Bird vs Amazon SES
Bird vs Amazon SES for transactional email
Bird brings email, SMS and voice into the same account. Compare the email integration and published pricing for your workload, starting with the Bird Email API for the full surface.
Dagelijks vertrouwd door teams die
wereldklasse software bouwen.
By the numbers
Deliverability scale
Message retention
Proven at peak
19.9B emails, BFCM 2025What Amazon SES is great at.
Where Bird is different.
What Amazon SES is great at
Deep AWS integration. IAM, SNS, Lambda, and the rest of the stack are right there. If your infrastructure already lives in AWS, SES is the path of least resistance.
Configuration Sets. A named bundle of behaviours (event destinations, IP pool, reputation tracking, suppression overrides) applied per send, so different traffic classes run different operational profiles in one account.
Regional isolation you choose. A separate endpoint per AWS region, each with independent reputation, for senders who want to pin traffic to specific geographies.
Where Bird is different
Managed, not assembled. SES gives you primitives. With Bird, webhooks arrive at your URL signed (no SNS or SQS to wire up), message bodies are stored for 30 days (SES stores none by default), and dedicated-IP warm-up and deliverability are managed for you.
A simpler API. A bearer-token HTTP call, a typed error hierarchy with an error-as-value option via .safe(), idempotency keys, and a hosted MCP server. SES signs every request with AWS SigV4 and IAM, which is power you pay for in setup.
Built on SparkPost. Bird’s email runs on SparkPost, the deliverability platform Bird acquired in 2021, carrying about 40% of the world’s commercial email with a decade-plus of IP-reputation engineering and human deliverability support.
Channels beyond email. Send email, SMS, and voice from one API and one auth model. With SES, SMS and voice are separate AWS services you integrate on their own.
The matrix
Capability by capability.
Amazon SES offers per-region isolation, and it is the natural pick if you already live in AWS. Bird wins on a simpler API, managed deliverability, native webhooks, stored message history, and channels beyond email, and matches SES on SMTP submission and address validation. Both readings are accurate today.
| Functionaliteit | Bird | Amazon SES | Wie wint? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Send API | Bearer-token HTTP API (POST /v1/email/messages). The SDK throws a typed error you narrow with instanceof, with an error-as-value option via .safe(). | SES v2 SendEmail signed with AWS SigV4 and IAM; no simple bearer-token endpoint. | |
| Published pricing | Bird email plans and rates. Select the volume and features you need. | Amazon SES plans and rates. Select the same workload before comparing the total. | Niet vergelijkbaar |
| SMTP relay | Customer-facing relay at eu1 and us1.smtp.bird.com. Implicit TLS on 465, STARTTLS on 587 and 2525, authenticated with a normal API key. | Customer-facing SMTP relay at email-smtp.<region>.amazonaws.com. | |
| Email address validation | Real-time validation: a deliverability verdict, a 0-100 confidence score, role, disposable and free-provider flags, and a typo correction. One address per call. | Native recipient-validation feature plus Auto Validation gating. | |
| Event webhooks | Native webhooks delivered to your URL, signed (Standard Webhooks). | No native HTTP webhook; events publish to SNS, Kinesis Firehose, CloudWatch, or EventBridge that you wire up. | |
| Stored message retention | Stored message body available for 30 days. | No stored bodies by default; archiving is a paid Mail Manager add-on. | |
| Idempotency on send | Idempotency-Key header, reused across retries. | No idempotency key on the send path; consumers dedupe on messageId. | |
| Dedicated IPs and warm-up | Dedicated IPs and pools with roughly 30-day automated warm-up. | Standard and managed dedicated IP options; see AWS pricing for their charges. | |
| Deliverability heritage | Bird nam SparkPost over in 2021. Het verzendnetwerk verwerkt ongeveer 40% van alle commerciële e-mail wereldwijd. | SES managed dedicated IPs bieden geautomatiseerde opwarming en schaling voor verzendworkloads. | |
| Channels beyond email | Email, SMS, WhatsApp, voice, Verify and Realtime on one API and one key, plus a wider omnichannel platform. | Email only; SMS and voice live in separate AWS services. | |
| Tooling voor agents | De gehoste MCP-server van Bird op mcp.bird.com biedt 354 tools. De bird CLI verstuurt en inspecteert e-mail, beheert domeinen, templates en webhooks, en geeft agents JSON-uitvoer en semantische exitcodes. | AWS CLI sesv2 verstuurt e-mail en beheert SES-identiteiten, configuratiesets en suppressielijsten. De AWS MCP Server verbindt agents met OAuth- of SigV4-authenticatie. | |
| Mailboxen | De agent-mailboxen van Bird bieden adresseerbare inboxen, threads, antwoorden en afzenderregels die via code worden beheerd. | Ontvangstregels van Amazon SES bezorgen inkomende e-mail bij AWS-services, waaronder S3 en SNS. |
The same send
One send, two levels of plumbing.
