VS
AWS SES vs Mandrill
Two transactional email providers, compared on price, features and ratings — so you can pick fast.
Updated July 2026
The verdict
AWS SES starts at $0.10 versus Mandrill's $20. Pick based on volume and team — the scorecard below breaks down where each one leads.
By the numbers
How do AWS SES and Mandrill compare?
Leader highlighted · figures as of July 2026
Entry price · @ 1,000/mo
$0.10
AWS SES
$20
Mandrill
Price at scale · @ 50,000/mo
$5
AWS SES
$40
Mandrill
G2 rating · out of 5
4.2
AWS SES
4.2
Mandrill
Trustpilot · out of 5
2.3
AWS SES
1.6
Mandrill
Drag-and-drop editor · visual builder
No
AWS SES
No
Mandrill
Scorecard
Feature by feature, how do they stack up?
| Capability | | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Starting paid plan | $0/mo | $20/mo |
| Cost per 1k @ 100k | $0.1 | $0.8 |
| Pricing model | PAYG | PAYG |
| Overage | $0.10 per 1,000 emails (flat PAYG) | Auto-purchase blocks or stop sending; no rollover |
| Deliverability | ||
| Dedicated IP | Add-on | Add-on |
| Deliverability tooling | Yes | Yes |
| Automated IP warmup | Yes | Yes |
| Suppression management | Yes | Yes |
| SPF / DKIM / DMARC | Yes | Yes |
| BIMI | Yes | — |
| API & sending | ||
| Transactional API | Yes | Yes |
| Marketing campaigns | No | No |
| SMTP relay | Yes | Yes |
| Inbound routing | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic templates | Yes | Yes |
| Batch send | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled send | — | Yes |
| Developer experience | ||
| Official SDKs | Java, Python, JavaScript/Node.js, .NET, Ruby, Go, PHP, C++ | PHP, Python, Ruby, Node.js |
| Event webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| Drag-and-drop editor | No | Yes |
| Custom HTML editor | Yes | Yes |
| Email validation | Add-on | No |
| Sandbox / test mode | Yes | Yes |
| Analytics | ||
| Open / click tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Analytics dashboard | Yes | Yes |
| A/B testing | No | Yes |
| Compliance | ||
| EU data residency | Yes | No |
| SOC 2 | Yes | Yes |
| HIPAA | BAA | No |
| GDPR | Yes | Yes |
| ISO 27001 | Yes | Yes |
| Support | ||
| Support channels | Email, Chat, Phone (via AWS Support plans) | Email, Chat |
| 24/7 support | Yes | — |
| Support SLA | Plan-gated | Plan-gated |
Decision helper
Which should you choose?
Pick AWS SES
Pick Mandrill
FAQ
Common questions
AWS SES starts at $0.10 versus Mandrill's $20. Because pricing models differ by tier, the cheaper option depends on your monthly volume — compare the pricing rows in the scorecard above.
Keep comparing
Related comparisons
Why not both?
Use both behind one API.
Route AWS SES, Mandrill, or both — and switch providers without changing your code. Courier sits in front of every channel.
Pricing, plans and feature availability as of July 2026 and may change. Ratings are aggregated from public review platforms. Mandrill is Mailchimp Transactional.
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