Amazon SES is the cheapest way to send email at scale — $0.10 per 1,000 outbound — and the most DIY: it is a set of AWS console switches, not a product surface. The free tier meters "message charges" for the first 12 months and then rolls into pay-as-you-go on its own; mailbox-simulator test sends are billed like production mail; and opening a technical support case requires a $29/mo AWS Support plan, below which it is forum answers. AWS publishes an entire billing page called "Understanding unexpected charges" — which tells you the culture.
"Need an AWS Help line ASAP I'm being charged $10,205.13 for never actually using the service." Commenters: "aws support has been non-existent." "Submit a support ticket and then turn on billing alarms above 5 bucks." Amazon's own billing docs carry a whole page titled "Understanding unexpected charges."
View original on reddit"New customers can send emails for free through Amazon SES using the AWS Free Tier … up to 3,000 message charges for free each month for the first 12 months after you start using SES." … "If you have an AWS Support plan, you can create a new support case directly from the web-based AWS management console. AWS Support plans begin at $29 per month. … If you don't have an AWS Support plan, you can also ask questions and get answers on the Amazon SES forum." … "we do charge you for each message you send to the mailbox simulator, just as if they were messages you sent to actual customers."
View original on aws"It's not a guarantee but in general AWS is lenient about billing issues for new accounts and users. This has been done for people with thousands of dollars in unexpected charges." — other replies in the thread: "Open a ticket with Amazon and beg." "you used something that wasn't included in the 'free tier'." "Go to them in contrition, stating that this was unexpected."
View original on reddit| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 3,000 msg charges/mo, 12 months | Then metered automatically — no downgrade prompt |
| Outbound | $0.10 per 1,000 emails | Billed through the AWS account alongside everything else |
| Inbound | per message received | Parse/store/route via S3 and Lambda — assembly required |
| Support | from $29/mo | The entry price of asking a human a technical question |
The free tier meters "message charges" for 12 months and then converts to pay-as-you-go automatically. AWS's own billing docs carry an "Understanding unexpected charges" page, and r/aws threads on surprise bills end with the same advice: open a billing case and ask nicely.
Per email, almost always. Per hour of engineering time, rarely: deliverability tooling, suppression and monitoring are yours to build, and support starts at $29/mo.
Yes — inbound is billed per message received. But parsing, storage and routing happen through S3 and Lambda: it's assembly work, not a shared inbox.
Yes. "We do charge you for each message you send to the mailbox simulator, just as if they were messages you sent to actual customers."
High volume, low ceremony: you already have the AWS account, you'll set billing alarms, and you'd rather pay $0.10 per thousand than a monthly plan.
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