Sending one HTML email. SES routes through the AWS SDK with SigV4 credentials and a nested command shape. Bird is a bearer-token call that returns a typed result. The fields are the same underneath.
Amazon SES
import { SESv2Client, SendEmailCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-sesv2";
const ses = new SESv2Client({ region: "us-east-1" });
await ses.send(
new SendEmailCommand({
FromEmailAddress: "onboarding@yourdomain.com",
Destination: { ToAddresses: ["customer@example.com"] },
Content: {
Simple: {
Subject: { Data: "Your March invoice" },
Body: { Html: { Data: "<p>Attached.</p>" } },
},
},
}),
);
// Credentials resolve from the AWS provider chain (env, IAM role, profile).
Bird
import { BirdClient } from "@messagebird/sdk";
const bird = new BirdClient({ apiKey: process.env.BIRD_API_KEY! });
const { data, error } = await bird.email
.send({
from: { email: "onboarding@yourdomain.com", name: "Acme" },
to: ["customer@example.com"],
subject: "Your March invoice",
html: "<p>Attached.</p>",
})
.safe();
if (error) console.error(error.message);
else console.log(data.id);
Gepubliceerde e-mailabonnementen
Hieronder staat de volledige maandelijkse staffel van Bird. Abonnementen met het dichtstbijzijnde volume zijn gemarkeerd en zijn geen offertes voor het volume van Bird. Controleer factureringsvoorwaarden, functies en meerverbruik.
Prijsoordeel: Not comparable. Het oordeel vergelijkt het laagste gepubliceerde maandbedrag bij elk exact volume en valuta; daglimieten, jaarcontracten, verbruikstarieven, startprijzen en maatwerkoffertes worden niet vergeleken.
| Bird-niveau | E-mails per maand | Bird | Amazon SES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 1,000 | Plannen van 4 bij dit volumeKlap uit om alle opties en factureringsvoorwaarden te vergelijken. Overeenkomend volume À la carte outbound email: $0.10 / 1,000 emails 1,000 emails No monthly fee; uncapped usage rate, not a monthly allowance; attachment data charged separately. zoals gepubliceerd Overeenkomend volume Essentials: $0.16 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. No account fee; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Overeenkomend volume Pro: $0.22 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $105 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Overeenkomend volume Enterprise: $0.23 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $500 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd | |
| Startup | 50,000 | Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerde opties van 4Klap uit om alle opties en factureringsvoorwaarden te vergelijken. Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume À la carte outbound email: $0.10 / 1,000 emails 1,000 emails No monthly fee; uncapped usage rate, not a monthly allowance; attachment data charged separately. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Essentials: $0.16 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. No account fee; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Pro: $0.22 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $105 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Enterprise: $0.23 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $500 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd | |
| Startup | 100,000 | Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerde opties van 4Klap uit om alle opties en factureringsvoorwaarden te vergelijken. Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume À la carte outbound email: $0.10 / 1,000 emails 1,000 emails No monthly fee; uncapped usage rate, not a monthly allowance; attachment data charged separately. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Essentials: $0.16 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. No account fee; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Pro: $0.22 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $105 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Enterprise: $0.23 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $500 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd | |
| Growth | 100,000 | Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerde opties van 4Klap uit om alle opties en factureringsvoorwaarden te vergelijken. Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume À la carte outbound email: $0.10 / 1,000 emails 1,000 emails No monthly fee; uncapped usage rate, not a monthly allowance; attachment data charged separately. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Essentials: $0.16 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. No account fee; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Pro: $0.22 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $105 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Enterprise: $0.23 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $500 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd | |
