Comparison · Prices checked November 6, 2026
Amazon SES vs Brevo. Raw sending at cost, or a full marketing suite.
Amazon SES vs Brevo comes down to one question: do you pay for sending only, or for a finished marketing app? SES sends 100,000 emails a month for $10 at the à la carte rate. Brevo Standard costs $139 for the same volume, and it includes the editor, contact lists, automations and support that SES does not have.
Verdict: Amazon SES
Pick Amazon SES if you are technical, send more than 50,000 emails a month, and want the lowest cost per email with your own sender reputation.
Verdict: Brevo
Pick Brevo if you want an editor, automations, SMS and vendor support in one account, and you do not want to touch AWS.
Amazon SES vs Brevo pricing
Monthly cost in USD, from the official pricing pages. Prices checked .
| Emails per month | Amazon SES (à la carte) | Amazon SES (Essentials plan) | Brevo Starter | Brevo Standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $1.00 | $1.60 | $17 | $35 |
| 50,000 | $5.00 | $8.00 | $56 | $97 |
| 100,000 | $10.00 | $16.00 | $82 | $139 |
| 500,000 | $50.00 | $80.00 | Not offered | $429 |
- Amazon SES à la carte: $0.10 per 1,000 emails, plus $0.12 per GB of attachments. No monthly fee.
- Amazon SES Essentials plan: $0.16 per 1,000 emails, with Virtual Deliverability Manager included. New SES accounts start on this plan since July 21, 2026, and can switch to à la carte at any time.
- Brevo prices are monthly USD list prices: the plan fee plus the email credit tier for that volume. Yearly billing is 10% less.
- Brevo Starter stops at 100,000 emails a month. At the 5,000, 10,000 and 15,000 email tiers, Brevo caps contacts at 500, 1,500 and 2,500.
- Brevo Professional starts at $499 a month for 150,000 emails. Brevo Free sends up to 300 emails a day.
- SES prices cover sending only. BYOMailer adds the marketing layer from $29 a month, flat, and your first 25,000 emails are free.
Sources: Amazon SES pricing, Brevo pricing. Checked November 6, 2026.
Features compared
| Area | Amazon SES | Brevo |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Per email sent | Monthly plan by email volume, from $9 |
| Visual email editor | No. Stored templates through the API only | Drag-and-drop editor and templates |
| Contacts and segments | Contact lists and topics through the API. No segment builder | Contacts, segments and sign-up forms |
| Campaigns and scheduling | No. You build the sending logic | Yes |
| Automations and A/B tests | No | Standard plan and up |
| API and SMTP | Yes | Yes, on every plan |
| Other channels | Email only | SMS, WhatsApp, push and chat |
| Dedicated IP | $24.95 per IP per month, on any account | Enterprise plan |
| Deliverability help | Virtual Deliverability Manager dashboards | Deliverability specialist, 3 hours a year on Professional |
| Support | Billing support is free. Technical support needs a paid AWS Support plan | Email support from Starter. Phone support on Professional |
| Free start | Sandbox: 200 emails per 24 hours, to verified addresses only | Free plan: 300 emails per day |
Deliverability and sender reputation
Amazon SES
On SES, the reputation is yours. You send from your own domain with DKIM, SPF and DMARC, on shared AWS IPs or on dedicated IPs that you rent. AWS watches two rates. At a 5% bounce rate or a 0.1% complaint rate, AWS puts the account under review. At 10% bounces or 0.5% complaints, AWS can pause your sending. You must process bounces and complaints yourself, or use a tool that does it for you.
Brevo
Brevo sends from infrastructure that it runs for you. It processes bounces and unsubscribes, and it approves your account before you can send. On the lower plans you share sending IPs with other Brevo customers. A dedicated IP comes with the Enterprise plan.
Setup effort
Amazon SES
- Verify your domain and publish the DKIM records
- Create an IAM user and access keys
- Request production access. The sandbox allows 200 emails per 24 hours, 1 per second, to verified addresses only
- Route bounce and complaint events to SNS and process them
- Build or connect the app that sends your email
Plan for an afternoon of AWS work, plus the wait for the AWS review. Read the SES setup guide.
Brevo
- Sign up and wait for Brevo to approve sending
- Authenticate your domain with the DNS records Brevo gives you
- Import contacts and build the first email in the editor
Most people send the first campaign on the same day.
When to pick each
Pick Amazon SES when...
- Your bill matters and you send 50,000 or more emails a month
- You already run on AWS, or you can add DNS records and IAM keys
- You want your own domain reputation, and a dedicated IP without an enterprise contract
- You can add a marketing layer on top: your own code, or BYOMailer
Pick Brevo when...
- You want a drag-and-drop editor and templates on day one
- You want email, SMS and WhatsApp in one account
- You want a free plan to start, with 300 emails a day
- You want a vendor support team, with phone support on Professional
Get SES prices with the marketing features
You do not have to pick between SES prices and Brevo features. BYOMailer connects to your own SES account and adds the parts that Brevo sells: newsletters, templates, contacts with tags and lists, sequences, automations and A/B tests. You pay AWS for sending and BYOMailer a flat plan fee, with no per-contact charge.
- Newsletters with templates and reusable snippets
- Sequences and automations
- A/B tests on subject and content
- Contacts with tags, lists and custom fields
- Open, click and deliverability tracking
- SES bounce and complaint events handled for you
Already on Brevo? Read BYOMailer vs Brevo
Frequently asked questions
Is Amazon SES cheaper than Brevo?
Yes, for sending. 100,000 emails a month cost $10 on SES à la carte and $16 on the SES Essentials plan. Brevo Standard costs $139 for the same volume. Brevo includes an editor, lists and automations, which SES does not.
Which has better deliverability, Amazon SES or Brevo?
Neither wins by default. Inbox placement depends on your list, your content and your domain authentication. SES gives you full control and full responsibility. Brevo runs the infrastructure for you and offers a dedicated IP on Enterprise.
Can I send marketing emails with Amazon SES?
Yes. SES sends marketing and transactional email. It has no editor, campaign scheduler or automations, so you add your own code or a marketing layer such as BYOMailer on top.
Why does SES show $0.16 per 1,000 emails on my account?
Since July 21, 2026, new SES accounts start on the Essentials plan at $0.16 per 1,000 emails. It includes Virtual Deliverability Manager. You can switch to à la carte pricing at $0.10 per 1,000 emails at any time.
How do I move from Brevo to Amazon SES?
Export your contacts from Brevo as a CSV, set up and verify your domain in SES, and import the contacts into BYOMailer, which sends through your SES account. We help you move on every plan.
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