Amazon SES, Mailchimp And SendinBlue: Key Differences Explained

Last month, a startup founder shared her frustration after realizing her email platform choice cost her $400 more per month than needed. Her experience is not isolated. Many businesses face the challenge of finding an email service provider that meets their needs without breaking the bank.

We've delved into three major platforms to guide you in avoiding such costly errors. Amazon SES, Mailchimp, and SendinBlue (now Brevo) cater to different email needs. Industry tests reveal deliverability rates ranging from 61% to 83.3%. Pricing varies from $0.10 per 1,000 emails to subscription tiers starting at $9-$13 monthly.

Our analysis compares pricing models, inbox placement rates, and feature sets. We aim to help you choose a platform that aligns with your technical capabilities and budget. Whether you require advanced developer tools or a suite of marketing features, understanding these platforms is key to making an informed choice.

Key Takeaways

• Email service providers show significant deliverability variations, with inbox placement rates ranging from 61% to 83.3% in shared IP environments
• Pricing models differ dramatically, pay-as-you-go versus contact-based subscriptions versus email volume tiers
• Amazon SES targets developers with infrastructure-level services, while Mailchimp and Brevo focus on marketing features
• SendinBlue rebranded as Brevo but maintains the same platform functionality and pricing structure
• Free plans offer different value propositions, from 300 daily emails to limited contact lists
• Your technical expertise and business size determine which platform delivers the best ROI

Platform Overview: What Each Service Offers

Before we dive into the technical details and pricing, let's explore what makes each platform unique. Amazon SES, Mailchimp, and SendinBlue (now Brevo) represent different approaches to email communication. One focuses on raw infrastructure for developers, another on marketing tools for businesses, and the third on multi-channel capabilities.

Understanding these differences helps identify which platform fits your business needs. The right choice depends on your technical skills, budget, and whether you need basic emailing or full marketing automation. Each service excels in specific areas, making the selection about matching features to your needs.

Developer-Focused Infrastructure Service

Amazon SES operates at a different level than traditional email platforms. It's a code-only infrastructure component within the AWS ecosystem, requiring significant technical expertise. Unlike platforms where marketers log in to design campaigns, Amazon SES provides APIs and SMTP relay functionality for developers to integrate into applications.

Companies like Reddit, Netflix, and Duolingo use Amazon SES because they already have robust AWS infrastructure and dedicated development teams. They can build custom emailing solutions tailored to their specific needs without paying for pre-built features they won't use.

The technical requirements present both advantages and challenges. Businesses must construct their own interfaces for campaign creation, develop tracking systems for analytics, and implement reporting tools that come standard with other platforms. This development investment only makes financial sense for organizations sending large email volumes or those already deeply integrated into AWS services.

The beauty of infrastructure-level services lies in their flexibility, but that same flexibility demands technical sophistication that many businesses simply don't possess.

Deliverability performance shows promising results, with Amazon SES achieving 77.1% inbox placement in independent testing. The 20% spam rate indicates that proper configuration significantly impacts results. The service's sender reputation depends entirely on how businesses configure authentication protocols, maintain list hygiene, and manage bounce handling.

The pricing model reflects this infrastructure-focused approach. At $0.10 per 1,000 emails on a pay-as-you-go basis, Amazon SES offers exceptional value for high-volume senders. Dedicated IPs cost $24.95 monthly, and new users receive 3,000 free message charges monthly for twelve months. This cost structure works brilliantly for businesses sending hundreds of thousands or millions of emails but requires development resources that might cost more than simply using a higher-priced, fully-featured platform.

Configuration-dependent compliance means businesses must properly implement security settings themselves. There's no guided setup process or automatic optimization. The platform provides the tools, but organizations bear complete responsibility for implementation quality.

All-in-One Marketing Platform

Mailchimp has evolved from a simple newsletter service into a comprehensive marketing suite designed for businesses wanting multiple tools in one place. The platform combines email marketing, landing pages, social media advertising, and basic CRM functionality through an interface designed for marketers, not developers.

The dual nature of Mailchimp's offerings creates interesting opportunities. Marketing Campaigns handle promotional emails and newsletters through an intuitive visual editor, while Mailchimp Transactional Email (formerly Mandrill) operates as an add-on for automated messages like password resets and order confirmations. This separation allows businesses already using Mailchimp for marketing to add transactional capabilities without switching platforms.

