Amazon SES (Simple Email Service) is like buying a car for $200, but you have to assemble it yourself. If you need reliable email delivery with no dedicated team or limited resources, consider alternatives that offer faster speeds and better deliverability. Here are five Amazon SES alternatives recommended by an industry expert: Postmark, SendGrid, Mailchimp Transactional, Mailgun, and MessageBird Email (formerly SparkPost). Each provider has its pros and cons, pricing models, and features, so it's essential to research and compare them before making a decision. Postmark is the only email delivery service that shares delivery times publicly, offers transparent pricing, and provides stellar customer support at no extra charge. SendGrid is an established player with a powerful all-in-one service, but its deliverability can be mixed, and premium support comes at an additional cost. Mailchimp Transactional offers a one-stop shop with strong analytics, but lacks product focus and has higher costs. Mailgun has scalable plans and 99.99% uptime SLA, but inconsistent deliverability and sending speed issues. MessageBird Email (formerly SparkPost) is geared towards enterprise businesses with high-volume commercial sending and detailed developer docs, but its complexity might be too much for medium-sized companies or startups.