Comparison · Prices checked November 6, 2026
Amazon SES vs Mailchimp. Pay per email, or pay per contact.
Amazon SES vs Mailchimp is a choice between two price models. SES charges for each email you send: $0.10 per 1,000 at the à la carte rate, or $0.16 on the Essentials plan. Mailchimp charges for the contacts you store: Standard costs $450 a month for 50,000 contacts. Mailchimp gives you a complete marketing app. SES gives you only the sending engine.
Verdict: Amazon SES
Pick Amazon SES if your list is large and the per-contact bill hurts. Your cost follows what you send, not how many people are on the list.
Verdict: Mailchimp
Pick Mailchimp if you want a finished marketing app with an editor, automations, integrations and 24/7 support, and the per-contact price fits your budget.
Amazon SES vs Mailchimp pricing
Monthly cost in USD, from the official pricing pages. Prices checked .
| List size (emailed 4 times a month) | Amazon SES (à la carte) | Amazon SES (Essentials plan) | Mailchimp Essentials | Mailchimp Standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 contacts (40,000 emails) | $4.00 | $6.40 | $110 | $135 |
| 50,000 contacts (200,000 emails) | $20.00 | $32.00 | $385 | $450 |
| 100,000 contacts (400,000 emails) | $40.00 | $64.00 | Not offered | $800 |
- 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.
- Mailchimp prices are the regular monthly prices in USD for US visitors. Mailchimp shows a first-year discount on some plans, and it shows other prices in other regions.
- Mailchimp Standard includes sends up to 12 times your contacts each month, and Essentials up to 10 times. Mailchimp bills overages when you go over.
- Mailchimp Essentials stops at 50,000 contacts. Very small lists can use the Free plan, with up to 500 sends a month.
- 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, Mailchimp pricing. Checked November 6, 2026.
Features compared
| Area | Amazon SES | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Per email sent | Per contact, monthly plan |
| Visual email editor | No. Stored templates through the API only | Drag-and-drop editor and pre-built templates |
| Contacts and segments | Contact lists and topics through the API. No segment builder | Audiences, tags and segments |
| Campaigns and scheduling | No. You build the sending logic | Yes, on paid plans |
| Automations | No | Marketing automation flows |
| Monthly send limit | Your daily sending quota, which AWS raises on request | 12x contacts on Standard, 10x on Essentials |
| Sending API | API and SMTP | Marketing API. Transactional email is a separate product |
| Integrations | AWS services and SDKs | 300+ integrations |
| Support | Billing support is free. Technical support needs a paid AWS Support plan | 24/7 email and chat on Essentials and Standard. Phone on Premium |
| Free start | Sandbox: 200 emails per 24 hours, to verified addresses only | Free plan: up to 500 sends a month |
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.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp sends from infrastructure that it runs for you. It processes bounces, unsubscribes and abuse reports, and you only authenticate your domain. You do not choose or manage the sending IPs. That saves work, but it also means you cannot take your IP reputation with you.
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.
Mailchimp
- Sign up and authenticate your domain
- Import your contacts into an audience
- Pick a template and send
Most people send the first campaign on the same day.
When to pick each
Pick Amazon SES when...
- Your list is 10,000 contacts or more and grows faster than your sends
- You send a few times a month and do not want to pay to keep contacts stored
- You already run on AWS, or you can add DNS records and IAM keys
- You can add a marketing layer on top: your own code, or BYOMailer
Pick Mailchimp when...
- You want a drag-and-drop editor, templates and forms ready today
- You want 300+ integrations and ready-made automation flows
- You want 24/7 email and chat support from the vendor
- Your list is small enough that the per-contact price does not matter
Get SES prices with the marketing features
The gap between these two columns is why BYOMailer exists. You connect your own SES account, and BYOMailer adds the Mailchimp parts that SES lacks: newsletters, templates, contacts with tags and lists, sequences, automations and A/B tests. You pay AWS for each email and BYOMailer a flat plan fee. A bigger list does not raise the price.
- 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 Mailchimp? Read BYOMailer vs Mailchimp
Frequently asked questions
Is Amazon SES cheaper than Mailchimp?
Yes, by a wide margin for large lists. 50,000 contacts emailed 4 times a month is 200,000 emails. That costs $20 on SES à la carte or $32 on the SES Essentials plan. Mailchimp Standard costs $450 a month for 50,000 contacts.
Can Amazon SES replace Mailchimp?
Not alone. SES sends email, but it has no editor, sign-up forms, campaign reports or automations. To replace Mailchimp with SES, add a marketing layer. BYOMailer is one: connect SES and get newsletters, sequences and automations for a flat fee.
Is deliverability worse on Amazon SES than on Mailchimp?
Not by default. Both deliver well for clean lists with an authenticated domain. The difference is who does the work. On SES you process bounces and complaints and keep the rates low. Mailchimp does that for you.
How many emails can I send on Mailchimp Standard?
Up to 12 times your contact count each month. Essentials allows 10 times. If you go over the contact or send limit, Mailchimp bills you for the overage.
How do I move from Mailchimp to Amazon SES?
Export your audience from Mailchimp as a CSV, verify your domain in SES, and import the contacts with their tags into BYOMailer, which sends through your SES account. We help you move on every plan.
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