MERU Inbound vs Mailgun: The Better Way to Handle Inbound Email

If you’ve been searching for inbound email parsing or email to webhook integration, chances are you’ve come across Mailgun. While Mailgun is best known for outbound email delivery, inbound email is a secondary product bolted on later.

At MERU (meruhook.com), inbound email is our entire focus. We built the first inbound-only, API-first platform designed for developers who need to turn emails into structured data in real time.

---

Head-to-Head Comparison

Feature	MERU	Mailgun
Primary Purpose	Inbound-first email processing	Outbound email + inbound addon
Data Format	Clean JSON payloads	Raw MIME messages
Setup Complexity	Single API call	DNS + routing configuration
Address Creation	Instant API provisioning	Static domain routing
Content Storage	No long-term storage (SOC 2)	Stores messages and logs
Spam Filtering	Built-in pipeline	Manual implementation
Per-address Webhooks	✅ Native support	❌ Route-based only
Pricing Model	Simple per-message	Complex tiers + storage

---

Use Cases Developers Search For

”How can I get inbound emails as JSON into my app?”

Mailgun Approach:

• Receive raw MIME messages via webhook
• Parse MIME manually or use libraries
• Handle different content types and encodings
• Implement attachment extraction logic

// Mailgun webhook - requires manual parsing
app.post('/mailgun-webhook', (req, res) => {
  const mimeData = req.body;
  // Complex MIME parsing required
  const parsed = parseMimeMessage(mimeData['body-mime']);
  // Extract attachments manually
  const attachments = extractAttachments(parsed);
});

MERU Approach:

• Receive structured JSON immediately
• All parsing handled automatically
• Attachments ready-to-use as base64
• Spam scores and metadata included

// MERU webhook - clean JSON ready to use
app.post('/meru-webhook', (req, res) => {
  const event = meru.verifyWebhook(req.body, req.headers);
  console.log('Subject:', event.headers.subject);
  console.log('Attachments:', event.attachments.length);
  // Ready to process immediately
});

---

”Can I create unique inbound email addresses for each of my users?”

Mailgun Limitation:

• Requires pre-configured domains and routes
• Static routing rules that map to your parsing logic
• Complex subdomain or path-based routing
• Manual management of address lifecycle

MERU Solution:

• Create addresses on-demand via API
• Each address gets its own webhook URL
• Automatic address expiration and cleanup
• Perfect for per-user or per-tenant addresses

// MERU - Create address for user instantly
const address = await meru.addresses.create({
  userId: 'user_123',
  webhookUrl: 'https://api.example.com/user/123/email',
  ttlHours: 720 // Auto-expire in 30 days
});
console.log(`User address: ${address.address}`);

---

”Is inbound email secure and SOC 2 compliant?”

Mailgun’s Approach:

• Stores message content for parsing and debugging
• Logs are retained for extended periods
• Content accessible through dashboard and API
• Requires additional configuration for compliance

MERU’s Security:

• Stream-and-purge processing model
• No long-term storage of message bodies
• Metadata-only logs (7-30 day retention)
• Built for SOC 2 compliance from day one

---

”Do you support spam filtering and data enrichment?”

Mailgun:

• Basic spam scoring available
• Limited filtering options
• No built-in data enrichment
• Requires third-party integrations

MERU:

• Advanced spam filtering pipeline
• Configurable spam score thresholds
• Optional data enrichment (entity recognition, sentiment analysis)
• All processed before webhook delivery

---

”How fast can I set up inbound email?”

Mailgun Setup Process:

1. Configure DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM)
2. Set up routing rules in dashboard
3. Configure webhook endpoints
4. Implement MIME parsing logic
5. Handle edge cases and errors

MERU Setup Process:

curl -X POST https://api.meruhook.com/inbound/addresses \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"webhook_url": "https://your-app.com/webhook"}'

Done. You have an active inbound email address in seconds.

