A European alternative to Amazon SES
2Mail is a European alternative to Amazon SES for teams that want to send transactional and bulk email through SMTP or a REST API without the rest of a cloud platform: one account, own servers in Belgium, signed webhooks and a fixed price per sending domain. If you run your whole infrastructure on AWS and want email to flow through the same roles, regions and event services, SES remains the better fit.
Amazon SES is the email service inside Amazon Web Services. According to its own documentation, it is a building block you combine with other parts of the platform. Authentication, bounce handling, events and reporting are things you assemble yourself. For a small team that wants the order confirmation to arrive and someone to call when there is a problem, that is a lot of parts for one job.
Then there is data location. Choosing a European region is one step. Explaining to a DPO or a customer which entity is the processor and where the logs are kept is another. 2Mail runs on its own servers in Belgium, processes and stores inside the EU, and charges per volume tier and per sending domain.
Why companies switch from Amazon SES to 2Mail
One service instead of a kit of parts
SMTP relay, REST API, signed webhooks, automatic bounce handling, status per message and a dashboard per domain come in one account. You need no extra services to see a bounce or receive a webhook.
Own servers in Belgium
No region to choose. Sending, storage and statistics stay on JAAN bv's own infrastructure in Belgium, inside the EU. A data processing agreement is available on request.
Personal follow-up during onboarding
Support in Dutch, French and English. With a new domain, 2Mail follows the build-up of the sending volume with you. Sending runs through a pool of outbound IP addresses at a fixed pace per mailbox provider. If a message is deferred, it is retried automatically. SLA of 99.99% availability.
Fixed price per sending domain
Per volume tier, from 1,000 to 250,000 emails a month, and per sending domain. No price per email, no setup fee. Sharing volume across several domains is possible on request.
Amazon SES and 2Mail side by side
Amazon SES is a cloud email service inside the AWS platform based in United States (part of Amazon Web Services). Below are the points on which an email platform really differs in practice. The Amazon SES column only reflects what the brand publishes itself; always check the current terms on its own website.
| Criterion | Amazon SES | 2Mail |
|---|---|---|
| Location and data residency | United States; available in AWS regions of your choice, including European ones, according to their documentation | Belgium (JAAN bv, Zelzate); own servers in Belgium, processing and storage inside the EU |
| Pricing model | Per email sent (pay-as-you-go) according to their website | Per volume tier and per sending domain; no price per email, no setup fee; 12-month term |
| Sending channel (SMTP, API, campaigns) | SMTP interface and API through the AWS SDKs according to their documentation | SMTP relay (port 587, STARTTLS), REST API with signed webhooks and campaigns, in one account |
| Support and language | Through the AWS support plans, generally in English, according to their website | Phone and email in Dutch, French and English; personal follow-up during onboarding |
| Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) | DKIM and SPF records you publish yourself following their instructions | DKIM key and DNS records generated and checked from the dashboard; you publish them with your own DNS provider |
| Per-message insight | Events routed to other AWS services according to their documentation | Status per message with the reply from the receiving server; dashboard per domain; CSV export of the reports |
Information about Amazon SES is general and may change; 2Mail is not affiliated with this brand. Brand names belong to their respective owners.
Switching from Amazon SES to 2Mail
A migration is not a big bang. These three steps keep your deliverability intact while you move.
SPF, DKIM and DMARC on the new route
Add 2Mail to your SPF record and publish the DKIM key from the dashboard, next to the existing SES records. Check in your DMARC reports that both routes pass before you remove the old records.
Replace the SMTP details or API call
If your application uses the SES SMTP interface, replace the host, port and login with the 2Mail details. If you send through the SDK, that becomes an HTTPS call to the REST API with its own API key, or you switch to SMTP, which is built into most frameworks.
Move your events and build up volume
Replace the event pipeline with one webhook endpoint that receives the signed events from 2Mail. Then move the traffic in steps, per application or per domain. 2Mail keeps an eye on things during onboarding.
Who is 2Mail the better choice for — and who isn't it for?
2Mail suits you if…
- Businesses that want a finished email service, with relay, API, webhooks, logging and dashboard, without building an event pipeline themselves
- Organisations that want to name a processor inside the EU, with own servers in Belgium and a data processing agreement on request
- Web shops, ERP users and SaaS teams that send campaigns as well as transactional email, from one account
Stay with Amazon SES if…
- Anyone who runs their whole infrastructure on AWS and wants to integrate email through the same roles, regions and event services
- Anyone with a very small or highly variable volume who wants to pay per email sent, without a contract term
Other comparisons
Looking for an alternative to another platform? Same exercise, always with the facts side by side.