations, forms, landing pages, a CRM pipeline and transactional email in one account — priced in rupees with GST invoices, and made for businesses in India.
- Free plan
- Free plan: 500 contacts, 2,500 emails a month
- Paid plans
- Starter from ₹1,499/month (+ 18% GST) or $19/month outside India · 5,000 contacts
- Features
- All 51 in our comparison
- 2
SendGrid by Twilio
Email delivery API/SMTP service (Email API) with a separately priced Marketing Campaigns product for lists, single sends and basic automation.
- Free plan
- 60-day free trial (Email API: 100 emails/day; Marketing Campaigns: 100 contacts, 100 emails/day)
- Paid plans
- Email API Essentials from $19.95/mo (volume-based; 1 teammate, no dedicated IP). Marketing Campaigns Basic from $15/mo (tiers from 5K contacts / 15K emails; no automation)
- Features
- 20.5 of 51
Good fit when: Developers need a well-documented email API/SMTP with webhooks, subusers and dynamic templates; you want transactional and simple marketing sends (Single Sends with A/B tests) in one account.
- 3
Amazon SES
Pay-as-you-go cloud email sending and receiving service (API/SMTP) inside AWS, with no campaign editor or marketing UI.
- Free plan
- No standing free tier listed; new AWS customers get up to $200 in Free Tier credits usable on SES (free plan lasts 6 months)
- Paid plans
- Essentials plan: $0.16 per 1,000 emails for the first 10M/month, no fixed fee; attachments $0.12/GB (page also lists à-la-carte outbound at $0.10 per 1,000)
- Features
- 13 of 51
Good fit when: You want the lowest per-email cost at high volume and can build or plug in your own campaign tool; you already run on AWS and want IAM, CloudWatch/EventBridge and regional (incl. Mumbai) data control.
- 4
Klaviyo
Ecommerce-focused email, SMS and customer data platform that uses store and website events for segmentation, flows and revenue reporting.
- Free plan
- Free: up to 250 active profiles, 500 email sends/month, plus $5/month each of Composer (AI) usage and mobile messages; Klaviyo branding; email support for first 60 days only
- Paid plans
- Marketing plan from $20/mo for 500 active profiles and 5,000 email sends/mo (paid plans remove Klaviyo branding)
- Features
- 37.5 of 51
Good fit when: You run an online store (especially Shopify or WooCommerce) and want flows driven by product views, checkouts and orders; you want revenue attribution and predictive segmentation built in.
- 5
ActiveCampaign
Marketing automation platform combining email campaigns, a visual automation builder, site tracking and optional CRM/sales add-ons.
- Free plan
- No free plan
- Paid plans
- Starter at 1,000 contacts: about $15/mo billed yearly or $19/mo billed monthly; 10,000 email sends/mo, 1 user, automations limited to 5 actions
- Features
- 33.5 of 51
Good fit when: You need detailed automations with goals, splits, site tracking and date triggers; you want marketing automation and an optional CRM/sales pipeline in one vendor.
- 6
Zoho Campaigns
Email marketing app in the Zoho suite with campaigns, workflows, forms and Zoho CRM integration, priced by contact tier.
- Free plan
- Forever Free: up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails/month, 5 users
- Paid plans
- Standard from $4/mo (500 contacts, unlimited emails, 10 users). INR amounts are behind a currency switch the official page did not render; a Zoho reseller lists Standard at ₹180/mo billed annually (₹240 monthly).
- Features
- 33.5 of 51
Good fit when: You already use Zoho CRM, Zoho One or other Zoho apps and want native data sync; you want a low entry price with unlimited emails on paid plans and a usable free tier (2,000 contacts).
