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Proprietary vs Proprietary

Resend vs Amazon SES: Which One Should You Choose in 1970?

Resend is a proprietary Transactional Email API tool priced as per-email volume, flat monthly plans, starting at $20/mo (Pro, 50,000 emails). Amazon SES is proprietary, priced as pay-as-you-go per 1,000 emails, starting at $0.10 per 1,000 emails.

Quick verdict

Choose Resend for
Resendclean REST API with React Email templates and SDKs for every major language
Choose Amazon SES for
Amazon SESthe lowest per-email price of any major provider

Resend vs Amazon SES: feature comparison

FeatureResendProprietaryAmazon SESProprietary
Open-Source AvailableNoNo
Self-HostableNoNo
Self-Hosting DifficultyN/AN/A
Pricing ModelPer-email volume, flat monthly plansPay-as-you-go per 1,000 emails
Starting Price$20/mo (Pro, 50,000 emails)$0.10 per 1,000 emails
Free TierFree 3,000 emails/mo (100/day), 1 domain3,000 message charges/mo for the first 12 months on a new AWS account
GitHub StarsN/AN/A

Pricing takeaway

Resend starts at $20/mo (Pro, 50,000 emails) (free 3,000 emails/mo (100/day), 1 domain). Amazon SES starts at $0.10 per 1,000 emails (3,000 message charges/mo for the first 12 months on a new AWS account).

Resend
Per-email volume, flat monthly plans. Starts at $20/mo (Pro, 50,000 emails). Free 3,000 emails/mo (100/day), 1 domain.Full Resend pricing breakdown
Amazon SES
Pay-as-you-go per 1,000 emails. Starts at $0.10 per 1,000 emails. 3,000 message charges/mo for the first 12 months on a new AWS account.Full Amazon SES pricing breakdown

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Clean REST API with React Email templates and SDKs for every major language
  • Deliverability dashboard with bounces, complaints and suppression lists in one view
  • Flat plans that do not charge per seat or per teammate

Cons

  • No self-hosting, so sending depends on a third party
  • Much less marketing automation than SendGrid or Mailchimp
  • Per-email cost at high volume is several times Amazon SES

Pros

  • The lowest per-email price of any major provider
  • Scales to millions of messages with regions, dedicated IPs and reputation dashboards
  • Wires into IAM, CloudWatch and the rest of AWS without extra glue

Cons

  • Onboarding is console-and-DNS first: leaving the sandbox takes setup and a support request
  • Deliverability tooling is basic compared with SendGrid or Postmark
  • Billing arrives as one line in a larger AWS invoice, which is easy to lose track of

Resend vs Amazon SES: FAQ

Is Amazon SES a good alternative to Resend?

Resend is a proprietary Transactional Email API tool priced as per-email volume, flat monthly plans, starting at $20/mo (Pro, 50,000 emails). Amazon SES is proprietary, priced as pay-as-you-go per 1,000 emails, starting at $0.10 per 1,000 emails.

Which is cheaper, Resend or Amazon SES?

Resend starts at $20/mo (Pro, 50,000 emails) (free 3,000 emails/mo (100/day), 1 domain). Amazon SES starts at $0.10 per 1,000 emails (3,000 message charges/mo for the first 12 months on a new AWS account).

Is Resend or Amazon SES open source?

Resend is proprietary. Amazon SES is proprietary.

Can I self-host Resend or Amazon SES?

Resend cannot be self-hosted. Amazon SES cannot be self-hosted.

Do Resend and Amazon SES have a free tier?

Resend: Free 3,000 emails/mo (100/day), 1 domain. Amazon SES: 3,000 message charges/mo for the first 12 months on a new AWS account.