An Amazon SES alternative that is actually an API
Amazon SES is inexpensive and reliable. It is also a cloud service rather than an email product: no logs, no webhooks, no DNS guidance, and an approval queue before the first real send. Here is what SendFleet adds, and where it does not.
If you want the cheapest possible way to send email, use Amazon SES directly and accept that you are building an email product. If you want a developer-grade email API on top of SES - logs, webhooks, idempotency, guided DNS, per-tenant suppression - that is what SendFleet is. And if you want SES without your content touching anyone else's servers, BYOC sends through your own SES account and we store nothing at all.
What actually differs
| SendFleet | Amazon SES direct | |
|---|---|---|
| The API | One REST endpoint, <code>X-API-Key</code>, a JSON body, and an idempotency key on every send. No SDK required, but SDKs and framework drivers are in the docs. | The SES API itself, plus boto3 and every AWS SDK. Also SMTP. |
| A first send | Managed plans: verify a domain, publish DNS records, send. The dashboard has the exact records and a zone file you can import. | Create an AWS account, verify an identity, then get out of the SES sandbox before you can send to anyone but yourself. |
| Email logs | On Managed plans, in the dashboard, for 14 days. Recipients and subjects included. | CloudWatch, EventBridge, your own storage, and whatever you build on top of them. |
| Delivery webhooks | Eight event types with HMAC-SHA256 signed payloads. Included on Managed plans. | You build this. SNS or EventBridge plus your own endpoint handling. |
| Suppression handling | Automatic on Managed plans, per-tenant isolation so one account cannot affect another's suppression list. | Per-account suppression lists. On BYOC, they are in your own account and ours never sees them. |
| Cost at 25,000 emails a month | $15 a month on Managed Growth, flat. Or $9 on BYOC plus AWS's own $4. | $4.00 at the published Essentials rate (source), and that is genuinely cheap. |
| Cost at 100,000 emails a month | $59 a month on Managed Pro, flat. | $16.00 at the published Essentials rate. |
Competitor figures read from 2026-10-04. Amazon SES: pricing, FAQ, getting started.
Where we are not the right answer
- **If you are already running SES and it works, do not switch.** We are not cheaper than AWS per email at any volume, and we do not pretend to be. AWS is roughly $0.10 to $0.16 per 1,000 depending on plan and volume; our Managed plans bundle API, logs, webhooks and DNS guidance into a flat fee.
- **At high volume SES direct is cheaper and will stay cheaper.** Past about 100,000 emails a month the flat Managed price stops making sense against metered AWS. Use BYOC at that scale, or talk to us.
- **If you want total control and enjoy running infrastructure, SES direct is the right product.** BYOC is for people who want their own SES *without* owning the integration around it.
Start here
Create a free account. 50 BYOC emails a month, no card, no expiry. Or read the quickstart first.