Comparison · Prices checked November 6, 2026
Amazon SES vs SendGrid. Two sending APIs, very different bills.
Amazon SES vs SendGrid is the closest match on this list: both are email APIs for developers. SES sends 300,000 emails a month for $30 at the à la carte rate. SendGrid Pro costs $249 for the same volume, and it includes a dedicated IP, template testing and 2,500 email validations.
Verdict: Amazon SES
Pick Amazon SES if you want the lowest price per email and you already work in AWS. At 300,000 emails, SES costs less than one fifth of SendGrid.
Verdict: SendGrid
Pick SendGrid if you want a dedicated IP, a template editor, validation credits and vendor support in one plan, without AWS setup.
Amazon SES vs SendGrid pricing
Monthly cost in USD, from the official pricing pages. Prices checked .
| Emails per month | Amazon SES (à la carte) | Amazon SES (Essentials plan) | SendGrid Email API |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50,000 | $5.00 | $8.00 | $19.95 (Essentials) |
| 100,000 | $10.00 | $16.00 | $34.95 (Essentials) |
| 300,000 | $30.00 | $48.00 | $249 (Pro) |
| 700,000 | $70.00 | $112.00 | $499 (Pro) |
| 1,500,000 | $150.00 | $240.00 | $799 (Pro) |
- 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.
- SendGrid prices are monthly USD prices for the Email API. Pro starts at $89.95 for 100,000 emails and includes dedicated IPs.
- SendGrid Marketing Campaigns, the newsletter product, has its own price: Basic from $15 a month (5,000 contacts, 15,000 emails) and Advanced from $60 a month.
- The SendGrid free trial sends 100 emails a day for 60 days.
- 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, SendGrid Email API pricing, SendGrid Marketing Campaigns pricing. Checked November 6, 2026.
Features compared
| Area | Amazon SES | SendGrid |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Per email sent | Monthly plan by email volume, from $19.95 |
| Dedicated IP | $24.95 per IP per month, on any account | Included on Pro and Premier |
| Templates | Stored templates through the API | Dynamic templates with an editor. Testing on Pro |
| Email validation | $0.01 per address | 2,500 included on Pro, 5,000 on Premier |
| Event webhooks | Events to SNS and other AWS services | 2 on Essentials, 5 on Pro |
| Teammates | AWS IAM users | 1 on Essentials, 1,000 on Pro |
| Newsletter tool | No | Separate Marketing Campaigns product, from $15 a month |
| Support | Billing support is free. Technical support needs a paid AWS Support plan | Vendor support on every plan, more on higher plans |
| Free start | Sandbox: 200 emails per 24 hours, to verified addresses only | Free trial: 100 emails a day for 60 days |
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.
SendGrid
SendGrid Essentials sends from shared IPs. Pro and Premier include dedicated IPs, so your reputation depends only on your own mail. Every plan includes SendGrid analytics and deliverability tools, and SendGrid runs the infrastructure for 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.
SendGrid
- Sign up and verify your sender domain
- Create an API key, or use the SMTP relay
- Point your app at SendGrid 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 want a dedicated IP at $24.95 a month without a plan upgrade
- You want marketing and product email on one bill, with BYOMailer for campaigns
Pick SendGrid when...
- You want a dedicated IP included and do not want to manage it
- Your developers want a template editor and template testing
- You want email validation credits in the plan
- You want one vendor account for a large team, with up to 1,000 teammates on Pro
Get SES prices with the marketing features
SES does not include a newsletter tool, and SendGrid sells one as a second product. BYOMailer gives your SES account that layer: newsletters, templates, contacts with tags and lists, sequences, automations and A/B tests. SES bounce and complaint events go straight into BYOMailer. 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 SendGrid?
Yes. 300,000 emails a month cost $30 on SES à la carte and $48 on the SES Essentials plan. SendGrid Pro costs $249 for 300,000 emails. At 100,000 emails, SES costs $10 to $16 and SendGrid Essentials costs $34.95.
Is SendGrid better than Amazon SES for deliverability?
Not by default. Both deliver well when your domain is authenticated and your list is clean. SendGrid includes dedicated IPs from Pro. On SES you add a dedicated IP for $24.95 a month, or a managed IP that SES warms up for you.
Does SendGrid include a dedicated IP?
Yes, on Pro and Premier. Essentials sends from shared IPs. SES sells standard dedicated IPs for $24.95 per IP per month, and managed dedicated IPs for $15 a month plus a fee per email.
Can I send newsletters with SendGrid or Amazon SES?
SendGrid sells newsletters as Marketing Campaigns, from $15 a month. SES has no newsletter tool, so you add one. BYOMailer connects to your SES account and adds newsletters, sequences and automations.
How hard is it to move from SendGrid to Amazon SES?
For app email, you verify your domain in SES and change the API calls or the SMTP settings. For marketing email, you import your contacts into BYOMailer, which sends through SES. We help you move on every plan.
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