SendGrid vs Mailgun: A Non-Developer’s Comparison

If Claude Code has suggested SendGrid or Mailgun for your project's emails, you probably want to know which one to sign up for before you start. This SendGrid vs Mailgun comparison is for people who build SaaS products, sites and tools with Claude Code and don't write code themselves.

Both are transactional email services: they send the automatic, one-to-one emails your project needs, such as welcome emails and password resets. Below you'll find a quick verdict, the setup steps, dated prices and what day-to-day work looks like with each.

Quick verdict: SendGrid or Mailgun?

For a small SaaS, the differences are small. Mailgun has a free plan that keeps going at 100 emails a day, and a cheaper first paid plan. SendGrid's free option is a 60-day trial, and its paid plans start a little higher. Both are built for developers, with dashboards, docs and guides written for people who write code.

Prices checked October 2026.

How do you set up SendGrid?

Setting up SendGrid takes four steps. You do the first three in SendGrid's dashboard, and Claude Code writes the code for the last one.

1. Create an account. The free trial needs no credit card.
2. Authenticate your domain. This proves SendGrid may send email for your domain. In SendGrid, go to Settings, then Sender Authentication, and choose Get Started under Domain Authentication. Enter your domain (yourcompany.com), and SendGrid gives you DNS records to add. DNS is the internet's address book for your domain, and you change it where your domain is registered. With default settings, that's three CNAME records and one TXT record; on GoDaddy, SendGrid can add them for you. Changes can take up to 48 hours. See our guide to verifying your domain for email.
3. Create an API key. An API key is a secret password your project uses to prove it's allowed to send through your account. Go to Settings, then API Keys, and choose Create API Key. SendGrid shows the key once, so copy it somewhere safe.
4. Add the key and the sending code. The key goes somewhere private, such as a .env file (a private settings file kept out of your code) and your hosting settings.

I'm using SendGrid for my transactional emails. I've authenticated yourcompany.com and created an API key. Tell me where to put the key so it stays out of the code, then set up a welcome email from hello@yourcompany.com and send me a test.

For every screen in detail, see our guide to setting up SendGrid.

How do you set up Mailgun?

Mailgun follows the same pattern, with a test domain you can try first.

1. Create an account. Mailgun's guided setup activates your account and creates your first API key.
2. Try the sandbox domain (optional). Every account gets a sandbox domain on mailgun.org that sends to up to five authorized recipients, so it's for testing.
3. Add and verify your own domain. Add your domain in Mailgun and it gives you DNS records to add where your domain is registered:

Mailgun lists all four as required. Changes can take 24 to 48 hours; Mailgun checks automatically, or you can choose Verify DNS settings.

4. Find your API key. It's on the API Keys page in your Mailgun dashboard.
5. Add the key and the sending code.

I'm using Mailgun for my transactional emails and my domain yourcompany.com is verified. I have my API key ready. Show me where to store it safely, then set up a password reset email and send me a test.

SendGrid vs Mailgun pricing compared

Mailgun is cheaper to start with. SendGrid's prices depend on your monthly volume, so it lists starting prices.

Prices checked October 2026, in US dollars.

Two things catch people out. SendGrid's trial stops after 60 days, so plan a paid plan before launch. And Mailgun's Free and Basic plans keep send history for one day, so if a customer asks about an email from two days ago, the record may be gone. Both charge extra if you go over your plan's emails.

What is working with SendGrid or Mailgun like day to day?

Both services run from a dashboard built for developers. You check sends and logs there, and ask Claude Code to change the code when an email needs to change. Both also offer template editors.

The AI connections differ:

• Mailgun has an official MCP server. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard way for AI tools like Claude Code to use outside services. Mailgun's lets an AI assistant send emails and check delivery stats and DNS. It runs on your own computer, needs Node.js, and is set up by adding your API key to a configuration file. There's no hosted version.
• SendGrid has no MCP server that works with your account. Twilio's MCP server is in public beta and is listed in Claude's connector directory, but it searches Twilio and SendGrid docs. Twilio says it doesn't make API calls for you.

Who each fits best: if you write code or want to edit code yourself, both are solid choices. They're also built for very high volumes, through SendGrid's Pro and Premier plans and Mailgun's Scale and Enterprise plans. For more options, see our guides to SendGrid alternatives for non-developers and Mailgun alternatives.

How is SimpleSends different for people who don't code?

SimpleSends is a transactional email service built for people who build with Claude Code but don't write code. The building blocks are the same as SendGrid and Mailgun: an account, a verified sending domain, a secret key your live project uses, and a little sending code. What changes is who it's written for and what working with it is like.

• Written for you. Sign-up, connecting and help are in plain English, without developer jargon.
• Day-to-day work happens in the chat. After sign-up, you don't need a dashboard. You brief Claude Code the way you'd brief a person.
• Claude Code does the whole job. It designs, writes, builds and changes every transactional email, from welcome emails to receipts. "Set up all my transactional emails" is a reasonable brief.
• Problems sorted in plain English. Claude Code can read your send logs and delivery status through SimpleSends, so it can tell you whether an email went out and help work out why one didn't.

SimpleSends links to Claude Code through a connector (an MCP server) while you build. Your live project sends real emails directly through SimpleSends using its secret key, not through the chat.

To connect SimpleSends:

1. Sign up on the SimpleSends website and follow the steps there to set up the email address you'll send from. To send from your own domain, this includes adding a few DNS records where your domain is registered.
2. In Claude Code, open Customize, then Connectors, choose Add, then Add custom connector, and fill in:

3. When Claude prompts you to connect, log in to SimpleSends.
4. Back in the Claude Code chat, let Claude Code know:

I've connected SimpleSends for all transactional email.

Claude Code takes it from there, including adding what your project needs to send email. Then give it the brief:

Set up all the transactional emails my SaaS needs. Show me the list first, then a preview of each one before it goes live.