We appreciate the platform's emphasis on visual design tools. The drag-and-drop email editor requires zero coding knowledge, and the extensive library of professionally designed email template options accelerates campaign creation. Integration with Canva brings additional creative possibilities directly into the workflow, eliminating the need to switch between multiple applications.

The contact-based pricing structure differentiates Mailchimp from volume-based competitors. Businesses pay according to subscriber list size, which benefits organizations sending frequent campaigns to stable audiences. Plans start at $13-$20 monthly for 500 contacts, with costs escalating significantly for larger databases.

Free plan limitations deserve careful consideration. While 500 subscribers and 1,000 monthly emails sound generous, the 500-email daily limit and restricted features create real constraints. The absence of marketing automation, advanced segmentation, and newsletter scheduling on free accounts pushes growing businesses toward paid tiers quickly.

Mailchimp Transactional Email requires a Standard or Premium plan and starts at $20 monthly for 25,000 emails. This additional cost layer means businesses need both a base marketing plan and the transactional add-on to access both capabilities. Sender reputation management operates through Mailchimp's shared IP infrastructure on lower tiers, with dedicated IPs available only on premium plans for businesses requiring complete control over their sending reputation.

The platform excels for businesses prioritizing ease of use over technical control. Customer support availability varies by plan, with email and chat support included only for the first 30 days on free accounts. This limitation means businesses must upgrade to maintain direct support access.

Multi-Channel Communication Hub

SendinBlue, recently rebranded as Brevo, bridges the gap between technical infrastructure services and user-friendly marketing platforms. The service originated as a transactional email provider and evolved into a comprehensive multi-channel solution that maintains technical sophistication while providing intuitive tools for non-technical users.

The generous free tier stands out immediately. Businesses access up to 100,000 subscribers and 9,000 monthly emails with a 300-email daily cap at zero cost. This makes Brevo one of the most accessible entry points for startups and small businesses testing email marketing strategies without financial commitment.

Multi-channel capabilities extend far beyond basic emailing. The platform incorporates SMS marketing, WhatsApp messaging, web push notifications, live chat, and chatbots within a unified interface. This omnichannel approach allows businesses to coordinate customer communication across multiple touchpoints without managing separate tools or vendors.

Integrated CRM functionality eliminates the need for separate customer relationship management software. Businesses track interactions, segment audiences based on behavior, and manage contact information without exporting data to external systems. This consolidation reduces complexity and ensures consistent data across all marketing channels.

Marketing automation features available even on free accounts represent a significant competitive advantage. While competitors restrict automation to paid tiers, Brevo provides workflow builders, conditional logic, and trigger-based messaging at no cost. This accessibility democratizes sophisticated marketing techniques for resource-constrained organizations.

The platform offers four flexible options for transactional email delivery:

• Email Marketing API for developers building custom integrations
• SMTP Relay for straightforward server configuration
• Ecommerce Plugins for platforms like WooCommerce and Shopify
• Automation Triggers for non-technical users creating workflow-based messages

This variety accommodates both technical and non-technical users within the same platform. Developers appreciate API flexibility while marketers utilize visual automation builders, all sending through the same infrastructure with consistent deliverability performance.

Deliverability stands as a core strength, backed by over a decade of experience as a transactional email provider. Brevo maintains a 99% deliverability rate through dedicated monitoring teams who actively manage sender reputation and infrastructure optimization. This focus on inbox placement reflects the platform's transactional email heritage, where delivery reliability directly impacts critical business communications.

The drag-and-drop email builder combines ease of use with flexibility. Ready-made email template designs accelerate campaign creation, while dynamic content personalization capabilities enable sophisticated targeting without requiring coding knowledge. Users customize templates through visual editing tools or access HTML for complete design control.

GDPR compliance features come built into the platform, eliminating the need for manual configuration. Automatic handling of hard bounces, unsubscribes, and spam complainers ensures list hygiene and regulatory compliance without constant manual intervention. This automation benefits international businesses navigating complex privacy regulations.

Customer support availability in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese demonstrates Brevo's commitment to international markets. This multilingual support makes the platform attractive for businesses operating across European markets or serving diverse customer bases.

Pricing scales affordably with growth. Plans start at just $9 monthly for unlimited contacts with no daily sending limits, removing the restrictions that constrain free accounts. This pricing structure allows businesses to expand their subscriber base without proportional cost increases, making growth more financially predictable than contact-based pricing models.

