Amazon SES vs Sparkpost
Compare Amazon SES and Sparkpost 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 | 10th of 10 → | 2 | 4 |
From June 3rd to August 31st, Knock routed 25M–100M messages through Amazon SES and <1M through Sparkpost. Amazon SES reported 0 status page updates over the last 90 days, while Sparkpost reported 4.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 161ms | 226ms | 287ms | 407ms |
| 491ms | 569ms | 598ms | 735ms |
The chart above shows each provider's daily median response time (p50) from June 3rd to August 31st. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: Amazon SES averaged 161ms compared to 491ms for Sparkpost. Amazon SES's highest daily p50 was 216ms; Sparkpost's was 574ms. Amazon SES is 330ms 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 226ms compared to 569ms for Sparkpost. The highest daily p90 was 312ms for Amazon SES and 722ms for Sparkpost. Amazon SES handles these slower requests 343ms 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 407ms at p99 while Sparkpost reached 735ms. The highest daily p99 was 491ms for Amazon SES and 1427ms for Sparkpost, 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% | 0.25% | Jun 28 | 87 | 3 |
| 0.00% | 0.00% | Jun 3 | 90 | 0 |
Averaged across the date range, Amazon SES shows a 0.00% daily error rate compared to 0.00% for Sparkpost. The highest single-day error rate was 0.25% for Amazon SES and 0.00% for Sparkpost. 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 Sparkpost incidents
Recent status page incidents for Sparkpost
Started Aug 27, 2026 — Resolved Aug 27, 2026
Aug 27, 18:56 EDT Resolved - The Apple bounce levels have maintained at pre incident levels during our monitoring phase. Our clean up of the bad suppressions has finished. This incident is resolved. Aug 27, 15:28 EDT Monitoring - We have seen recovery of the Apple private relay domain to pre-event bounce levels. Our team is actively working on automatically removing any suppressions that were created by this event. We anticipate the cleanup to be completed by 6PM EDT. Aug 27, 15:10 EDT
Started Aug 19, 2026 — Resolved Aug 19, 2026
Aug 19, 15:58 EDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Aug 19, 15:44 EDT Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results. Aug 19, 14:52 EDT Investigating - We are investigating an increase in delivery latency for some outbound messages. (NOTE: This does not impact our customers hosted in the US.)
Started Jul 24, 2026 — Resolved Jul 24, 2026
Jul 24, 14:44 EDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Jul 24, 13:29 EDT Update - We have implemented additional tuning to handle the significant influx of mail due to the AWS network outage and we are seeing improvement in delivery rates We are seeing significant recovery and expect most mail to be fully delivered in the next 30-35 minutes. Estimated time for full recovery is 80-90 minutes. We are continuing to look for additional optimizations and monitor the issue. Jul 24, 09
Started Jun 29, 2026 — Resolved Jun 29, 2026
Jun 29, 12:46 EDT Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Jun 29, 12:05 EDT Monitoring - There was a combination of events that caused a short period of slowdown. That slowdown has already recovered and we are monitoring to ensure we do not see it again. Jun 29, 11:58 EDT Investigating - We are investigating the delay and the impact. We will post once we know more.
Pros and cons
Amazon SES
Sparkpost
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
- Delivers nearly 40% of all commercial email worldwide
- Subaccount support for isolated sending streams under one billing account
- On-premise mail sending solution available for very high volume workloads
- Great analytics tools with predictive health scores for email deliverability
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
- Documentation can be hard to navigate with less beginner-friendly getting started content
- Higher price point than basic providers
- Now part of Bird (formerly MessageBird), which may affect product direction
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Amazon SES and Sparkpost?
Amazon SES is a cost-effective, cloud-scale email service built on AWS infrastructure. SparkPost is a data-driven email delivery platform with advanced analytics and predictive tools for high-volume senders. Amazon SES is best suited for cost-sensitive, high-volume, while Sparkpost is geared toward data-driven, high-volume.
Which is cheaper, Amazon SES or Sparkpost?
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 500 emails per month with community support. Paid plans start at $20/month for 50,000 emails with premium deliverability features. 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 Sparkpost?
Based on real-world data from Knock, Amazon SES has a median API response time (p50) of 161ms compared to 491ms for Sparkpost.
Which is more reliable, Amazon SES or Sparkpost?
From June 3rd to August 31st, Amazon SES showed an error rate of 0.00% while Sparkpost 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 Sparkpost?
On the Knock platform, Amazon SES handled 25M–100M messages from June 3rd to August 31st compared to <1M for Sparkpost. Amazon SES volume has remained stable, while Sparkpost volume has remained stable.
Can I use both Amazon SES and Sparkpost together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple email providers into a single notification workflow. You can use Amazon SES and Sparkpost 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 Sparkpost?
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. Sparkpost strengths include delivers nearly 40% of all commercial email worldwide and subaccount support for isolated sending streams under one billing account. On the other hand, Amazon SES drawbacks include setup is complex with documentation that can be difficult to navigate, while Sparkpost drawbacks include documentation can be hard to navigate with less beginner-friendly getting started content.
Use either provider with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate Amazon SES, Sparkpost, or any combination of email providers into a single notification workflow. Manage templates, orchestrate cross-channel delivery, and switch providers without changing your code.