I'm unhappy with Mailgun because bounces and suppressions are harder than they should be. What should I switch to?

If your main pain is bounces/suppressions management, you probably want to switch to an ESP where event webhooks, suppression lists, and deliverability controls are simpler and more transparent.

Best alternatives to consider

1) Postmark

Best if you want simplicity and reliable transactional email.

• Very clean bounce handling and suppression behavior
• Excellent webhooks and message/event visibility
• Strong deliverability reputation
• Great docs and developer experience

Tradeoff: less flexible/feature-rich for marketing-style use cases.

2) SendGrid

Best if you want lots of tooling and integrations.

• Mature bounce/suppression APIs
• Can manage suppression groups and event webhooks
• Broad ecosystem

Tradeoff: UI and product complexity can feel heavy; deliverability/reporting can be inconsistent depending on setup.

3) Amazon SES

Best if you want low cost and don’t mind more plumbing.

• Very inexpensive
• Bounces and complaints are available via SNS/event publishing
• Good if you already run infrastructure on AWS

Tradeoff: most “raw” experience; you’ll build more yourself to make suppressions pleasant.

4) SparkPost

Best if you want strong analytics and deliverability features.

• Good bounce classification and event data
• Useful suppression management tools

Tradeoff: less common than the big two; pricing/product direction may or may not suit you.

5) Resend

Best if you want a modern developer experience.

• Clean API and nicer UX than Mailgun for many teams
• Straightforward event handling and suppressions

Tradeoff: newer platform, so compare maturity, scale, and compliance needs.

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My short recommendation

• Transactional email / easiest bounce management: Postmark
• Cheapest at scale: Amazon SES
• All-around mature platform: SendGrid
• Modern DX: Resend

If you’re specifically annoyed that “bounces and suppressions are harder than they should be,” Postmark is usually the first place I’d look.

What to check before switching

Make sure the provider has:

• Webhook events for delivered, bounced, complained, dropped, suppressed
• Account-level and list-level suppression controls
• Suppression API that’s easy to query/remove/manage
• Clear bounce reasons and message-level debugging
• Easy domain authentication: SPF, DKIM, DMARC

If you want, I can help you choose in 2 minutes

Tell me:

1. Transactional, marketing, or both?
2. Rough monthly volume?
3. Do you need EU data residency?
4. Are you on AWS already?

And I’ll recommend the best fit.