- You only want pre-send testing, not a sending platform. Unspam runs spam scoring, inbox placement, client previews and AI heatmaps without you having to move your sending to a new provider
- You want testing as its own affordable tool. Unspam's free tier needs no card and paid pricing starts at $5/mo, charged per test, versus Mailgun Optimize's $49/mo Pilot add-on (separate from the Send subscription)
- You want an AI assistant that explains what to fix on every plan, plus AI eye-tracking heatmaps. Mailgun Optimize has neither
- You want results in about 30 seconds and a 14-day no-questions-asked refund, with placement seeded across Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, Zoho, ProtonMail, AOL and GMX
A Mailgun alternative for testing email before you send, not for sending it
Mailgun is an email sending platform and API, with two separate add-ons: Mailgun Optimize, which bundles inbox placement testing, email validation and reputation monitoring, and Mailgun Inspect, which holds the previews and pre-send QA from $99/mo. Unspam does not send email. It tests messages before you send: spam score, inbox placement, client previews and AI heatmaps in one plan, from free, paid from $5/mo. These tools overlap on testing but solve different jobs: Mailgun delivers your mail at scale, Unspam checks it first.
Compared from public pricing and product pages, September 2026.
Which one fits you?
- You need to actually send transactional or marketing email at scale. Mailgun is a sending platform and API; Unspam does not send email at all, so the two are complementary as much as competitive
- You want DMARC reporting bundled with your sending platform at no extra cost. Mailgun includes aggregate DMARC reporting (powered by Red Sift) in Send on every paid plan, not in the Optimize add-on; Unspam monitors DMARC separately, on the Custom plan, and never sends your mail
- You want placement testing, validation and reputation monitoring bundled with the same vendor that sends your mail, behind one API
Why teams move from Mailgun to Unspam.
Testing as a standalone tool, not a paid add-on
Mailgun's placement testing, validation and previews live in Optimize, a separate subscription that starts at $49/mo (Pilot) on top of a Send plan. Unspam is testing-only: a free tier with no card, then per-test pricing from a $5 monthly minimum, with a 14-day no-questions-asked refund.
Previews plus an AI heatmap and assistant
Mailgun Optimize shows email previews and where mail lands, but has no attention analysis and no AI assistant. Unspam includes client previews, an AI eye-tracking heatmap and an AI assistant on every plan, including the free one, with results in about 30 seconds.
No need to switch who sends your mail
Mailgun bundles deliverability with its sending platform, so Optimize is most useful if you also send through Mailgun. Unspam tests messages from any sender. It does not send email, so you keep your current ESP and just test before you hit send.
Unspam vs Mailgun, feature by feature.
Based on public product pages and documentation. Spotted something outdated? Tell us in the chat and we'll fix it.
Feature
Unspam
Mailgun
Free plan or trial
Free plan, no card
Send: free (100 emails/day). Optimize: 1-month trial
First paid plan
$5/mo minimum, usage-priced
Send from $15/mo; Optimize from $49/mo
Spam score testing
Yes
Partialcontent spam analysis in Inspect Premium ($199/mo)
Inbox placement tests
Yes
YesOptimize, real seeds
Client previews & screenshots
Yes50+ clients, light & dark
YesInspect add-on from $99/mo, 100+ clients
AI attention heatmap
Yes
No
Blacklist monitoring
Partialon-demand checker
YesOptimize Starter+
SPF / DKIM / DMARC checks
Yes
Yes
AI fix recommendations
Yes
No
Scheduled automatic tests
Yesplacement + spam score
Partialongoing monitoring
Scheduled spam score tests
Yesdaily, weekly, or monthly
Noruns with each Inspect preview, not on a schedule
Sender accounts
YesUnlimited
No
API access
YesCustom plan
Yescore product
MCP server
YesCustom plan
YesOfficial server for sending and analytics
Email verification
Yes
Yesvalidation
Automated inbox warmup
No
No
DMARC report monitoring
YesCustom plan, first domain free
YesSend paid plans, free via Red Sift
Deliverability consulting
Yesseparate service
Partialmanaged/enterprise
Compared from public pricing and product pages, September 2026.
