Amazon SES vs Elastic Email
Amazon SES and Elastic Email are both popular choices in the transactional email service space. Amazon SES is the more affordable option at $0/mo — that's $19 less per month than Elastic Email's $19/mo entry point. Both offer free plans to get started. Elastic Email has the edge with marketing automation, A/B testing, landing pages.
Quick Verdict
Amazon SES wins on integrations.
Best for most users: Amazon SES (aws native developers).
Amazon SES
Cheapest email at scale on AWS infrastructure
Amazon SES is AWS's cloud-based email sending service that processes over a trillion emails annually for customers like Netflix and Duolingo. At just $0.10 per 1,000 emails with no minimum commitments, it is the most cost-effective option for developers and businesses already in the AWS ecosystem who need raw transactional email infrastructure at massive scale.
Elastic Email
Budget-friendly email delivery with marketing features
Elastic Email is a budget-friendly email delivery platform founded in 2010 that offers both transactional email API and marketing email capabilities. Built entirely in-house down to the protocol level, it serves tens of thousands of companies sending over 100 million emails monthly, with API plans starting at just $19/month for 50,000 emails.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Amazon SES | Elastic Email |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.4/5 | 4.4/5 |
| Starting Price | Usage-based | $19/mo |
| Free Plan | 3,000 emails/month for first 12 months | 100 emails/day (send to yourself only on free plan) |
| Founded | 2011 | 2010 |
| Email Templates | 0 | 100 |
| Integrations | 50 | 30 |
| Deliverability Rate | 95% | 95% |
| Marketing Automation | ✕ | ✓ |
| A/B Testing | ✕ | ✓ |
| Landing Pages | ✕ | ✓ |
| Segmentation | ✕ | ✓ |
| Drag & Drop Editor | ✕ | ✓ |
| SMS Marketing | ✕ | ✕ |
| Ecommerce Features | ✕ | ✕ |
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-Language | ✕ | ✕ |
| Web Push Notifications | ✕ | ✕ |
| Live Chat | ✕ | ✓ |
| Advanced Analytics | ✓ | ✓ |
Amazon SES: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Extremely low cost at $0.10 per 1,000 emails, making it the cheapest option for high-volume sending
- +Native integration with AWS ecosystem including Lambda, SNS, CloudWatch, and IAM
- +Handles over a trillion emails per year with enterprise-grade reliability and uptime
- +Built-in support for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC email authentication out of the box
- +Flexible IP options including shared, dedicated ($24.95/mo), and managed dedicated IPs
Cons
- −Steep learning curve requiring AWS expertise for domain verification, DKIM, SPF, and IAM setup
- −No visual drag-and-drop email editor or built-in template builder included
- −Limited customer support; no phone support and documentation can be hard to navigate
- −Strict sending limits initially; requires a production access request to leave the sandbox
- −Advanced analytics like click tracking require additional services like Amazon Pinpoint at extra cost
Elastic Email: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Very affordable pricing starting at $19/month for 50,000 emails via the API plan
- +Combines both transactional API and marketing email features in one platform
- +Custom-built infrastructure written from the protocol level up for optimized performance
- +Includes landing page editor, signup forms, and segmentation even on marketing plans
- +Unlimited contacts on API plans and up to 1M contacts on marketing plans
Cons
- −Free plan severely limited to 100 emails/day and sending only to yourself
- −Third-party deliverability tests show inconsistent results averaging around 59.5% inbox placement (EmailToolTester)
- −Customer support response times can be slow; dedicated support costs an extra $100/month
- −Template editor feels limited compared to competitors unless you code custom HTML
- −Automation trigger options are very limited compared to full-featured marketing platforms
The Verdict
Amazon SES and Elastic Email are closely matched — both score within 0.0 points of each other in our overall rating. Your decision should come down to specific needs rather than overall quality.
| Criterion | Weight | Amazon SES | Elastic Email |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | Free | $19/mo |
| Deliverability | 25% | 95% | 95% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.4/5 | 4.4/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 50 | 30 |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose Amazon SES if…
- + You're a aws native developers
- + You're a high volume transactional senders
- + Extremely low cost at $0.10 per 1,000 emails, making it the cheapest option for high-volume sending
Choose Elastic Email if…
- + You need marketing automation
- + You need built-in landing pages
- + You need A/B testing
- + You're a budget conscious startups