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Tell HN: Mailgun lowers free-tier API from 10k to 625 emails per month

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Re: Tell HN: Mailgun lowers free-tier API from 10k to 625 emails per month

#141

Post by webbie917 »

donmcronald wrote: post #134
ttul wrote: post #118

My company (MailChannels) sends email on behalf of more domains than any other transactional email provider (see https://trends.builtwith.com/mx/transactional-email/traffic/... ) because our customer base is hosting companies rather than individual senders. The whole transactional space has matured in the past year with SendGrid's acquisition by Twilio and Mailgun passing through a couple of different private equity…

The thing that annoys me is the standard operating procedure in tech is to offer stuff for free until a bunch of people depend on it and then to start charging as much as you possibly can once there's a large enough customer base that a reasonable percentage won't have any choice but to bear the updated costs. Mailgun did a pretty nice job by offering a pay-as-you-go tier, but they still took features from the free p…

It really has become a norm and is very frustrating for customers, while there is simply a better way to do this - kill free plan for NEW customers, but grandfather existing customers. Or at least introduce some break-even (low profit margin) plan/tier to move existing customers to, no need to force them off the platform completely.

Yes, spammers are a big issue for all ESPs (my own biz in this space is no exception), but no need to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Re: Tell HN: Mailgun lowers free-tier API from 10k to 625 emails per month

#142

Post by lillecarl »

donmcronald wrote: post #108
jadbox wrote: post #87

Losing the inbound routes functionality completes wrecks my use-case for mailgun. I've been using it as a way to have business emails come through a custom domain and then routed to personal email addresses. It actually works well enough as with personal email you can respond "as" the custom domain. I have a tiny startup with a few users that I use the routing to move incoming email to also their own personal address…

ZOHO is the only one I can find that still offers a free tier with a custom domain. Their lite $1/month/user account might be an ok fit for you. It's crazy how the norm has become $5/user/month for something that every web-host on the planet used to charge $.10/user/month for. "But it includes file storage". Yeah, because cable TV tiers is what I always hoped for in tech. /s

Yandex.Mail too

Re: Tell HN: Mailgun lowers free-tier API from 10k to 625 emails per month

#143

Post by webbie917 »

gwittel wrote: post #71
kick wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sending an email is absolutely a solved problem. I can send a message to my address in 2020 using a 2003 Fedora Core 1 box without a domain using only what's part of the POSIX standard, and I'll receive it just fine. I just did a few days ago, actually. It even got past my provider's spam filter. I could probably have done it using earlier software than 2003-era mail/mailx, but that was the quickest way I could find…

Sending at scale is the problem. A provider like Mailgun (aka an ESP), is a huge target for abuse. Free and low priced tiers are tricky since they need to draw in customers, but then get heavily abused. tl;dr: Abuse ruins it for everyone. I work on the filtering side of the world so I see a lot of the challenges that even purportedly good actors face. Each provider does better or worse at controlling abuse. These thi…

^ Couldn't agree more, especially "Abuse ruins it for everyone."

Re: Tell HN: Mailgun lowers free-tier API from 10k to 625 emails per month

#144

Post by prawn »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #97
prawn wrote: post #62

I use Mailgun with various client sites. Where I find these sorts of services awkward as they become paid (Google Maps APIs are similar) is that for each client I have to put my credit card on file, monitor charges and bear costs in case of a blow-up OR I have to go through the hassle of coaching technically hapless clients through logging in and adding a credit card. “I thought you said it would be free?” “It probab…

Perhaps the better answer is to never pitch or put your clients on any "free" plan. Explain that these sorts of marketing and outreach campaigns cost money, just like getting a Yellow Pages ad costs money, and perhaps work with them on figuring out how many customers or leads these efforts generate so they can more accurately evaluate the cost.

I have a lot of clients using MailChimp's free plan which has worked well for them. I am grandfathered into using all Google's services for my business for free (ignore usual criticisms of Google) because I got in early.

I've worked in this industry for over 20 years and found that the more complicated your explanation, the less likely clients are to want to work with you. Being a stick in the mud on usability is another example - they'll leave for someone who'll make them a splash page without question, etc.

Re: Tell HN: Mailgun lowers free-tier API from 10k to 625 emails per month

#145

Post by cstrat »

zeefarmer wrote: post #8
nodesocket wrote: post #6

I am trying to figure out where 625 comes from? Nowhere in the email or on the pricing page that I can find does Mailgun say how many free outbound emails you get now.

