Amazon SES vs HubSpot: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Amazon SES and HubSpot 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.
HubSpot
6.9/10
HubSpot is a CRM platform with a free tier and paid per-seat Sales Hub plans, plus companion marketing and service hubs, aimed at 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 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 5/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $105/mo Pro | $20/user/mo Sales Hub Starter |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $105/mo Pro | $200/mo Sales Hub Starter |
| Features | ||
| Email Marketing | Not listed | |
| More features | ||
| Marketing Automation | Not listed | |
| Built-in Calling | Not listed | |
| Customer Support Management | Not listed | |
| Integrations | Not listed | |
| Sales Automation | Not listed | |
| Opportunity Management | Not listed | |
| Contact Management | Not listed | |
| Reporting & Analytics | Not listed | |
| Mobile Access | Not listed | |
Amazon SES vs HubSpot cost by team size
HubSpot costs less up to 5 users; Amazon SES costs less from 10 users.
| Team size | Amazon SES | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $105/moPro | FreeFree |
| 5 users | $105/moPro | $100/moSales Hub Starter |
| 10 users | $105/moPro | $200/moSales Hub Starter |
| 25 users | $105/moPro | $500/moSales Hub Starter |
| 50 users | $105/moPro | $1,000/moSales Hub Starter |
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 $200/mo
- Higher Cost score (10/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Scalability score (10/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (8/10 vs 6/10)
Why choose HubSpot
- Has a free plan (Amazon SES does not)
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Support score (6/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for marketing teams (8/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for small business (9/10 vs 4/10)
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.
HubSpot
Pros
- The free CRM has no time limit and covers contacts, deals, tickets, a shared inbox, a reporting dashboard and mobile apps.
- The HubSpot Marketplace lists over 2,000 integrations.
- Sales, marketing and service hubs share one customer database, so teams avoid syncing separate tools.
- G2 reviewers often praise the sales automation and how easy everyday use is.
Cons
- The free tier is now limited to two users and 1,000 contacts.
- Professional and Enterprise tiers require one-time onboarding fees of $1,500 to $7,000, depending on the hub.
- Reviewers report a steep price jump from Starter to Professional, and extra costs from marketing-contact tiers and credits.
- Reviewers cite annual contract lock-in and setup and administration complexity as recurring complaints.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
HubSpot scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.9/10 against 6.8/10 for Amazon SES. The largest gap is in Cost: 10/10 for Amazon SES and 5/10 for HubSpot.
Amazon SES costs less for 10 users: about $105/mo on its Pro plan, against about $200/mo on its Sales Hub Starter plan for HubSpot, billed monthly.
HubSpot has a free plan; Amazon SES does not list one.
HubSpot is the better fit for marketing teams: we rate it 8/10 for them, against 3/10 for Amazon SES.
