SendGrid offers a user-friendly email marketing platform with advanced automation and deliverability tools starting at $19.95/month, while Amazon SES is a bare-bones transactional email service costing $0.10 per 1,000 emails with no upfront fees. SendGrid suits marketing campaigns; SES suits high-volume transactional sending on AWS infrastructure.
SendGrid vs Amazon SES — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Email delivery and marketing automation platform owned by Twilio
Lightweight, pay-as-you-go email service integrated with AWS infrastructure.
Pricing Model. Primary Use Case. Setup Complexity. Email Templates. Automation Features. Monthly Email Volume Limit (Free Tier). Deliverability Support
Choose SendGrid if you're running email marketing campaigns, need visual automation builders, or want managed deliverability support for campaigns starting at ~$20/month. Choose Amazon SES if you're sending high-volume transactional emails (receipts, notifications) from AWS infrastructure and need the lowest per-email cost ($0.10/1K) with no monthly minimums.
SendGrid: 0 (trial only) | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Multiple continents (15+) | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Full suite included | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: AI-assisted drag-and-drop | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: $1.00 per 1K emails | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: 0 (100 emails/day only) | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: No, basic contacts only | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Highly advanced, enterprise-grade | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: 60-120 minutes | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Unlimited (pay-per-use after quota) | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: 1 channel (Email) | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: $25 for 50k emails | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: 100+ countries | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: 100-150ms average | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Yes, 24/7 with premium tiers | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Advanced drag-and-drop builder with presets | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Unlimited with proper infrastructure | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: $19.95 | Amazon SES: $0 (pay-per-email)
SendGrid: $29.95-$99.95 (bundled) | Amazon SES: $10
SendGrid: Drag-and-drop visual editor | Amazon SES: None (code only)
SendGrid: Full (A/B testing, branching, delays) | Amazon SES: None (API-controlled)
SendGrid: 14,400 (varies by plan) | Amazon SES: 14 (production tier)
SendGrid: $9.95 (or free 100k/month) | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Requires third-party integration | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: 50+ generic templates | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: 500 | Amazon SES: 14 (configurable to 240)
SendGrid: 4-5 basic trigger types | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Not advertised | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: $29.95/month (Pro plan) | Amazon SES: $0 (pay-as-you-go only)
SendGrid: 100 emails | Amazon SES: 200 emails
SendGrid: 70+ responsive templates | Amazon SES: 0 templates
SendGrid: 30 days | Amazon SES: 62 days sandbox (200 emails/day max)
SendGrid: 90 days (all tiers) | Amazon SES: Unlimited (CloudWatch, manual setup)
SendGrid: 2-3 minutes (1-click) | Amazon SES: 15-20 minutes (manual DNS)
SendGrid: 3,000 emails | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: 25+ event types | Amazon SES: 4 core event types
SendGrid: API-driven only | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Unlimited at scale | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Built into enterprise plans | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: No - third-party required | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Basic (5 trigger types) | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: 1 (Email only) | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Not available | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: Native with statistical significance calculator | Amazon SES: N/A
SendGrid: N/A | Amazon SES: Syntax validation only
SendGrid: N/A | Amazon SES: No, separate service
SendGrid: N/A | Amazon SES: $3.10 (31,000 emails)
SendGrid: N/A | Amazon SES: 62,000 (first 12 months)
SendGrid: N/A | Amazon SES: Manual handling via SQS/Lambda (not built-in)
SendGrid: N/A | Amazon SES: Business hours only (basic), 24/7 on paid AWS support
SendGrid: N/A | Amazon SES: Native integration with Lambda, S3, CloudWatch, SNS
How to choose between SendGrid and Amazon SES
SendGrid vs Amazon SES — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for SendGrid vs Amazon SES. Contains 107 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
SendGrid vs Amazon SES — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for SendGrid vs Amazon SES.
Can I use SendGrid and Amazon SES together?
Yes. Some organizations use SES for high-volume transactional emails (invoices, confirmations) to minimize costs, and SendGrid for marketing campaigns requiring automation. They handle different use cases and can complement each other. AWS SNS can trigger SES sends, while SendGrid handles campaign orchestration.
SendGrid has dedicated deliverability experts, IP warming programs, and reputation monitoring—best for marketing where sender reputation is critical. Amazon SES relies on AWS infrastructure and shared IPs (unless you use dedicated IPs), requiring you to manage compliance (authentication, list hygiene) yourself. SendGrid wins for managed deliverability; SES requires more expertise.
Yes, the SES free tier includes 62,000 emails/month forever (no time limit), but only in sandbox mode, which restricts sending to verified addresses. Moving to production requires verification and removes the free tier. SendGrid offers no free tier but has lower entry costs for small businesses at $19.95/month.
Can I do email marketing campaigns with Amazon SES?
Technically yes, but you'd need to build or integrate custom software for segmentation, scheduling, and tracking. SES is API-driven, so there's no visual campaign builder. SendGrid is purpose-built for marketing with templates, scheduling, segmentation, and analytics included. Use SES only if you have developer resources.
What if I start with SendGrid and outgrow it?
SendGrid scales to enterprise (100M+ emails/month) but gets expensive at $4,995+/month. Large transactional senders often layer SES underneath for cost savings on bulk sends. Most SaaS companies use SendGrid for marketing and may supplement with SES for high-volume notifications to reduce overall costs.
How to Choose Between SendGrid and Amazon SES
Pricing Model: SendGrid has $19.95-$4,995/month (volume-based plans), while Amazon SES has $0.10 per 1,000 emails (pay-as-you-go).
Primary Use Case: SendGrid has Marketing automation & campaigns, while Amazon SES has Transactional & high-volume bulk sending.
Setup Complexity: SendGrid has 5-10 minutes (visual dashboard), while Amazon SES has 30-60 minutes (API/SMTP integration).
Email Templates: SendGrid has Built-in drag-and-drop editor & library, while Amazon SES has None (must code manually).
Automation Features: SendGrid has Advanced workflows, A/B testing, segmentation, while Amazon SES has None (API-based only).
Consider: Monthly Email Volume Limit (Free Tier)
Monthly Email Volume Limit (Free Tier): SendGrid has None (paid plans only), while Amazon SES has 62,000 emails/month (free tier).
Deliverability Support: SendGrid has Dedicated deliverability team & consulting, while Amazon SES has Self-service (no dedicated support).
SendGrid offers a user-friendly email marketing platform with advanced automation and deliverability tools starting at $19.95/month, while Amazon SES is a bare-bones transactional email service costing $0.10 per 1,000 emails with no upfront fees. SendGrid suits marketing campaigns; SES suits high-vo