# SES Pricing Plans — Plan vs À-la-carte Break-Even Worksheet

First-party benchmark for the post **Amazon SES Pricing Plans (Jul 2026): Essentials vs Pro vs Enterprise — When to Switch**.

**Source rates:** [Amazon SES Pricing](https://aws.amazon.com/ses/pricing/) as of **2026-07-21** (us-east-1 list prices). Rates change — re-check the AWS page before using these numbers in a budget.

## What's in the CSV

[`plan-vs-alacarte-breakeven.csv`](./plan-vs-alacarte-breakeven.csv) compares monthly USD cost at fixed outbound volumes:

| Column | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `essentials_plan_usd` | Essentials tiered send + attachment data |
| `pro_plan_usd` | Pro tiered send + data + **$105**/account/region fixed fee |
| `enterprise_plan_usd` | Enterprise tiered send + data + **$500**/account/region fixed fee |
| `alacarte_send_only_usd` | À-la-carte outbound at **$0.10**/1k + data |
| `alacarte_send_plus_vdm_ses_usd` | Send + Virtual Deliverability Manager (SES deliverability) |
| `alacarte_send_vdm_managed_dip_usd` | Above + Managed Dedicated IPs ($15 + per-email DIP fee) |
| `alacarte_pro_like_stack_usd` | Above + Global VDM (**$1,250**/mo) + Auto Validation (**$0.01**/1k) |
| `alacarte_enterprise_like_stack_usd` | Pro-like + Global Endpoints (**$0.03**/1k) + Open Ingress (**$50**/mo) + 100 tenants + tenant email fee |

## Assumptions (fixed for reproducibility)

1. Average message size **32 KB** → attachment data at **$0.12/GB**.
2. **Outbound only** — no Mail Manager inbound processing in the CSV (AWS Pricing Example 4 adds inbound lines; omit them here so plan vs send stacks stay comparable).
3. Managed DIP overage above 100M emails/month uses the **$0.02**/1k floor as a worksheet placeholder (AWS says "Contact us" above 100M).
4. Tenant model for Enterprise-like: **100** billable tenants at **$0.005**/tenant/month + **$0.005**/1k tenant-tagged emails.
5. One account, one region. Multiply fixed fees if you run Pro/Enterprise in multiple regions.

## How to recalculate

1. Open the CSV in a spreadsheet.
2. Replace your volume row or add a new volume.
3. For plan send cost, apply marginal tiers:

| Plan | 0–10M / 1k | 10–100M / 1k | >100M / 1k | Fixed fee |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Essentials | $0.16 | $0.14 | $0.11 | — |
| Pro | $0.22 | $0.17 | $0.12 | $105 |
| Enterprise | $0.23 | $0.18 | $0.13 | $500 |

4. For à-la-carte, sum only the add-ons you actually enable — do not compare Pro plan to the full Pro-like stack if you would never buy Global VDM.

## Reading the break-even

- If you need **send only**, Essentials/Pro/Enterprise raise unit cost vs à-la-carte **$0.10**/1k — stay à-la-carte.
- If you need a **Pro-like deliverability stack** (managed DIPs + Global VDM + validation), Pro plan undercuts à-la-carte at every volume row in this worksheet (Global VDM's $1,250 flat fee is the main driver).
- If you need **MREP + tenants + open ingress**, compare Enterprise to `alacarte_enterprise_like_stack_usd` — Enterprise wins at mid/high volume in these rows.

## Related reading

- AWS announcement: https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2026/07/amazon-ses-pricing-plans/
- FactualMinds SES consulting: https://www.factualminds.com/services/aws-ses/