Amazon SES vs Mandrill
Compare Amazon SES and Mandrill 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 |
 | 1M–10M | 8th of 10 ↑ | 0 | 0 |
From December 12th to March 12th, Knock routed 25M–100M messages through Amazon SES and 1M–10M through Mandrill. Amazon SES reported 0 status page updates over the last 90 days, while Mandrill 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 127ms | 214ms | 246ms | 472ms |
| 127ms | 385ms | 540ms | 788ms |
The chart above shows each provider's daily median response time (p50) from December 12th to March 12th. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: Amazon SES averaged 127ms compared to 127ms for Mandrill. Amazon SES's highest daily p50 was 160ms; Mandrill's was 238ms. Both providers deliver comparable response times for the typical request.
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 214ms compared to 385ms for Mandrill. The highest daily p90 was 244ms for Amazon SES and 527ms for Mandrill. Amazon SES handles these slower requests 171ms faster, suggesting more consistent performance across the board.
The 99th percentile (p99) represents the long tail — the slowest 1% of requests. Averaged across all days, Amazon SES reached 472ms at p99 while Mandrill reached 788ms. The highest daily p99 was 492ms for Amazon SES and 4845ms for Mandrill, indicating the worst-case response time during spikes or provider-side congestion. Amazon SES 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 | 90 | 0 |
| 0.00% | 0.22% | Feb 2 | 88 | 2 |
Averaged across the date range, Amazon SES shows a 0.00% daily error rate compared to 0.00% for Mandrill. The highest single-day error rate was 0.01% for Amazon SES and 0.22% for Mandrill. 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
Status page incidents from the last 30 days for Amazon SES
No incidents reported in the last 30 days
Recent Mandrill incidents
Status page incidents from the last 30 days for Mandrill
No incidents reported in the last 30 days
Pros and cons
Amazon SES
Mandrill
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
Pros
- Friendly, well-laid-out developer documentation that makes integration straightforward
- Global infrastructure for fast delivery with dedicated IPs and IP address pools
- Solid analytics with reports on deliverability, opens, clicks, bounces, and rejections
- Reuse Mailchimp templates for transactional email with deep ecosystem integration
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 an existing Mailchimp Standard or Premium subscription
- Not available as a standalone service
- Higher cost than some dedicated transactional services
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Amazon SES and Mandrill?
Amazon SES is a cost-effective, cloud-scale email service built on AWS infrastructure. Mandrill is a transactional email add-on for Mailchimp, suited for teams already using the Mailchimp platform. Amazon SES is best suited for cost-sensitive, high-volume, while Mandrill is geared toward mailchimp users needing transactional.
Which is cheaper, Amazon SES or Mandrill?
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. Included as an add-on to Mailchimp Standard or Premium plans. Pricing is based on email blocks of 25,000 emails, starting at $20/block. Volume discounts apply: $18/block above 500K, scaling down to $10/block above 4M. 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 Mandrill?
Based on real-world data from Knock, Amazon SES has a median API response time (p50) of 127ms compared to 127ms for Mandrill.
Which is more reliable, Amazon SES or Mandrill?
From December 12th to March 12th, Amazon SES showed an error rate of 0.00% while Mandrill 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 Mandrill?
On the Knock platform, Amazon SES handled 25M–100M messages from December 12th to March 12th compared to 1M–10M for Mandrill. Amazon SES is currently trending upward in adoption, while Mandrill is trending upward.
Can I use both Amazon SES and Mandrill together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple email providers into a single notification workflow. You can use Amazon SES and Mandrill 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 Mandrill?
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. Mandrill strengths include friendly, well-laid-out developer documentation that makes integration straightforward and global infrastructure for fast delivery with dedicated ips and ip address pools. On the other hand, Amazon SES drawbacks include setup is complex with documentation that can be difficult to navigate, while Mandrill drawbacks include requires an existing mailchimp standard or premium subscription.
Use either provider with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate Amazon SES, Mandrill, or any combination of email providers into a single notification workflow. Manage templates, orchestrate cross-channel delivery, and switch providers without changing your code.