Resend vs Mailgun: Modern DX vs Infrastructure Control
Comparing Resend and Mailgun for transactional email. Best-in-class developer experience versus granular infrastructure control and logging.
Overview
Resend and Mailgun serve different developer preferences. Resend focuses on modern developer experience with React Email. Mailgun provides granular control over email infrastructure with detailed logging and routing.
| Feature | Resend | Mailgun |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2022 | 2010 |
| Free Tier | 100 emails/day | Trial only |
| Starting Price | $20/mo | $35/mo |
| React Email | Native | Not supported |
| Detailed Logging | Standard | Granular |
| Email Routing | Basic | Advanced |
| Inbound Processing | No | Yes |
| API Design | Modern | Traditional |
Key Differences
Developer Experience
Resend has the best developer experience in transactional email. Clean API, excellent docs, React Email for JSX templates. Everything feels modern and intentional.
Mailgun has a functional API but shows its age. Good documentation, but the developer experience is not as polished as Resend.
Infrastructure Control
Mailgun provides granular logging for every message. Complex routing rules. Inbound email parsing. Email validation. The 99.99% SLA is backed by comprehensive monitoring.
Resend handles infrastructure transparently. You focus on sending emails, not managing routing tables or parsing configurations.
Templating
Resend created React Email. Build templates in JSX with TypeScript, component reuse, and IDE tooling.
Mailgun uses traditional templating with their own syntax.
When to Choose Resend
- Developer experience is the priority
- React Email and JSX templates are valuable
- The free tier fits your needs
- You prefer modern, clean tooling
When to Choose Mailgun
- Granular infrastructure control is needed
- Inbound email processing is required
- Complex routing rules are necessary
- Detailed logging for debugging
Alternative: Sequenzy
If you need marketing automation alongside transactional, consider Sequenzy. Unified platform with billing integrations for Stripe, Polar, Creem, and Dodo.
The Bottom Line
Choose Resend for the best developer experience and React Email support. Choose Mailgun for granular infrastructure control and advanced routing.