Amazon SES vs Mailgun
Compare Amazon SES and Mailgun based on observed API performance, features, and pricing
Live performance comparison
Real-world performance data from messages sent through Knock
| Provider | Message volume | Growth | Status page updates (30d) | Status page updates (90d) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25M–100M | 3rd of 10 ↑ | 0 | 0 |
| 100M–500M | 5th of 10 ↑ | 0 | 0 |
From January 22nd to April 22nd, Knock routed 25M–100M messages through Amazon SES and 100M–500M through Mailgun. Amazon SES reported 0 status page updates over the last 90 days, while Mailgun reported 0.
Response time
Response time measures how long each provider takes to accept an API request from Knock, including connection overhead and any automatic retries. Lower values mean faster message hand-off.
| Provider | Median (p50) | p90 | p95 | p99 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 151ms | 199ms | 227ms | 431ms |
| 127ms | 184ms | 227ms | 382ms |
The chart above shows each provider's daily median response time (p50) from January 22nd to April 22nd. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: Amazon SES averaged 151ms compared to 127ms for Mailgun. Amazon SES's highest daily p50 was 172ms; Mailgun's was 147ms. Mailgun is 24ms faster at the median, which can add up at high volumes.
The 90th percentile (p90) captures the slowest 10% of requests, revealing how each provider handles moderate stress. Averaged across all days, Amazon SES has a p90 of 199ms compared to 184ms for Mailgun. The highest daily p90 was 241ms for Amazon SES and 220ms for Mailgun. Both providers show similar performance at this percentile, indicating comparable consistency.
The 99th percentile (p99) represents the long tail — the slowest 1% of requests. Averaged across all days, Amazon SES reached 431ms at p99 while Mailgun reached 382ms. The highest daily p99 was 488ms for Amazon SES and 481ms for Mailgun, indicating the worst-case response time during spikes or provider-side congestion. Mailgun shows a tighter tail, which may matter for time-sensitive notifications like one-time passwords or real-time alerts where even rare delays can impact user experience.
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.
| Provider | Avg. daily error rate | Highest daily rate | Peak error date | Zero-error days | Days above 0.01% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00% | 0.01% | Feb 4 | 89 | 0 |
| 0.00% | 0.03% | Mar 17 | 90 | 1 |
Averaged across the date range, Amazon SES shows a 0.00% daily error rate compared to 0.00% for Mailgun. The highest single-day error rate was 0.01% for Amazon SES and 0.03% for Mailgun. Both providers show similar reliability levels, with error rates well within acceptable thresholds. Knock automatically retries failed requests to both providers, minimizing the impact of transient errors on end-user delivery.
About these metrics: Data represents messages sent through Knock 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
Recent status page incidents for Amazon SES
No incidents reported in the last 90 days
Recent Mailgun incidents
Recent status page incidents for Mailgun
No incidents reported in the last 90 days
Pros and cons
Amazon SES
Mailgun
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 warmup
Pros
- Well-written documentation with comprehensive guides and best practices for deliverability
- Robust deliverability support with optional expert pairing to optimize sending
- Powerful inbound email processing with customizable routing rules
- Trusted by Lyft, American Express, and Wikipedia since 2010
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
Cons
- Requires familiarity with email protocols and API integrations
- Pricing tiers can be confusing
- Email template features are basic without the Mailjet editor
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Amazon SES and Mailgun?
Amazon SES is a cost-effective, cloud-scale email service built on AWS infrastructure. Mailgun is a developer-focused email API platform owned by Sinch, known for flexible sending and receiving capabilities. Amazon SES is best suited for cost-sensitive, high-volume, while Mailgun is geared toward developer-focused sending + receiving.
Which is cheaper, Amazon SES or Mailgun?
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. Free tier includes 100 emails per day with no expiration. Paid plans start at $15/month for 10,000 emails with overages at $1.80/1K. The best value depends on your sending volume. Use the pricing calculator above to compare costs at your expected volume.
Which is faster, Amazon SES or Mailgun?
Based on real-world data from Knock, Amazon SES has a median API response time (p50) of 151ms compared to 127ms for Mailgun.
Which is more reliable, Amazon SES or Mailgun?
From January 22nd to April 22nd, Amazon SES showed an error rate of 0.00% while Mailgun showed 0.00%. Both rates are within acceptable thresholds for production email delivery, and Knock automatically retries failed requests to minimize the impact of transient errors.
Which is more popular, Amazon SES or Mailgun?
On the Knock platform, Amazon SES handled 25M–100M messages from January 22nd to April 22nd compared to 100M–500M for Mailgun. Amazon SES is currently trending upward in adoption, while Mailgun is trending upward.
Can I use both Amazon SES and Mailgun together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple email providers into a single notification workflow. You can use Amazon SES and Mailgun side by side, route traffic between them, or migrate from one to the other without changing your application code.
What are the main pros and cons of Amazon SES vs Mailgun?
Amazon SES 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. Mailgun strengths include well-written documentation with comprehensive guides and best practices for deliverability and robust deliverability support with optional expert pairing to optimize sending. On the other hand, Amazon SES drawbacks include setup is complex with documentation that can be difficult to navigate, while Mailgun drawbacks include requires familiarity with email protocols and api integrations.
Use either provider with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate Amazon SES, Mailgun, or any combination of email providers into a single notification workflow. Manage templates, orchestrate cross-channel delivery, and switch providers without changing your code.