Softwr

Email Marketing · head to head

Amazon SES vs EmailOctopus

Amazon SES logo

Amazon SES

Email Marketing

Raw transactional email infrastructure priced per thousand messages, with no campaign UI at all

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
EmailOctopus logo

EmailOctopus

Email Marketing

Affordable email marketing

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only EmailOctopus has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Amazon SES there is no campaign UI, template editor, list management or scheduling interface at all, so any marketer-facing use case requires building or buying a separate application on top of the raw API.; EmailOctopus free tier limited to 2,500 subscribers
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon SES and EmailOctopus actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon SES and EmailOctopus differ
AttributeAmazon SESEmailOctopus
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelPer 1,000 emails sent, tiered by volume, no campaign features includedfreemium
Free tierNoYes

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Email Marketing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amazon SES

  • Send and receive API
  • Deliverability infrastructure
  • Bounce and complaint handling
  • Mail Manager
  • Configuration sets
  • Dedicated IP options

Only in EmailOctopus

Nothing recorded that Amazon SES does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amazon SES

  • An engineering team sending transactional email (receipts, password resets, alerts) at a volume where per-message cost dominates the decisionnot EmailOctopus
  • A company building its own email product or newsletter tool on AWS and wanting to own the campaign layer itselfnot EmailOctopus
  • A business already deep in AWS infrastructure wanting to avoid adding a separate marketing-platform vendor for pure transactional sendingnot EmailOctopus
  • A high-volume sender for whom SES's per-thousand rate is materially cheaper than a marketing platform's equivalent volume pricingnot EmailOctopus

EmailOctopus

  • Building email lists with unlimited landing pagesnot Amazon SES
  • Team collaboration on email campaignsnot Amazon SES
  • Automated subscriber onboarding flowsnot Amazon SES
  • Multi-user email campaign managementnot Amazon SES

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amazon SES

  • There is no campaign UI, template editor, list management or scheduling interface at all, so any marketer-facing use case requires building or buying a separate application on top of the raw API.
  • Deliverability and sender reputation management are the sender's responsibility to configure correctly; a mistake in DKIM, SPF or DMARC setup has no support layer catching it before it affects deliverability.
  • New accounts start in a sandbox with strict sending limits and must request production access from AWS, adding a manual approval step some competitors do not require.
  • Inbound email processing via Mail Manager is priced and configured separately from outbound sending, so a bidirectional email use case is really two separate services to set up.
  • Comparing its per-message price directly against Campaign Monitor or Zoho Campaigns is misleading, since those prices include a full marketing platform that SES does not provide at any price.

EmailOctopus

  • Free tier limited to 2,500 subscribers
  • Free tier requires EmailOctopus branding on emails
  • Free tier reports only retained 30 days

Pricing, plan by plan

Amazon SES

On request
  • Essentials$undefined/month
    • $0.16 per 1,000 emails up to 10 million a month
    • $0.14 per 1,000 from 10 to 100 million a month
    • $0.11 per 1,000 above 100 million a month, no fixed monthly fee
  • Pro$undefined/month
    • $0.22 per 1,000 emails up to 10 million a month, scaling down at volume
    • $105 fixed monthly fee per account per region
    • Higher sending limits and support options
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • $0.23 per 1,000 emails up to 10 million a month, scaling down at volume
    • $500 fixed monthly fee per account per region
    • Highest support tier and sending limits

EmailOctopus

Free
  • StarterFree
    • Up to 2,500 subscribers
    • 10,000 monthly emails
    • 1 user account
  • Pro$9/month
    • Unlimited subscribers
    • 10,000 monthly emails
    • Unlimited user accounts

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon SES if

  • You need send and receive api.
  • You also want deliverability infrastructure.
Amazon SES review

Choose EmailOctopus if

  • You want to start without paying.
EmailOctopus review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon SES or EmailOctopus better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon SES starts at On request and EmailOctopus at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon SES or EmailOctopus?
EmailOctopus has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Amazon SES and Free for EmailOctopus.
Does Amazon SES or EmailOctopus run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use EmailOctopus for free?
Yes. EmailOctopus has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Amazon SES starts at On request.
What is Amazon SES best used for?
Amazon SES is most often used for an engineering team sending transactional email (receipts, password resets, alerts) at a volume where per-message cost dominates the decision, a company building its own email product or newsletter tool on aws and wanting to own the campaign layer itself, a business already deep in aws infrastructure wanting to avoid adding a separate marketing-platform vendor for pure transactional sending, a high-volume sender for whom ses's per-thousand rate is materially cheaper than a marketing platform's equivalent volume pricing. Of those, an engineering team sending transactional email (receipts, password resets, alerts) at a volume where per-message cost dominates the decision and a company building its own email product or newsletter tool on aws and wanting to own the campaign layer itself are not what EmailOctopus is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon SES do that EmailOctopus cannot?
Amazon SES covers Send and receive API, Deliverability infrastructure, Bounce and complaint handling, Mail Manager.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amazon SES: Can I use SES for marketing campaigns like Campaign Monitor?

Technically yes via the API, but there is no campaign UI, segmentation tool or template editor; you would need to build or buy that layer separately.

EmailOctopus: Is there a free version of EmailOctopus?

Yes, EmailOctopus offers a free plan supporting up to 2,500 subscribers with 10,000 monthly emails. The free tier includes EmailOctopus branding on emails and reports are retained for only 30 days. The Pro plan starts at $9/month for unlimited subscribers.

Source
Amazon SES: Is there a free tier?

New AWS customers can access AWS Free Tier credits usable against SES for a limited period, but there is no permanent free sending allowance.

EmailOctopus: What discount does EmailOctopus offer for annual billing?

EmailOctopus offers 10% savings when you pay annually versus monthly. Nonprofits receive an additional 20% lifetime discount on all plans.

Source
Amazon SES: Why is it so much cheaper per email than a marketing platform?

Because it sells only the sending infrastructure; the price excludes every campaign management feature a marketing platform bundles into its per-email cost.

EmailOctopus: Are there any long-term contracts required?

No, EmailOctopus has no long-term contracts. You can cancel your plan anytime and switch between monthly and yearly billing options.

Source
EmailOctopus: How many users can access one EmailOctopus account?

The free Starter plan includes 1 user. The Pro plan includes unlimited user accounts at no additional cost.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Amazon SES

More on EmailOctopus

Keep looking

Other head to heads