Softwr

Marketing · head to head

Mailgun vs Roxhill

Mailgun logo

Mailgun

Marketing

Email delivery built for developers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Roxhill logo

Roxhill

Marketing

UK-focused journalist database and media monitoring, founder-owned and annual only

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Mailgun has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Mailgun free tier limited to 100 emails per day, restricting high-volume use cases; Roxhill the database is UK-centric by reviewers’ own account, with weak US, Australian and broader Asian journalist coverage, so any multi-market programme needs a second vendor and the single-vendor cost case disappears.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mailgun and Roxhill actually diverge.

Attributes where Mailgun and Roxhill differ
AttributeMailgunRoxhill
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Marketing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Mailgun

Nothing recorded that Roxhill does not also cover.

Only in Roxhill

  • Journalist database
  • Journalist profiles
  • Media lists and distribution
  • Media requests and alerts
  • Media monitoring
  • Bespoke newsletters
  • Historical search
  • Journalist Assistant

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Mailgun

  • Transactional email delivery and SMTP relaynot Roxhill
  • Email marketing at scale for developers and enterprisesnot Roxhill

Roxhill

  • A UK in-house press office that needs journalist contacts with current pitching preferences rather than a scraped byline list.not Mailgun
  • An agency tracking forward features across UK trade and consumer titles to place clients into planned coverage months ahead.not Mailgun
  • A communications team monitoring named spokespeople and measuring their share of voice against competitors in UK media.not Mailgun
  • A UK public sector body procuring through G-Cloud that needs EEA-hosted media monitoring with a published framework price band.not Mailgun

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Mailgun

  • Free tier limited to 100 emails per day, restricting high-volume use cases
  • Log retention minimal on lower tiers (1 day on Free and Basic plans)
  • Add-on pricing for email validations and extra emails can accumulate quickly for high-traffic users

Roxhill

  • The database is UK-centric by reviewers’ own account, with weak US, Australian and broader Asian journalist coverage, so any multi-market programme needs a second vendor and the single-vendor cost case disappears.
  • Contact records go stale: reviewers report old email addresses and phone numbers, distribution bounces, and there is no self-serve verification step before you send.
  • At roughly 200,000 to 300,000 journalists it is far smaller than the million-plus figures Cision and Prowly claim, with repeated complaints about thin trade, academic and journal coverage.
  • Selling is annual only with no monthly plan and a trial functionally restricted to around two weeks, so you cannot genuinely pilot before a twelve-month commitment, which is a poor fit for project or retainer agency work.
  • Licence bands are 1, 3 and 5 seats, and extra logins, workspaces, smart folders, historical search, share of voice and the spokespeople platform are all chargeable add-ons, so a team of eight to fifteen pays well above any headline band.
  • Search behaviour is described as counter-intuitive and sometimes returns implausibly few results, which means a null result cannot be trusted and lists need manual cross-checking.
  • Monitoring accuracy takes time to settle after switching, so coverage is missed in the first weeks after a cutover, which is a real gap risk if you time the migration badly.

Pricing, plan by plan

Mailgun

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 100 emails per day
    • Basic APIs
    • SMTP relay
  • Basic$15/monthly
    • 10,000 emails per month
    • No daily limits
    • Monthly overage options
  • Foundation$35/monthly
    • 50,000 emails per month
    • 1,000 custom domains
    • Email template builder
  • Scale$90/monthly
    • 100,000 emails per month
    • SAML SSO
    • 5,000 email validations

Roxhill

On request
  • Core$undefined/year
    • 1 licence
    • Standard database access
    • Journalist Assistant
  • Boutique$undefined/year
    • 3 licences
    • Adds press release distribution
    • 3 workspaces, 6 smart folders, 10 spokespeople, 3 newsletters
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • 5 licences
    • 5 workspaces, 10 smart folders, 5 newsletters
    • Spokespeople platform
  • Premium$undefined/year
    • Everything in Enterprise
    • Insights analysis and bespoke reporting
    • Competitor share of voice

Which should you pick?

Choose Mailgun if

  • You want to start without paying.
Mailgun review

Choose Roxhill if

  • You need journalist database.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want journalist profiles.
Roxhill review

Questions people ask

Is Mailgun or Roxhill better?
Neither clearly leads. Mailgun starts at Free and Roxhill at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mailgun or Roxhill?
Mailgun has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mailgun and On request for Roxhill.
Does Mailgun or Roxhill run on more platforms?
Mailgun runs on Web. Roxhill runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Mailgun for free?
Yes. Mailgun has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Roxhill starts at On request.
What is Mailgun best used for?
Mailgun is most often used for transactional email delivery and smtp relay, email marketing at scale for developers and enterprises. Of those, transactional email delivery and smtp relay and email marketing at scale for developers and enterprises are not what Roxhill is typically brought in for.
What can Mailgun do that Roxhill cannot?
Roxhill covers Journalist database, Journalist profiles, Media lists and distribution, Media requests and alerts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Mailgun: What happens when I exceed my monthly email quota?

Mailgun allows monthly overage options on paid plans. Extra emails are charged from $1.30 to $1.10 per 1,000 emails depending on plan tier. Enterprise customers negotiate custom rates.

Source
Roxhill: How much does Roxhill cost?

Not published on the vendor site, but the UK G-Cloud 14 listing discloses £6,450 to £25,000 per instance per year. Use that as your anchor.

Mailgun: Can I upgrade from Free to a paid plan and when does billing begin?

Yes, you can upgrade to paid plans anytime. The first month is free on Foundation ($35/month) and Scale ($90/month) plans, with billing starting on month two.

Source
Roxhill: Is Roxhill owned by Cision or Access Intelligence?

No. Companies House shows a single individual holding over 75% of shares and no corporate PSC. It is founder-controlled and unfunded. Note the founder previously sold Gorkana to Cision, so ask for a change-of-control clause.

Mailgun: What currencies and billing periods does Mailgun support?

Mailgun supports monthly billing in USD, EUR, and GBP. Charges are prorated for mid-month signups. Annual billing options are not explicitly listed on the pricing page.

Source
Roxhill: Is it usable for US or APAC media relations?

Not well. Reviewers describe US, Australian and Asian coverage as materially weaker than UK. Budget for a second database.

Roxhill: Can I buy monthly?

No. Contracts are annual, sales-gated, with a trial of around two weeks.

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