Amazon SES vs SendGrid: Pricing Comparison 2026
Side-by-side pricing comparison of Amazon SES and SendGrid. See all plans, features, and costs at a glance.
Bottom line: Amazon SES starts at $0.00002/mo, making it $20/mo cheaper than SendGrid ($19.95/mo). Amazon SES offers a free plan.
Last updated: July 6, 2026
SendGrid - SendGrid's combination of transactional API and marketing tools with better developer experience is more practical for most teams not yet at extreme email volumes.
Amazon SES vs SendGrid: Quick Pricing Facts
| Feature | Amazon SES | SendGrid |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $0.00002/mo | $19.95/mo |
| Number of Plans | 48 | 4 |
| Free Tier | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing Model | usage-based | usage-based |
| Annual Discount | N/A | N/A |
Amazon SES is the more affordable option, starting at $0.00002/mo compared to SendGrid's $19.95/mo. Both are Email Marketing tools with 52 combined pricing plans and 16 features compared.
Both tools offer free plans, making them accessible for teams on a budget.
Review the detailed tier-by-tier comparison above to see exactly which features are included at each price point and find the best fit for your Email Marketing needs.
| Pricing Plans |  Amazon SES Try free |  SendGrid Try free |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | SERVICE TYPE Custom pricing | Free Trial $0/monthCheapest Includes
|
| Tier 2 | Outbound email $0/monthCheapest | Essentials $20/month Includes
|
| Tier 3 | Global Endpoints $0/monthCheapest | Pro $90/month Includes
|
| Tier 4 | Inbound email $0/monthCheapest | Premier Custom pricing Includes
|
| Tier 5 | Email Validation Custom pricing | - |
| Tier 6 | Mail Manager Custom pricing | - |
| Tier 7 | -Open and mTLS ingress endpoints** $50/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 8 | -Email processing*** $0/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 9 | -Archiving $2/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 10 | -Email add ons Custom pricing | - |
| Tier 11 | Amazon Connect Email Custom pricing | - |
| Tier 12 | Deliverability Expert Services Custom pricing | - |
| Tier 13 | ADD ON FEATURES Custom pricing | - |
| Tier 14 | Tenants $0/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 15 | $0.005/1000 emails Custom pricing | - |
| Tier 16 | Dedicated IPs Custom pricing | - |
| Tier 17 | - Standard $25/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 18 | - Managed $15/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 19 | $0.08/1000 emails $0/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 20 | $0.04/1000 emails $10/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 21 | $0.02/1000 emails $50/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 22 | Contact us $100/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 23 | Bring Your Own IP Addresses (BYOIP)* $25/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 24 | Virtual Deliverability Manager Custom pricing | - |
| Tier 25 | - SES deliverability $0/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 26 | $0.05/1000 emails $10/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 27 | $0.0005/1000 queries $5000/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 28 | - Global deliverability $1250/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 29 | Outgoing messages $250000/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 30 | Outgoing mail data $0/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 31 | Incoming messages $1000/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 32 | Incoming mail chunks $32/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 33 | Total charges for using SES $26/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 34 | Dedicated IPs (standard) $3/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 35 | Option 1: Dedicated IPs (standard) Custom pricing | - |
| Tier 36 | Total charges for using SES (with Dedicated IP - standard) $9055/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 37 | Option 2: Dedicated IPs (managed) Custom pricing | - |
| Tier 38 | Dedicated IPs (managed) $1/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 39 | 10,000,000 $0/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 40 | 40,000,000 $0/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 41 | 30,000,000 $0/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 42 | Total charges for using SES (with Dedicated IP - managed) $11322/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 43 | Open ingress endpoint $1/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 44 | Messages processed $300000/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 45 | Mail chunks $50/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 46 | Archiving ingestion $500000/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 47 | Archiving storage $500000/monthCheapest | - |
| Tier 48 | Trend Micro Add on scanning $500000/monthCheapest | - |
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SendGrid
SendGrid's combination of transactional API and marketing tools with better developer experience is more practical for most teams not yet at extreme email volumes.
Based on pricing data only. Review the full comparison below for your specific needs.
Try SendGrid freeFree plan availableWhich Should You Choose?
Choose Amazon SES if:
- •You're AWS-native and want the lowest possible cost for transactional email
- •AWS IAM authentication and native infrastructure integration are priorities
- •You send at very high volumes where SES's pricing is significantly cheaper
Choose SendGrid if:
- •You need a complete email platform covering both transactional API and marketing campaigns
- •SendGrid's marketing campaigns, template designer, and analytics serve both use cases
- •You want stronger deliverability tools, dedicated IP management, and a larger integration ecosystem
SendGrid and Amazon SES are both transactional email APIs, but SendGrid adds marketing campaign tools and more robust deliverability infrastructure. SES is cheaper at scale and AWS-native. SendGrid wins on feature breadth, easier setup, and marketing email capabilities. SES wins on cost at very high volumes and AWS integration. Many teams use SES for cost optimization after outgrowing SendGrid's pricing tier.
Frequently Asked Questions: Amazon SES vs SendGrid
Which is cheaper, Amazon SES or SendGrid?
How many pricing plans does Amazon SES have vs SendGrid?
Does Amazon SES or SendGrid offer a free plan?
Does Amazon SES or SendGrid offer custom enterprise pricing?
How do Amazon SES and SendGrid compare for Email Marketing?
Sources
- Amazon SES Official Pricing- Vendor pricing page
- SendGrid Official Pricing- Vendor pricing page
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