Transactional email APIs · Comparison
Amazon SES vs Mailgun vs SendGrid
3 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | Amazon SES | Mailgun | SendGrid |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceEmail at $0.10 per 1,000 with no monthly fee, inside AWS’s SOC, ISO 27001 and HIPAA-eligible scope, in the region you choose. | Compliance includedSOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 for Mailgun itself, US or EU sending from one account, and SAML SSO included at $90. | Compliance includedSAML SSO, a dedicated IP and EU data residency together on one self-serve plan at $89.95, with SOC 2 Type 2 across every plan. |
| Overall score | 7.8Best | 7.5 | 6.0 |
| Free option | Free trial | Free plan | 60-day free trial |
| Card to start | –Not measured | –Not measured | No card needed |
| Getting access | Approval wait | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $0.10/1k emails | $15/mo | $19.95/mo |
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Tiered | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Free plan | No; AWS Free Tier credits for new accounts | 100 a day, 1 user | No; 60-day trial, 100 a day |
| Price for 50,000 emails/mo | $5 à la carte ($8 on Essentials), plus attachment data | $35 (Foundation) | $19.95 (Essentials) |
| Retention on the entry paid plan | 30 days of message search in VDM (Essentials) | 1 day of logs (Basic) | 3 days of email activity (Essentials) |
| SOC 2 report | AWS SOC 2, from AWS Artifact | Type II, plus ISO 27001 | Type 2 (Twilio, all services), on request |
| EU option | Seven European AWS regions; data stays in the chosen region | US or EU sending region | EU data residency on Pro, via EU subusers |
| SSO | IAM Identity Center, no extra charge | SAML on Scale ($90) | SAML on Pro ($89.95) |
| HIPAA BAA | Yes, accepted in AWS Artifact | Not mentioned | No; not on Twilio's HIPAA-eligible list |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, SES is the least expensive way here to send at volume and carries AWS’s compliance scope, including a HIPAA BAA. Plan for the sandbox review and for setting up each region you use. | From its public pages, Mailgun is the most complete compliance package of the three, with an EU sending region and SSO on its $90 plan. On smaller plans, plan around short log retention. | From its public pages, SendGrid fits teams that want EU data residency, SSO and a dedicated IP on one self-serve plan. Check the 3-day history on Essentials and ask for the overage rate first. |
Evidence: Amazon SES: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Mailgun: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; SendGrid: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our Amazon SES review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick Amazon SES when
- You want the lower bill at 50,000 emails ($5 against $19.95), ISO 27001 or a HIPAA BAA.
- Pick SendGrid when
- You want fixed monthly plans with published volume steps and to start sending without a production-access review.
From our SendGrid review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick SendGrid when
- You need EU data residency rather than an EU sending region, a dedicated IP included at $89.95, or inbound parsing on every plan.
- Pick Mailgun when
- You want a free plan that does not expire, ISO 27001, published overage rates, or 30 days of logs on the $90 plan.
From our SendGrid review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick SendGrid when
- You want fixed monthly plans with published volume steps, and to start sending without a production-access review.
- Pick Amazon SES when
- You want $0.10 per 1,000 with no monthly fee, ISO 27001 or a HIPAA BAA, or data kept in an AWS region you choose.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- Amazon SESPro$105/moPer account and region, plus $0.22 per 1,000 emails (first 10M)
- Managed dedicated IP (1 domain, 1 IP)
- Email Validation (2,500 API validations)
- Global deliverability insights
- Trend Micro scanning add-on included
- MailgunLowest priceBasic$15/mo10,000 emails/mo, then $1.80 per 1,000
- No daily limit
- 1 custom domain
- 1-day log retention
- SendGridEssentials$19.95/mo50,000 emails/mo ($34.95 for 100,000); overage rate not listed
- 2 event webhooks
- 1 teammate
- 3 days of email activity
- Activity history add-on (30 days)
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Amazon SES 2026-10-15, Mailgun 2026-10-15, SendGrid 2026-10-15.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- MailgunSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 2 self-serve products here (7.5/10).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- SendGrid60-day free trial, no card needed; scored 6.0/10.
- Lowest starter price
- Mailgun$15/mo for the Basic plan.
- Highest overall score
- Amazon SES7.8/10 (Good). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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