The OP calculated $0.50 / $0.0008 per message to get 625 messages, based on "You’ll receive your first invoice under the new plan on April 1 if your amount due is greater than $0.50. According to your usage last month, your invoice under the new price per message of $0.0008" That's not quite how it works out though. Mailgun rolls over the balance till the balance hits $0.50 and when the balance hits $0.50, they cut a…

Oh wow, so it really is 0 free emails...

Re: Tell HN: Mailgun lowers free-tier API from 10k to 625 emails per month

#146

Post by NightlyDev »

jadbox wrote: post #87

Losing the inbound routes functionality completes wrecks my use-case for mailgun. I've been using it as a way to have business emails come through a custom domain and then routed to personal email addresses. It actually works well enough as with personal email you can respond "as" the custom domain. I have a tiny startup with a few users that I use the routing to move incoming email to also their own personal address…

You can use you own server with eg. Postfix and Dovecot to do this, either with you own client or use Gmail to read and send the mail. The downside with using just Gmail is that mail will be delayed as Gmail doesn't check inboxes that often. Mail sent from can be stripped for any Gmail headers when being sent out, if you want.

I've used Gmail like this for maybe seven years to avoid gsuite and still have custom domains when using Gmail. The delay seems to vary based on how often there is new mail.

You could use a webmail solution or K9 mail to get mail instantly.

Re: Tell HN: Mailgun lowers free-tier API from 10k to 625 emails per month

#147

Post by prawn »

bdcravens wrote: post #132
prawn wrote: post #62

I use Mailgun with various client sites. Where I find these sorts of services awkward as they become paid (Google Maps APIs are similar) is that for each client I have to put my credit card on file, monitor charges and bear costs in case of a blow-up OR I have to go through the hassle of coaching technically hapless clients through logging in and adding a credit card. “I thought you said it would be free?” “It probab…

Do you as a consultant have a free tier?

Yes, I have worked free for charity, free for friends, and free/speculatively for or with people on projects hoping that some pay off. Some do.

I have a SaaS product with a free tier (like Mailgun) and I have had an app/game which was free with an upgrade.

(My initial point was not about the freemium model but about other changes that have made working with Mailgun difficult.)

Re: Tell HN: Mailgun lowers free-tier API from 10k to 625 emails per month

#148

Post by ttul »

maxmalysh wrote: post #127
ttul wrote: post #118

My company (MailChannels) sends email on behalf of more domains than any other transactional email provider (see https://trends.builtwith.com/mx/transactional-email/traffic/... ) because our customer base is hosting companies rather than individual senders. The whole transactional space has matured in the past year with SendGrid's acquisition by Twilio and Mailgun passing through a couple of different private equity…

Amazon SES — $0.10 per 1000 emails.

I suspect many tiny senders will just use SES...

Re: Tell HN: Mailgun lowers free-tier API from 10k to 625 emails per month

#149

Post by cpncrunch »

maxmalysh wrote: post #127
ttul wrote: post #118

My company (MailChannels) sends email on behalf of more domains than any other transactional email provider (see https://trends.builtwith.com/mx/transactional-email/traffic/... ) because our customer base is hosting companies rather than individual senders. The whole transactional space has matured in the past year with SendGrid's acquisition by Twilio and Mailgun passing through a couple of different private equity…

Amazon SES — $0.10 per 1000 emails.

Because it's shite. I've blocked SES's IP range on all my servers, as they just ignore spam reports.

Re: Tell HN: Mailgun lowers free-tier API from 10k to 625 emails per month

#150

Post by cpncrunch »

sanj001 wrote: post #10

We used to be customers of Mailgun, but last month moved over to SES. Not that there's anything wrong with Mailgun, SES's pricing is far cheaper (60K free emails if you're sending from an AWS instance), and deliverability is on par. But SES is super basic. It's just an API, no fancy analytics. So of course, I built a small web app that "wraps around" SES, and gives you some insight into what you're sending, some pret…

The problem with SES is that they ignore abuse reports. They even admit that they only block you if you have more than a given complaint rate. That is how gmail works, but for a bulk email service they really need to investigate every complaint.

I've just blocked SES's ip ranges on my servers.

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