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Amazon SES Amazon SES
vs
Mailgun Mailgun

Amazon SES vs Mailgun

A side-by-side Email Delivery comparison of Amazon SES and Mailgun — capability coverage, pricing, and stack fit, with every recorded cell citing the vendors' own documentation. No referral fees; the data is ours.

Reviewed verdict

Direct substitute — Most teams run one of these, not both.

Both primarily provide email sending infrastructure for transactional and bulk delivery, and most companies only need one provider of record.

Drafted by an AI model and checked by hand.

Switching takes real work. A judgement, not computed from the capability data.

Capability comparison

1on one record only
10on both
Capability Amazon SES Mailgun
On one record only 1
AI Send-time / Channel Optimization Not offered AI Send-time / Channel OptimizationNot offered SES documentation index checked for model-based send-time, channel, or frequency optimization docs.aws.amazon.com/ses ↗ Checked · 3 of 3 passes Supported AI Send-time / Channel OptimizationSupported Send Time Optimization uses machine learning to determine delivery time. help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042135833-S… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated
On both records 10
Audience 2 · supported on all
Audience Segmentation Supported Audience SegmentationSupported Contact lists support topics and contact attributes for audience grouping. docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/sending-email-list… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated Supported Audience SegmentationSupported Webhooks can build engagement profiles for audience segmentation. help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/202236504-Webh… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated
Suppression List Management Supported Suppression List ManagementSupported account-level suppression list docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/sending-email-supp… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated Supported Suppression List ManagementSupported Suppressions manage bounces, complaints, unsubscribes, and allowlists. help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012287493-S… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated
Activation 4 · all core on 2
Email Deliverability Supported Email DeliverabilitySupported Virtual Deliverability Manager provides inbox placement tests. docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/vdm-gd-inbox-place… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated Core Email DeliverabilityCore Mailgun Optimize is an email deliverability suite. mailgun.com/products/optimize ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated
Email Delivery Core Email DeliveryCore Amazon SES email sending docs.aws.amazon.com/en_en/ses/latest/dg/send-email.h… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · Verified by hand Core Email DeliveryCore Mailgun Send provides email delivery through API and SMTP relay. mailgun.com/products/send ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · Verified by hand
Transactional Email Core Transactional EmailCore Amazon SES supports transactional emails such as order confirmations. docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/Welcome.html ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · Verified by hand Core Transactional EmailCore Mailgun Email API automatically triggers transactional emails. mailgun.com/features/email-api ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · Verified by hand
Marketing Email Supported Marketing EmailSupported marketing emails and targeted marketing campaigns aws.amazon.com/ses ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated Supported Marketing EmailSupported Mailgun Send supports bulk marketing campaigns and newsletters. mailgun.com/products/send ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated
Orchestration 2 · supported on all
Campaign Management Supported Campaign ManagementSupported Email campaigns can be tagged and monitored through SES event publishing. docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/monitor-using-even… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated Supported Campaign ManagementSupported Tags support campaign tracking and email analytics. help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/34389096824219… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated
Trigger-based Automation Supported Trigger-based AutomationSupported Receipt rules can invoke a Lambda function when email conditions are met. docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/receiving-email-ac… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated Supported Trigger-based AutomationSupported Webhooks deliver near-real-time email events for external automation. help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/202236504-Webh… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated
AI & agents 1 · supported on all
Agent Interface (MCP / Tool API) Supported Agent Interface (MCP / Tool API)Supported Amazon SES exposes an API for sending email. docs.aws.amazon.com/en_en/ses/latest/dg/send-email-a… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated Supported Agent Interface (MCP / Tool API)Supported Mailgun provides an open-source MCP server for querying APIs and sending email. help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/36036393635611… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated
CRM 1 · supported on all
Contact / Account Management Supported Contact / Account ManagementSupported Amazon SES provides contact lists, contact attributes, and subscription preferences. docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/sending-email-list… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated Supported Contact / Account ManagementSupported Mailgun provides Mailing Lists for managing subscribers. help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021388013-T… ↗ 15 Sept 2026 · AI-evaluated

Not offered means the evidence sweep read the vendor's documentation and did not find it — hover to see the page it checked. — means no verdict either way. Hover a recorded cell to read its evidence and source; a cell with no source says so, and each cell says whether an AI pass or a person set the grade.

Sources · 21 pages on the vendors' own sites

Choose Amazon SES if you need

On Amazon SES's record, not on Mailgun's

Same jobs on record. Decide on price, and on how each connects to what you already run — drop both onto a canvas to see it.

Pricing
From $0.10 per 1,000 emails (à la carte outbound)

Choose Mailgun if you need

On Mailgun's record, not on Amazon SES's

Same jobs on record. Decide on price, and on how each connects to what you already run — drop both onto a canvas to see it.

Pricing
From $15/month

Comparing three?

Every one of these is a reviewed substitute for both Amazon SES and Mailgun.

Amazon SES vs Mailgun — FAQ

What is the difference between Amazon SES and Mailgun?

Both are Email Delivery tools. Amazon SES covers the Email Delivery core; the two records cover the same jobs. The matrix above shows every recorded cell citing the vendors' own documentation.

Is Amazon SES or Mailgun better?

Neither is universally better — it depends on your stack. On record the two cover the same jobs, so decide on price and on how each connects to what you already run. Map both against your actual requirements rather than a generic feature count.

How do Amazon SES and Mailgun compare on price?

Amazon SES: From $0.10 per 1,000 emails (à la carte outbound). Mailgun: From $15/month. Check each vendor's page for current rates.

Free stack audit

Before you choose Amazon SES or Mailgun, check what your stack already covers

Teams usually find the overlap is not where they expected. Name the tools you run and the Instant Stack Audit maps which ones duplicate capability — inside Email Delivery and across the rest of the stack.

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Amazon SES or Mailgun? Decide in your stack's context.

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