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Marketing · head to head

Mailgun vs Zoho Marketing Automation

Mailgun logo

Mailgun

Marketing

Email delivery built for developers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zoho Marketing Automation logo

Zoho Marketing Automation

Marketing

Contact-count marketing automation priced well below the mainstream platforms, tightest with Zoho CRM

From
$19/month
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; Zoho Marketing Automation pricing is by contact count, so an inactive or unengaged list costs the same as an active one, and nobody in the business has an incentive to prune it until the next tier boundary arrives.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mailgun and Zoho Marketing Automation actually diverge.

Attributes where Mailgun and Zoho Marketing Automation differ
AttributeMailgunZoho Marketing Automation
Starting priceFree$19/month
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month by contact count
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 Zoho Marketing Automation does not also cover.

Only in Zoho Marketing Automation

  • Journey builder
  • Lead scoring
  • Unlimited email sends
  • Landing pages and forms
  • Web behaviour tracking
  • Social campaigns
  • SMS and WhatsApp
  • Lead attribution and X-RAY

What people use each for

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

Mailgun

  • Transactional email delivery and SMTP relaynot Zoho Marketing Automation
  • Email marketing at scale for developers and enterprisesnot Zoho Marketing Automation

Zoho Marketing Automation

  • A B2B team already on Zoho CRM that wants scoring and nurture without paying for a separate platform and an integrationnot Mailgun
  • A business emailing its list frequently, where unlimited sends beats a competitor metering both contacts and emailsnot Mailgun
  • An Indian or emerging-market marketing team that would otherwise pay a US-dollar list price plus card forex feesnot Mailgun
  • A small team upgrading from plain newsletter sending to behaviour-triggered journeys without a five-figure annual commitmentnot 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

Zoho Marketing Automation

  • Pricing is by contact count, so an inactive or unengaged list costs the same as an active one, and nobody in the business has an incentive to prune it until the next tier boundary arrives.
  • The Enterprise plan caps users at 25, which is a hard ceiling for larger marketing organisations rather than an upgrade path.
  • Its value depends heavily on running Zoho CRM; used alongside Salesforce or HubSpot the integration is shallower and much of the scoring and attribution advantage disappears.
  • Zoho sells Campaigns, Marketing Automation and MarketingPlus as separate products with overlapping function, and buyers regularly purchase the wrong one and then migrate lists between them.
  • Support and deliverability tooling are basic next to dedicated senders, so sender reputation problems on a large list get less expert help than a specialist provider would give.

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

Zoho Marketing Automation

$19/month
  • Standard$19/month
    • Priced for 1,000 contacts, billed annually
    • Unlimited email sends
    • Unlimited social campaigns and signup forms
  • Professional$29/month
    • Priced for 1,000 contacts, billed annually
    • Contact scoring
    • Journey builder with reports
  • Enterprise$59/month
    • Priced for 1,000 contacts, billed annually
    • Lead attribution and X-RAY journey tracing
    • Landing page personalisation

Which should you pick?

Choose Mailgun if

  • You want to start without paying.
Mailgun review

Choose Zoho Marketing Automation if

  • You need journey builder.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want lead scoring.
Zoho Marketing Automation review

Questions people ask

Is Mailgun or Zoho Marketing Automation better?
Neither clearly leads. Mailgun starts at Free and Zoho Marketing Automation at $19/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mailgun or Zoho Marketing Automation?
Mailgun has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mailgun and $19/month for Zoho Marketing Automation.
Does Mailgun or Zoho Marketing Automation run on more platforms?
Mailgun runs on Web. Zoho Marketing Automation runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Mailgun for free?
Yes. Mailgun has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Zoho Marketing Automation starts at $19/month.
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 Zoho Marketing Automation is typically brought in for.
What can Mailgun do that Zoho Marketing Automation cannot?
Zoho Marketing Automation covers Journey builder, Lead scoring, Unlimited email sends, Landing pages and forms.

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
Zoho Marketing Automation: How does it differ from Zoho Campaigns?

Campaigns is email sending and newsletters. Marketing Automation adds journeys, lead scoring, web tracking and CRM writeback. Buying Campaigns and outgrowing it is the common mistake.

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
Zoho Marketing Automation: Are email sends limited?

No, sends are unlimited on all plans. Only contact count determines your tier, which is unusual at this price level.

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
Zoho Marketing Automation: Is there a user limit?

Yes, up to 25 users on Enterprise, with lower limits below that. It is not designed for large marketing departments.

Zoho Marketing Automation: Can I pay in local currency?

Yes, Zoho publishes real local pricing in several markets including India rather than converting the US dollar figure at checkout.

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