- 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 plans run $9 to $29/mo, 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 and AOL
// Unspam vs Mailgun
A Mailgun alternative for testing email before you send, not for sending it
Mailgun is an email sending platform and API, with a separate add-on, Mailgun Optimize, that bundles inbox placement testing, email validation and previews. 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 $9/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, June 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 continuous DMARC aggregate-report monitoring. Mailgun Optimize processes DMARC reports (powered by Red Sift) for paid Send customers; Unspam only checks SPF, DKIM and DMARC per test
- You want placement testing, validation and reputation monitoring bundled with the same vendor that sends your mail, behind one API
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 Spotted something outdated?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
$9/mo
Send from $15/mo; Optimize from $49/mo
Spam score testing
Yes
Partialplacement checks, no spam score
Inbox placement tests
Yes
YesOptimize, real seeds
Client previews & screenshots
Yes
YesOptimize, 100+ clients
AI attention heatmap
Yes
—No
Blacklist monitoring
Yes
YesOptimize Starter+
SPF / DKIM / DMARC checks
Yes
Yes
AI fix recommendations
Yes
—No
Scheduled automatic tests
Yes
Partialongoing monitoring
API access
YesWhite Label plan
Yescore product
Email verification
Yes
Yesvalidation
Automated inbox warmup
—No
—No
DMARC report monitoring
Partialchecked per test
YesOptimize, via Red Sift
Deliverability consulting
Yesseparate service
Partialmanaged/enterprise
What each one costs.
Mailgun has two separate products: Send (the email API/platform) and Optimize (the deliverability add-on). Prices verified June 2026 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
10 spam tests, 10 previews, 10 heatmaps, 3 inbox placement tests per month. AI assistant included.
- Basic $9/mo
50 spam tests, 50 previews, 10 heatmaps, 10 inbox placement tests per month. Historical results.
- Business $19/mo
200 spam tests, 200 previews, 50 heatmaps, 50 inbox placement tests per month. Historical results.
- Agency from $29/mo
500 spam tests, 500 previews, 250 heatmaps, 250 inbox placement tests per month.
- White Label Custom
Spam tests, previews, heatmaps, and inbox tests sized to your contract. Custom API access.
- 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. No dedicated IP 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, 500 email previews
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
Mailgun pricing and feature information was collected from publicly available sources in June 2026 and may have changed since; it is provided for general comparison only and is not guaranteed to reflect current offers. Confirm current pricing on the vendor's website. Mailgun is a trademark of its respective owner. Unspam is not affiliated with or endorsed by Mailgun.
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 $9 to $29/mo flat, each 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.
// FAQ
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) as of June 2026. Unspam is testing-only: a free plan with no card, then paid plans from $9/mo to $29/mo, with a 14-day refund and 2 months free on 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 checks SPF, DKIM and DMARC per test rather than monitoring reports continuously, and it does not send email or warm up inboxes. Neither tool offers automated inbox warmup.
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: 10 spam tests, 10 previews, 10 heatmaps and 3 inbox placement tests, AI assistant included, no card required.
// see for yourself