# Best Amazon SES Alternatives in 2026

> The best Amazon SES alternatives in 2026: Cresca, Resend, Postmark, SendGrid, Mailgun and more compared on price, free tier, SMTP, webhooks and campaigns.

Canonical: https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/best-amazon-ses-alternatives
Author: Lalit Kumar Jangid
Published: 2026-10-27
Last updated: 2026-10-27

Amazon SES is built for sending at scale from inside AWS, and many teams start there. The **best Amazon SES alternatives** are for when you want more around the send: no sandbox approval, a dashboard with logs, templates you can edit without a deploy, delivery events without wiring up Amazon SNS, and marketing email in the same place. This guide compares eight alternatives, using each vendor's own pricing and product pages, checked on October 28, 2026.

*We make Cresca, so it is listed first. Every other entry is described from the vendor's own public pages, without ranking claims about them. Prices and plans change, so confirm on each vendor's site before you switch.*

**TL;DR**

- New SES accounts start in a sandbox: verified recipients only, 200 messages per 24 hours, 1 per second, until AWS grants production access.
- Cresca: a transactional email API and AI-designed marketing campaigns on one plan, from $29/month, with no sandbox.
- Most alternatives include a dashboard, logs and webhooks out of the box; check SMTP, free tiers and how marketing email is billed.
- Moving off Amazon Pinpoint before its October 30, 2026 end of support? See the [Pinpoint migration guide](https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/amazon-pinpoint-alternative).

## Why teams look for an Amazon SES alternative

- **The sandbox.** AWS places all new accounts in the SES sandbox, where you can only send to verified addresses and domains, up to 200 messages per 24 hours and 1 per second. Leaving it means requesting production access; AWS says its support team gives an initial response within 96 hours.
- **Plumbing for events.** Deliveries, bounces, complaints, opens and clicks are published as events to Amazon SNS, EventBridge, CloudWatch or Data Firehose, which you configure and consume yourself.
- **Pricing plans.** New SES accounts start on the Essentials plan at $0.16 per 1,000 emails; Pro and Enterprise plans add fixed monthly charges per account and region.
- **No campaign tools.** SES sends marketing email, but its pages describe no campaign builder, so newsletters need another tool on top.
- **Amazon Pinpoint's end of support** on October 30, 2026 leaves teams that used Pinpoint for email campaigns looking for a new home for contacts, templates and campaigns.

## Best Amazon SES alternatives compared (2026)

| Service | Best for | Free option | Paid from | SMTP relay | Webhooks | Marketing email |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Cresca** | App email and AI-designed marketing campaigns in one account | 30 days free, 50 emails, no credit card | $29/month: 7,500 emails and 5,000 contacts, campaigns included | On the roadmap | On the roadmap | Yes, on the same plan |
| **Resend** | Developers; sends emails built with React Email | Free plan: 3,000 emails/month, 100 per day | $20/month for 50,000 emails | Yes | Yes | Separate marketing plans priced by contacts |
| **Postmark** | Transactional email with separate message streams | 100 emails/month developer plan | $15/month for 10,000 emails | Yes | Yes | Broadcast message streams |
| **SendGrid** | Email API at scale, part of Twilio | 60-day free trial, 100 emails/day | Essentials from $19.95/month | Yes | Yes | Marketing Campaigns, sold as a separate plan |
| **Mailgun** | Developers; email API, SMTP and email validation | Free plan: 100 emails/day | $15/month for 10,000 emails | Yes | Yes | Not stated on its pricing page |
| **MailerSend** | Email, SMS and WhatsApp for apps | Free plan: 500 emails/month | $7/month for 5,000 emails | Yes | Yes | Not stated; bulk emailing on paid plans |
| **Mailtrap** | Developer and product teams; sending plus a testing sandbox | Free plan: 4,000 emails/month, 150 per day | $15/month for 10,000 emails | Yes | Yes | Email Marketing, sold separately |
| **Mailchimp Transactional** | Mailchimp customers adding app email | Up to 500 free sends to a verified domain | $20 per block of 25,000 emails, plus a Mailchimp Standard or Premium plan | Yes | Yes | Yes, through the Mailchimp plan it is added to |

