Amazon SES vs Mailgun: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Amazon SES and Mailgun 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.
Mailgun
6.8/10
Mailgun is a developer-focused email API and SMTP relay service that apps and businesses use to send, receive, track and validate transactional and bulk email.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | A Amazon SES | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.8/10 | 6.8/10 |
| Scalability | 10/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3/10 | 5/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 6/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $105/mo Pro | $15/mo Basic |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $105/mo Pro | $15/mo Basic |
| Features | ||
| Email Marketing | ||
Amazon SES vs Mailgun cost by team size
Mailgun costs less at every team size we checked.
| Team size | Amazon SES | Mailgun |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $105/moPro | FreeFree |
| 5 users | $105/moPro | $15/moBasic |
| 10 users | $105/moPro | $15/moBasic |
| 25 users | $105/moPro | $15/moBasic |
| 50 users | $105/moPro | $15/moBasic |
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
- Higher Cost score (10/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Scalability score (10/10 vs 8/10)
Why choose Mailgun
- Has a free plan (Amazon SES does not)
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: $15/mo vs $105/mo
- Higher Ease of Use score (5/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Support score (6/10 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.
Mailgun
Pros
- Reviewers repeatedly praise the REST API and documentation as quick for developers to integrate.
- Deliverability and detailed per-domain searchable logs get strong marks from users.
- SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certification, with 2FA, SAML SSO and AES-256 encryption at rest.
- A low entry price and a free tier of 100 emails a day for testing.
Cons
- It is API-first and complicated for non-technical users, with a dated dashboard where settings and logs can be hard to find.
- Several 2025 reviews report automated account suspensions with little warning.
- Short log retention on lower plans (1 day on Free and Basic).
- Reviewers call it costlier than rivals once volume grows, and inbox placement tools are a separate product.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Amazon SES and Mailgun both score 6.8/10 on our Marketing criteria. The largest gap is in Cost: 10/10 for Amazon SES and 6/10 for Mailgun.
Mailgun costs less for 10 users: about $15/mo on its Basic plan, against about $105/mo on its Pro plan for Amazon SES, billed monthly.
Mailgun has a free plan; Amazon SES does not list one.
