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Email Marketing · head to head

Amazon SES vs GetResponse

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
GetResponse logo

GetResponse

Email Marketing

All-in-one email marketing, automation and landing pages

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only GetResponse 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.; GetResponse starter, Marketer and Creator plans are all capped at 1,000 contacts regardless of the $19, $59 or $69 monthly price
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Amazon SES and GetResponse differ
AttributeAmazon SESGetResponse
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelPer 1,000 emails sent, tiered by volume, no campaign features includedsubscription
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 GetResponse

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

GetResponse

  • Recovering lost sales from abandoned shopping carts automaticallynot Amazon SES
  • Monetizing online courses with zero transaction fees to creatorsnot Amazon SES
  • Charging subscriptions for premium newsletters from independent writersnot Amazon SES
  • Coordinating promotional campaigns across sales funnels and channelsnot Amazon SES
  • Capturing B2B leads through landing pages and signup formsnot 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.

GetResponse

  • Starter, Marketer and Creator plans are all capped at 1,000 contacts regardless of the $19, $59 or $69 monthly price
  • Starter plan limits AI tool usage to 3 uses and includes only 1 custom automation workflow
  • SMS marketing and mobile push notifications are reserved for the custom-priced Enterprise tier
  • The $15.58, $48.38 and $56.58 monthly-equivalent rates require paying annually; standard monthly billing is $19, $59 and $69

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

GetResponse

Free
  • Starter$16/month
    • For small lists: 1,000 contacts at €16/month
    • Scales to 100,000 contacts at €469/month
    • AI-powered email marketing
  • Marketer$54/month
    • Starting at €54/month for 500 contacts
    • Scales to €519/month for 100,000 contacts
    • Unlimited automation workflows
  • Creator$62/month
    • Starting at €62/month for 500 contacts
    • Scales to €599/month for 100,000 contacts
    • Webinars
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • Custom pricing based on list size
    • SMS marketing
    • Dedicated support

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon SES if

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

Choose GetResponse if

  • You want to start without paying.
GetResponse review

Questions people ask

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

GetResponse: How much does GetResponse cost?

GetResponse pricing ranges from €16 per month for the Starter plan with 1,000 contacts to €469 per month for 100,000 contacts. Plans scale based on contact list size.

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.

GetResponse: Does GetResponse offer a discount for annual billing?

Customers who pay yearly instead of monthly save an additional 18% on their subscription cost across all plan tiers.

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.

GetResponse: Does GetResponse offer special pricing for nonprofits?

GetResponse provides a 50% discount on monthly plans for charities and NGOs.

Source
GetResponse: Is there a free trial for GetResponse?

GetResponse offers a free 14-day trial with full access to premium features.

Source
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