Amazon SES comparison
ArawaMail vs Amazon SES: inboxes and sending, or send-only AWS?
Short answer: Amazon SES is regional sending infrastructure with no hosted employee inbox. ArawaMail is custom-domain staff mailboxes plus a transactional send API on one domain. Keep SES when raw AWS volume and IAM control matter; choose ArawaMail when people mail and product mail should share one visible workspace.
The quick verdict
Is ArawaMail a replacement for Amazon SES?
Not always. SES wins raw send price and AWS-native control at high volume. ArawaMail wins when the same company also needs staff inboxes, a visible outbox, inbound webhooks, and Cloudflare-automated DNS.
Choose ArawaMail when mail is a product surface
Choose ArawaMail if…
You want hosted business inboxes and transactional sending together, support that can see what the API sent, inbound webhooks into the same mailboxes, and DNS published for you on a Cloudflare zone—without assembling Workspace plus IAM plus event destinations.
Explore ArawaMail plansKeep SES when AWS is already the mail fabric
Keep Amazon SES if…
You already send millions of messages a month inside AWS, need dedicated IPs, Virtual Deliverability Manager, tenant-level suppression, or Mail Manager, and you are willing to run people mail in a separate product.
Review official SES pricingSide-by-side comparison
How do ArawaMail and Amazon SES compare?
| Comparison point | ArawaMail | Amazon SES |
|---|---|---|
| Core focus | Hosted business inboxes and transactional sending on one domain | Regional send-only infrastructure (API + SMTP). No hosted employee inbox |
| Hosted business inboxes | Yes — inbox, sent, drafts, search, teams, and mailbox storage on every plan | No. People mail is usually Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or another mailbox product |
| Transactional / API sending | HTTP POST /emails with Resend-compatible fields (from, to, subject, html/text, cc, bcc, reply_to, headers, attachments) | SES API and SMTP in each AWS Region you configure |
| Inbound mail and webhooks | Hosted mailboxes plus outgoing webhooks that POST JSON with attachment links, filters, and secrets | Inbound processing and Mail Manager are paid SES features, not employee inboxes |
| DNS / domain setup | Cloudflare zone required. Activate receiving (MX) first, then sending (DKIM CNAMEs + custom MAIL FROM + SPF) | Any DNS host. Easy DKIM publishes three CNAMEs per Region; Route 53 can auto-publish |
| Authentication | Managed SPF, DKIM, and custom MAIL FROM on the connected Cloudflare zone. You own the DMARC record | Easy DKIM (default 2048-bit) or BYODKIM; optional custom MAIL FROM; identities are per Region |
| Bounce, complaint, suppression | Delivery events and mailbox visibility. No customer-editable SES-style tenant suppression UI | AWS-managed global list, account list, configuration-set overrides, and tenant-level lists |
| Delivery logs visible to support | Yes — sent API mail and mailbox folders live in the same workspace | CloudWatch, configuration sets, and event destinations you must wire yourself |
| IAM / access model | Workspace members and scoped API keys. Free 1 / Pro 10 / Business 50 members | AWS IAM, organizations, and per-Region account controls |
| Sandbox / getting started | Connect a Cloudflare domain, activate receiving, then sending. Free plan: 3,000 sends | Sandbox: 200 recipients / 24h, 1/sec, verified destinations only until production access |
| Monthly price and overages | Free $0 (3,000 sends, no overage). Pro $20 (50,000, $0.0004 overage). Business $80 (100,000, $0.0003 overage) | Plans from 21 Jul 2026: Essentials (usage), Pro $105 / account / Region / month, Enterprise $500 / account / Region / month, plus à la carte outbound near $0.10 / 1,000. New SES-specific 3,000-message free tier is not offered to new customers; AWS Free Tier credits may still apply |
| Marketing / automations | Not the ArawaMail pitch. Focused business + transactional email | SES will send any stream you authorize. Marketing still needs lists, templates, and compliance you build |
| Dedicated IPs / VDM / tenants | Not a documented ArawaMail product | Available as plan features or add-ons. Real power, real operational cost |
| Best fit | Teams that want staff@, support@, and product mail on one custom domain | AWS-native shops sending high volume who already have a mailbox product |
Verdict: Do not rip SES out of a working high-volume AWS pipeline. Add or switch to ArawaMail when the missing piece is a mailbox, a visible outbox, or one-domain DNS—not a cheaper thousand-message rate.
