Overview
Amazon Simple Email Service is AWS's building block for sending and receiving email. You send through the SES API, SDKs or SMTP endpoints in the AWS region you pick, and receive mail through Mail Manager rules that can store messages in S3, trigger Lambda or forward them on.
On a la carte pricing, outbound email costs $0.10 per 1,000 messages plus $0.12 per GB of attachments, with no monthly fee. Deliverability extras are priced one by one: standard dedicated IPs at $24.95 a month each, managed dedicated IPs at $15 a month plus a per-email fee, Virtual Deliverability Manager, email validation and global endpoints.
In 2026 AWS added three bundled plans. Essentials charges $0.16 per 1,000 with no fixed fee, Pro adds a $105 monthly fee per account and region with managed dedicated IPs and validation included, and Enterprise costs $500 a month with more IPs and seed-list tests. New accounts start on Essentials from July 21, 2026, so switch to a la carte if you only need sending.
New accounts begin in a sandbox that only sends to verified addresses until you request production access. SES gives you logs through CloudWatch, SNS or event destinations rather than a full dashboard, so expect to build bounce handling and reporting yourself or use a tool on top.
Pricing and plans
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| A la carte | $0.10 per 1,000 emails | No minimum; $0.12/GB of attachments; features billed separately |
| Essentials | $0.16 per 1,000 emails | Lower rates above 10M; default for new accounts from July 21, 2026 |
| Pro | $105/mo + $0.22 per 1,000 | Includes managed dedicated IP, validation, deliverability manager features |
| Enterprise | $500/mo + $0.23 per 1,000 | 12 dedicated IPs, 5 domains, Spamhaus add-on included |
What it does
- API and SMTP sending
- Send from any AWS region's endpoint using the SES API, SDKs or SMTP credentials.
- Mail Manager
- Inbound processing with rules, archiving, ingress endpoints and optional security add-ons.
- Dedicated IPs
- Standard IPs at $24.95/mo, managed IPs with automatic scaling, or bring your own /24 range.
- Virtual Deliverability Manager
- Deliverability dashboards and recommendations billed per email.
- Tenants
- Isolate sending per customer for $0.005 per tenant per month plus a small per-email fee.
- Global endpoints
- Multi-region sending failover for $0.03 per 1,000 extra.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Lowest list price among major providers at $0.10 per 1,000
- No monthly minimum on a la carte pricing
- Runs inside AWS with IAM, SNS, S3 and Lambda integration
- Available in many AWS regions, including the AWS European Sovereign Cloud
Limitations
- New accounts start in a sandbox and must request production access
- Little built-in dashboard; bounce and complaint handling is yours to wire up
- New accounts default to the pricier Essentials plan from July 21, 2026 unless switched
- Attachments are billed per GB on top of the per-email price
Who it suits
Good for
- Teams already running on AWS
- High-volume senders with engineering time for deliverability
- Apps that process inbound mail with Lambda or S3
Look elsewhere if
- Solo developers who want a ready dashboard and support
- Teams without time to manage bounces and reputation
Pricing history
-
New Amazon SES accounts default to the Essentials plan
From July 21, 2026 (effective date), new SES accounts and account-region pairs with no SES use since June 1, 2025 start on the Essentials plan at $0.16 per 1,000 emails instead of a la carte pricing at $0.10 per 1,000; customers can switch to a la carte at any time. Source ↗
Alternatives to Amazon SES
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mailgun Email API and SMTP relay | $15/mo | Free tier | |
| Azure Communication Services Email Cloud email sending API | Usage-based | ||
| Brevo Email marketing and transactional platform | $9/mo | Free tier | |
| Loops Lifecycle email for SaaS | $49/mo | Free tier | |
| SparkPost Email sending API | $15/mo | Free tier | |
| Mailjet Email API, SMTP relay and campaign editor | $9/mo | Free tier |
Questions
How much does Amazon SES cost?
On a la carte pricing, $0.10 per 1,000 emails sent plus $0.12 per GB of attachments. Optional plans cost $0.16 to $0.23 per 1,000 with extra features.
Does Amazon SES have a free tier?
Not a dedicated one. New AWS customers get up to $200 in general Free Tier credits that can be spent on SES.
Can Amazon SES receive email?
Yes. Inbound email costs $0.10 per 1,000 plus $0.09 per 1,000 incoming 256 KB chunks, and Mail Manager adds rules and archiving.
What is the SES sandbox?
New accounts can only send to verified addresses until AWS approves a request for production access.
Which SES plan should I pick?
For plain sending, a la carte at $0.10 per 1,000 is cheapest; Pro and Enterprise make sense when you would otherwise buy dedicated IPs and deliverability tools separately.
Sources read for this page