Amazon SES Pricing 2026: Plans, 15-Year History & Reviews
Amazon email sending service
Amazon SES Pricing 2026
No monthly fee. $0.10 per 1,000 outbound emails. New customers get 3,000 free messages/month for 12 months (replaced the old 62K/month EC2 tier). Additional charges for dedicated IPs: standard ($24.95/IP/month) or managed ($15/account/month + volume fees).
Free Tier Available
3,000 free message charges per month for the first 12 months after you start using SES. New AWS customers also receive up to $200 in Free Tier credits (6 months).
3,000 messages/month for 12 months + 1,000 inbound/month + 1 GB attachments. Previously was 62,000/month from EC2 (discontinued).
Pay-per-email Pricing
| Volume | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First 3,000/month (new accounts, 12 months) | Free | Applies to all new SES customers for the first 12 months |
| All volume (after free tier) | $0.10 per 1,000 emails | Flat rate — no volume tiers or discounts |
| Managed dedicated IP volume | $0.02-$0.08/1K emails | Tiered: $0.08 (0-100K), $0.04 (100K-250K), $0.02 (250K+) — on top of base rate |
Monthly Cost Examples
| Scenario | Est. Monthly Cost | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| Early-stage SaaS (~3K emails/mo, new account) | $0.00 | Under 3K free tier (first 12 months only) |
| Growing SaaS (~50K emails/mo) | $5.00 | 50K × $0.10/1K = $5.00 |
| Mid-size SaaS (1M emails/mo + standard dedicated IP) | $124.95 | 1M × $0.10/1K = $100 + dedicated IP $24.95 |
| Enterprise (10M emails/mo + managed IPs) | $1,215 | 10M × $0.10/1K = $1,000 + managed IP $15/account + 10M × $0.02/1K = $200 |
Additional Costs
Quick Verdict
Bottom Line
Amazon SES is the cheapest transactional email service at $0.10 per 1,000 emails with no monthly fee. If you're already on AWS and have the engineering bandwidth to configure it, the cost savings are significant at any volume. The catch: it's infrastructure, not a managed service — no built-in suppression list UI, no dedicated deliverability team, and onboarding requires real AWS knowledge.
Who Should Use It
- AWS-native teams already running EC2, Lambda, or ECS who want tight infrastructure integration
- High-volume senders (100K+ emails/month) where per-email cost dominates the budget
- Developers comfortable with AWS IAM, SMTP credentials, and CLI-driven configuration
- SaaS companies wanting to send transactional email at startup scale without committing to a monthly fee
Who Should Skip It
- Teams without AWS experience — setup complexity will cost more in engineering time than the savings
- Companies needing built-in email deliverability support and dedicated account management (consider Postmark)
- Marketing teams wanting a campaign builder alongside transactional email (consider SendGrid or Mailchimp)
- Teams that need a polished dashboard with template management and live chat support (consider Mailgun Foundation)
What is Amazon SES?
Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) launched in 2011 as AWS's answer to transactional and bulk email infrastructure. Unlike managed services such as Mailgun or Postmark, SES is raw email infrastructure: you bring your own configuration, handle your own suppression lists, and manage your own sender reputation. In exchange, the pricing is the lowest in the market.
We've tracked Amazon SES pricing across multiple snapshots and the per-email rate has been remarkably stable at $0.10/1,000 emails for over a decade. The biggest recent change: AWS replaced the generous EC2 free tier (62,000 emails/month) with a much smaller 3,000 messages/month free tier for 12 months for new customers.
The pricing model is pure pay-as-you-go. No monthly minimums, no tier commitments. You pay $0.10 per 1,000 outbound emails regardless of whether you send 1,000 or 100 million. Standard dedicated IPs cost $24.95/month per address, and AWS now offers managed dedicated IPs at $15/month per account with tiered volume rates ($0.08-$0.02/1K emails depending on volume).
