---
title: "Reloop vs Mailgun"
description: "Reloop vs Mailgun compared for 2026: self-hostable open-source email API with agent inbox vs hosted Mailgun. Pricing, inbound, and SMTP migration."
canonical: "https://reloop.sh/compare/mailgun"
---

# Reloop vs Mailgun

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> Reloop vs Mailgun compared for 2026: self-hostable open-source email API with agent inbox vs hosted Mailgun. Pricing, inbound, and SMTP migration.

HTML: https://reloop.sh/compare/mailgun
Markdown: https://reloop.sh/compare/mailgun.md
Canonical pricing: https://reloop.sh/pricing.md

Reloop offers REST + SMTP, inbound agent inbox, and Apache 2.0 self-host. Mailgun is hosted SaaS with inbound routes. Reloop Free is 6,000 emails/month (200/day).

Reloop is the email service / infrastructure (ESP + MTA). It is not a multi-ESP connector that sits on SendGrid, Mailgun, Resend, or SES.

## Pricing & Email Volume

Mailgun prices in plan tiers: Basic at $15/mo for 10,000 emails, Foundation at $35/mo for 50,000, with overage billed from $1.30 per 1,000. Reloop Cloud Pro is $10/mo for 50,000 emails and $0.50 per 1,000 after that. Self-hosting Reloop carries no Reloop license fee; you pay your own infrastructure.

| Feature | Reloop | Mailgun |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | 6,000 / mo (200 / day cap) | 100 / day (Trial period only) |
| Entry paid plan | $10 / mo (50,000 emails included) | $15 / mo (Basic · 10,000 emails) |
| 50,000 emails / mo | $10 / mo | $35 / mo (Foundation) |
| Overage rate (per 1k emails) | $0.50 / 1k | From $1.30 / 1k (Basic from $1.80 / 1k) |
| Email validation | Yes | Yes (Priced as a separate add-on) |
| Self-hosted email sends | Unlimited (Free open-source software (own infra)) | N/A (Hosted SaaS only) |

## Sending & Receiving

The sending surface overlaps closely: both speak REST and SMTP, both parse inbound mail. The split is what sits behind it. Reloop runs its own MTA and MX stack (KumoMTA, Rspamd, two-way agent inbox) and hands you the source; Mailgun is managed sending with regex-matched inbound routes.

| Feature | Reloop | Mailgun |
| --- | --- | --- |
| REST API | Yes | Yes |
| SMTP relay | Yes | Yes |
| Inbound / reply handling | Agent inbox (AI triage plus webhooks) | Inbound routes (Regex match and forward) |
| Agent / AI inbox | Yes | No |
| Stored templates | Yes (React Email or HTML) | Yes (Handlebars templates) |
| Batch / broadcast sending | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled delivery | Yes | Yes |
| Marketing campaigns | Yes | Limited (Campaign tooling is a separate Sinch product) |

## Data & Security

Delivery telemetry is comparable. We only mark what Reloop ships today, with no geolocation or client fingerprinting claims.

| Feature | Reloop | Mailgun |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Delivery events | Yes | Yes |
| Bounce & complaint handling | Yes | Yes |
| Open & click tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Suppression lists | Yes | Yes |
| Dashboard activity / logs | Yes | Yes |
| Webhook signature verification | Yes (HMAC-SHA256 (X-Webhook-Signature)) | Yes (HMAC with account signing key) |
| SPF / DKIM / DMARC | Yes | Yes |

## Ownership & Exit

This is the section that decides most Mailgun migrations. Mailgun is hosted-only under Sinch, so leaving means rebuilding on someone else's stack. Reloop ships the source and a self-host path, so the exit is a deployment target rather than a rewrite.

| Feature | Reloop | Mailgun |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Open-source codebase | Yes (Apache 2.0 plus Reloop Labs terms) | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Direct MTA control | Yes (KumoMTA under your control) | No (Managed sending only) |
| Dedicated IPs | 1 included (Growth plan; bring your own when self-hosted) | Paid add-on (Plan-tiered availability) |
| Vendor lock-in risk | Lower (Source plus self-host path; still evaluate license terms) | Higher (Hosted-only proprietary stack) |

## FAQ

### Is Reloop a good Mailgun alternative in 2026?

Yes, for teams that want the same REST + SMTP sending surface with source access and a self-host path. Reloop adds an agent inbox with spam scoring and threading, campaigns beyond pure transactional sends, and send-based pricing ($10/month for 50,000 emails vs Mailgun Foundation $35/month). Stay on Mailgun if inbound routes and Sinch-bundled tooling already fit and volume sits comfortably in your current tier.

### Can Reloop replace Mailgun inbound routes?

Reloop's agent inbox and webhook model cover reply handling and automated triage. Map your existing inbound URLs to Reloop handlers during migration.

### Do we lose deliverability moving off Mailgun?

Deliverability depends on domain reputation, content, and IPs, not the dashboard brand. Self-hosted Reloop lets you own IPs directly; hosted Reloop manages shared pools like other providers.

### How does Reloop Cloud pricing compare to Mailgun?

Mailgun Basic is $15/month for 10,000 emails and Foundation is $35/month for 50,000, with overage from $1.30 per 1,000. Reloop Pro is $10/month for 50,000 emails and Growth is $20/month for 100,000, with overage at $0.50 per 1,000. Self-hosted Reloop has no Reloop license fee; you pay your own infrastructure. Prices are public list prices as of September 17, 2026.

### Do SMTP senders need code changes?

No. Applications sending over SMTP change host, port, and credentials only. API senders need a small client adapter, since Reloop is not a drop-in Mailgun proxy.

### How do Mailgun validation and dedicated IPs map to Reloop?

Mailgun prices validation and dedicated IPs as add-ons above Foundation tiers. Reloop includes validation in-platform and Growth includes 1 dedicated IP; self-hosted deployments attach your own IPs directly to the MTA layer — so compare the all-in bill, not just the base tier.

### How long does migration from Mailgun take?

SMTP senders cut over in minutes (host, port, credentials) while both providers stay live during DKIM/SPF propagation. API senders need a small adapter plus inbound-route remapping and suppression-list import — most teams finish domain by domain in an afternoon.

### Is Reloop open source?

Yes. Reloop is Apache 2.0 licensed plus additional Reloop Labs terms: personal and internal self-host is allowed; commercial redistribution, third-party hosted services, and competing products are not. See https://reloop.sh/license.

## Related

- Pricing: https://reloop.sh/pricing.md
- Compare index: https://reloop.sh/compare.md
- License (Apache 2.0): https://reloop.sh/license