Amazon SES, Mailchimp, SendinBlue Differences: Complete Feature Comparison

When comparing email services, the differences in pricing, sender reputation management, and automation capabilities often determine which platform succeeds for your business. Each platform takes a fundamentally different approach to solving email marketing challenges.

The practical differences between these services extend far beyond basic email sending. We'll examine the specific features, costs, and technical requirements that impact your daily operations and long-term success.

Pricing Structures and Value Propositions

Understanding how each platform charges for services reveals dramatically different business models and value propositions. The pricing structure you choose directly impacts your operational costs as your email volume grows.

Amazon SES Pay-As-You-Go Pricing

Amazon SES operates on a simple pay-as-you-go model at $0.10 per 1,000 emails sent. This pricing applies regardless of your sending volume, the features you use, or the capabilities you need.

New accounts receive 3,000 message charges per month free for the first 12 months. This provides an excellent opportunity to test amazon ses without financial commitment before migrating your full email operations.

For high-volume senders, the cost savings become substantial. A business sending 100,000 emails monthly would pay only $10 through amazon ses compared to hundreds of dollars on subscription platforms.

Amazon SES pricing may seem attractive, but hidden costs can quickly add up. Development time, infrastructure setup, monitoring tools, and ongoing maintenance can exceed the savings on email sending for smaller operations.

Dedicated IPs cost an additional $24.95 per month. These become necessary when you exceed 100,000 emails monthly and need complete control over your sender reputation independent of other users.

The value proposition strengthens significantly for companies already using AWS infrastructure. Technical teams familiar with AWS can leverage existing expertise, and integration with other AWS services becomes seamless.

Mailchimp Contact-Based Subscription Tiers

Mailchimp structures pricing around the number of contacts in your database, not emails sent. This means you pay the same monthly fee whether you email your list once or twenty times.

The free tier accommodates up to 500 contacts with 1,000 monthly email sends. Critical features like automation, advanced segmentation, and scheduling remain locked behind paid plans.

Paid plans start around $13 monthly for up to 500 contacts and scale upward as your contact list grows. A business with 10,000 contacts typically pays $150-200 monthly depending on the feature tier selected.

This pricing model works well for businesses with stable contact lists who send frequent campaigns. The predictable monthly cost simplifies budgeting, and unlimited sends on paid plans remove anxiety about email volume.

SendinBlue Email Volume Pricing

SendinBlue takes a hybrid approach, pricing mainly based on email volume sent. You can maintain unlimited contacts even on free plans, but your monthly sending capacity determines the cost.

The free tier includes 300 emails daily with no contact limits. This provides genuine value for small businesses testing email marketing or maintaining modest subscriber communication.

Paid plans start at approximately $25 monthly for 20,000 emails and scale based on volume needs. A business sending 100,000 emails monthly pays around $65, positioning SendinBlue competitively between amazon ses raw pricing and mailchimp subscription costs.

Marketing automation features remain accessible even on free SendinBlue plans, providing significant value that competing platforms reserve for paid tiers. This democratizes sophisticated email marketing for budget-conscious businesses.

Deliverability, Authentication, and Sender Reputation

Getting emails into the inbox depends on deliverability and sender reputation management. These technical factors determine whether your campaigns reach your audience.

Sender reputation functions like a credit score for your email sending behavior. ISPs and email providers assign scores based on complaint rates, bounce rates, engagement metrics, and sending patterns.

Email Reputation Management Across Platforms

Independent deliverability testing reveals significant performance differences across platforms. Amazon SES achieved 77.1% inbox placement with a concerning 20% spam rate in standardized tests.

This deliverability is configuration-dependent, meaning your business assumes full responsibility for properly implementing authentication protocols and monitoring email reputation. Amazon provides the infrastructure but offers no protective oversight or reputation management guidance.

SendinBlue maintains an impressive 99% email deliverability rate backed by over ten years specializing in transactional and marketing email. A dedicated deliverability team actively monitors shared IP reputation across their infrastructure.

The platform implements strict vetting processes for new accounts. This prevents spammers from degrading the shared sending infrastructure that all users depend on for maintaining strong inbox placement.

Mailchimp offers continuous sender reputation monitoring built into their shared IP infrastructure. The platform provides automated adjustments and guidance to protect your sending reputation, though specific deliverability percentages vary based on industry, content quality, and sending practices.

Shared IP environments on entry-level plans mean your sending reputation partially depends on other senders using the same IPs. Platform-level reputation management becomes critical for maintaining consistently high deliverability across all users.

