Amazon SES vs Brevo: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Amazon SES and Brevo to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Amazon SES
6.8/10
Amazon Simple Email Service is AWS's pay-as-you-go cloud email API and SMTP service for sending transactional and bulk marketing email at high volume.
Brevo
6.9/10
Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, is a multichannel marketing platform for email, SMS, WhatsApp, automation and transactional messaging, with a built-in sales CRM for small and mid-sized businesses.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | A Amazon SES | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.8/10 | 6.9/10 |
| Scalability | 10/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3/10 | 8/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 8/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $105/mo Pro | $9/mo Starter |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $105/mo Pro | $499/mo Professional |
| Features | ||
| Email Marketing | ||
| A/B Testing | Not listed | |
| E-commerce Features | Not listed | |
| Landing Pages | Not listed | |
| Segmentation | Not listed | |
| SMS Marketing | Not listed | |
Amazon SES vs Brevo cost by team size
Brevo costs less at 1 user; Amazon SES costs less from 5 to 10 users.
| Team size | Amazon SES | Brevo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $105/moPro | FreeFree |
| 5 users | $105/moPro | $499/moProfessional |
| 10 users | $105/moPro | $499/moProfessional |
| 25 users | $105/moPro | Contact for pricing |
| 50 users | $105/moPro | Contact for pricing |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
AWhy choose Amazon SES
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: $105/mo vs $499/mo
- Higher Scalability score (10/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Cost score (10/10 vs 8/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (8/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for developers (9/10 vs 6/10)
Why choose Brevo
- Has a free plan (Amazon SES does not)
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Support score (5/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for small business (9/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for marketing teams (7/10 vs 3/10)
Pros & Cons
AAmazon SES
Pros
- The a la carte rate of 0.10 USD per 1,000 emails is one of the lowest in the category, and several comparison articles call SES the cheapest option by volume.
- Tiered rates continue past 100M emails per month, so very high-volume senders can grow without changing providers.
- It supports SPF, DKIM and DMARC authentication, TLS 1.2 and above, and KMS encryption for mail stored in S3.
- Optional dedicated IPs, BYOIP and Virtual Deliverability Manager give large senders control over their sending reputation.
Cons
- New accounts start in a sandbox and must request production access, and users on re:Post and Reddit complain about denials.
- There is no visual campaign builder, marketing automation or landing pages, so marketers need a separate tool on top of SES.
- Reviewers on Capterra and G2 report a learning curve and setup effort, including configuring SNS to handle bounces and complaints.
- Hands-on support requires a paid AWS support plan, and add-ons such as VDM and dedicated IPs raise the total cost.
Brevo
Pros
- The free plan sends 300 emails a day and allows up to 100,000 contacts, which is generous for testing the product or for very small lists.
- Pricing is based mainly on how many emails you send, so businesses with large lists that email rarely can keep costs low.
- Transactional email through an API and SMTP, outbound webhooks and a Zapier connector are included on every plan, including Free.
- Email, SMS, WhatsApp, push, live chat and a sales CRM are available from one vendor.
Cons
- On Starter and Standard, the lowest send tiers cap contacts at 500 to 2,500, which can force earlier upgrades.
- Pop-ups, contact scoring, WhatsApp, inbound webhooks and phone support all require Professional, which starts at $499 a month.
- Many reviewers on Capterra and Trustpilot report sudden account suspensions with unclear reasons and slow reinstatement.
- SMS and WhatsApp are billed as prepaid credits on top of the plan price, and the CRM is a separate purchase.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Brevo scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.9/10 against 6.8/10 for Amazon SES. The largest gap is in Ease of Use: 3/10 for Amazon SES and 8/10 for Brevo.
Amazon SES costs less for 10 users: about $105/mo on its Pro plan, against about $499/mo on its Professional plan for Brevo, billed monthly.
Brevo has a free plan; Amazon SES does not list one.
Brevo is the better fit for small business: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 4/10 for Amazon SES.
