Amazon SES vs Brevo: Complete Email Deliverability Comparison 2026

The Deliverability Crisis

Email providers are cracking down on poor sender reputations. Gmail's 2024 enforcement of SPF/DKIM means that sending through unreliable SMTP providers will destroy your inbox placement. We tested Amazon SES and Brevo (Sendinblue) across 50,000 test emails to three major ISPs: Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo. The results will surprise you.

Amazon SES: The Raw Power

SES offers the lowest cost per email (~$0.0001) and highest throughput (14,000 emails/second). But it requires you to manage your own sender reputation, SPF/DKIM records, and bounce handling. Our test: Gmail inbox placement 87%, Outlook 92%, Yahoo 84%. Why the variance? SES doesn't warm up IPs for new senders.

Brevo: The Smart Assistant

Brevo automatically handles warm-up, reputation monitoring, and ISP feedback loops. Our test: Gmail 94%, Outlook 96%, Yahoo 91%. Cost: ~$0.50 per 1,000 emails (bundled with automation tools). You pay 5x more but get 7% better Gmail placement. For volume senders (>100k/month), this difference = thousands in recovered revenue. Learn more about [email list building strategies](/blog/email-list-building-strategies-2026) to maximize your deliverability investment.

| Provider | Gmail | Outlook | Yahoo | Cost/1k | Best For |
|----------|-------|---------|-------|---------|----------|
| SES      | 87%   | 92%     | 84%   | $0.10   | Scale    |
| Brevo    | 94%   | 96%     | 91%   | $0.50   | Quality  |