Facts reviewed August 29, 2026. Sources: ArawaMail pricing, official SES pricing, SES pricing-plan docs, and ArawaMail product documentation.
When the SES stack gets expensive in time
Who should choose ArawaMail instead of another SES add-on?
SES is cheap sending with no mailbox and a lot of AWS. ArawaMail is the alternative when the next ticket is not a quota increase—it is an inbox, an outbox a human can open, or DNS you do not want to paste twice per Region.
People mail on the same domain
Host staff@ and support@ instead of pairing SES receipts with a separate Workspace tenant. See business email and the one-domain guide.
Inbound webhooks without Mail Manager
Post incoming mailbox messages as JSON with attachment links, filters, and secrets. SES inbound and Mail Manager are a different product surface.
Support can see what the API sent
Transactional outbox and human folders live in one workspace. SES visibility depends on the event destinations you build.
Cloudflare-automated DNS
Receiving MX, then DKIM CNAMEs, custom MAIL FROM, and SPF. Limitation: the zone must already be on Cloudflare, unlike SES.
Authentication without a second identity per Region
Connect the domain once in ArawaMail. SES Easy DKIM identities are per AWS Region unless you adopt a documented multi-Region pattern.
Honest price comparison
Do not compare ArawaMail Pro at $20 only to the old $0.10/1k SES headline. SES now has named plans plus add-ons; ArawaMail bundles inboxes with send volume.
Typical AWS teams
If you already run SES, why add a mailbox product?
Most SES shops already split people mail and product mail. ArawaMail is useful when that split is costing deliverability, support time, or a second vendor—not when SES is already shipping millions of resets cleanly.
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1
Keep SES for the firehose
Password resets, invoices, and alerts at millions per month can stay on SES if IAM, quotas, and event destinations already work.
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2
Put humans on ArawaMail
Move staff@, founders@, and support@ to hosted inboxes on the company domain or a sibling domain so MX and sending records have a single owner.
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3
Decide whether product From can follow
Low-volume transactional mail can move to the ArawaMail API so support sees the same thread. High-volume streams can remain on SES.
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4
Do not treat sandbox exit as a mailbox
Leaving the SES sandbox only lifts recipient limits. If the real need was an inbox, request production access will not create one.
ArawaMail vs Amazon SES FAQ
Questions AWS teams ask before choosing.
Does Amazon SES include a mailbox?
No. Amazon SES is send infrastructure. Staff and support inboxes usually live in Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or another mailbox product. ArawaMail hosts those inboxes and a transactional send API on the same custom domain.
Is ArawaMail cheaper than Amazon SES?
Not at high AWS volume. SES à la carte outbound is still near $0.10 per 1,000 emails, while SES Pro and Enterprise add $105 or $500 per account per Region per month plus add-ons. ArawaMail packages inboxes plus sending from Free $0 / 3,000 sends, Pro $20 / 50,000, and Business $80 / 100,000. Compare total stack cost, not only CPM.
Can I keep SES and add ArawaMail?
Yes. A common dual-stack is SES for millions of password resets inside AWS and ArawaMail for staff@ and support@ on the company domain or a sibling domain.
Why does ArawaMail require Cloudflare?
ArawaMail publishes MX, DKIM, SPF, and custom MAIL FROM on a Cloudflare zone. SES works with any DNS host. Cloudflare-only onboarding is a real limitation if the domain cannot move.
Does verifying a domain in SES give me production access?
No. Domain verification and sandbox exit are separate. Read the SES sandbox and SES quotas guides on this site, and the Easy DKIM verification walkthrough.
Is ArawaMail a marketing automation platform?
No. Neither product is sold here as a full marketing cloud. SES will send any authorized stream; ArawaMail focuses on business inboxes plus transactional API sending.
What powers ArawaMail?
ArawaMail is powered by SDP Email, the underlying platform for mailbox administration and transactional sending.
Start free and connect the domain
Put inboxes and product email on one custom domain.
Create an ArawaMail workspace, connect a Cloudflare zone, and start with 3,000 monthly sends plus a hosted mailbox on the Free plan.
Create your ArawaMail workspace