# A Mailgun alternative with marketing email built in. > Comparing Mailgun alternatives? Cresca puts a transactional email API and AI-designed marketing campaigns on one plan, sent from your own verified domain. Canonical: https://www.cresca.xyz/mailgun-alternative A Mailgun alternative for teams that send app email and marketing campaigns. Cresca gives you a transactional email API and AI-designed marketing campaigns in one account, on one plan, from your own verified domain. [Start free with Cresca](https://app.cresca.xyz/signup) [See the comparison](https://www.cresca.xyz/mailgun-alternative#compare) Cresca at a glance - AI agent Designs the whole email - 36 templates Styled with your brand - 26 design themes Switch in one click - Fact-checked copy No invented claims - Own-domain sending Guided SPF and DKIM - Gmail tab estimate Before you hit send - CSV import Fields and tags mapped - Campaign reports Opt-in opens and clicks - 30 days free No credit card ## Every part of Cresca, in one place. Comparison ## How Cresca compares as a Mailgun alternative How the two platforms differ for transactional and marketing email, based on public information from Mailgun. ### Built for Cresca: Teams of every size sending app email and marketing campaigns from one account Mailgun: Describes itself as a transactional email delivery service and API for developers ### Transactional API Cresca: REST API with batch sends (up to 100 per request), scheduling up to 30 days ahead, attachments and idempotency keys Mailgun: RESTful email APIs and SMTP relay ### Marketing email Cresca: AI agent designs complete on-brand campaigns from a brief, with 36 templates, a design editor and a Gmail tab estimate Mailgun: Products for sending, deliverability, email validation and inspection ### Plans Cresca: One plan covers API email and campaigns: from $29/month for 7,500 emails and 5,000 contacts Mailgun: Plans priced by monthly email volume, from $15/month for 10,000 emails ### Getting started Cresca: 30-day Free plan with no credit card, API included Mailgun: Free plan with 100 emails per day; free 30-day trials on paid plans ### Webhooks and SMTP Cresca: On the roadmap: outbound webhooks and SMTP relay. Today, read each email’s status as last\_event or in the dashboard Mailgun: Webhooks and SMTP relay Mailgun information is based on publicly available sources as of October 27, 2026. Plans and features change, so check Mailgun’s own website for current details. [Compare other platforms](https://www.cresca.xyz/compare) Transactional API ## App email and campaigns, one account Send password resets, receipts and alerts through the Cresca API, from the same verified domain and plan as your campaigns. - A plain REST API. JSON over HTTPS at api.cresca.xyz/api/v1. Send one email or a batch of up to 100 per request, from any language that can make an HTTP call. [Docs](https://www.cresca.xyz/docs/api-reference/send-email) - Your own verified domain. Every email goes out from a sender on a domain you verified in Cresca, with SPF and DKIM in place. [Docs](https://www.cresca.xyz/docs/quickstart) - Idempotency keys. Send an Idempotency-Key header and a retried request returns the first result instead of a second email. [Docs](https://www.cresca.xyz/docs/idempotency) - Templates with variables. Design an email in the template editor, publish it, and send it by alias with your own values. Every published version is kept. [Docs](https://www.cresca.xyz/docs/templates) - Status for every email. The API returns each email’s latest status as last\_event, and the dashboard shows its full event timeline. [Docs](https://www.cresca.xyz/docs/email-lifecycle) - Limits that grow with your plan. Requests per second depend on the plan, and API email shares the plan’s monthly email allowance with your campaigns. [Docs](https://www.cresca.xyz/docs/rate-limits) Send an email ```bash curl -X POST 'https://api.cresca.xyz/api/v1/emails' \ -H 'Authorization: Bearer cr_live_xxxxxxxxx' \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -H 'Idempotency-Key: password-reset/user-123' \ -d '{ "from": "Acme ", "to": "user@example.com", "subject": "Reset your password", "html": "

Click here to reset your password.

