Top 8 Amazon SES alternatives in 2025

Many businesses choose Amazon SES for its exceptionally low pricing. While it initially seems cost-effective, many users find the setup process challenging. Amazon SES offers essential features, but configuring it requires navigating complex instructions, investing significant effort, and having the patience to get everything up and running smoothly.

Nobody likes a chaotic process. Wouldn't it be easier to choose a transactional email solution that is ready to use? 

If you're exploring alternatives to Amazon SES and prioritize convenience over low cost, you're in the right place. We’ve compiled the best options to help you find the right fit for your business.

What is Amazon SES?

Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) is a cloud-based email service designed to send and receive emails. It enables businesses to send marketing campaigns, promotional messages, and transactional emails.

What makes users seek alternatives to Amazon SES?

1. Difficult setup process

While Amazon SES offers affordability and flexibility, it requires significant setup, ongoing maintenance, and technical expertise to maximize its potential. Unlike user-friendly email solutions that come with built-in features, SES provides only the core infrastructure, leaving businesses to handle configurations, monitoring, and troubleshooting on their own.

2. Not an exclusive transactional email service

Amazon SES lets you send marketing, promotional, and transactional emails. It doesn't offer a separate infrastructure for sending transactional emails, though. When all these emails mix, your important transactional emails can be marked as spam and affect your email deliverability.

3. Unintuitive platform

Amazon SES has received mixed reviews online, but one common complaint stands out—its user interface. Many beginners find it clunky and overwhelming, making feature navigation a challenge. Users often mention that the platform isn’t intuitive, requiring multiple clicks just to access basic features, which can slow down workflows and add to the frustration.

4. Basic features as add-ons

In order to get a complete experience with the platform, you need additions. Along with Amazon SES, you'll need add-ons like:

• Amazon SNS (Simple Notification Service) to notify bounces, sent emails, and email complaints
• Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) for email storage
• Amazon IAM (Identity and Access Management) for managing user access and permissions
   

5. Pay extra to get customer support

The low-cost pricing of Amazon SES covers only the basic email-sending service. You'll have to pay extra for each add-on. Even basic customer support isn’t included, meaning you might have to shell out more just to get the help you need. What seems like a budget-friendly option at first can quickly add up, making SES less cost effective than it appears.

What to look for while choosing a transactional email provider

When choosing a transactional email service, prioritize convenience and look for a product that can increase your productivity. Here's a quick checklist to consider if you're looking for Amazon SES alternatives:

• Separate infrastructure to send transactional emails
• Strong email deliverability
• Easy integration
• User-friendly interface
• Improved domain and sender reputation
• All-in-one features to manage, separate, and track emails
• Prebuilt email templates
• 24/7 customer support for all plans

Top eight Amazon SES alternatives to consider

1. Zoho ZeptoMail
2. Postmark
3. SendGrid
4. Mailgun
5. Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill)
6. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
7. Bird (formerly MessageBird)
8. Netcore

Unlock a detailed feature comparison to choose the right transactional email service for your business.

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1. Zoho ZeptoMail

ZeptoMail, a Zoho product launched in 2020, is designed exclusively for sending transactional emails. With a dedicated infrastructure and built-in features, it streamlines the sending process, ensuring better deliverability and protecting your sender reputation.

Area of specialization

ZeptoMail has fast, secure, and reliable delivery. 

Who is it for?

It's ideal for businesses of all sizes that need a scalable and secure transactional email service.

Pros

✅ Dedicated infrastructure: Send only transactional emails, preventing reputation damage.

✅ Deeper integration: Get SMTP and a powerful API for easy integration with applications, websites, and services.

✅ High-speed email delivery: Optimize protocols for quick and reliable email transmission.

✅ No mandatory monthly plans: Enjoy a credit-based system where credits last 6 months.

✅ 24/7 free support: Reach out via email, chat, or phone anytime.

✅ Advanced email tracking: Monitor opens, clicks, bounces, and delivery rates.

✅ Quick migration: Switch from Mailchimp to ZeptoMail in just five minutes.

✅ Robust security: Features like two-factor authentication (2FA) and domain authentication enhance protection.

Cons

❌ Transactional emails only: ZeptoMail isn't suitable for sending promotional and marketing emails with ZeptoMail.

Key features

• Mail agents: Organize emails by type, purpose, and application.
• Custom reports: Compare mail agent performance with detailed insights.
• Activity logs: Track user actions and email activity.
• IP restrictions: Secure sending with an approved IP list.
• Data retention: Store 60 days of email content and one year of activity logs.
• Prebuilt email templates: Utilize ready-to-use designs for transactional emails.
• Auto top-up: Automatically renew credits to prevent disruptions.
• Suppression list: Block emails to addresses that cause a hard bounce.

Pricing

No monthly plans. ZeptoMail runs on a credit-based system (valid for six months from purchase).

• 1 credit ($2.50) = 10,000 emails
• 30 credits ($75) = 300,000 emails
• Free plan: 1 free credit (10,000 emails), valid for 6 months

2. Postmark

Postmark is an email delivery service designed for sending both transactional and marketing emails. Initially focused on transactional emails, Postmark expanded its services in 2020 to include promotional and bulk emails. However, its sending infrastructure remains separate for better deliverability.

