Cloudflare guide · Updated October 2026
Cloudflare Email Service vs Resend vs Amazon SES vs Postmark
All four send email over an API from your own domain. Amazon SES is the cheapest per email; Cloudflare Email Service is the natural choice if your app already runs on Workers and you also want to receive mail for free; Resend has the simplest developer experience; Postmark is built around transactional deliverability. Three questions usually decide it: do you need to receive mail, will you send marketing email, and how many emails a month.
At a glance
| Feature | Cloudflare Email Service | Resend | Amazon SES | Postmark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free allowance | Sending to your own verified addresses | 3,000/month, 100/day | AWS Free Tier credits for new accounts | 100/month |
| Paid sending | $5/month incl. 3,000, then $0.35 per 1,000 | $20/month for 50,000 | $0.10 per 1,000 | Pro from $16.50/month for 10,000, then $1.30 per 1,000 |
| Receive email | Email Routing to a Worker, free | Included | $0.10 per 1,000 plus chunk fee | Pro and Platform plans |
| Marketing email | Under Cloudflare's Email Service terms | Marketing plans, priced by contacts | Allowed; you build list management | Separate broadcast streams |
| How you call it | Workers binding or REST API | REST API and SDKs | AWS API and SMTP | REST API and SMTP |
| Needs | Domain on Cloudflare DNS; Workers Paid to send | Any DNS host | AWS account; production access request | Any DNS host |
Free allowance
- Cloudflare Email Service
- Sending to your own verified addresses
- Resend
- 3,000/month, 100/day
- Amazon SES
- AWS Free Tier credits for new accounts
- Postmark
- 100/month
Paid sending
- Cloudflare Email Service
- $5/month incl. 3,000, then $0.35 per 1,000
- Resend
- $20/month for 50,000
- Amazon SES
- $0.10 per 1,000
- Postmark
- Pro from $16.50/month for 10,000, then $1.30 per 1,000
Receive email
- Cloudflare Email Service
- Email Routing to a Worker, free
- Resend
- Included
- Amazon SES
- $0.10 per 1,000 plus chunk fee
- Postmark
- Pro and Platform plans
Marketing email
- Cloudflare Email Service
- Under Cloudflare's Email Service terms
- Resend
- Marketing plans, priced by contacts
- Amazon SES
- Allowed; you build list management
- Postmark
- Separate broadcast streams
How you call it
- Cloudflare Email Service
- Workers binding or REST API
- Resend
- REST API and SDKs
- Amazon SES
- AWS API and SMTP
- Postmark
- REST API and SMTP
Needs
- Cloudflare Email Service
- Domain on Cloudflare DNS; Workers Paid to send
- Resend
- Any DNS host
- Amazon SES
- AWS account; production access request
- Postmark
- Any DNS host
From each provider's pricing page. Prices in USD.
1. Do you need to receive email?
If your app only sends, any of the four works. If it also needs to receive, such as replies, support mail or inbound parsing, the difference is what you get. Cloudflare Email Routing receives for free and hands the raw message to your Worker, where you parse and store it yourself, or let an app such as MarkRelay do it and give you mailboxes and a signed webhook per message. Resend and Postmark parse inbound mail and post it to your webhook. SES stores it in S3 or publishes it to SNS for you to process.
2. Will you send marketing email?
Bulk and marketing email needs consent, one-click unsubscribe (RFC 8058) and a suppression list, whichever service sends it. Resend sells marketing plans priced by contacts; Postmark keeps broadcasts in a separate message stream; SES sends whatever you are allowed to send and leaves list management to you. With Cloudflare Email Service you follow Cloudflare's Email Service terms, and an app such as MarkRelay Broadcasts adds unsubscribe headers and automatic suppression. The sender stays responsible for compliance in every case.
3. What does each cost per month?
| Emails a month | Cloudflare Email Service | Resend | Amazon SES | Postmark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3,000 | $5 | $0 | $0.30 | $16.50 |
| 20,000 | $10.95 | $20 | $2 | $29.50 |
| 100,000 | $38.95 | $35 | $10 | $133.50 |
3,000
- Cloudflare Email Service
- $5
- Resend
- $0
- Amazon SES
- $0.30
- Postmark
- $16.50
20,000
- Cloudflare Email Service
- $10.95
- Resend
- $20
- Amazon SES
- $2
- Postmark
- $29.50
100,000
- Cloudflare Email Service
- $38.95
- Resend
- $35
- Amazon SES
- $10
- Postmark
- $133.50
Sending only, cheapest plan that covers the volume. Cloudflare: Workers Paid ($5) with 3,000 included, then $0.35 per 1,000. Resend: Free, Pro ($20 for 50,000) or Pro ($35 for 100,000). Amazon SES: $0.10 per 1,000 after free credits, excluding attachment data and dedicated IPs. Postmark: Pro plan.
At 3,000 a month Resend's free plan costs nothing. Above that, SES is the cheapest; at 20,000 Cloudflare comes second; at 100,000 Resend's $35 plan is a little cheaper than Cloudflare. The cheaper services leave more to you: SES and Cloudflare give you sending, and you add bounce handling, inbound processing and any user interface yourself.
Where MarkRelay fits
MarkRelay is not a fifth sending service. It is an app you deploy into your own Cloudflare account that uses Cloudflare Email Service underneath: Email Routing to receive and Email Sending to send. On top it adds mailboxes and team webmail, an HTTP API to send, read, reply and forward, signed webhooks for new mail, templates and broadcasts. See MarkRelay as a self-hosted Resend alternative and how Cloudflare Email Sending works.
Common questions
Which is cheapest for 20,000 emails a month?
Amazon SES, at about $2 a month for sending alone. Cloudflare Email Service comes to $10.95 (Workers Paid with 3,000 included, then $0.35 per 1,000), Resend Pro to $20, and Postmark Pro to $29.50.
Which one can receive email?
All four, in different ways. Cloudflare Email Routing hands inbound mail to a Worker for free. Resend includes inbound on its transactional plans. Amazon SES charges $0.10 per 1,000 inbound emails plus a per-chunk fee and writes them to S3 or SNS. Postmark includes inbound processing on Pro and Platform.
Can I send marketing email with each?
Resend sells separate marketing plans priced by contacts. Postmark keeps broadcasts in their own message streams. Amazon SES sends any mail you are allowed to send, but you build the list management yourself. With Cloudflare Email Service, follow Cloudflare's Email Service terms; apps such as MarkRelay add unsubscribe headers and a suppression list on top.
What does Cloudflare Email Service need?
A domain on Cloudflare DNS and, to send to any recipient, the Workers Paid plan ($5/month). Email Routing for receiving is free on every plan.
Where does MarkRelay fit?
MarkRelay is an app, not a sending service: it runs in your Cloudflare account, receives through Email Routing, sends through Cloudflare Email Sending, and adds mailboxes, team webmail, an HTTP API with signed webhooks, templates and broadcasts.
Sources: Cloudflare Email Service pricing, Resend pricing, Amazon SES pricing, Postmark pricing.