" }' ``` Response 200 ```json { "id": "4ef9a417-02e9-4d39-ad75-9611e0fcc33c" } ``` [How Cresca transactional email works](https://www.cresca.xyz/transactional-email) · [Quickstart](https://www.cresca.xyz/docs/quickstart) · [Moving off Amazon Pinpoint](https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/amazon-pinpoint-alternative) · [Transactional email services compared](https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/best-transactional-email-services) Why teams switch ## What changes when you leave Mailgun Each part of the email program, handled in one workspace. - 1 One account for app email and campaigns. Password resets, receipts and newsletters share one plan, one monthly allowance and the same verified domains. - 2 AI that designs your marketing email. Describe a campaign in one sentence. The AI agent picks a theme, writes the copy and lays it out with your brand. - 3 Your own domain for every send. Verify a domain once with guided SPF and DKIM records, then use it for API email and campaigns alike. - 4 Delivery you can check. Every API email has a status the API returns as last\_event, and the dashboard shows its event timeline. Start to finish ## From brief to report, in one workspace - ### Brief Describe the campaign in one sentence. - ### Design The agent picks a theme and applies your brand. - ### Audience Choose the lists that should receive it. - ### Report Deliveries, bounces and opt-in opens and clicks. - ### Send from your own domain Cresca shows the exact DNS records to add, or adds them for you on Cloudflare, then checks them and marks the domain ready. - TXT Ownership Verified - CNAME × 3 DKIM Verified - MX + TXT MAIL FROM and SPF Verified Switching ## Move from Mailgun in three steps 1. 01 ### Verify your domain Add the DNS records Cresca shows you, or connect Cloudflare and let Cresca add them. Then add a sender on that domain. 2. 02 ### Create an API key Create a sending-access key for production servers and keep it in your server’s environment. 3. 03 ### Update your send call Replace each Mailgun send call with POST /emails, using from, to, subject and html or a published template. Design ## Beautiful emails, with or without AI The agent and the editor work on the same email, so you can mix both. - ### AI agent or hands-on editor Let the agent design the email from a brief, then fine-tune any block yourself. Both edit the same email. - ### 26 design themes, your brand colour Switch between themes like Modern, Editorial, Bold or Minimal in one click; your brand colour is applied on top. - ### Gmail tab estimate See whether Gmail is likely to file the email under Promotions, and what is pushing it there, before you send. - ### Send from your own domain Verify your domain with guided SPF and DKIM records, set up automatically if your DNS is on Cloudflare. Pricing ## Simple, flat monthly pricing ### Free Try everything first $0 for 30 days - 50 contacts - 50 emails - AI agent and 36 templates - 1 sending domain - Campaign reports [Start free](https://app.cresca.xyz/signup) ### Professional Flat monthly price Growing lists $29 per month - 5,000 contacts - 7,500 emails/month - AI agent and 36 templates - 3 sending domains - Priority support [Choose Professional](https://app.cresca.xyz/signup) Bigger list? Premium is $49/month for 25,000 contacts and Ultra is $99/month for 55,000. [Compare all plans](https://www.cresca.xyz/pricing) Why Cresca ## Choose Cresca if you want… What Cresca does differently from Mailgun for app email and campaigns. 1. 01 A transactional email API and AI-designed marketing campaigns in one account 2. 02 API email that shares your plan’s monthly allowance, with no separate marketing plan 3. 03 One plan and one allowance for API email and campaigns, not separate products to buy 4. 04 Idempotency keys, so a retried request never sends a second email 5. 05 Templates with variables, test emails and version history 6. 06 An AI agent that designs the whole campaign email from one sentence 7. 07 Sending from your own domain, with guided SPF and DKIM setup 8. 08 Email support on every plan, with priority support on paid plans Free for 30 days with no credit card. Paid plans from $29 a month. [Start for free](https://app.cresca.xyz/signup) FAQs ## Frequently asked questions What teams ask before moving from Mailgun. Still have a question? Also see the [Mailchimp alternative](https://www.cresca.xyz/mailchimp-alternative), [MailerLite alternative](https://www.cresca.xyz/mailerlite-alternative), [Brevo alternative](https://www.cresca.xyz/brevo-alternative), [ConvertKit alternative](https://www.cresca.xyz/convertkit-alternative), [Loops alternative](https://www.cresca.xyz/loops-alternative), [Resend alternative](https://www.cresca.xyz/resend-alternative), [Postmark alternative](https://www.cresca.xyz/postmark-alternative), [SendGrid alternative](https://www.cresca.xyz/sendgrid-alternative) pages, or [compare email marketing platforms](https://www.cresca.xyz/compare). [Start free](https://app.cresca.xyz/signup) [Contact Cresca](https://www.cresca.xyz/contact) ### 01 Is Cresca a Mailgun alternative? Yes. Cresca sends transactional email through a REST API from your own verified domain, and in the same account an AI agent designs and sends your marketing campaigns. ### 02 How do I move from Mailgun to Cresca? Verify your sending domain in Cresca, add a sender and create a sending-access API key. Then replace each Mailgun send call with POST /emails, one email type at a time, and keep Mailgun running until the new sends look right in the dashboard. Step-by-step tutorials cover Node.js, Python, PHP, Go, Ruby, Java, C#, Next.js, Laravel, Django and Rails. ### 03 Does Cresca support webhooks or SMTP? Not yet. Outbound webhooks and an SMTP relay are on the roadmap. Today you check each email with GET /emails/{id}, which returns its latest status as last\_event, or in the dashboard timeline. ### 04 How is API email priced? API email shares your plan’s monthly email allowance with your campaigns. Professional is $29/month for 7,500 emails and 5,000 contacts. API requests per second depend on the plan, from 2 on Free to 100 on Enterprise. ### 05 Can I try Cresca for free? Yes, for 30 days with no credit card: 50 contacts and 50 emails, with the API, the AI agent and all 36 templates included. ## Design your next email in minutes. Free for 30 days, no credit card. Verify your domain, create an API key and send your first email the same day. [Start free with Cresca](https://app.cresca.xyz/signup) [See pricing](https://www.cresca.xyz/pricing)