Amazon SES vs Mailchimp: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Amazon SES and Mailchimp 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.
Mailchimp
6.6/10
Intuit-owned email marketing platform with automation flows, signup forms, segmentation and optional SMS, priced by contact count for small and growing businesses.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | A Amazon SES | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.8/10 | 6.6/10 |
| Scalability | 10/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3/10 | 8/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 4/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $105/mo Pro | $13/mo Essentials |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $105/mo Pro | $350/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 Mailchimp cost by team size
Mailchimp costs less up to 5 users; Amazon SES costs less from 10 users.
| Team size | Amazon SES | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $105/moPro | FreeFree |
| 5 users | $105/moPro | $20/moStandard |
| 10 users | $105/moPro | $350/moPremium |
| 25 users | $105/moPro | $350/moPremium |
| 50 users | $105/moPro | $350/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
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: $105/mo vs $350/mo
- Higher Cost score (10/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Scalability score (10/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for developers (9/10 vs 2/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (8/10 vs 4/10)
Why choose Mailchimp
- Has a free plan (Amazon SES does not)
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Analytics score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for marketing teams (7/10 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.
Mailchimp
Pros
- Reviewers on G2 and Capterra often praise the template library and easy navigation, which help non-technical users send campaigns quickly.
- Large review base, with a 4.5 rating on Capterra from more than 17,000 reviews and 4.3 on G2.
- Standard includes up to 200 automation flows, predictive segments and generative AI tools at a low starting price.
- Premium adds enterprise SSO, unlimited seats and dedicated onboarding for larger teams.
Cons
- Costs rise steeply with list size. Premium starts at 350 USD a month, and reviewers rank pricing as the top complaint.
- New accounts are billed for unsubscribed and unconfirmed contacts, and going over the plan limit triggers overage fees.
- In January 2026 the Free plan was cut to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, and automations were removed from it.
- Reviewers on G2 and Capterra say support is slow or inconsistent, especially for integration troubleshooting.
- Essentials limits automation flows to four steps.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Amazon SES scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.8/10 against 6.6/10 for Mailchimp. The largest gap is in Cost: 10/10 for Amazon SES and 4/10 for Mailchimp.
Amazon SES costs less for 10 users: about $105/mo on its Pro plan, against about $350/mo on its Premium plan for Mailchimp, billed monthly.
Mailchimp has a free plan; Amazon SES does not list one.
Amazon SES is the better fit for developers: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 2/10 for Mailchimp.