What each one costs.
Mailgun has two separate products: Send (the email API/platform) and Optimize (the deliverability add-on). Prices come from Mailgun's pricing pages. Send overages run roughly $1.10 to $1.80 per 1,000 extra emails by tier (Scale lowest, Basic highest); a dedicated IP is not included until Scale, and additional dedicated IPs are about $59/IP/mo. Optimize is billed on top of a Send subscription.
- Free $0
5 spam tests, 3 inbox placements, 3 device previews, 5 screenshots, 5 heatmaps per month. AI assistant included.
- Custom $5/mo
Pay per test: spam tests $0.18, inbox placements $0.50, device previews $0.75, screenshots $0.20, heatmaps $0.30. Volume discounts to 30%, 15% off annual, $5 monthly minimum. API, MCP and three years of history included. DMARC monitoring is $6 per domain per month, first domain free.
- Send: Basic from $15/mo
10,000 emails/mo, no daily limit, REST API, SMTP relay, 1 sending domain, 5 inbound routes
- Send: Foundation $35/mo
50,000 emails/mo, 1,000 sending domains, template builder, full inbound routing, 5-day log retention
After 1-month free trial. Dedicated IP access starts at 50,000 emails and one is included at 100,000+; no dedicated IP pools at this tier.
- Send: Scale $90/mo
100,000 emails/mo, dedicated IP pools, SAML SSO, 5,000 email validations, phone/chat support, 30-day log retention
After 1-month free trial.
- Optimize: Pilot $49/mo
25 inbox placement tests, 2,500 email validations, unlimited users
Deliverability add-on, separate from Send. First month free.
- Optimize: Starter $99/mo
50 inbox placement tests, 5,000 validations, 1,000 previews, blocklist and spam-trap monitoring, Google Postmaster integration
First month free. Inbox-test overage about $0.75/test.
- Enterprise / Contract Custom
Higher volumes, dedicated technical account manager, custom Send and Optimize terms
- Inspect: Basic $99/mo
1,000 email previews/mo, 100+ preview clients and devices, API access, unlimited users
Pre-send QA add-on, separate from Send and Optimize. First month free. Preview overage $0.15/preview.
- Inspect: Premium $199/mo
2,000 previews/mo, accessibility tests, HTML code analysis, link and image validation, spam content checks
First month free. Preview overage $0.15/preview.
Every Mailgun plan and price in full
Compared from public pricing and product pages, September 2026. Mailgun is a trademark of its respective owner. Unspam is not affiliated with or endorsed by Mailgun.
Unspam vs Mailgun, answered.
Is Unspam a replacement for Mailgun?
Only for the testing half. Mailgun is an email sending platform and API; Unspam does not send email at all, so it cannot replace Mailgun's core job. If you use Mailgun Optimize for placement testing, validation and previews, Unspam covers those and adds an AI eye-tracking heatmap and an AI assistant. The two are often used together: send with Mailgun, test with Unspam.
How do the prices compare?
Different shapes. Mailgun Send runs from $15/mo (Basic) to $90/mo (Scale) by email volume, and its Optimize deliverability add-on is a separate subscription from $49/mo (Pilot). Unspam is testing-only: a free plan with no card, then paid from $5/mo to $29/mo, with a 14-day refund and 15% off annual billing.
What is the biggest functional difference?
Mailgun sends your email; Unspam tests it. Mailgun Optimize adds seed-list inbox placement, validation, previews and DMARC aggregate-report monitoring (via Red Sift) for paid Send customers. Unspam monitors DMARC too, on the Custom plan, but it does not send email or warm up inboxes. Neither tool offers automated inbox warmup. Because Unspam never sends, it pairs with an ESP instead of replacing one, which is why it sits in the pre-send testing category rather than among the sending platforms.
Does Mailgun have a free tier like Unspam's?
Mailgun Send has a free tier of 100 emails per day, and Optimize offers a one-month free trial, not a permanent free plan. Unspam's free plan renews monthly: 5 spam tests, 3 inbox placements, 3 device previews, 5 screenshots and 5 heatmaps, AI assistant included, no card required.