*Pricing data sourced from [Amazon SES official pricing page](https://aws.amazon.com/ses/pricing/). Last verified February 23, 2026. We monitor this page automatically and update when changes are detected.*
Key Features That Affect Pricing
| Feature | Free | Pro | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outbound email cost | 3K/mo (12 months) | $0.10/1K emails | $0.10/1K emails |
| Dedicated IPs | $24.95/IP/month | $24.95/IP/month | |
| Inbound email | 1K/mo free | $0.10/1K after 1K | $0.10/1K after 1K |
| Attachment data | 1 GB free | $0.12/GB | $0.12/GB |
| Template management | API only | API only | API only |
| Sending statistics | Basic metrics | CloudWatch | CloudWatch |
| Support level | AWS Support plan | AWS Support plan | AWS Support plan |
What Makes Amazon SES Different
- 1Lowest per-email cost in the market – $0.10 per 1,000 emails with no monthly base fee. At 500K emails/month, SES costs $50 vs Mailgun Scale at $90+.
- 23,000 free emails/month for new accounts – New AWS customers get 3,000 free message charges per month for the first 12 months. Plus up to $200 in AWS Free Tier credits applicable to SES.
- 3Native AWS ecosystem integration – Deep integration with IAM for access control, CloudWatch for metrics, SNS for bounce/complaint notifications, and Lambda for event-driven email workflows.
Amazon SES Pricing Plans 2025
Free Tier
Best for: New AWS customers evaluating SES for transactional email
- 3,000 free message charges/month for 12 months
- Standard SES API and SMTP access
- Up to $200 in AWS Free Tier credits (6 months)
Value Analysis: Significantly reduced from the old 62,000/month EC2 free tier. Now only useful for evaluation and very low-volume testing.
Pay As You Go
Best for: Any sending volume without monthly commitment
- $0.10 per 1,000 outbound emails
- No monthly minimum
- Full API and SMTP access
- Bounce/complaint tracking via SNS
Value Analysis: At $0.10/1K, sending 1M emails/month costs $100. Competitors charge $300-500+ for equivalent volume.
Dedicated IP (Standard)
Best for: High-volume senders needing reputation isolation with full control
- Full PTR/reverse DNS control
- IP warmup support
- Isolated sender reputation
Value Analysis: At $24.95/month, cheaper than competitors who bundle dedicated IPs into $90-500/month plans.
Dedicated IP (Managed)
Best for: Senders wanting AWS-managed IP reputation and automatic scaling
- $15/account/month base fee
- Tiered volume pricing: $0.08/1K (0-100K), $0.04/1K (100K-250K), $0.02/1K (250K+)
- AWS manages IP reputation and warmup
- Automatic scaling across IP pool
Value Analysis: At $15/month + volume fees, managed IPs are cost-effective for senders who don't want to manage IP warmup and reputation themselves.
Hidden Costs to Watch Out For
- 1. AWS Support plan: Basic is free but limited to billing. Developer ($29/mo) or Business ($100+/mo) needed for technical help.
- 2. Attachment data: First 1 GB free, then $0.12/GB per month.
- 3. Engineering setup time: Domain verification, DKIM/DMARC, bounce handling setup takes 4-16 hours depending on AWS familiarity.
- 4. Sandbox mode delay: New accounts stuck in sandbox until AWS approves production request (1-3 business days).
Pro tip: The free tier dropped from 62K to 3K/month — so SES is no longer free for most production apps. But the $0.10/1K rate is still the cheapest in the market. At 50K emails/month, SES costs just $5 vs Mailgun's $35. For managed IP needs, the new $15/account managed IP option is worth evaluating.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Cheapest email infrastructure available – $0.10 per 1,000 emails with no monthly fee. Even without the old EC2 free tier, 50K emails costs just $5/month — unmatched in the market.
- Scales without pricing surprises – Pure pay-as-you-go: same $0.10/1K rate whether you send 100 or 100 million emails.