*Based on each vendor's public pricing and product pages, checked on October 27, 2026. Prices in US dollars, billed monthly where both options are shown.*

## 1\. Cresca: SES-level sending without the setup, plus campaigns

Cresca is a transactional email service and an AI email marketing platform in one account. Verify your domain, create an API key and send: there is no sandbox to leave, and the dashboard shows a timeline for every email. See [Cresca transactional email](https://www.cresca.xyz/transactional-email).

- **API:** `POST /emails` for one email to up to 50 recipients, batches of up to 100, scheduling up to 30 days ahead, attachments, tags and `Idempotency-Key` headers for safe retries.
- **Templates:** Design in a template editor, publish, and send by alias with variables. Every published version is kept.
- **Marketing:** AI-designed campaigns, contact lists, scheduling and campaign reports on the same plan and the same verified domain.
- **Pricing:** 30 days free with 50 emails and no credit card. Professional is $29/month for 7,500 emails and 5,000 contacts, covering API email and campaigns.
- **On the roadmap:** Outbound webhooks and an SMTP relay. Today you read each email's status from the API or the dashboard.

## 2\. Resend

Resend presents itself as an email API for developers and highlights emails built with React Email.

- **Free option:** 3,000 emails per month, up to 100 per day.
- **Paid:** Pro is $20/month for 50,000 emails.
- **Sending:** REST API, SMTP relay, SDKs and webhooks on all plans.
- **Marketing:** Separate marketing plans priced by contacts.

## 3\. Postmark

Postmark describes itself as a transactional email service, with transactional and broadcast email kept in separate message streams.

- **Free option:** A developer plan with 100 emails per month.
- **Paid:** Basic is $15/month for 10,000 emails.
- **Sending:** Email API, SMTP, event webhooks and inbound processing.
- **Marketing:** Broadcast message streams in the same account.

## 4\. SendGrid

SendGrid, part of Twilio, sells its Email API and Marketing Campaigns as separate products.

- **Free option:** A 60-day free trial with 100 emails per day.
- **Paid:** Email API Essentials starts at $19.95/month.
- **Sending:** API and SMTP, with event webhooks on paid plans.
- **Marketing:** Marketing Campaigns, purchased as a separate plan.

## 5\. Mailgun

Mailgun calls itself a transactional email delivery service and API for developers.

- **Free option:** 100 emails per day.
- **Paid:** Basic starts at $15/month for 10,000 emails.
- **Sending:** RESTful APIs and SMTP relay, with webhooks.
- **Marketing:** Not stated on its pricing page.

## 6\. MailerSend

MailerSend presents itself as a team-friendly email API for apps, with SMS and WhatsApp alongside email.

- **Free option:** 500 emails per month.
- **Paid:** Hobby is $7/month for 5,000 emails.
- **Sending:** Email API, SMTP relay and webhooks.
- **Marketing:** No separate marketing product described; bulk emailing on paid plans.

## 7\. Mailtrap

Mailtrap offers email sending for developer and product teams, with email marketing and a testing sandbox as separate products.

- **Free option:** 4,000 emails per month, up to 150 per day.
- **Paid:** Basic is $15/month for 10,000 emails.
- **Sending:** API, SMTP relay and webhooks.
- **Marketing:** Email Marketing, sold separately.

## 8\. Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill)

Mailchimp Transactional is sold as an add-on to a Mailchimp plan.

- **Free option:** Up to 500 free emails to a verified domain for new users.
- **Paid:** $20 per block of 25,000 emails, plus a Mailchimp Standard or Premium plan.
- **Sending:** API, SMTP integration and webhooks.
- **Marketing:** Through the Mailchimp plan it is added to.

