No, Mailgun does not allow cold email. Its acceptable use policy only permits marketing email to people who gave clear, explicit and provable consent through a confirmed opt-in, and it bans bought, rented and scraped lists outright. On top of that it caps spam complaints at 0.08% and bounces at 5%. Cold outreach fails the consent rule before the numbers even come into it, so if outreach is your use case, plan to send it from somewhere else.
What Mailgun's policy actually says
The policy was last revised on January 16, 2023 and applies across Sinch Email, the group Mailgun belongs to. These are the parts that decide cold email.
| Policy section | What it says | What it means for outreach |
|---|---|---|
| 1b, lists | bought, rented or scraped lists are "absolutely prohibited" | prospect lists from data vendors are out |
| 1c, consent | marketing only to people with "clear, explicit and provable consent" | a cold prospect has not opted in |
| 1c, method | consent through confirmed single or double opt-in | a LinkedIn profile is not opt-in |
| 1d, proof | proof of consent required on an escalated complaint | you must show the signup record |
| 1e, unsubscribe | a link in every marketing email, honoured without delay | needed anyway, by law |
| 2a, law | no breaking laws on unsolicited commercial email | the law is the floor, not the ceiling |
The word "cold" never appears. It does not need to. Rule 1c on its own excludes anyone who did not ask to hear from you.
The numbers that pause an account
Even an opt-in sender has to stay inside these limits. Mailgun also says it can change them without notice.
| Metric | Mailgun limit | On a 10,000 email send |
|---|---|---|
| Spam complaints | 0.08% or less | 8 complaints |
| Bounces | 5% or less | 500 bounces |
| Unsubscribes | 1.4% or less (1% if unsubscribes beat clicks) | 140 unsubscribes |
| Blocks | under 20% | 2,000 blocked |
Mailgun's complaint limit is a third of Gmail's 0.3% ceiling
That 0.08% line is tighter than Google's own 0.3% ceiling. Shared IPs explain why: your complaints land on the same addresses as other Mailgun customers, so Mailgun acts long before Gmail would. A cold list that gets 3 or 4 reports per thousand is five times over the line on day one.
Why outreach gets caught
Cold email shows up in Mailgun's data in three ways, usually within the first few sends.
- Bounces. Prospect lists decay fast. A list that is a year old can bounce 5% to 15%, which is over the 5% limit on its own.
- Complaints. People who never signed up press "report spam" far more than subscribers do.
- Spam traps. Scraped and bought lists carry recycled trap addresses. One hit is a strong signal the list was not opt-in.
Once a review starts, rule 1d applies: you are asked for proof of consent. For a cold list there is nothing to show, and the account is usually disabled.
What proof of consent looks like
If you do send opt-in mail through Mailgun, keep records that would pass a review. This is the bar a cold list cannot meet.
What a reviewer expects to see for each address
| Record | Opt-in subscriber | Cold prospect |
|---|---|---|
| Signup date and source | form on your site, timestamped | none |
| Confirmation click | yes, for double opt-in | none |
| IP at signup | logged | none |
| Lawful basis | consent | at best "legitimate interest", not accepted by Mailgun |
Legal is not the same as allowed
Plenty of cold email is legal. In the US, the FTC's CAN-SPAM rules let you send commercial email without prior consent if headers and subject lines are honest, a postal address is included, and opt-outs are honoured within 10 business days. The UK and EU are stricter for individuals but allow some B2B outreach.
A provider's policy can still be tighter than the law, and Mailgun's is. It requires opt-in everywhere. So "is it legal?" and "will Mailgun let me?" have different answers, and only the second one decides whether your account survives.
Where cold outreach can go instead
The clean setup keeps outreach completely away from the account that sends your receipts and password resets.
Split the streams so one complaint spike cannot stop your password resets
| Option | Cold outreach allowed? | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Mailgun shared IPs | no | account disabled, transactional stops too |
| Mailgun dedicated IP | no, same policy | same policy applies, IP just costs more |
| SendGrid or Amazon SES | no | see does SendGrid allow cold email and does SES allow it |
| Google Workspace inboxes | tolerated at low volume | daily caps, inbox suspensions |
| Your own SMTP server and IPs | your rules, the law still applies | you own warm-up and list quality |
For a wider list of options, see SMTP providers that actually allow cold email.
