Amazon SES vs SendGrid
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Amazon SES and SendGrid.
Quick Verdict
5.0/5
Amazon SES
268 reviews
4.3/5
SendGrid
166 reviews
Amazon SES is rated higher (5.0 vs 4.3). Amazon Simple Email Service is the cheapest bulk email option — $0.10 per 1,000 emails. EC2-hosted apps get 62,000 emails/month free. SMTP and API. Requires AWS account and setup effort. SendGrid by Twilio handles both transactional and marketing email at massive scale. REST API, SMTP relay, webhook events, and dedicated IP warming. Used by Uber, Airbnb, and Spotify.
 Amazon SES Cheapest bulk email API — $0.10 per 1,000 emails | SendGrid Twilio's email API for developers at scale | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 5.0 (268 reviews)✓ | 4.3 (166 reviews) |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best for | AWS-based applications sending bulk email at scale who want the lowest per-email cost available | Developers building apps that send transactional and marketing email at scale via API |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tierapi accessus datacentereu datacenterapac datacenter | free tierapi access |
| Visit Amazon SES → | Visit SendGrid → | |
Amazon SES
Pros
- + $0.10/1,000 emails — industry's lowest price
- + Free if sending from EC2 (62,000/month)
- + AWS reliability
Cons
- - Complex AWS setup and IAM configuration
- - Not beginner-friendly
- - Requires warming IP reputation
SendGrid
Pros
- + Industry-standard email API
- + High volume sending — millions per day
- + 100 free emails/day forever
Cons
- - Customer support can be slow
- - Account suspension risk if complaint rates high
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