PocketBase vs Mailgun
Open-source backend in a single Go binary
vs. Email API for developers with deep deliverability tooling
Pricing tiers
PocketBase
Self-Hosted
MIT-licensed single binary. Run on any VPS / Docker / bare metal. No usage caps — only limited by your server.
$0 base (usage-based)
Mailgun
Free
100 emails/day. 1 custom domain, 1-day log retention, 1 inbound route. No credit card.
Free
Basic
$15/month. 10,000 emails/month, no daily limit, 5 inbound routes.
$15/mo
Foundation
$35/month (1st month free). 50,000 emails/month, 1,000 custom domains, 5-day retention.
$35/mo
Scale
$90/month. 100,000 emails/month, SAML SSO, 5,000 email validations, dedicated IP pools, 30-day retention.
$90/mo
Enterprise
Custom. Deliverability services, managed onboarding.
Custom
Free-tier quotas head-to-head
Comparing self-hosted on PocketBase vs free on Mailgun.
| Metric | PocketBase | Mailgun |
|---|---|---|
| No overlapping quota metrics for these tiers. | ||
Features
PocketBase · 12 features
- Access Rules — Record-level access rules (filter expressions) referencing @request and @collect…
- Admin Dashboard — Built-in web UI for schema + data management.
- Auth — Email+password, OAuth2 (Google, GitHub, Facebook, Apple, Discord, Microsoft, etc…
- Backups — Built-in backup/restore with S3 upload option.
- Built-in Mailer — SMTP integration for verification, password reset, magic link emails.
- Collections — Schema-defined record types with fields, validations, and record/admin/auth acce…
- Embedded JS Engine — JavaScript VM (goja) lets you write hooks in JS without recompiling.
- Extend as Go Library — Embed PocketBase in a larger Go app, add custom routes and events.
- File Storage — Local filesystem or S3-compatible storage with access rules.
- Hooks — Server-side Go or JavaScript hooks that run on CRUD events (OnRecordBeforeCreate…
- Migrations — JS/Go migration scripts applied on startup.
- Realtime Subscriptions — SSE-based subscriptions to collection changes.
Mailgun · 14 features
- Batch Sending — Send up to 1,000 recipients per API call via recipient variables.
- Dedicated IPs — IP pools with auto warmup. Scale+ tier.
- Deliverability Suite — Inbox placement testing, DMARC reporting, seed lists.
- Email Logs — Searchable log of all send attempts + events.
- Email Templates — Template builder + variables + versioning.
- Email Validation — Real-time email verification (syntax, MX, role accounts, disposable).
- EU Region — Data stored in EU for GDPR-sensitive customers.
- Inbound Routing — Route incoming emails to URLs/SMTP. Attachment forwarding.
- Mailing Lists — Unlimited mailing lists with bulk subscribe/unsubscribe.
- Open/Click Tracking — HTML + text tracking with configurable tracking domain.
- SAML SSO — Scale+ tier.
- Send API — REST/SMTP send with MIME + tracking.
- Tags — Tag messages to slice stats.
- Webhook Events — delivered, opened, clicked, unsubscribed, complained, permanent_fail, temporary_…
Developer interfaces
| Kind | PocketBase | Mailgun |
|---|---|---|
| SDK | Go API (extend as library), pocketbase (Dart), pocketbase (JS SDK) | mailgun.js (Node), mailgun-php, mailgun-python, mailgun-ruby |
| REST | REST API | Mailgun REST API |
| OTHER | Admin Dashboard, Realtime SSE | Inbound Routing, SMTP Relay, Webhooks |
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Some links to PocketBase and Mailgun may be affiliate links — Staxly may earn a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you. Pricing is verified against vendor pages at publication time — reconfirm before buying.
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