Alternatives · Email Sending
Amazon SES alternatives
Amazon SES compared with 8 alternatives: Twilio SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Bird Email, Resend and 3 more.
Amazon SES is a paid product with a free trial. 6 of the 8 alternatives are free or have a free plan. One more offers a free trial.
8 tools · Listings checked up to Oct 18, 2026 · Where the facts come from
At a glance
| Tool | Price | Free plan | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon SESThis tool | Free trial | Trial only | Web |
| Twilio SendGrid | Free trial · from $19.95/mo | Trial only | Web |
| Mailgun | Free plan · from $15/mo | Yes | Web |
| Postmark | Free plan · from $15/mo | Yes | Web |
| Bird Email | Free plan · from $15/mo | Yes | Web |
| Resend | Free plan · from $20/mo | Yes | Web |
| Elastic Email | Free plan · from $19/mo | Yes | Web |
| SMTP.com | From $25/mo | No | Web |
| SMTP2GO | Free plan · from $15/mo | Yes | Web |
How each one differs from Amazon SES
- Free trial · from $19.95/mo
Twilio SendGrid
Twilio's email API and SMTP service, priced by monthly email volume
Suits: Developers adding transactional email to an app
- Free plan · from $15/mo
Mailgun
Email API and SMTP relay for developers, with list validation
- Mailgun has a free plan. Amazon SES does not, though it has a free trial.
Suits: Developers sending and receiving email from an app
- Free plan · from $15/mo
Postmark
Transactional email API and SMTP, with broadcasts on a separate stream
- Postmark has a free plan. Amazon SES does not, though it has a free trial.
- Postmark also covers dMARC.
- Amazon SES also covers email verification.
Suits: Software teams whose password resets and receipts must arrive fast
- Free plan · from $15/mo
Bird Email
SparkPost's successor: Bird's email API, paid from a prepaid balance
- Bird Email has a free plan. Amazon SES does not, though it has a free trial.
- Bird Email also covers email campaigns.
- Amazon SES also covers email verification.
Suits: Existing SparkPost customers planning their next integration
- Free plan · from $20/mo
Resend
Developer email API with React Email templates and a free tier
- Resend has a free plan. Amazon SES does not, though it has a free trial.
- Resend also covers email campaigns.
- Amazon SES also covers email verification.
Suits: Developers building with Node.js, Next.js or React
- Free plan · from $19/mo
Elastic Email
Low-cost email API and SMTP relay priced by monthly email volume
- Elastic Email has a free plan. Amazon SES does not, though it has a free trial.
- Elastic Email also covers email campaigns.
Suits: Price-conscious senders of 50,000 emails a month or more
- From $25/mo
SMTP.com
SMTP relay and email API sold in monthly volume plans from 50,000
- Amazon SES also covers email verification.
Suits: Senders who already need 50,000 emails a month or more
- Free plan · from $15/mo
SMTP2GO
SMTP relay and email API priced by emails a month, with a free plan
- SMTP2GO has a free plan. Amazon SES does not, though it has a free trial.
- Amazon SES also covers email verification.
Suits: Small businesses sending app or website email at low volume
Limits worth knowing in Amazon SES
- Every email is billed: $0.10 per 1,000 on à la carte pricing or $0.16 per 1,000 on Essentials, with no free monthly allowance.
- New accounts start in a sandbox that only sends to verified addresses, with daily limits, until AWS approves a limit increase.
- Pro and Enterprise fees are charged per account per region, so sending from two regions doubles the fixed fee.
- Other AWS services used alongside it, such as S3 storage, SNS notifications or CloudWatch dashboards, are billed separately.
Common questions
What are the alternatives to Amazon SES?
The alternatives to Amazon SES in this directory are Twilio SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Bird Email, Resend, Elastic Email, SMTP.com and SMTP2GO. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with Amazon SES.
Is there a free alternative to Amazon SES?
Yes. Mailgun, Postmark, Bird Email, Resend, Elastic Email and SMTP2GO have a free plan alongside paid ones.
When were these prices checked?
Every listing on this page was checked on Oct 18, 2026, against the pages it cites. Vendors change prices without notice, so confirm on their site before you buy.