What is the best alternative to Amazon SES?

By our editorial score, SendGrid (7.9/10) is the highest-rated alternative here. The better fit depends on why you are leaving Amazon SES: the relationship label on each alternative (lighter, head-to-head or more powerful) and its reason are the quickest way to narrow it down.

Which Amazon SES alternative has the lowest listed starting price?

Postmark, listed from $15/mo in our review. Sending services charge by email volume, often per thousand emails or in monthly volume tiers, while marketing platforms usually charge by contact count. Dedicated IPs and extra features can add fixed monthly fees.

Not as a fixed allowance. New AWS customers get up to $200 in AWS Free Tier credits for 6 months that can be used on eligible services, including SES (checked 4 October 2026).

What are the Amazon SES sandbox limits?

New accounts can only send to verified addresses or domains, up to 200 messages per 24 hours and 1 message per second. You request production access in the SES console; AWS says it gives an initial response within 24 hours (checked 4 October 2026).

Amazon SES alternatives

Amazon SES is one of the cheapest ways to send email at volume, but it is a sending service you build on: new accounts start in a sandbox, there is no campaign editor, and setup assumes AWS skills. These are the alternatives our reviews name, each with the reason it made the list.

Reviewed by the Conversion Gems editorial team · Oct 4, 2026 · no sponsored placements

Top Amazon SES alternatives

Ranked by our editorial score.

SendGrid Email MarketingMore powerful
An email API that adds a marketing campaign editor and contact management, for teams that want to send campaigns as well as app email.
vs Amazon SES: More features (9 vs 8) · Easier to use (7 vs 4) · Better support (7 vs 6) · Weaker value (7 vs 9)
Source: our Amazon SES review
Step-up alternative: “SendGrid if you also want a marketing campaign editor.”
Our score7.9 / 10
Starts at$19.95/mo
Free planNo
Read review SendGrid
Brevo Email MarketingMore powerful
A marketing email and SMS platform that also sends transactional email, for marketers who want a ready-made tool instead of building on an API.
vs Amazon SES: Easier to use (8 vs 4) · Fewer integrations (7 vs 9)
Source: our Amazon SES review
Alternatives list: “Marketing email and SMS platform that also sends transactional email.”
Our score7.6 / 10
Starts at$9/mo
Free planYes
Read review Brevo
Postmark Email MarketingLighter option
A transactional email service with a simpler setup, for teams that don't want to manage the AWS side of sending.
vs Amazon SES: Easier to use (7 vs 4) · Better support (8 vs 6) · Weaker value (7 vs 9) · Fewer integrations (7 vs 9)
Source: our Amazon SES review
Lighter alternative: “Postmark for simpler transactional email setup.”
Our score7.4 / 10
Starts at$15/mo
Free planYes
Read review Postmark
Mailgun Email MarketingHead-to-head
Another developer email API, with its own dashboard and log search, for teams that don't need SES's ties to other AWS services.
vs Amazon SES: Easier to use (6 vs 4) · Weaker value (7 vs 9)
Source: our Amazon SES review
Comparison: “Versus Mailgun: Mailgun is also a developer email API with its own dashboard and log search; SES ties into AWS services such as Lambda and S3.”
Our score7.2 / 10
Starts at$15/mo
Free planYes
Read review Mailgun

* “Lower listed price” compares the entry prices in our reviews. Where the two tools price differently (per seat, per contact, per email sent), the cheaper option depends on your list size and sending volume.

How they compare

Our five sub-scores out of 10. Bold means at least a point above Amazon SES.

Tool	Score	Features	Value	Ease of use	Ecosystem	Support	Starts at	Free plan
Amazon SES(replacing)	7.4	8	9	4	9	6	Usage-based	No
SendGrid	7.9	9	7	7	9	7	$19.95/mo	No
Brevo	7.6	7	9	8	7	6	$9/mo	Yes
Postmark	7.4	8	7	7	7	8	$15/mo	Yes
Mailgun	7.2	8	7	6	8	6	$15/mo	Yes

Choose by what you need

The same reviewed relationship as the list above — not a new comparison.

Choose Postmark for something lighter

A transactional email service with a simpler setup, for teams that don't want to manage the AWS side of sending.

Choose Mailgun for a direct swap

Another developer email API, with its own dashboard and log search, for teams that don't need SES's ties to other AWS services.

Choose SendGrid for more power

An email API that adds a marketing campaign editor and contact management, for teams that want to send campaigns as well as app email.

Free alternatives to Amazon SES

3 of the 4 alternatives have a free plan.

Brevo, Postmark, Mailgun

What each free plan includes

Brevo Review Brevo

Free (500 contacts); paid from $9/mo

Postmark Review Postmark

Free (100 emails/mo); paid from $15/mo

Mailgun Review Mailgun

Free (100 emails/day); paid from $15/mo

How we picked them

Every alternative here is named in one of our own reviews — either in the Amazon SES review (as a lighter or more powerful option, or in a head-to-head comparison) or in the other tool's review. Each relationship was then checked by hand: would someone replacing Amazon SES reasonably consider this tool? Rankings follow our editorial score only; no tool pays to be listed or ranked.

Each entry quotes the review it came from, checked on 4 October 2026.

9 tools our reviews mention alongside Amazon SES that we left out, and why

Mailu — Mailu's alternatives list names Amazon SES, but Mailu is a self-hosted mail server for your own domains, which does a different job from an application sending service.
mailcow — Mailcow's alternatives list names Amazon SES, but Mailcow is a self-hosted mail server suite with webmail, which does a different job from an application sending service.
SmarterMail — SmarterMail's alternatives list names Amazon SES, but SmarterMail is a self-hosted email and collaboration server, which does a different job from an application sending service.
Omnisend — Neither Amazon SES's review nor Omnisend's names the other, so there is no review sentence to support a relationship.
MailerLite — Neither Amazon SES's review nor MailerLite's names the other, so there is no review sentence to support a relationship.
Constant Contact — Neither Amazon SES's review nor Constant Contact's names the other, so there is no review sentence to support a relationship.
ActiveCampaign — Neither Amazon SES's review nor ActiveCampaign's names the other, so there is no review sentence to support a relationship.
GetResponse — Neither Amazon SES's review nor GetResponse's names the other, so there is no review sentence to support a relationship.
HubSpot — Neither Amazon SES's review nor HubSpot's names the other, so there is no review sentence to support a relationship.

Questions about Amazon SES alternatives

The tool you are replacing

Amazon SES Email Marketing7.4 / 10

Starts at: Usage-based
Free plan: No
Ease of use: 4/10
Value: 9/10

Best for: Developers sending transactional email

Why people look for an alternative

New accounts are limited to 200 emails a day to verified addresses until AWS approves production access.
There is no built-in campaign editor or contact list manager, so marketers who want a visual campaign builder have to look elsewhere.
Setup needs DNS, IAM and AWS console knowledge, which is hard for teams with no one to manage those settings.
There is no fixed free email allowance; new customers get AWS credits shared across services instead.

Read our Amazon SES review

Quick answers

Highest ratedSendGrid7.9/10
Best with a free planBrevo7.6/10
Lowest listed starting pricePostmark$15/mo
Easier to use than Amazon SESMailgunease 6 vs 4

Email Marketing

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