Amazon SES vs Unosend (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Amazon SES if

• Fits if your app already runs on AWS and you know your way around its console
• Works for teams that send in volume and also need to receive, route and archive incoming mail

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you need to email customers today, since new accounts start in a sandbox with daily limits
• Not for you if you'd rather not set things up through code and the AWS console
• Watch out: there's no free monthly allowance, so every email is billed once the $200 of credits is gone
• Pricey if you want managed dedicated IPs, as Pro is $105 a month per region and a second region doubles it
• Watch out: attachments, standard dedicated IPs at $24.95 each and AWS services like S3 and CloudWatch bill separately

Pick Unosend if

• Fits if you send a few thousand emails a month and want no subscription
• Works for developers who only need an API and SMTP relay

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a recurring free plan, because the 3,000 credits come once at signup
• Watch out: the cards say credits last 90 days with no minimum, while the FAQ data says 6 months and a $20 minimum
• Watch out: the site banner says Unosend is being acquired, with service continuing as normal
• Pricey if you need a dedicated IP, at $30 a month billed annually ($360 a year)
• Too light for marketing email, with no campaign tools on the page

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.

Unosend

• The site banner says Unosend is being acquired, with service continuing as normal.
• The pricing cards and the page's structured data disagree: the cards say credits last 90 days with no minimum, while the FAQ data says 6 months with a 5-credit ($20) minimum.
• A dedicated IP is $30 per month, billed annually ($360 a year).
• There is no recurring free plan; the free credits are given once at signup.

Amazon SES

API, SMTP and AWS SDKs

Send transactional and marketing email from any application through the SES API, an SMTP interface or an AWS SDK, after verifying your domain or address.

Virtual Deliverability Manager

Delivery and engagement insights with recommendations for reputation problems; the paid plans extend it to inbox placement tests and blocklist monitoring.

Dedicated, shared or your own IPs

Send from shared IPs, standard dedicated IPs at $24.95 a month each, managed dedicated IPs that SES warms up for you, or IP ranges you bring.

Mail Manager for incoming email

Receive email and route, allow or block it with rule sets, add security scanning from approved vendors, and archive sent and received mail.

Email validation

Checks recipient addresses before sending, at $0.01 per address checked through the API, or included up to a monthly allowance on Pro and Enterprise.

Tenants and global endpoints

Tenants keep each sender's reputation separate inside one account, and global endpoints spread sending across two AWS regions.

Unosend

REST API and SMTP relay

Send through an HTTP API or standard SMTP on ports 465 and 587.

Delivery logs

Real-time logs of sends, deliveries, bounces, opens and clicks.

Sending domains

Unlimited domains with SPF, DKIM and DMARC records.

Webhooks and tracking

Webhooks plus open and click tracking.

Auto top-up

Credits can be topped up automatically when the balance falls below a set level.

Dedicated IP

An optional dedicated sending IP for high-volume senders.

Amazon SES

• À la carte$0

  No plan or minimum fee: $0.10 per 1,000 emails sent or received, plus $0.12 per GB of attachments; features such as dedicated IPs are bought separately.

• Essentials$0

  No fixed fee: $0.16 per 1,000 emails up to 10 million a month, then less. Deliverability insights included; new accounts start on it from July 21, 2026.

• Pro$105

  per month, plus $0.22 per 1,000 emails

  Per account and region. Adds managed dedicated IPs, 2,500 address validations a month, deliverability tracking beyond SES and Trend Micro scanning.

• Enterprise$500

  per month, plus $0.23 per 1,000 emails

  Per account and region. Adds global endpoints across two regions, tenants, an open inbound endpoint, 5,000 validations and Spamhaus scanning.

Unosend

• Starter$4

  one-time top-up per 10,000 emails, used as you go

  Prepaid credits with no subscription, at $0.0004 per email. The pricing cards say credits last 90 days and that you can top up any amount.

• BusinessCustom

  Volume discounts for teams sending 500,000 or more emails, with an account manager, SLA and custom credit validity.