Amazon SES vs GetResponse: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Amazon SES and GetResponse 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.
GetResponse
6.5/10
Email marketing and automation platform with landing pages, sales funnels, webinars and course tools, aimed at small businesses, creators and online stores.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | A Amazon SES | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.8/10 | 6.5/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 10/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $105/mo Pro | €16/mo Starter |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $105/mo Pro | Free Free |
| Features | ||
| Email Marketing | ||
| A/B Testing | Not listed | |
| E-commerce Features | Not listed | |
| Landing Pages | Not listed | |
| Segmentation | Not listed | |
| SMS Marketing | Not listed | |
| Webinars | Not listed | |
Amazon SES vs GetResponse cost by team size
| Team size | Amazon SES | GetResponse |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $105/moPro | €16/moStarter |
| 5 users | $105/moPro | €54/moMarketer |
| 10 users | $105/moPro | FreeFree |
| 25 users | $105/moPro | FreeFree |
| 50 users | $105/moPro | FreeFree |
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 Scalability score (10/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Cost score (10/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (8/10 vs 4/10)
Why choose GetResponse
- Has a free plan (Amazon SES does not)
- Higher Ease of Use score (7/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Analytics score (6/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for freelancers (8/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for small business (8/10 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.
GetResponse
Pros
- Every paid plan includes unlimited email sends plus landing pages, forms and popups, so even Starter users can capture leads without a separate tool.
- The Creator plan bundles webinar hosting and a course creator with email, which reviewers rate as good value for creators selling content.
- Segmentation is flexible, with multi-segment targeting and Shopify tag syncing available from the Marketer plan.
- Security basics include custom DKIM on all plans, two-factor authentication and GDPR tools.
Cons
- Prices rise steeply with list size. In EUR, Starter goes from 16 per month at 1,000 contacts to 469 at 100,000, and G2 reviewers often call it expensive.
- Starter allows only one automation workflow, and abandoned cart and segmentation require Marketer or higher.
- Reviewers describe the landing page and form builders as fiddly, and the email editor and automation builder as dated in places.
- Phone support and SMS are reserved for the quote-only Enterprise tier, and some reviewers report slow support and billing disputes.
- Webinar recording storage is limited, at 3 hours on Creator.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Amazon SES scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.8/10 against 6.5/10 for GetResponse. The largest gap is in Ease of Use: 3/10 for Amazon SES and 7/10 for GetResponse.
GetResponse has a free plan; Amazon SES does not list one.
GetResponse is the better fit for freelancers: we rate it 8/10 for them, against 3/10 for Amazon SES.
