Postmark vs Amazon SES

The reliable workhorse for transactional emails—no fluff, just emails that actually land in inboxes meets aws's email cannon: powerful for bulk blasts, but good luck navigating the pricing maze. Here's our take.

Postmark

Nice Pick

The reliable workhorse for transactional emails—no fluff, just emails that actually land in inboxes.

Pros

• Great deliverability
• Fast
• Mature
• Good templates
• Exceptional deliverability with dedicated IPs and spam avoidance
• Detailed analytics and real-time webhooks for tracking
• Simple, clean API that developers love
• Fast and reliable for time-sensitive emails like password resets

Cons

• Transactional only
• Less flexible
• Older API
• Pricing can be steep for high-volume senders
• Limited marketing email features compared to all-in-one platforms

Amazon SES

AWS's email cannon: powerful for bulk blasts, but good luck navigating the pricing maze.

Pros

• Highly scalable and reliable for sending millions of emails
• Integrates seamlessly with other AWS services like S3 and Lambda
• Built-in bounce handling and feedback loops improve deliverability

Cons

• Complex pricing structure with hidden costs for attachments and data transfer
• Steep learning curve for beginners, especially with AWS console navigation

The Verdict

Use Postmark if: You want great deliverability and can live with transactional only.

Use Amazon SES if: You prioritize highly scalable and reliable for sending millions of emails over what Postmark offers.

The Bottom Line

Postmark wins

The reliable workhorse for transactional emails—no fluff, just emails that actually land in inboxes.