Rules that keep outreach on your own server healthy
Owning the IPs removes the policy problem. It does not remove the inbox providers.
- Use a separate domain or subdomain for outreach, never the one your customers know.
- Verify the list before every send. Keep bounces under 2%.
- Send small, steady volumes per IP and domain. A few hundred a day per IP at first, ramping slowly. Our IP warm-up schedule has the weekly numbers.
- Write to one person. Plain text, a real reason to contact them, an easy opt-out.
- Watch complaints weekly. Gmail's 0.3% ceiling still applies to you.
How BulkEmailSetup helps
We set up a dedicated SMTP server you own, with your own IPs and sending domains, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and PTR configured, bounce handling, a campaign platform and a warm-up plan. Your outreach is judged on your own reputation, not on a shared pool's policy.
| Plan | One-time fee | Emails per day | Dedicated IPs | Domains |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $549 | 25,000 | 3 | 1 |
| Advance | $1,199 | 200,000 | 15 | 4 |
There is no monthly fee to us, only about $11 a month of hosting on Basic paid to your host, and a 15-day money-back guarantee. See Basic plan details or compare all pricing.
Outreach on BulkEmailSetup servers follows our anti-spam policy: lawful B2B email to business contacts you researched yourself, a working opt-out honoured within 10 business days, your physical address in every message, and complaints under 0.1%. Bought, rented or scraped lists are not allowed.
Frequently asked questions
Does Mailgun allow cold email?
No. Mailgun's acceptable use policy says marketing email can only go to recipients who gave clear, explicit and provable consent, collected through a confirmed single or double opt-in. A cold prospect has not opted in, so cold outreach breaks the policy even if it is legal where you are. Accounts sending it are usually disabled once complaints or bounces show up.
What does Mailgun's policy say about unsolicited email?
The policy, last revised January 16, 2023, bans breaking laws on unsolicited commercial email, bans bought, rented or scraped lists outright, and requires an unsubscribe link in every marketing email. It also says you must show proof of consent if an abuse complaint escalates. It does not use the words cold email, but the consent rule covers it.
Why does Mailgun disable accounts for outreach?
Because outreach trips Mailgun's published limits fast. The policy caps spam complaints at 0.08%, bounces at 5% and blocked messages under 20%. On a 10,000 email send, 8 complaints crosses the line. Cold lists bounce more and get reported more than opt-in lists, and on shared IPs that risk lands on other Mailgun customers, so the account gets paused.
Which SMTP providers allow cold outreach?
Most shared-IP providers, including Mailgun, SendGrid and Amazon SES, ban it or make it very risky. Cold outreach fits on infrastructure where only your reputation is at stake: your own dedicated SMTP server with your own IPs and sending domains, such as BulkEmailSetup's Basic plan at $549 one-time for 3 IPs and 25,000 a day. You still have to follow the law, such as CAN-SPAM in the US, and keep complaint and bounce rates low.
Is cold email legal even if Mailgun bans it?
Often yes. In the US, CAN-SPAM allows commercial email without prior consent if you use honest headers and subject lines, include a postal address and honour opt-outs within 10 business days. The EU and UK are stricter for individuals. A provider's policy can be tighter than the law, and Mailgun's is: it requires opt-in regardless of where you send.
Can I use Mailgun for transactional email and send outreach elsewhere?
Yes, and many teams do. Keep receipts, password resets and product mail on Mailgun, and run outreach from a separate sending domain on separate infrastructure. Never send outreach through the same Mailgun account or domain, because one complaint spike can pause the account that also carries your password resets.
What happens to my Mailgun account if I send cold email?
Typically the account is paused for review once complaints, bounces or blocks pass the thresholds, and you are asked to show proof of consent. If you cannot show opt-in records for the list, the account is usually disabled. Sending can stop mid-campaign, and transactional mail on the same account stops with it.