---

Real-World Migration Stories

Support Ticket System Migration

Before (Mailgun):

// 50+ lines of MIME parsing code
function parseMailgunWebhook(req) {
  const mimeData = req.body['body-mime'];
  const parsed = parseMime(mimeData);
  const subject = parsed.headers.subject;
  const text = extractTextContent(parsed);
  const attachments = extractAttachments(parsed);
  
  // Handle various edge cases
  if (parsed.headers['content-transfer-encoding'] === 'quoted-printable') {
    text = decodeQuotedPrintable(text);
  }
  
  // More parsing logic...
  return { subject, text, attachments };
}

After (MERU):

// 5 lines - clean and reliable
function handleMeruWebhook(req) {
  const event = meru.verifyWebhook(req.body, req.headers);
  return {
    subject: event.headers.subject,
    text: event.text,
    attachments: event.attachments
  };
}

Result: 90% reduction in code, eliminated parsing bugs, faster time-to-market.

---

Pricing Comparison

Mailgun Pricing Complexity

• Base plan: $35/month for 50k emails (mostly outbound)
• Inbound parsing: Additional per-message fees
• Storage costs for message retention
• Complex tier calculations
• Overage charges

MERU Simple Pricing

• Starter: $10/month for 1,300 inbound messages
• Growth: Scales linearly with usage
• Enterprise: Custom pricing for high volume
• No hidden fees or storage costs
• No outbound email requirements

Cost Example:

• 2,000 inbound emails/month
• Mailgun: ~$50-70/month (with storage)
• MERU: $15/month

---

Performance & Reliability

Metric	MERU	Mailgun
Webhook Latency	<100ms average	200-500ms average
Parsing Accuracy	99.9% (pre-processed)	Variable (manual parsing)
Uptime SLA	99.9%	99.9%
Global Coverage	Multi-region MX	Single region default
Retry Logic	Intelligent backoff	Basic retries

---

Developer Experience

Documentation Quality

• MERU: Inbound-focused docs with real examples
• Mailgun: General docs covering mostly outbound features

SDK Support

• MERU: Dedicated inbound SDKs for all major languages
• Mailgun: General-purpose SDKs with limited inbound helpers

Error Handling

• MERU: Structured error responses with actionable guidance
• Mailgun: Generic HTTP errors requiring debugging

---

Migration Guide: Mailgun → MERU

Step 1: Replace Webhook Handler

// OLD: Mailgun webhook with manual parsing
app.post('/mailgun', (req, res) => {
  const message = parseMailgunMessage(req.body);
  processEmail(message);
});

// NEW: MERU webhook with structured data
app.post('/meru', (req, res) => {
  const event = meru.verifyWebhook(req.body, req.headers);
  processEmail(event); // Same function, cleaner data
});

Step 2: Update Address Management

// OLD: Static Mailgun routes
// Configure in dashboard: route('match_recipient("user-*@example.com")')

// NEW: Dynamic MERU addresses
const address = await meru.addresses.create({
  userId: 'user_123',
  webhookUrl: '/meru'
});

Step 3: Remove Parsing Code

• Delete MIME parsing libraries
• Remove attachment extraction logic
• Eliminate encoding/decoding functions
• Clean up error handling for parsing edge cases

Step 4: Test & Deploy

• Verify webhook signature validation
• Test with various email formats
• Monitor improved reliability metrics

---

The Bottom Line

Choose Mailgun if:

• You primarily need outbound email sending
• You already have complex Mailgun infrastructure
• You’re willing to maintain custom MIME parsing code

Choose MERU if:

• Inbound email is important to your application
• You want clean, structured data without parsing
• You need unique addresses per user/tenant
• You value developer productivity and reliability
• You want SOC 2 compliant email processing

---

Ready to Make the Switch?

Join hundreds of developers who’ve migrated from Mailgun to MERU for better inbound email processing.

✅ 2-minute setup vs hours of configuration
✅ Zero parsing code vs complex MIME libraries
✅ Predictable pricing vs complex tier calculations
✅ SOC 2 compliance vs content storage concerns

Start your free trial today and see the difference an inbound-first platform makes.

Try MERU Free • Compare Pricing • Migration Guide