Dedicated IP and Authentication Options

All three platforms support essential authentication protocols including DKIM, SPF, and DMARC. These protocols verify your identity as a legitimate sender and protect against email spoofing.

Amazon SES requires manual configuration of all authentication protocols through DNS records. Technical expertise becomes essential for implementing these correctly, as misconfiguration directly harms deliverability.

SendinBlue and Mailchimp provide guided authentication setup with step-by-step instructions and automatic verification. Non-technical users can implement proper authentication without understanding the underlying technical complexity.

Dedicated IPs become available on higher-tier plans across all platforms. These provide complete isolation from other senders, allowing you to build and maintain reputation independently based solely on your own sending behavior.

Marketing Automation and Emailing Capabilities

Marketing automation transforms email from a manual, time-intensive task into an intelligent system that responds to customer behavior automatically. The automation capabilities available on each platform vary dramatically.

Automation Workflows and Triggers

SendinBlue offers marketing automation even on free plans, providing a sophisticated visual workflow builder accessible to non-technical users. This represents exceptional value that competing platforms typically reserve for premium tiers.

The workflow builder supports multiple trigger types that initiate automated sequences:

• Page visit triggers send targeted emails when users view specific website pages, enabling behavioral response campaigns
• Email engagement triggers create follow-up sequences based on opens, clicks, or non-engagement patterns
• Product purchase triggers automate post-purchase sequences, cross-sell campaigns, and customer onboarding
• Time-based triggers execute drip campaigns with scheduled delays between messages

Workflows can incorporate transactional SMS alongside emailing, creating true multi-channel automation. Conditional logic allows managing contacts based on their behavior, automatically moving engaged subscribers to different lists or removing inactive contacts.

Mailchimp restricts emailing automation features completely to paid plans. Free-tier users cannot create autoresponders, welcome sequences, abandoned cart emails, or any automated campaigns beyond manual one-time sends.

Once on a paid plan, Mailchimp provides robust automation capabilities with pre-built templates for common workflows. The learning curve can be steep for beginners navigating the extensive feature set.

Amazon SES provides zero built-in automation capabilities. The platform functions purely as email sending infrastructure without workflow logic, trigger detection, or timing mechanisms.

Businesses using Amazon SES must build their entire emailing automation system from scratch. This requires significant development resources to create trigger detection systems, workflow logic, timing mechanisms, and contact management rules through code.

CRM Integration and Contact Management

SendinBlue includes built-in CRM functionality that stores contact information, tracks interactions, and manages sales pipelines alongside email marketing. This unified approach eliminates the need for separate CRM software for many small businesses.

Mailchimp offers extensive third-party integrations with popular CRM platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho. The platform's API enables custom integrations for businesses with specialized requirements.

Contact segmentation capabilities vary significantly across platforms. SendinBlue and Mailchimp both offer sophisticated segmentation based on contact attributes, behavior, engagement history, and custom fields.

Amazon SES requires building all contact management and segmentation logic externally. Most businesses integrate separate database systems or third-party tools to handle contact management before sending through Amazon SES infrastructure.

Email Template Design and Customization Tools

Professional, mobile-responsive email template design is now essential. Over 60% of emails now open on mobile devices, making responsive design critical for engagement and brand credibility.

SendinBlue provides a user-friendly drag-and-drop email builder that allows non-technical users to create visually appealing campaigns. Ready-made templates cover common use cases including newsletters, promotional campaigns, transactional receipts, and event invitations.

The platform's dynamic content personalization elements allow inserting contact-specific information like names, purchase history, and location without coding. Each email feels personally tailored while maintaining efficient bulk sending.

Mailchimp has built a strong reputation for design excellence. The platform features an extensive library of professionally designed, mobile-responsive templates organized by industry and campaign purpose.

The intuitive editor offers both drag-and-drop simplicity and HTML access for advanced users. A notable Canva integration allows creating and importing custom graphics directly within the email creation workflow.

Mailchimp templates often include sophisticated layouts, on-brand color schemes, and engaging visual hierarchies. These design elements help emails stand out in crowded inboxes and maintain professional brand presentation.

Amazon SES provides zero email template design tools. Businesses must create HTML email templates using external tools, text editors, or specialized template builders, then upload the completed HTML code.