| Growth | 250,000 | Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerde opties van 4Klap uit om alle opties en factureringsvoorwaarden te vergelijken. Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume À la carte outbound email: $0.10 / 1,000 emails 1,000 emails No monthly fee; uncapped usage rate, not a monthly allowance; attachment data charged separately. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Essentials: $0.16 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. No account fee; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Pro: $0.22 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $105 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Enterprise: $0.23 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $500 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd | |
| Growth | 500,000 | Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerde opties van 4Klap uit om alle opties en factureringsvoorwaarden te vergelijken. Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume À la carte outbound email: $0.10 / 1,000 emails 1,000 emails No monthly fee; uncapped usage rate, not a monthly allowance; attachment data charged separately. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Essentials: $0.16 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. No account fee; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Pro: $0.22 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $105 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Enterprise: $0.23 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $500 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd | |
| Growth | 1,000,000 | Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerde opties van 4Klap uit om alle opties en factureringsvoorwaarden te vergelijken. Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume À la carte outbound email: $0.10 / 1,000 emails 1,000 emails No monthly fee; uncapped usage rate, not a monthly allowance; attachment data charged separately. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Essentials: $0.16 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. No account fee; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Pro: $0.22 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $105 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Enterprise: $0.23 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $500 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd | |
| Growth | 2,500,000 | Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerde opties van 4Klap uit om alle opties en factureringsvoorwaarden te vergelijken. Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume À la carte outbound email: $0.10 / 1,000 emails 1,000 emails No monthly fee; uncapped usage rate, not a monthly allowance; attachment data charged separately. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Essentials: $0.16 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. No account fee; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Pro: $0.22 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $105 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd Dichtstbijzijnde gepubliceerd volume Enterprise: $0.23 per 1,000 emails 1,000 emails Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $500 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page. zoals gepubliceerd |
Amazon SES: Gepubliceerde abonnementen
1,000 emails
No monthly fee; uncapped usage rate, not a monthly allowance; attachment data charged separately.
zoals gepubliceerd
1,000 emails
Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. No account fee; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page.
zoals gepubliceerd
1,000 emails
Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $105 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page.
zoals gepubliceerd
1,000 emails
Usage rate for the 0–10M emails/month band, not a monthly allowance. $500 per account per region per month; attachment data charged separately. Tiered rates apply marginally; higher-volume rates are on the publisher page.
zoals gepubliceerd
How should you compare email costs?
Where are the current Bird and Amazon SES prices?
Switching cost
Low.
Most of the move is deleting code. The AWS SDK, SigV4 signing, and the SNS or SQS pipeline you built to receive events are replaced by a bearer-token call and a signed webhook to your URL. Domain authentication and the suppression list map across directly.
If you run a dedicated IP on SES, plan for a warm-up window on Bird to carry the reputation over. The migration guide covers domain auth, IP warm-up, and event mapping.
Bird vs Amazon SES: common questions
What should I evaluate before moving from Amazon SES?
Does Bird offer an SMTP relay like SES?
How does Bird’s deliverability compare to SES?
Does Bird have native webhooks like the SNS setup on SES?
Breng het in de praktijk.
Ga verder met de documentatie, gidsen en voorbeelden voor dit onderwerp. De bronnen zijn in het Engels.
Where to go next
The migration guide is the one to start with: it maps the API field by field.
Praat met ons e-mailteam
Bekijk hoe Bird past in je Amazon SES-workflow.
Test je afzender, templates en bezorggebeurtenissen voordat je verkeer verplaatst van Amazon SES. Plan bij een grotere migratie de overstap met een e-mailspecialist.
Maak je account aan en test je integratie. Je migratieaanvraag bevat de provider die je vergelijkt.