Platform Comparison

Amazon SES vs SendGrid

Amazon SES vs SendGrid: comparing pricing, features, and complexity. Should you use raw AWS infrastructure or a managed email platform?

Amazon SES and SendGrid represent two fundamentally different approaches to email. SES is raw AWS infrastructure with rock-bottom pricing but requires significant setup. SendGrid is a managed platform with higher prices but more features out of the box. Here's how to choose.

Quick Comparison

FeatureAmazon SESSendGrid
Pricing Modelvolume-basedvolume-based
Starting Price$0/mo$19.95/mo
Free Tier62,000100
Transactional Email
Marketing Email
Automated Warmup

Pricing

Amazon SES wins

Amazon SES pricing:

  • ●$0.10 per 1,000 emails (raw cost)
  • ●No monthly minimums
  • ●Pay only for what you send
  • ●Additional charges for dedicated IPs, attachments
  • ●Free tier: 62,000 emails/month from EC2

SendGrid pricing:

  • ●Free: 100 emails/day
  • ●Essentials: $19.95/month for 50K (~$0.40/1K)
  • ●Pro: $89.95/month for 100K (~$0.90/1K)
  • ●Significant markup over raw costs

Winner: Amazon SES

SES is 4-9x cheaper per email. At 100K emails/month, SES costs ~$10 vs SendGrid's $89.95.

Ease of Setup

SendGrid wins

Amazon SES setup:

  • ●AWS account required
  • ●IAM credentials management
  • ●DNS verification manual
  • ●Configuration sets for tracking
  • ●Bounce handling DIY
  • ●Steep learning curve

SendGrid setup:

  • ●Simple signup
  • ●API key in minutes
  • ●Guided domain verification
  • ●Analytics built-in
  • ●Bounce handling automatic
  • ●Quick time-to-first-email

Winner: SendGrid

SendGrid gets you sending in minutes. SES requires AWS expertise and significant infrastructure work.

Features

SendGrid wins

Amazon SES features:

  • ●Sending only (no marketing tools)
  • ●Basic analytics via CloudWatch
  • ●No templates (DIY)
  • ●No contact management
  • ●Configuration sets for routing
  • ●Raw SMTP or API

SendGrid features:

  • ●Transactional and marketing email
  • ●Visual email builder
  • ●Template management
  • ●Contact lists and segmentation
  • ●Marketing automation
  • ●Comprehensive analytics

Winner: SendGrid

SES is infrastructure, not a product. SendGrid includes everything you need for email marketing and transactional sends.

Deliverability

Tie

Amazon SES deliverability:

  • ●Strict sending policies
  • ●Account review for high volume
  • ●Dedicated IPs available
  • ●You manage reputation yourself
  • ●No warmup automation
  • ●Can be suspended for poor metrics

SendGrid deliverability:

  • ●Shared IPs by default
  • ●Dedicated IPs at higher tiers
  • ●Some reputation management
  • ●Account suspensions common
  • ●No warmup automation

Winner: Tie

SES gives you more control but more responsibility. SendGrid manages more but you share infrastructure with others. Neither offers true reputation isolation.

Operational Overhead

SendGrid wins

Amazon SES operations:

  • ●Monitor CloudWatch metrics
  • ●Handle bounces/complaints yourself
  • ●Manage suppression lists manually
  • ●Build your own dashboards
  • ●No built-in support
  • ●Full AWS complexity

SendGrid operations:

  • ●Dashboard for everything
  • ●Automatic bounce handling
  • ●Built-in suppression
  • ●Support available
  • ●Less maintenance
  • ●Still some deliverability work

Winner: SendGrid

Unless you have a dedicated platform team, SendGrid's managed approach saves significant engineering time.

The Verdict

Choose Amazon SES if you have AWS expertise, want the lowest possible cost, and can invest in building the infrastructure around it. Best for high-volume senders with engineering resources.

Choose SendGrid if you want a managed solution, need marketing features, or don't have the team to build and maintain email infrastructure.

Consider alternatives if you want SES-level pricing with SendGrid-level convenience, platforms that wrap SES with modern features.

Consider Transmit

Why choose between SES's price and SendGrid's convenience? Transmit gives you both: built on AWS SES for rock-bottom costs, but with a modern dashboard, automated warmup, reputation isolation, and auto-pause on deliverability issues. SES pricing with managed convenience, or bring your own AWS account for full control.

Compare with Transmit

Transmit vs Amazon SES Transmit vs SendGrid

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do Amazon SES and SendGrid compare on Pricing?
**Amazon SES** pricing: - $0.10 per 1,000 emails (raw cost) - No monthly minimums - Pay only for what you send - Additional charges for dedicated IPs, attachments - Free tier: 62,000 emails/month from EC2 **SendGrid** pricing: - Free: 100 emails/day - Essentials: $19.95/month for 50K (~$0.40/1K) - Pro: $89.95/month for 100K (~$0.90/1K) - Significant markup over raw costs **Winner: Amazon SES** SES is 4-9x cheaper per email. At 100K emails/month, SES costs ~$10 vs SendGrid's $89.95.
How do Amazon SES and SendGrid compare on Ease of Setup?
**Amazon SES** setup: - AWS account required - IAM credentials management - DNS verification manual - Configuration sets for tracking - Bounce handling DIY - Steep learning curve **SendGrid** setup: - Simple signup - API key in minutes - Guided domain verification - Analytics built-in - Bounce handling automatic - Quick time-to-first-email **Winner: SendGrid** SendGrid gets you sending in minutes. SES requires AWS expertise and significant infrastructure work.
How do Amazon SES and SendGrid compare on Features?
**Amazon SES** features: - Sending only (no marketing tools) - Basic analytics via CloudWatch - No templates (DIY) - No contact management - Configuration sets for routing - Raw SMTP or API **SendGrid** features: - Transactional and marketing email - Visual email builder - Template management - Contact lists and segmentation - Marketing automation - Comprehensive analytics **Winner: SendGrid** SES is infrastructure, not a product. SendGrid includes everything you need for email marketing and transactional sends.
How do Amazon SES and SendGrid compare on Deliverability?
**Amazon SES** deliverability: - Strict sending policies - Account review for high volume - Dedicated IPs available - You manage reputation yourself - No warmup automation - Can be suspended for poor metrics **SendGrid** deliverability: - Shared IPs by default - Dedicated IPs at higher tiers - Some reputation management - Account suspensions common - No warmup automation **Winner: Tie** SES gives you more control but more responsibility. SendGrid manages more but you share infrastructure with others. Neither offers true reputation isolation.
How do Amazon SES and SendGrid compare on Operational Overhead?
**Amazon SES** operations: - Monitor CloudWatch metrics - Handle bounces/complaints yourself - Manage suppression lists manually - Build your own dashboards - No built-in support - Full AWS complexity **SendGrid** operations: - Dashboard for everything - Automatic bounce handling - Built-in suppression - Support available - Less maintenance - Still some deliverability work **Winner: SendGrid** Unless you have a dedicated platform team, SendGrid's managed approach saves significant engineering time.
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