- Deep AWS ecosystem integration – IAM, CloudWatch, SNS, Lambda, S3 — the integration depth is unmatched if you're already on AWS.
- Dedicated IPs at a flat rate – $24.95/month per IP regardless of volume. Cost-effective for high-volume senders.
Cons
- No managed deliverability support – When emails land in spam, SES won't help you fix it. You manage sender reputation yourself.
- Requires AWS operational knowledge – SMTP credentials are IAM keys, bounce handling is via SNS — steep learning curve for non-AWS teams.
- Sandbox mode by default – New accounts restricted to verified addresses only. Production access requires a support request (1-3 days).
- Minimal management UI – No built-in suppression list UI, no template previewer, no campaign analytics dashboard.
Our Take
Amazon SES per-email pricing remains the most stable in the industry — $0.10/1K for over a decade. But the free tier downgrade (62K → 3K/month) means it's no longer free for most production apps. It's still the right choice for AWS-native teams where cost matters more than convenience. The decision point: if you're sending under 20K emails/month, a managed service like Mailgun may win on total cost of ownership.
Is Amazon SES Right for You?
AWS-Native Startups
Good fit. Free tier (3K/month for 12 months) covers initial testing. At $0.10/1K, 10K emails/month costs just $1.
Recommended: Free Tier → Pay As You Go
Monthly cost: $0 → $1-5/month
Cheapest email option for AWS-native apps
High-Volume SaaS (500K+/mo)
Excellent fit. 500K emails costs $50/month vs competitors at $90-400.
Recommended: Pay As You Go + Dedicated IP
Monthly cost: $75-100/month
Save $40-300/month vs Mailgun/SendGrid
Platform Engineering Teams
Natural fit for multi-tenant SaaS platforms needing API depth and IAM integration.
Recommended: Pay As You Go
Monthly cost: Varies by volume
Predictable linear cost scaling
Non-AWS Small Businesses
Weaker fit. Setup complexity doesn't justify savings vs Mailgun or SendGrid.
Recommended: Consider Mailgun or SendGrid
Monthly cost: N/A
Skip Amazon SES If:
- •Your team has no AWS experience — setup cost outweighs savings below ~100K emails/month
- •You need managed deliverability support (consider Postmark)
- •You want marketing campaigns alongside transactional email (consider SendGrid or Brevo)
- •You're not hosting on AWS and the EC2 free tier doesn't apply
Amazon SES Alternatives & Competitors
| Tool | Starting Price | Free Tier | Best For | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CurrentAmazon SES | $0.10/1K emails (no monthly fee) | Lowest cost, AWS-native apps | Pay-as-you-go, cheapest pure infrastructure | |
| Mailgun | $35/month (50K emails) | Managed transactional email | Easier setup, email validation included | |
| SendGrid | $19.95/month (50K emails) | Combined transactional + marketing | Best free tier, handles both transactional and campaigns | |
| Postmark | $15/month (10K emails) | Best deliverability | Highest inbox placement rates, dedicated deliverability team |
Detailed Comparisons
Amazon SES vs Mailgun
You're on AWS and sending 100K+ emails/month where SES costs $10 vs Mailgun's $90+
You want managed deliverability, email validation, and phone support
Amazon SES vs SendGrid
Cost per email is your primary constraint and you have an AWS infrastructure team
You need both transactional and marketing campaigns in one platform
Amazon SES vs Postmark
You send 500K+/month where $0.10/1K creates significant savings versus Postmark's $1.50/1K
Deliverability is your top priority — Postmark outperforms SES on inbox placement
Frequently Asked Questions
Pricing & Costs
How much does Amazon SES cost per month?
What is the Amazon SES free tier?
How much does a dedicated IP cost?
Setup & Technical
Why is my SES account stuck in sandbox mode?
Can I use SES without being on AWS?
Official Pricing Screenshots
Screenshots captured from official Amazon SES pricing page. Prices may have changed.
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