Amazon SES vs Mautic: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Amazon SES and Mautic 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.
Mautic
6.5/10
Mautic is free, open source, self-hosted marketing automation software. It covers email, landing pages, segmentation, lead scoring and multichannel campaigns for businesses that want control of their data.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | A Amazon SES | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.8/10 | 6.5/10 |
| Scalability | 10/10 | 6/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3/10 | 4/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 3/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 10/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $105/mo Pro | Contact for pricing |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $105/mo Pro | Free Open Source (self-hosted) |
| Features | ||
| Email Marketing | ||
| A/B Testing | Not listed | |
| Landing Pages | Not listed | |
| Segmentation | Not listed | |
| SMS Marketing | Not listed | |
Amazon SES vs Mautic cost by team size
Mautic costs less at every team size we checked.
| Team size | Amazon SES | Mautic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $105/moPro | FreeOpen Source (self-hosted) |
| 5 users | $105/moPro | FreeOpen Source (self-hosted) |
| 10 users | $105/moPro | FreeOpen Source (self-hosted) |
| 25 users | $105/moPro | FreeOpen Source (self-hosted) |
| 50 users | $105/moPro | FreeOpen Source (self-hosted) |
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 Security score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for developers (9/10 vs 6/10)
Why choose Mautic
- Has a free plan (Amazon SES does not)
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $105/mo
- Higher Customization score (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (4/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for marketing teams (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.
Mautic
Pros
- There are no licence or per-contact fees, so costs stay flat as your contact list grows.
- Self-hosting gives you full control of your data, which helps with GDPR and data sovereignty.
- The core feature set is broad: a visual campaign builder, lead scoring, segments, forms, landing pages and email A/B testing.
- The open source code, REST API and plugin system allow deep customisation.
Cons
- Reviewers describe a steep learning curve and a difficult installation for non-technical users.
- Support comes from the community unless you pay a partner, and there is no vendor ticketing.
- Upgrades should be run from the command line, and reviewers mention slow development and patchy documentation.
- Email A/B testing works only with segment emails.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Amazon SES scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.8/10 against 6.5/10 for Mautic. The largest gap is in Scalability: 10/10 for Amazon SES and 6/10 for Mautic.
Mautic costs less for 10 users: free on its Open Source (self-hosted) plan, against about $105/mo on its Pro plan for Amazon SES, billed monthly.
Mautic 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 6/10 for Mautic.