While this approach provides ultimate design flexibility for developers, it creates a significant barrier for marketers without coding skills. Many businesses using Amazon SES employ additional tools or services for template creation, adding complexity and cost.

Evaluating email template libraries requires examining several factors:

1. Mobile responsiveness across different devices and email clients
2. Brand customization options for colors, logos, and typography
3. Variety of layouts matching your specific use cases
4. Quality of design versus sheer template quantity

Built-in preview and testing capabilities matter significantly. SendinBlue and Mailchimp provide tools for previewing how templates render across different email clients like Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail before sending to your full list.

Technical Setup and User Experience

Technical complexity often determines whether businesses can realistically implement and maintain an email platform. The most feature-rich solution becomes worthless if your team cannot set it up or use it effectively.

Amazon SES qualifies as a developer-only tool requiring substantial technical expertise. The setup process involves multiple complex steps that non-technical users find insurmountable.

Creating an AWS account represents just the first step in a lengthy technical journey. Users must navigate IAM (Identity and Access Management) to set proper permissions, verify domain ownership through DNS records, and generate SMTP credentials or API keys.

Configuring authentication protocols like DKIM, SPF, and DMARC requires manual DNS configuration. Setting up sending limits, bounce handling, and complaint monitoring all demand technical knowledge and ongoing attention.

Amazon SES provides no graphical user interface for sending emails, managing contacts, or viewing campaign performance. Everything requires API calls or SMTP integration with custom-built or third-party applications.

This technical barrier means Amazon SES remains realistically viable only for businesses with dedicated development teams. Companies already deeply invested in AWS infrastructure can leverage existing technical expertise more efficiently.

SendinBlue offers a dramatically simpler onboarding experience. The straightforward signup process requires only basic information and email verification to begin sending campaigns.

Guided domain verification provides step-by-step instructions with visual guidance and video tutorials. Ready-made SDKs for Node.js, Ruby, PHP, Python, and Elixir simplify integration for technical teams while maintaining a user-friendly web interface for marketers.

The onboarding wizard introduces key features progressively, avoiding overwhelming new users. Intuitive navigation allows finding features quickly without extensive training or documentation review.

Mailchimp has built its reputation partly on user-friendliness. Guided setup flows walk users through creating their first campaign, importing contacts, and designing emails with minimal friction.

Yet, as businesses grow and adopt advanced features, the interface can become cluttered. Important settings sometimes hide in unexpected locations, requiring time to master the full platform navigation.

Learning curves vary dramatically across platforms. Amazon SES requires weeks or months of developer time to implement fully, including building supporting infrastructure for contact management and campaign tracking.

SendinBlue typically becomes operational within hours for most users. The balance of powerful features with accessible interfaces allows both marketers and technical teams to work effectively.

Support resources during setup differ significantly. Amazon SES relies mainly on documentation and community forums, with paid enterprise support available but expensive.

SendinBlue provides email support even on free plans plus extensive documentation and video tutorials. Mailchimp offers limited support on free plans (30 days only) but maintains extensive self-service resources including guides, webinars, and community forums.

Matching technical complexity to team capabilities determines implementation success. Amazon SES suits technically sophisticated teams with development resources. SendinBlue works well for balanced teams combining technical and marketing skills. Mailchimp serves marketing-focused teams with minimal technical resources effectively.

Conclusion

We've delved into the differences between amazon ses, mailchimp, and sendinblue in this comparison. The choice ultimately hinges on your business's unique needs and technical prowess.

Amazon SES is most suitable for those with a development team and AWS infrastructure. It boasts the lowest cost at $0.10 per 1,000 emails, ideal for high-volume senders. Yet, it demands technical expertise for setting up template systems and analytics tools.

Mailchimp, on the other hand, caters to businesses valuing ease of use and a wide array of marketing tools. Starting at $13 monthly, it's perfect for teams handling email campaigns without needing developer support. It also offers landing pages and basic CRM functionalities.

Brevo (SendinBlue) stands out as the best value for small to medium-sized businesses. At $9 monthly, it provides both marketing and transactional emails. It boasts a 99% deliverability rate, outshining Amazon SES's 77.1%. It allows for managing email, SMS, and WhatsApp from a single dashboard.

We advise testing each platform's free tier before making a final decision. Practical experience often reveals preferences that mere feature lists cannot. Consider factors like deliverability rates, support quality, and integration capabilities with your existing tools. Grasping these distinctions is key to choosing a solution that aligns with your budget, technical abilities, and growth aspirations.