Comparison · Prices checked November 6, 2026
Amazon SES vs Mailgun. Bare sending price, or more tools in the box.
Amazon SES vs Mailgun: both are sending APIs for developers. At 100,000 emails a month, SES costs $10 at the à la carte rate and Mailgun Foundation costs $75. Mailgun adds a template builder, searchable logs, dedicated IP options and live support on its higher plans.
Verdict: Amazon SES
Pick Amazon SES if you want the lowest price per email and you are fine with storing logs and events yourself.
Verdict: Mailgun
Pick Mailgun if you want logs, a template builder, a warmed dedicated IP and phone support from one vendor, and the price fits.
Amazon SES vs Mailgun pricing
Monthly cost in USD, from the official pricing pages. Prices checked .
| Emails per month | Amazon SES (à la carte) | Amazon SES (Essentials plan) | Mailgun Send |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $1.00 | $1.60 | $15 (Basic) |
| 50,000 | $5.00 | $8.00 | $35 (Foundation) |
| 100,000 | $10.00 | $16.00 | $75 (Foundation) |
| 500,000 | $50.00 | $80.00 | $400 (Scale) |
| 1,000,000 | $100.00 | $160.00 | $700 (Scale) |
- 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.
- Mailgun prices are monthly USD prices for Mailgun Send. Foundation and Scale are free for the first month.
- Extra emails cost from $1.80 per 1,000 on Basic, $1.30 on Foundation and $1.10 on Scale.
- Mailgun Free sends 100 emails a day. Inbox placement and reputation monitoring are part of Mailgun Optimize, which has its own price.
- 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, Mailgun pricing. Checked November 6, 2026.
Features compared
| Area | Amazon SES | Mailgun |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Per email sent | Monthly plan by email volume, from $15 |
| Templates | Stored templates through the API | Template builder and API from Foundation |
| Logs | You store events yourself, or use the VDM dashboards | 1 day on Basic, 5 days on Foundation, 30 days on Scale |
| Dedicated IP | $24.95 per IP per month, or managed IPs that warm up automatically | Available from 50,000 emails. One included on Scale |
| Email validation | $0.01 per address | Add-on from $1.20 per 100. 5,000 included on Scale |
| Deliverability tools | Virtual Deliverability Manager | Mailgun Optimize, sold separately |
| Data region | The AWS region you choose | US or EU |
| Support | Billing support is free. Technical support needs a paid AWS Support plan | Tickets on every plan. Live chat and phone on Scale |
| Free start | Sandbox: 200 emails per 24 hours, to verified addresses only | Free plan: 100 emails a 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.
Mailgun
Mailgun runs the sending infrastructure and the suppression lists for you. Dedicated IPs open up at 50,000 emails a month, Scale includes one, and Mailgun warms dedicated IPs automatically. For inbox placement tests and reputation monitoring, Mailgun sells a second product, Mailgun Optimize.
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.
Mailgun
- Sign up and add your sending domain
- Publish the DNS records and wait for verification
- Create an API key, or use the SMTP relay, and send
A developer can send the first email in under an hour.
When to pick each
Pick Amazon SES when...
- You want the lowest price per email at any volume
- Your app already runs on AWS and uses IAM
- You can store events and logs in your own database
- You want marketing email on SES too, with BYOMailer for campaigns
Pick Mailgun when...
- You want 30 days of searchable logs without building storage
- You want one dedicated IP included and warmed for you (Scale)
- You want live chat and phone support from the vendor
- You want inbox placement tests from the same vendor (Mailgun Optimize)
Get SES prices with the marketing features
Mailgun and SES both leave the marketing work to you. BYOMailer gives your SES account newsletters, templates, contacts with tags and lists, sequences, automations and A/B tests, plus open, click and deliverability tracking. SES bounce and complaint events are processed for you. You pay AWS for sending and BYOMailer a flat plan fee.
- 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
Frequently asked questions
Is Amazon SES cheaper than Mailgun?
Yes. 100,000 emails a month cost $10 on SES à la carte and $16 on the SES Essentials plan. Mailgun Foundation costs $75. At 1,000,000 emails, SES costs $100 to $160 and Mailgun Scale costs $700.
Which has better deliverability, Amazon SES or Mailgun?
Neither wins by default. Both deliver well for clean, authenticated mail. Mailgun includes a warmed dedicated IP on Scale. SES offers managed dedicated IPs that warm up automatically, for $15 a month plus a fee per email.
Does Amazon SES keep email logs like Mailgun?
Not in the same way. SES publishes send, delivery, bounce and complaint events to AWS services such as SNS, and you store them. Mailgun keeps searchable logs for 1 to 30 days, depending on the plan.
Can I use Mailgun or Amazon SES for newsletters?
Both can send bulk email, but neither gives you a newsletter editor and campaign manager. BYOMailer adds that layer to your own SES account.
How do I move from Mailgun to Amazon SES?
Verify your domain in SES, request production access, and change your API calls or SMTP settings. For marketing email, import your contacts into BYOMailer, which sends through SES. We help you move on every plan.
More Amazon SES comparisons
Keep exploring