What's the difference between SendGrid/Mailgun and AWS SES? How do they function as SMTP platforms?

As a beginner, I know that AWS needs to be configured for sending emails, but what do other platforms offer? Besides monthly subscriptions for sending a certain number of emails? What are the differences between these platforms? I’d love to learn something new!

Email platforms are easier to use and come with built-in tools, but cost more. AWS is cheaper but requires more setup and technical skills.

Other platforms like Mailgun, SendGrid, and Postmark offer similar email-sending services but with different pricing models, ease of setup, deliverability, and support. Some focus more on transactional emails, others on marketing. Unlike AWS SES, many offer better dashboards, templates, and analytics out of the box. Choose based on your needs: tech flexibility (AWS), ease of use (Postmark), or marketing features (MailerLite, Brevo).

Try MailerSend or Brevo for easy setup and good free plans. Unlike AWS, they’re beginner-friendly and include built-in analytics and templates. Great for both transactional and marketing emails.

SendGrid and Mailgun are more noob friendly, offering dashboards, analytics, templates, and built in APIs. AWS SES is cheaper but more technical as it needs more setup (like IAM, verified domains, etc.). All three work as SMTP relays.

hitoka said:

SendGrid and Mailgun are more noob friendly, offering dashboards, analytics, templates, and built in APIs. AWS SES is cheaper but more technical as it needs more setup (like IAM, verified domains, etc.). All three work as SMTP relays.

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Thank you very much! But can I achieve the same with Mailgun and SendGrid without purchasing a monthly plan? For example, with AWS SES, I can send 50,000 emails per day for free—can I get the same deal there to avoid paying?

hitoka said:

SendGrid and Mailgun are more noob friendly, offering dashboards, analytics, templates, and built in APIs. AWS SES is cheaper but more technical as it needs more setup (like IAM, verified domains, etc.). All three work as SMTP relays.

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That's a good way of putting it, and sendgrid and mailgun compared to mailchimp would be the next comparison probably in terms of ease of use and dashboard.

Percival_00 said:

Thank you very much! But can I achieve the same with Mailgun and SendGrid without purchasing a monthly plan? For example, with AWS SES, I can send 50,000 emails per day for free—can I get the same deal there to avoid paying?

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You can achieve the sending for the most part. The services you and others mentioned come with support, analytics dashboard, ab testing, dynamic templates, email builders, ease of use, among other things depending on the service. Additionally, they're usually strict on deliverability (some more than others) which is the most important. What's the point of sending emails (for free or not) if they go to spam folders? If you search for "aws ses deliverability" in G., the first reddit thread is interesting in this regard.
Here's something you can do, check emails that go to your spam folder and hover on links in the emails. In many cases you can figure out the provider from the tracking url, for example i use mailersend and one of their tracking urls is mlsend.com or something like that. Avoid the services that you find more often in the spam folder. Many of the services use aws under the hood, sometimes people talk about on hn or other forums, you may find that info. G. luck.

AWS SES is great for sending bulk emails at a low cost, but it requires proper setup and doesn't offer much out of the box. Mailgun and SendGrid are easy to use with built-in tools, but their free tiers are limited - certainly not 50k/day. If deliverability is important, sometimes it's worth paying for advanced infrastructure.

SendGrid, Mailgun, and AWS SES all let you send emails via SMTP, but they differ in ease and features:

AWS SES: It is cheap and powerful but needs more setup and technical know-how (like verifying domains, setting up IAM, etc). It’s great if you want control and low cost.

SendGrid & Mailgun: They are easier to use out of the box with user-friendly dashboards, analytics, templates, and APIs. They handle most setup for you and offer extra features like email tracking, spam testing, and deliverability tools.

AWS SES is cheaper, more technical!
SendGrid/Mailgun are easier, more features, a bit pricier!

I think for beginners, SendGrid or Mailgun can save time and headaches.

SendGrid and Mailgun are full-featured email delivery platforms with analytics and templates, while AWS SES is a cost-effective SMTP service mainly focused on reliable bulk email sending.