## Moving from Amazon SES to Cresca

1. **Verify your sending domain** in Cresca by publishing the DNS records it shows, and keep SES sending while you switch. See the [quickstart](https://www.cresca.xyz/docs/quickstart).
2. **Create a sending-access API key** and store it as `CRESCA_API_KEY`.
3. **Move templates.** Paste your SES template HTML into Cresca's template editor with Import HTML, mark variables with triple braces and publish.
4. **Swap the send call**, one email type at a time, starting with a low-risk one such as a welcome email.
5. **Keep a list of addresses that bounced or complained on SES** and leave them out of your Cresca sends, so your new domain setup starts with a clean reputation.
6. **Switch the rest** once the dashboard timeline looks right, then retire the SES configuration.

Here is the same email with the AWS SDK for JavaScript (SESv2) and with Cresca:

```js
// Before: Amazon SES with the AWS SDK for JavaScript v3
import { SESv2Client, SendEmailCommand } from '@aws-sdk/client-sesv2';

const ses = new SESv2Client({ region: 'us-east-1' });

await ses.send(
  new SendEmailCommand({
    FromEmailAddress: 'Acme <hello@acme.com>',
    Destination: { ToAddresses: ['ana@example.com'] },
    Content: {
      Simple: {
        Subject: { Data: 'Welcome to Acme' },
        Body: { Html: { Data: '<p>Hi Ana, your account is ready.</p>' } },
      },
    },
  }),
);
```

```js
// After: Cresca, with fetch (Node.js 18+)
const res = await fetch('https://api.cresca.xyz/api/v1/emails', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.CRESCA_API_KEY}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Idempotency-Key': 'welcome/user-123',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    from: 'Acme <hello@acme.com>',
    to: 'ana@example.com',
    subject: 'Welcome to Acme',
    html: '<p>Hi Ana, your account is ready.</p>',
  }),
});
const body = await res.json();
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${body.name}: ${body.message}`);
```

Full guides for your stack: [Node.js](https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/send-email-nodejs), [Python](https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/send-email-python), [Java](https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/send-email-java), [Go](https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/send-email-golang), [PHP](https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/send-email-php) and more. Comparing transactional providers more broadly? See the [best transactional email services](https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/best-transactional-email-services).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the best Amazon SES alternative?

It depends on what you need around sending. If you also send newsletters and campaigns, Cresca puts a transactional email API and AI-designed marketing email on one plan, with no sandbox and a dashboard for every email. Resend, Postmark, SendGrid, Mailgun, MailerSend, Mailtrap and Mailchimp Transactional are other alternatives that focus on sending.

### How long does it take to get out of the Amazon SES sandbox?

You request production access from the SES console or the AWS CLI, giving your use case and website. AWS says its support team provides an initial response within 96 hours. Until then you can only send to verified addresses, up to 200 messages per 24 hours.

### Is Amazon SES affected by the Amazon Pinpoint end of support?

No. Amazon Pinpoint's engagement features end on October 30, 2026, but Amazon SES continues. Teams that used Pinpoint for email campaigns, segments and journeys need another place for them, which is what the Pinpoint migration guide covers.

### Can I keep my domain authentication when I leave SES?

You keep your domain, but each provider signs mail with its own DKIM keys, so you add the new provider's DNS records. DKIM records for different providers can sit side by side, which lets you move one email type at a time and keep SES running until the switch is complete.

### Do SES alternatives support SMTP?

Most of the services in this comparison offer an SMTP relay as well as an HTTP API. Cresca sends through its HTTP API today, and an SMTP relay is on its roadmap.

## Try Cresca

Send your app's email and your campaigns from one account, with no sandbox. **[Try Cresca free for 30 days](https://app.cresca.xyz/signup)**, no credit card required, then follow the [quickstart](https://www.cresca.xyz/docs/quickstart).