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Email Marketing · head to head

Amazon SES vs Flodesk

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
Flodesk logo

Flodesk

Email Marketing

Email marketing built for creators and small business

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Flodesk 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.; Flodesk variable pricing per subscriber with no clear rate card
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Amazon SES and Flodesk differ
AttributeAmazon SESFlodesk
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 Flodesk

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 Flodesk
  • A company building its own email product or newsletter tool on AWS and wanting to own the campaign layer itselfnot Flodesk
  • A business already deep in AWS infrastructure wanting to avoid adding a separate marketing-platform vendor for pure transactional sendingnot Flodesk
  • A high-volume sender for whom SES's per-thousand rate is materially cheaper than a marketing platform's equivalent volume pricingnot Flodesk

Flodesk

  • Designers creating branded emails without external design softwarenot Amazon SES
  • Content creators building automations with high form conversionnot Amazon SES
  • Small entrepreneurs consolidating multiple email tool costsnot Amazon SES
  • Membership businesses processing recurring payments through checkoutnot 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.

Flodesk

  • Variable pricing per subscriber with no clear rate card
  • Prices scale based on subscriber count and can vary significantly within each tier

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

Flodesk

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Unlimited active subscribers
    • Forms, landing pages, audience segmentation
    • Email sending with analytics
  • Lite$0.25/month
    • Up to 25,000 subscribers
    • Unlimited email sends
    • Email analytics
  • Pro$0.28/month
    • Up to 255,000 subscribers
    • Unlimited workflows
    • Advanced analytics
  • Everything$0.54/month
    • Up to 255,000 subscribers
    • Unlimited integrated checkouts
    • Sales pages, subscriptions, payment plans

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon SES if

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

Choose Flodesk if

  • You want to start without paying.
Flodesk review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon SES or Flodesk better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon SES starts at On request and Flodesk at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon SES or Flodesk?
Flodesk has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Amazon SES and Free for Flodesk.
Does Amazon SES or Flodesk run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Flodesk for free?
Yes. Flodesk 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 Flodesk is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon SES do that Flodesk 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.

Flodesk: How much does Flodesk cost?

Flodesk offers a free plan and four paid plans with variable pricing based on subscriber count. Lite ranges from $0.25 to $25 per month, Pro from $0.28 to $1,457 per month, and Everything from $0.54 to $1,766 per month for up to 255,000 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.

Flodesk: Is there a free version of Flodesk?

Yes, Flodesk offers a free plan that includes forms, landing pages, audience segmentation, and unlimited email sending to unlimited active subscribers.

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.

Flodesk: Does Flodesk offer annual billing discounts?

Annual plans offer 1 month free compared to monthly billing, providing a discount for customers who commit to annual subscriptions.

Source
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