Honest side-by-side
ComparisonAWS SES vs SendGrid Cost
Compare Amazon SES a-la-carte ($0.10/1k per recipient) with SendGrid Email API plan floors at the same monthly volume — dated estimates, not invoices.
TL;DR
AWS SES in this cluster is $0.10 per 1,000 recipients, no plan floor, free tier off.
SendGrid Email API is a monthly SKU. At 10k and 50k the cheapest modeled plan is Essentials 50k at $19.95.
SES wins the unit-rate job. SendGrid is the product-floor job. Do not quote a SendGrid trial as production.
At a glance (card 2026-08-18)
| Volume | SES a-la-carte | SendGrid (cheapest SKU) |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $1.00 | Essentials 50k $19.95 |
| 50,000 | $5.00 | Essentials 50k $19.95 |
Run both rows in the Email Cost Calculator.
What this comparison is not
- Marketing Campaigns vs SES
- Dedicated IP on either side
- SES bundled Essentials/Pro (omitted in v1)
If you are quoting a client, walk Quote transactional email for a SaaS client so the floor vs unit-rate distinction is in the PDF, not only in your head.
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SES always cheaper than SendGrid?
At typical SaaS volumes in this a-la-carte model, yes — $1 at 10k recipients vs SendGrid Essentials $19.95. SendGrid’s floor pays for a product (UI, support, deliverability extras) SES does not include. Dedicated IPs and SES bundled plans can reverse the story.
What volume makes SendGrid’s per-included-mail cheap?
You still pay the SKU floor first. 50k on Essentials is $19.95 (~$0.40/1k effective). SES at 50k is $5.00 in the same card. The crossover people imagine from a $0.90 overage does not apply — SendGrid Essentials overage is not modeled as cheap a-la-carte.
Are these live prices?
No. Tools.Town card as of 2026-08-18. Vendor pages win.