Buffer vs Mailgun
Side-by-side plans, pricing, and feature gates for Buffer and Mailgun, verified . Buffer is primarily social media management; Mailgun is primarily transactional email.
Plans side by side
Every published plan from each vendor, with the headline monthly anchor price. Some prices scale with subscriber count or seats; full detail lives on each tool's page.
Buffer
- Free
Up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel
Free - Essentials
Most popular: $5/month per channel
$5/mo - Team
Unlimited team members and approval workflows
$10/mo - Agency
Custom package for agencies managing many clients
Custom
Mailgun
- Free
Hobby tier capped at 100 emails per day
Free - Basic
Entry paid tier with 10,000 emails/month included
$15/mo - Foundation
50,000 emails/month with template builder and full inbound routing
$35/mo - Scale
100,000 emails/month with SAML SSO, dedicated IP, and live support
$90/mo - Enterprise
Custom contracting for high-volume senders
Custom
Limits at the entry paid tier
Compares Essentials (Buffer) against Basic (Mailgun). Both are the lowest-priced non-free, non-custom plan on each side.
| Limit | Buffer | Mailgun |
|---|---|---|
| Emails / month | · | 10,000 |
| Team seats | 1 | · |
When Buffer wins
- Solopreneurs and small brands publishing to a handful of networks
- Content creators who want a clean, fast scheduling UI
- Small agencies on a budget that can live with the Team plan
Where Buffer is the wrong fit
- Enterprise brands managing 20+ channels (Hootsuite or Sprout Social fit better)
- Teams whose primary need is social listening; Buffer's listening is thin
- Organizations needing deep approval and governance workflows across hundreds of accounts
When Mailgun wins
- Developers integrating receipts, notifications, and password-reset emails
- Teams already on a marketing ESP that need a separate transactional channel
- High-volume B2B applications with strict deliverability requirements
Where Mailgun is the wrong fit
- Marketing teams seeking campaign tooling (use Mailchimp or Kit)
- Creators sending newsletters (use Kit or beehiiv)
- Free-tier hobbyists with low total volume but spiky daily-cap-bumping use cases
Common questions
- Is Buffer cheaper than Mailgun?
- Both Buffer and Mailgun have free or custom entry pricing, so a direct entry-tier price comparison is not meaningful.
- Does Buffer or Mailgun have a free plan?
- Both have free plans. Buffer: Up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel. Mailgun: Hobby tier capped at 100 emails per day.
- Are Buffer and Mailgun in the same category?
- No. Buffer is primarily a social media management tool; Mailgun is primarily a transactional email tool. They overlap on use case but sit in different primary categories, so the comparison is between adjacent tools rather than direct competitors.
- Which has more plans, Buffer or Mailgun?
- Mailgun ships 5 plans; Buffer ships 4. Mailgun's longer ladder gives more granular upgrade steps, which can mean smoother price escalation as your team scales.
- Where can I see alternatives to Buffer or Mailgun?
- Each tool has a dedicated alternatives page on TierGauge with ranked options and verified pricing: /alternatives/buffer for Buffer and /alternatives/mailgun for Mailgun. Alternatives are derived from each tool's editor-flagged competitors plus same-category tools we track.
Buffer: https://buffer.com/pricing · Mailgun: https://www.mailgun.com/pricing/
Last verified . Pricing changes between refreshes; confirm at the vendor before purchasing.