Amazon SES vs Constant Contact: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Amazon SES and Constant Contact 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.
Constant Contact
5.8/10
Email and SMS marketing platform with event registration, sign-up forms and basic automation, aimed at small businesses and nonprofits that want live support.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | A Amazon SES | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.8/10 | 5.8/10 |
| Scalability | 10/10 | 5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3/10 | 8/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 8/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 4/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $105/mo Pro | $12/mo Lite |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $105/mo Pro | $80/mo Premium |
| 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 Constant Contact cost by team size
Constant Contact costs less at every team size we checked.
| Team size | Amazon SES | Constant Contact |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $105/moPro | $12/moLite |
| 5 users | $105/moPro | $80/moPremium |
| 10 users | $105/moPro | $80/moPremium |
| 25 users | $105/moPro | $80/moPremium |
| 50 users | $105/moPro | $80/moPremium |
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 4/10)
- Higher Scalability score (10/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (8/10 vs 3/10)
Why choose Constant Contact
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: $80/mo vs $105/mo
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Support score (8/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for small business (9/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for marketing teams (5/10 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.
Constant Contact
Pros
- Live phone and chat support plus one-to-one onboarding are included from the cheapest Lite plan.
- Event registration, ticketing and payment collection are built into every plan, so small organisations do not need a separate events tool.
- The drag-and-drop editor and templates suit non-marketers who need to send newsletters quickly.
- Nonprofits can save up to 30 percent by prepaying for a year.
Cons
- Prices climb steeply with list size, reaching about 160 dollars a month for Standard at 10,000 contacts.
- Custom and ecommerce automations are only on Premium. The lower plans get one or three prebuilt paths.
- A/B testing is limited to subject lines.
- The free plan was removed, and reviewers report billing and cancellation complaints.
- Reviewers describe the interface as dated and needing more clicks than newer competitors.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Amazon SES scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.8/10 against 5.8/10 for Constant Contact. The largest gap is in Cost: 10/10 for Amazon SES and 4/10 for Constant Contact.
Constant Contact costs less for 10 users: about $80/mo on its Premium plan, against about $105/mo on its Pro plan for Amazon SES, billed monthly.
No, neither Amazon SES nor Constant Contact lists a free plan.
Amazon SES is the better fit for enterprise: we rate it 8/10 for them, against 3/10 for Constant Contact.