Mailgun and its alternatives, side by side
Swipe sideways to see every tool →
| MailNesto | Mailgun | SendGrid by Twilio | Amazon SES | Klaviyo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free plan: 500 contacts, 2,500 emails a month | Free: 100 emails/day, 1 user, 1 custom sending domain, 1-day log retention | 60-day free trial (Email API: 100 emails/day; Marketing Campaigns: 100 contacts, 100 emails/day) | No standing free tier listed; new AWS customers get up to $200 in Free Tier credits usable on SES (free plan lasts 6 months) | Free: up to 250 active profiles, 500 email sends/month, plus $5/month each of Composer (AI) usage and mobile messages; Klaviyo branding; email support for first 60 days only |
| Price grows with | Contacts and monthly emails | Monthly email volume; log retention, domains, users, dedicated IPs and validations by tier | Email volume (Email API); contacts and emails (Marketing Campaigns); dedicated IPs, teammates, subusers and testing credits by tier; overages apply | Email volume (tiered: 0–10M, 10–100M, 100M+), plan fixed fee, dedicated IPs ($24.95/IP/mo standard; managed $15/mo + per-email), Virtual Deliverability Manager, Mail Manager | Active (emailable) profiles; unsubscribed and suppressed profiles are not billed. SMS/mobile messaging is a separate committed spend |
| Pay in rupees (₹) | Yes, with GST invoices | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Yes | No |
| Product blocks & recommendations | Bestsellers, new arrivals, picks for each person, recently viewed and cart items — from your store | NoMailgun is a sending API with HTML templates and has no store-connected product blocks. | NoThe Design Editor has only generic modules (text, image, button, code and similar), with no product or store block. | NoSES is a sending service with no visual builder or product blocks. | YesProduct blocks and feeds sync from Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and other stores, and feeds can be personalised for each customer. |
| Lead scoring | Points for opens, clicks, visits, forms, events and orders; hot-lead alerts | NoSending API with mailing lists; no contact scoring | NoMarketing Campaigns segments use contact data and engagement (sent, clicked); no scoring documented | NoSending service with no marketing contact database or scoring | NoNo lead scoring. Klaviyo staff point to engagement segments instead; predictive analytics (CLV, churn risk) do not score leads. |
| Deals board, tasks & companies | Deals board with stages, tasks with reminders, notes and companies — included | NoMailgun is a sending and deliverability API with no CRM. | NoMarketing Campaigns covers sends, contacts, segments and automations only. | NoSES is a sending service with no CRM. | NoKlaviyo has customer profiles and a helpdesk but no sales pipeline, deals or company records. |
| Predicted lifetime value & next order date | Spend over the next 12 months and each customer’s next order date, in segments and automations | NoAnalytics cover delivery and engagement only, with no CLV prediction. | NoMarketing Campaigns has no predictive customer metrics. | NoSES has no customer-level predictive analytics. | YesProfiles show predicted CLV and expected date of next order; CLV predictions need at least 500 customers and 180 days of order history. |
| Branches with more than two paths | Conditions and splits with up to 8 paths | No | NoAutomations are single linear sequences | No | YesMulti-branch splits up to 20 paths; rolling out in phases |
| Abandoned cart recovery | Store carts with a recovery link | No | NoAutomation entry is list/segment only; no ecommerce trigger documented | No | Yes |
| HubSpot & Zoho CRM sync | Contacts and lead score sent every few minutes; their workflows can send contacts back | NoNo CRM integrations are offered beyond the API. | NoThe only native Marketing Campaigns integration documented is Segment, so HubSpot and Zoho need the API or third-party tools. | NoSES integrates only with AWS services and needs the API for any CRM. | PartlyThe native Zoho CRM sync only pulls in leads one way, and the HubSpot sync is a partner-built app (KAV Labs). |
| Transactional email | Receipts and OTPs via API, same account | YesCore product | YesEmail API is the core product; Marketing Campaigns is an add-on in the same account | YesCore use case | PartlyFlow messages can be marked transactional after approval; paid accounts only |
When to stay with Mailgun
Switching isn’t always the answer. Mailgun may still be right if:
- Developers want a sending API/SMTP relay with detailed logs, webhooks and inbound email routing
- You need per-message send time and recipient time-zone optimisation via API
- You want optional add-ons for inbox placement testing and email client previews from the same vendor
- You need EU-region sending
How to move from Mailgun to MailNesto
- 1
Export from Mailgun
No contact database to export. Mailing list members via API (GET /v3/lists/{address}/members/pages). Suppressions via the Suppressions API (bounces, unsubscribes, complaints per domain). Reporting tables export to CSV via the Export button.
