Amazon SES vs MailerLite Comparison
Compare Amazon SES vs MailerLite features, pricing, and more.
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.
MailerLite
7.1/10
MailerLite is an email marketing platform for small businesses and creators, combining newsletters, automations, landing pages, sites, forms and digital product sales.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | A Amazon SES | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.8/10 | 7.1/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 8/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3/10 | 9/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 10/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $105/mo Pro | $12/mo Comfort |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $105/mo Pro | $25/mo Power |
| Features | ||
| Email Marketing | ||
| A/B Testing | Not listed | |
| E-commerce Features | Not listed | |
| Landing Pages | Not listed | |
| Segmentation | Not listed | |
Amazon SES vs MailerLite cost by team size
MailerLite costs less at every team size we checked.
| Team size | Amazon SES | MailerLite |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $105/moPro | FreeFree |
| 5 users | $105/moPro | $25/moPower |
| 10 users | $105/moPro | $25/moPower |
| 25 users | $105/moPro | $25/moPower |
| 50 users | $105/moPro | $25/moPower |
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 8/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (8/10 vs 4/10)
Why choose MailerLite
- Has a free plan (Amazon SES does not)
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: $25/mo vs $105/mo
- Higher Ease of Use score (9/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Analytics score (6/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for freelancers (8/10 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.
MailerLite
Pros
- The interface is clean, and reviewers say automations are quick to set up even for first-time users.
- Automations are included even on the free plan.
- Paid plans start at $12 a month, which reviewers say is cheaper than Mailchimp or Constant Contact.
- Native e-commerce integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce and Stripe feed purchase-based automations.
- Reviewers report deliverability ranking first in an independent EmailToolTester test.
Cons
- Many users report accounts suspended or terminated with little warning and difficult appeals.
- Support is email-only on Comfort, and some reviewers say replies are slow.
- The free plan has been cut more than once and now allows only 250 subscribers.
- Prices rise steeply as the list grows, according to a competitor's analysis.
- Reviewers find reporting and segmentation limited for larger companies.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
MailerLite scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 7.1/10 against 6.8/10 for Amazon SES. The largest gap is in Ease of Use: 3/10 for Amazon SES and 9/10 for MailerLite.
MailerLite costs less for 10 users: about $25/mo on its Power plan, against about $105/mo on its Pro plan for Amazon SES, billed monthly.
MailerLite has a free plan; Amazon SES does not list one.
MailerLite is the better fit for freelancers: we rate it 8/10 for them, against 3/10 for Amazon SES.