Area of specialization

Postmark is known for its fast and reliable delivery of marketing, promotional, and transactional emails.

Who is it for?

It's perfect for businesses of all sizes looking for a dedicated infrastructure to keep marketing and transactional emails separate.

Pros

✅ Separate sending infrastructure: Use a separate infrastructure to ensure marketing and transactional emails don’t affect each other’s deliverability.

✅ Quick email delivery: Follow email sending protocols for swift delivery of emails.

Cons

❌ Expensive pricing plans: Costs increase as you scale, and unused emails don’t roll over.

❌ Server limitations: Low-tier plan users can only access up to 10 servers. To scale up to 100 servers, upgrade to a higher-priced plan.

Key features

• Message streams: Keep transactional and marketing emails separate, improving sender reputation.
• Data retention: Access 45 days of email activity, including bounces, opens, and clicks.
• Prebuilt email templates: Utilize ready-to-use, customizable templates for quick email creation.

Pricing

The updated pricing structure requires customers to upgrade to higher-tier plans to access more servers and add additional domains. For example, if you're on the $15 plan and need more than 10 servers, you'll have to switch to the $138 plan to meet your requirements.

• Basic: $15/month for 10,000 emails with 5 servers and up to 4 users
• Pro: $60.50/month for 10,000 emails with 10 servers and up to 6 users
• Platform: $138/month for 10,000 emails with unlimited servers and users
   

3. SendGrid

SendGrid is a cloud-based email delivery service designed to help businesses send high volumes of transactional and marketing emails efficiently. Acquired by Twilio in 2019, SendGrid is known for its robust infrastructure, advanced API integrations, and scalable email solutions.

Area of specialization

SendGrid is for large-scale email campaign management, email list hygiene, and optimized deliverability.

Who is it for?

SendGrid is targeted toward mid-size and enterprise-level businesses, as well as developers needing a reliable, scalable email-sending solution.

Pros

✅ Highly scalable: Handle large email volumes efficiently, making it ideal for growing businesses.

✅Developer-friendly API: Seamlessly integrate with applications for custom email workflows.

Cons

❌ Deliverability concerns: Sender reputation can impact email performance, sometimes leading to deliverability issues.

❌ Limited customer support: Response times and support quality may be lacking, especially for lower-tier plans.

❌ Complex pricing structure: Additional costs for dedicated IPs and other features can make it less budget-friendly for small businesses.

Key features

• Advanced email analytics: Track open rates, clicks, bounces, and recipient engagement.
• Automated email workflows: Set up triggers, autoresponders, and automated email campaigns.
• Prebuilt email templates: Access professionally designed templates to streamline email creation.

Pricing

• Essentials plan: Starts at $19.95/month (50,000 to 100,000 emails)
• Pro plan: Starts at $89.95/month (100,000 to 2,500,000 emails)
• Premier plan: Custom pricing based on email volume and business needs
   

4. Mailgun

Mailgun is a cloud-based email service provider designed for seamless transactional and marketing email delivery. Built with developers in mind, it offers a powerful API for easy integration with applications, websites, and services.

Area of specialization

Mailgun is optimized for processing large volumes of emails efficiently at scale.

Who is it for?

Mailgun is built for developers and enterprises managing high email volumes efficiently.

Pros

✅ User-friendly UI: Enjoy a clean, professional, and intuitive interface.

✅ Highly scalable: Grow your email-sending capabilities.

✅ Easy API integration: Quickly integrate with your application and start sending emails.

Cons

❌ Complex setup: Mailgun requires technical expertise, making it challenging for non-developers.

❌ Limited support on lower plans: Free and lower-tier users may experience delays in customer support and lack issue notifications.

❌ Deliverability comes with a price: Advanced email deliverability services are available only for senders with a monthly volume of 500,000+ emails.

Key features

• Blacklist and spam trap monitoring: Enhance email deliverability and minimize bounce rates.
• Drag-and-drop email template builder: Easily create and customize professional emails.
• Advanced email analytics: Track and analyze email engagement with detailed insights.

Pricing

• Free plan: 30,000 emails free for the first month
• Basic plan: $15/month for 10,000 emails
• Foundation plan: $35/month for 50,000 emails
• Scale plan: $90/month for 100,000 emails

*Additional optimization services start at $49/month.

5. Mailchimp Transactional

Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill) is an email service designed for sending transactional emails. Available exclusively as an add-on for Mailchimp users, it enables businesses to send automated, personalized transactional emails alongside their marketing campaigns.

Area of specialization

Mailchimp Transactional is perfect for personalized email marketing campaigns, promotional emails, and transactional emails for business growth.

Who is it for?

It's for businesses who are already using Mailchimp for marketing emails, as transactional emails can only be accessed as an add-on.

Pros

✅ All-in-one marketing suite: Design, automate, and send both marketing and transactional emails from a single platform.

✅ Advanced analytics and insights: Access personalized reports, smart recommendations, and performance metrics.