- 2
Import into MailNesto
Contacts → Import: upload the CSV or Excel file (or paste it), map the columns, choose a list. Import only subscribed people, then paste unsubscribed, bounced and complained addresses into Audience → Suppression list so they never get email again.
- 3
Bring your designs
Fetch templates and versions via the Templates API, or copy HTML from the template editor. Then import the .html or .zip in Templates, or start from one of ours.
- 4
Authenticate your domain
Add the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records MailNesto shows you, then send a test. New senders ramp up gradually to protect your reputation.
- 5
Rebuild automations
Start from a recipe (welcome, birthday, win-back, abandoned cart) or build your own journey with branches and goals. Note: Template variables are passed per message (e.g. t:variables JSON); suppression lists should be imported to the new sender before first send.
Mailgun alternatives: common questions
What is the best alternative to Mailgun?
It depends on what you send and how big your list is. For businesses in India that want campaigns, automations, forms and transactional email in one account, billed in rupees, MailNesto is built for exactly that. SendGrid by Twilio, Amazon SES, Klaviyo are also worth comparing — see the list above for when each one fits.
Is there a free alternative to Mailgun?
Yes — MailNesto has a Free plan: 500 contacts, 2,500 emails a month. SendGrid by Twilio, Amazon SES, Klaviyo, Zoho Campaigns also offer free plans; their limits are in the table above. Free plans are good for trying a tool; check the sending limit before you rely on one.
Is there an Indian alternative to Mailgun?
MailNesto is made for Indian businesses: rupee pricing with GST invoices, Indian festivals in the template library and DPDP-friendly consent tools. Other tools built in India include Zoho Campaigns, Mailmodo, Netcore Email (Netcore Cloud), Pabbly Email Marketing.
Can I move my contacts from Mailgun?
Yes. In Mailgun: No contact database to export. Mailing list members via API (GET /v3/lists/{address}/members/pages). Suppressions via the Suppressions API (bounces, unsubscribes, complaints per domain). Reporting tables export to CSV via the Export button. Then import the file into MailNesto (CSV, Excel or paste), map the columns and pick a list. Unsubscribed and bounced addresses stay suppressed.
Should I stay with Mailgun?
Possibly — Mailgun may suit you better if developers want a sending API/SMTP relay with detailed logs, webhooks and inbound email routing, or if you need per-message send time and recipient time-zone optimisation via API.
Alternatives to other tools
Where these facts come from (20 sources)
- mailgun.com/features/
- documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/user-manual/sending-messages/mailing-lists.md
- documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/user-manual/sending-messages/mailing-lists
- documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/user-manual/sending-messages/send-tzo
- documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/user-manual/tracking-messages/tracking-messages
- help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/16380043681435-Subaccounts
- help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/25065463903899-Account-User-Roles
- help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/360007512013-Can-I-transfer-my-domain-to-another-re
- help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042135833-Send-Time-Optimization
- help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/4402703701019-Reporting-Dashboard
- help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/6923289387675-Email-Templates-Editor
- mailgun.com/inspect/pricing
- mailgun.com/pricing/
- mailgun.com/pricing/inspect/
- mailgun.com/pricing/optimize/
- mailgun.com/solutions/email-marketing-software/
- help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/6923594619803-Are-prebuilt-templates-available-in-t
- mailgun.com/releases/
- documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/user-manual/tracking-messages/tracking-unsubscribes
- mailgun.com/integrations/wordpress/
Mailgun, SendGrid by Twilio, Amazon SES, Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, Zoho Campaigns are trademarks of their owners. This comparison is our own, made from public information on each vendor’s website (checked November 2026); we aren’t affiliated with them. Plans and prices change — check the vendor’s site before you decide, and tell us if something here is out of date and we’ll fix it.