Amazon SES
performance benchmarks
Browse Amazon SES's observed email API response time, error rates, and incident history over the last 90 days.
Live performance metrics
Real-world performance data from messages sent through Knock
| Message volume | Growth | Status page updates (30d) | Status page updates (90d) |
|---|---|---|---|
25M–100M | 3rd of 10 ↑ | 0 | 0 |
From December 12th to March 12th, Knock routed 25M–100M messages through Amazon SES. For adoption, Amazon SES ranks 3rd of 10 providers based on new channel connections, with adoption accelerating over the period. Amazon SES reported no status page incidents over the last 90 days.
Response time
Response time measures how long Amazon SES takes to accept an API request from Knock, including connection overhead and any automatic retries. Lower values mean faster message hand-off.
| Median (p50) | p90 | p95 | p99 |
|---|---|---|---|
127ms | 214ms | 246ms | 472ms |
From December 12th to March 12th, Amazon SES averaged a daily median response time (p50) of 127ms across all days in the range, meaning half of all requests on a typical day complete in under 127ms. The 99th percentile averaged 472ms, with a peak daily p99 of 492ms. This is slightly higher than some providers, which may reflect additional processing Amazon SES performs on message acceptance.
Error rate
Error rate tracks the ratio of 5xx responses and timeouts to total requests. Knock automatically retries failed requests, so transient provider errors rarely affect end-user delivery.
| Avg. daily error rate | Highest daily rate | Peak error date | Zero-error days | Days above 0.01% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
0.00% | 0.01% | Feb 4 | 90 | 0 |
From December 12th to March 12th, Amazon SES averaged a 0.00% daily error rate for 5xx responses and timeouts, with the highest single-day error rate reaching 0.01%. This is one of the lowest error rates among providers on Knock, indicating strong reliability and consistent uptime. Knock automatically retries failed requests, so transient provider errors rarely affect end-user delivery.
About these metrics: Data represents messages sent through Knock to Amazon SES during the specified period. Response time measures time from Knock to provider acceptance. Error rate includes only provider 5xx responses and timeouts.
Recent Amazon SES incidents
Status page incidents from the last 30 days for Amazon SES
No incidents reported in the last 30 days
Compare Amazon SES with other providers
About Amazon SES
Amazon SES is a cost-effective, cloud-scale email service built on AWS infrastructure.
Pros
- Delivers billions of emails per year for Netflix, Reddit, and Amazon
- Lowest cost per email among major providers with simple pay-as-you-go pricing
- Deep integration with the AWS ecosystem and SDKs in all major languages
- Highly scalable with no sending limits after warm-up
Cons
- Setup is complex with documentation that can be difficult to navigate
- New accounts are sandboxed to 200 messages per 24-hour period
- Accessing analytics requires additional AWS services like SNS and Lambda
Frequently asked questions
What is Amazon SES?
Amazon SES is an email service provider commonly used for high-volume transactional email, cost-sensitive email sending, aws-native application notifications. Amazon SES is a cost-effective, cloud-scale email service built on AWS infrastructure.
How much does Amazon SES cost?
3,000 free emails per month for the first 12 months. After that, $0.10 per 1,000 emails with additional charges for attachments and dedicated IPs. Amazon SES offers a free tier with up to 3,000 emails, with a hard sending limit on that plan.
How fast is Amazon SES?
Based on real-world data from messages sent through Knock, Amazon SES accepts API requests with a median response time of 127ms (p50) and 472ms at the 99th percentile.
How reliable is Amazon SES?
From December 12th to March 12th, Amazon SES showed an error rate of 0.00% for 5xx responses and timeouts across 25M–100M messages sent through Knock. Knock automatically retries failed requests, so transient provider errors rarely affect end-user delivery.
What are the pros and cons of Amazon SES?
Key strengths include delivers billions of emails per year for netflix, reddit, and amazon and lowest cost per email among major providers with simple pay-as-you-go pricing. On the other hand, setup is complex with documentation that can be difficult to navigate and new accounts are sandboxed to 200 messages per 24-hour period.
Does Amazon SES work with Knock?
Yes. Knock has a native Amazon SES integration that enables you to send email notifications through Amazon SES as part of a cross-channel workflow. You can combine Amazon SES with other channels like in-app feeds, push, SMS, and Slack from a single API call.
Use Amazon SES with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate Amazon SES alongside other notification channels, manage templates, and orchestrate cross-channel workflows from a single platform.