Amazon SES vs Keila: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Amazon SES and Keila 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.
Keila
5.8/10
Open-source, AGPL-licensed newsletter platform from Germany for sending email campaigns and running sign-up forms, available as an EU-hosted cloud service or self-hosted with Docker.
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 | 6/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 4/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 9/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 3/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 4/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $105/mo Pro | €8/mo Keila XS |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $105/mo Pro | €8/mo Keila XS |
| Features | ||
| Email Marketing | ||
| Segmentation | Not listed | |
Amazon SES vs Keila cost by team size
| Team size | Amazon SES | Keila |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $105/moPro | €8/moKeila XS |
| 5 users | $105/moPro | €8/moKeila XS |
| 10 users | $105/moPro | €8/moKeila XS |
| 25 users | $105/moPro | €8/moKeila XS |
| 50 users | $105/moPro | €8/moKeila XS |
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 5/10)
- Higher Integration score (7/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (8/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for mid-market (6/10 vs 3/10)
Why choose Keila
- Higher Ease of Use score (6/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for small business (8/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for freelancers (6/10 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.
Keila
Pros
- Fully open source under AGPLv3, with no proprietary premium features, so it can be self-hosted free with Docker.
- Pricing is based on emails sent and every plan includes unlimited contacts, which helps large lists that send rarely.
- The cloud is hosted in Germany and France, which suits organisations with GDPR concerns.
- Several editing modes are available, including a block editor, Markdown, MJML and plain text, plus Liquid personalisation.
- Mail can go out through your own SMTP, SES, Mailgun, Postmark or SendGrid account.
Cons
- There is no free cloud plan, and pricing is listed only for monthly billing.
- Automation is basic, and the template library is small, according to comparison reviews.
- There are few integrations, and the Zapier connector is still in private beta.
- No security certifications are published.
- It has no e-commerce, SMS or landing page builder features.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Amazon SES scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.8/10 against 5.8/10 for Keila. The largest gap is in Scalability: 10/10 for Amazon SES and 5/10 for Keila.
No, neither Amazon SES nor Keila lists a free plan.
Amazon SES is the better fit for enterprise: we rate it 8/10 for them, against 3/10 for Keila.
