Transactional Email · decision tool
Cheapest email API at your volume
Every provider priced at YOUR monthly volume, cheapest eligible plan auto-selected — including the free tiers and the hard caps nobody mentions.
Prices verified 2026-07-15 against official pricing pages · fit weights are our estimates (see methodology) · share the URL to share your configuration
As of Jul 2026, with 100,000 emails/month, a $10 budget for this slot, Amazon SES ranks first for these inputs at 69% fit and a StackSays-estimated $10.00/month (Mailgun: 48% fit, $90.00/month). Fit weights are our estimates; prices trace to official pages. Change any input below and the verdict recomputes.
Your situation
The verdict updates as you move these.
Clear pick for your inputs
The price floor: $0.10 per 1,000 emails, bring your own dashboards
vs Mailgun: fit 69% against 48%, est $10.00 against $90.00 per month
The decision, in plain words
For a solo builder at 100,000 emails/month and a $10.00/mo budget for the email provider slot, Amazon SES leads at 69% fit and $10.00/mo. The two rules doing the work: budget fit (~$10/mo is 100% of your $10/mo budget); ecosystem maturity (established — our estimate from ecosystem age, docs and hiring pool).
The gap to Mailgun (48% fit) is wide at these inputs — you'd need to change your requirements, not your taste, to flip it.
Honest weak spot of the pick: no free tier — paying from day one.
Generated from the calculation above — every number traces to the sourced data; nothing here is written by an AI making things up.
Why Amazon SES scores 69%
How the $10.00/mo estimate is calculated
What could change this verdict
Cost risk
Official prices verified 2026-07-15; calculation is deterministic code over those prices.
At a glance
| Tool | Free tier | Paid entry | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resend | 3,000 emails/month (100/day), 1 domain | Pro 50K $20/mo | 2026-07-15 |
| Postmark | 100 emails/month, full features | Basic $15/mo | 2026-07-15 |
| Amazon SES | No free tier | Pay-as-you-go — Flat $0.10/1K sent. Free tier is 3K/month for the first 12 months only — not permanent. Dedicated IP $24.95/mo optional | 2026-07-15 |
| Mailgun | 100 emails/day | Basic $15/mo | 2026-07-15 |
| SendGrid | No free tier | Essentials $19.95/mo | 2026-07-15 |
Data sources
| Tool | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Resend | Resend pricing page | 2026-07-15 |
| Postmark | Postmark pricing page | 2026-07-15 |
| Amazon SES | Amazon SES pricing page | 2026-07-15 |
| Mailgun | Mailgun pricing page | 2026-07-15 |
| SendGrid | Third-party 2026 pricing tracker (official page redirect-loops) | 2026-07-15 |
A monitor re-checks these pages for changes; when a vendor moves a price, the date updates and every verdict recomputes.
People also ask
Is Amazon SES free?
Not permanently — the 3K/month free allowance lasts only your first 12 months on AWS (verified 2026-07-15). After that it's $0.10 per 1,000 emails, which is still the price floor of the industry: 100K emails ≈ $10 vs $35–90 elsewhere.
Is SendGrid free forever?
No — SendGrid discontinued its permanent free tier in 2025. New accounts get a 60-day trial (100 emails/day), then must move to Essentials at $19.95/month. If you want a permanent free lane, Resend (3K/mo) and Mailgun (100/day) still have one.