The Mailchimp alternative
that actually saves you money.
SES Mailbox is a like-for-like Mailchimp replacement — campaigns, audiences, automations, analytics — built on AWS SES so you pay $15/mo for what Mailchimp charges $350/mo to do.
Mailchimp is the default name in email marketing — but it's built on a pricing model that punishes you for growing. You pay by contact count, including subscribers who haven't opened an email in years, and the bill climbs from $13/mo to $350/mo to $800/mo as your list grows.
SES Mailbox is a like-for-like Mailchimp alternative that runs on Amazon SES — the same sending infrastructure behind Netflix and Reddit. You get the campaigns, automations, segments, and analytics you expect, at a flat $9.99/mo plus AWS's at-cost rate of $0.10 per 1,000 emails. Below is the honest, line-by-line comparison — including the handful of things Mailchimp still does that we don't.
SES Mailbox is cheaper from day one.
Mailchimp Essentials pricing vs SES Mailbox Pro + AWS SES, assuming one campaign per month to your full list.
Mailchimp Essentials pricing as of May 2026 · SES Mailbox Pro $9.99/mo + AWS SES at $0.10/1,000 sends, one campaign/month
The full comparison, nothing hidden.
What you get on each platform — including where Mailchimp still does more.
Reflects Mailchimp's standard plans as of 2026. See every SES Mailbox feature →
It's not just the price.
The pricing model is broken
Mailchimp charges by contact count — including contacts who haven’t opened an email in three years. SES Mailbox charges $9.99/mo flat. Inactive subscribers cost zero. AWS SES costs $0.10 per 1,000 emails actually sent.
Shared IPs hurt deliverability
Mailchimp's outgoing emails leave from a shared IP pool. If a spammer two senders down poisons the IP, your inbox placement suffers. With SES Mailbox you send from your own AWS SES account.
No subscriber-count penalty
On Mailchimp, growing your list punishes you — $135 at 10k becomes $800 at 100k. On SES Mailbox Pro the platform fee stays $9.99 forever. Scale without dread.
Who should switch — and who shouldn't.
We'd rather you pick the right tool than churn in a month.
Switch to SES Mailbox if…
- Your list is growing and per-contact pricing is getting painful
- You mainly send newsletters or campaigns and want the lowest cost
- You want your own sender reputation and better inbox placement
- You're fine with a one-time, guided 10-minute AWS connection
Stay on Mailchimp if…
- You need landing pages, a built-in CRM, and SMS in one bundle
- You rely on A/B testing or its appointment-booking tools
- You'd prefer not to connect an AWS account at all
Mailchimp switching FAQ
The exact questions we hear from teams considering the move.
How much does Mailchimp cost in 2026?
Mailchimp's Essentials plan starts at $13/mo for 500 contacts and scales steeply: $135/mo at 10k, $230/mo at 25k, $350/mo at 50k, and $800/mo at 100k. The Standard plan (which adds the visual flow builder and behavioral segments most teams need) is 30-50% more expensive on top.
What's the same cost on SES Mailbox?
SES Mailbox Pro is $9.99/mo flat, every list size. AWS SES costs $0.10 per 1,000 emails sent. So at 50,000 contacts emailed once a month: $9.99 + $5 = $14.99/mo total. The platform fee never grows with your subscriber count.
Can I migrate my Mailchimp audience and templates?
Yes. Our one-click Mailchimp importer pulls audiences via Mailchimp's API, recreates templates from their HTML source, and reproduces common automations. Most teams complete the full migration in 15-30 minutes.
Will my deliverability drop after switching?
Almost always the opposite. Mailchimp sends from shared IP pools where your reputation is mixed with thousands of other senders. SES Mailbox sends through your own AWS SES account so your reputation is isolated. The median open-rate lift we see across migrations is 3-6 percentage points.
Is SES Mailbox missing any major Mailchimp features?
A few. Mailchimp has a landing page builder, a built-in CRM, SMS marketing, and A/B testing that SES Mailbox doesn't (yet). We focus on being the best, cheapest way to run email on AWS SES — campaigns, automations, segments, signup forms, and deliverability tooling.
Do I need technical skills to use AWS SES?
Not really. You connect your AWS account once — a guided ~10-minute setup — and after that SES Mailbox is a normal point-and-click dashboard. You never touch the AWS console day to day. That one-time step is the trade-off for the ~95% cost saving.
Does SES Mailbox have a free plan like Mailchimp?
Yes — free forever, no credit card. You get unlimited subscribers and one campaign per month. Mailchimp's free plan caps contacts; ours caps campaign frequency instead, so your list can keep growing without forcing an upgrade.
Mailchimp vs SES Mailbox — which is better for a newsletter?
For a pure newsletter, SES Mailbox is usually the better value: a 25,000-subscriber weekly newsletter runs about $20/mo here versus $230+/mo on Mailchimp. If you also need landing pages, a CRM, or SMS bundled in, Mailchimp covers more surface area. See SES Mailbox for newsletters.
Make the switch in 30 minutes.
Keep the savings forever.
Free Mailchimp CSV importer. Free plan available. No credit card required.