AWS SES vs SparkPost

Two transactional email providers, compared on price, features and ratings, so you can pick fast.

AWS SES wins price and deliverabilitySparkPost wins sending APIs and analytics

Updated July 2026

At a glanceAWS SESSparkPost
Entry price$0.10$20
Cost per 1k @ 100k$0.1$0.3
Free tier3,000/mo (1st yr)1,000/mo
G2 rating4.24.0

THE VERDICT

AWS SES wins on price and deliverability. SparkPost wins on sending APIs and analytics.

AWS SES starts at $0.10 versus SparkPost's $20. AWS SES rates higher with developers (4.2 vs 4.0 on G2). Pick based on volume and team, and the scorecard below breaks down where each one leads.

Which should you choose?

Pick AWS SES

✓It is suitable for developers on the AWS ecosystem who want to integrate a mailing system into their software.
✓It is suitable for firms or brands to send bulk transactional emails.
✓It is an excellent tool for email marketing.
Set up AWS SES with Courier →

Pick SparkPost

✓You send enterprise-scale, high-volume email and need deep deliverability analytics
✓You want predictive deliverability and detailed engagement reporting
✓You are a SaaS, fintech, or martech company with strict deliverability needs
✓You need both transactional and multichannel sending at scale
Set up SparkPost with Courier →

Feature by feature

Winner cells are tinted, green where AWS SES leads, violet where SparkPost does.

capability
AWS SES
SparkPost
Starting paid plan
$0/mo
$15/mo
Cost per 1k @ 100k
$0.1
$0.3
Pricing model
Pay-as-you-go
Hybrid
Overage
$0.10 per 1,000 emails (flat Pay-as-you-go)
~$1.00 per 1,000 (Starter)
Dedicated IP
Add-on
Plan-gated
Deliverability tooling
Yes
Yes
Automated IP warmup
Yes
Yes
Suppression management
Yes
Yes
SPF / DKIM / DMARC
Yes
Yes
BIMI
Yes
—
Transactional API
Yes
Yes
Marketing campaigns
No
Yes
SMTP relay
Yes
Yes
Inbound routing
Yes
Yes
Dynamic templates
Yes
Yes
Batch send
Yes
Yes
Scheduled send
—
Yes
Official SDKs
Java, Python, JavaScript/Node.js, .NET, Ruby, Go, PHP, C++
Node.js, Python, PHP, Java, Go, Elixir
Event webhooks
Yes
Yes
Drag-and-drop editor
No
—
Custom HTML editor
Yes
Yes
Email validation
Add-on
Add-on
Sandbox / test mode
Yes
Yes
Open / click tracking
Yes
Yes
Analytics dashboard
Yes
Yes
A/B testing
No
Yes
EU data residency
Yes
Yes
SOC 2
Yes
Yes
HIPAA
BAA
—
GDPR
Yes
Yes
ISO 27001
Yes
Yes
Support channels
Email, Chat, Phone (via AWS Support plans)
Online/Email support; TAM on Enterprise
24/7 support
Yes
—
Support SLA
Plan-gated
Plan-gated

FAQ

Common questions

AWS SES starts at $0.10 versus SparkPost's $20. Because pricing models differ by tier, the cheaper option depends on your monthly volume, so compare the pricing rows in the scorecard above.

Keep comparing

Related comparisons

AWS SES vs PostmarkEmail→AWS SES vs MailgunEmail→AWS SES vs SendGridEmail→AWS SES vs OneSignal EmailEmail→AWS SES vs MailjetEmail→AWS SES vs MandrillEmail→

Why not both?

Use both behind one API.

Route AWS SES, SparkPost, or both, and switch providers without changing your code. Courier sits in front of every channel.

Start building freeRead the docs

Pricing, plans and feature availability as of July 2026 and may change. Ratings are aggregated from public review platforms. SparkPost is a Bird (MessageBird) product.

Multichannel Notifications Platform for SaaS