Cons

❌ High pricing for scaling businesses: Costs increase with subscriber growth, making it expensive for startups or small businesses.

❌ Transactional emails are limited to Mailchimp users: It's available only as an add-on for existing Mailchimp users, requiring additional monthly payments.

Key features

• Detailed reporting and analytics: Track the performance of transactional emails with in-depth insights.
• Webhooks for real-time tracking: Monitor open rates, clicks, bounces, and unsubscribe rates.
• Drag-and-drop email template editor: Build custom email templates without coding.

Pricing

• $20/month for 10,000 emails (1 block) + cost of a Mailchimp marketing plan
• $40/month for 50,000 emails (2 blocks) + cost of a Mailchimp marketing plan

*Blocks must be purchased monthly, with billing applicable to all emails, including unused ones.

6. Brevo

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is a comprehensive marketing platform that combines email marketing, SMS marketing, CRM, and transactional email services. 

Area of specialization

Brevo is perfect for personalized email creation, marketing automation, and seamless campaign management.

Who is it for?

It's ideal for medium-sized businesses seeking an affordable, scalable platform to manage and automate email and SMS marketing.

Pros

✅ User-friendly interface: Intuitive UI makes it easy for beginners and experienced marketers to create and manage campaigns.

✅ All-in-one marketing solution: Combine email marketing, transactional emails, SMS campaigns, CRM, and automation tools in a single platform.

✅ Multichannel transactional emails: Send transactional messages via email, SMS, and WhatsApp.

Cons

❌ Broad focus, limited specialization: While Brevo offers various marketing tools, it lacks a dedicated infrastructure optimized specifically for transactional email delivery.

❌ Free plan limitations: The free plan comes with restrictions, such as daily send limits and limited access to advanced features.

❌ Not ideal for large enterprises: Designed for SMBs, Brevo may not provide the advanced features and scalability required by large enterprises.

Key features

• Drag-and-drop workflow builder: Easily design personalized email campaigns and behavior-based automation workflows.
• Smart email segmentation: Organize and manage emails efficiently with folder-based segmentation.
• Advanced email analytics: Track opens, bounces, clicks, and unsubscribe rates for performance insights.

Pricing

• Starter plan: Starts at $9/month
• Business plan: Starts at $18/month
• Enterprise plan: Custom pricing for advanced needs
   

7. Bird

Bird is a cloud-based omnichannel communication platform that lets businesses engage with customers across multiple channels, including SMS, WhatsApp, email, voice, and more. 

Area of specialization

Bird specializes in customer engagement across multiple messaging channels for marketing, support, and notifications.

Who is it for?

Bird is for businesses of all sizes who are looking for a unified communication platform.

Pros

✅ Omnichannel communication: Connect with customers via SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger, email, and voice in one platform.

✅ Email automation: Create workflows to automate transactional and marketing emails for better engagement and conversions.

Cons

❌ Limited advanced analytics: While Bird offers basic reporting, it lacks in-depth analytics and customization options compared to competitors.

❌ Not-budget friendly: Brevo’s pricing can be expensive for businesses with high email-sending needs, as costs scale with the number of emails sent. 

Key features

• Flow builder: Build automated workflows for notifications, marketing campaigns, and customer support without coding.
• Campaign scheduling: Plan and schedule marketing campaigns for optimal audience reach.
• Automated event-based notifications: Use APIs to trigger notifications based on customer actions.

Pricing

Starts at $45/month and includes 30,000 emails.*

*Pricing is based on the number of contacts targeted monthly.

8. Netcore

Netcore Cloud is a marketing automation platform that helps businesses manage customer communication across multiple channels, including email, SMS, push notifications, WhatsApp, and in-app messaging. 

Area of specialization

Netcore is ideal for AI-powered email delivery, marketing automation, customer segmentation, and omnichannel engagement.

Who is it for?

Netcore is for developers and businesses of all sizes looking for a scalable platform to send transactional and marketing emails via API or SMTP.
Pros

✅ Omnichannel communication: Engage customers across email, SMS, push notifications, WhatsApp, and in-app messaging.

✅ Scalable infrastructure: Easily handle high-volume messaging (ideal for mid-size businesses and enterprises).

✅Seamless integration: Easily connect with your application using SMTP or API.

Cons

❌ Customer support delays: Response times can be slow, which may be frustrating during urgent technical issues.

❌ Limited free plan: Free-tier features are minimal, requiring businesses to upgrade early for advanced capabilities.

Key features

• AI-powered email delivery: Use AI to optimize sending strategies based on customer behavior, improving engagement and inbox placement.
• Send time optimization: Ensure emails are delivered at the perfect time for maximum customer interaction.

Pricing

Plans: Startup, Growth, and Enterprise—pricing is customized based on features and email volume.*

*Pricing details are available upon request via a demo with the sales team.

Wrapping up

Amazon SES is a powerful email-sending service, but it may not be the perfect fit for every business. Evaluate your options, test out free trials when available, and choose the right platform that best supports your long-term business goals.  

Note: The information given in the article was collated in February 2025. If you see something inaccurate, let us know.