Mailblast is the simpler choice for one brand, priced on a 32-rung ladder from $10/month with full BYO-SES pass-through pricing; BigMailer is purpose-built for agencies running many client brands under one consolidated bill, with white-label and unlimited brands on its $15-per-5k-contact tier. Both support multiple brands - Mailblast through sub-accounts, BigMailer through native multi-brand accounts - but BigMailer's pricing and tooling are built for that use case from the ground up, while Mailblast's sub-accounts are a secondary capability layered onto a single-account product. Both are hosted SaaS platforms that work with Amazon SES, but BigMailer is only BYO-SES on its free Startup and entry Business Lite tiers - the higher Business Pro and Agency Pro tiers send through BigMailer's own infrastructure.
Mailblast keeps BYO-SES on every plan, including the free tier. According to Validity's 2024 Email Deliverability Benchmark Report, North American inbox placement averaged 83.1%, which means the SES delivery path either platform uses on your behalf is set by AWS reputation, not the management layer. The real choice between the two products comes down to how many brands you manage and whether you want that scale priced as one consolidated agency plan or as separate per-brand subscriptions.
What each platform actually is
BigMailer is a hosted, agency-oriented email platform that serves "10,000+ brands" per its homepage and is structured around multi-brand management from a single dashboard. Mailblast is a hosted BYO-SES management layer built primarily for a single brand, with a free tier covering 1,000 contacts and 10,000 emails per month - though it does support multiple brands through sub-accounts. Both work with Amazon SES, but they optimize for different scales of multi-brand use.
BigMailer is a management layer built around the concept of "brands" as first-class objects. You add a brand, connect it to an SES sending identity, give it its own template library and lists, and optionally invite the brand's owner as a user with scoped permissions. Agency Pro tier supports up to 100 users and unlimited brands, all billed under one relationship.
Mailblast's primary workflow is a single account with a single sender identity: contacts, lists, automations, and templates all live in one workspace. Agencies who need more than one brand create sub-accounts - each is a fully separate account with its own AWS keys, lists, and optional independent whitelabel branding (custom domain, logo, colors) - but each sub-account is billed as its own subscription rather than folded into one agency-priced plan.
The multi-brand axis is the real difference
How multi-brand pricing works is the single feature that should drive the BigMailer vs Mailblast decision: BigMailer's Agency Pro tier supports unlimited brands and up to 100 users at $12 per 5,000 contacts under one bill (BigMailer, 2026), while Mailblast's sub-accounts each carry their own ladder subscription starting at $10/month. Picking the wrong tool here means paying more than you need to for the same number of brands.
BigMailer's white-label agency offering lets you spin up unlimited client brands under one billing relationship, each with isolated lists and templates, and optionally rebrand the entire BigMailer console with your agency's logo and domain. That capability adds real complexity to the product surface area: more navigation, more permission scopes, more configuration per brand.
Mailblast's sub-accounts cover the same isolation - separate lists, separate sender identity, separate optional whitelabel branding per client - but without BigMailer's volume pricing or a dedicated client-facing portal distinct from the normal login. For a freelancer, a SaaS founder, or a small ecommerce operator running one brand, that's irrelevant; for an agency running ten client brands, it means ten separate subscriptions instead of one consolidated bill.
The honest framing: BigMailer's agency pricing and tooling are purpose-built for managing many brands at scale, and Mailblast's sub-accounts handle a handful of brands well but get expensive fast beyond that. Picking the wrong one means overpaying for brands you're managing, or outgrowing a tool that was never built for scale.
Pricing comparison
BigMailer charges per 5,000 contacts on every paid tier - $7.50 on Business Lite, $15 on Business Pro, $12 on Agency Pro (the volume discount kicks in above 200,000 contacts). Mailblast instead prices on a 32-rung ladder from $10/month (1,000 contacts) to $255/month (500,000 contacts), with automation included on every paid rung. Check both vendors' current pricing pages for an exact comparison at your contact count - the two pricing shapes cross over at different points depending on list size.
Every Mailblast paid rung includes automation, Liquid templating for personalization, and recipient-level event data with no feature upsell to a higher plan. On the SES side, Business Lite and the free Startup tier are BYO-SES, so you pay AWS directly at $0.10 per 1,000 emails on top of the subscription. Business Pro and Agency Pro send through BigMailer's own infrastructure with sending bundled into the plan price.
The pricing gap widens on multi-brand. If you're managing 10 client brands at 5,000 contacts each, BigMailer's flat $7.50 per 5,000 contacts means $75/month total - all 10 brands under one account, with white-label on Business Pro. Mailblast handles the same scenario with 10 sub-accounts, each on its own $15/month rung (5,000 contacts) - $150/month total, twice BigMailer's price, because each sub-account is a separate subscription rather than one consolidated agency plan.
Features head-to-head
| Feature | BigMailer | Mailblast |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Startup, BYO-SES, BigMailer branding | ✓ 1k contacts, Mailblast branding |
| Multi-brand support | ✓ Unlimited, one consolidated bill | Sub-accounts, each its own subscription |
| White-label branding | ✓ Console rebrand (Business Pro+) | ✓ Per sub-account (domain, logo, colors) |
| Drag-and-drop editor | ✓ Yes | ✓ BeeFree |
| Automation / drip sequences | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes (paid plans only, not Free) |
| Landing pages | ✓ 20-100 per plan | ✗ No |
| BYO-SES on every paid plan | Startup + Business Lite only | ✓ Yes, every plan |
| Transactional emails | ✓ Yes | Marketing-focused |
| Platform branding on sent emails | On free Startup tier | On free plan only |
| Self-hosted option | ✗ No | ✗ No |
The takeaway: BigMailer has a wider feature surface (landing pages, transactional, consolidated agency pricing) plus its own sending infrastructure on higher tiers, while Mailblast has a narrower but more polished focus on the marketing email workflow, with BYO-SES on every plan and sub-accounts for a handful of client brands. Neither is "better" in absolute terms; the right answer depends on how many brands you run and which features you actually need.
Deliverability and SES integration
Mailblast pushes every send through your own Amazon SES account on every plan, including the free tier, so your IP reputation, sending limits, and DKIM and SPF setup live in your AWS account. BigMailer is BYO-SES on the free Startup and Business Lite tiers; Business Pro and Agency Pro route through BigMailer's own infrastructure, so your sender reputation on those tiers is shared with BigMailer's other paid customers rather than isolated to your AWS account.
The deliverability ceiling for any BYO-SES platform is set by AWS, not the management layer. Authentication and sending reputation are the dominant inbox-placement variables in Validity's 2024 benchmark. BigMailer's Business Pro and Agency Pro tiers advertise "deliverability optimization" as a tier-gated feature, which includes engagement-based suppression and warmup workflows for new sending domains. Mailblast handles unsubscribes, bounce processing, and complaint feedback loops on every plan, including the free tier, and bakes double opt-in into the default list setup.
For SES integration mechanics on the BYO-SES tiers, both platforms walk you through DKIM record creation, domain verification, and sending identity setup during onboarding. Neither platform marks up SES sending fees on those tiers: whatever AWS bills you for delivery is what you pay, and the management subscription is a separate line item on top.
When BigMailer is the right call
BigMailer is the right call when you need to manage many distinct brands under one billing relationship: Agency Pro supports up to 100 users and unlimited brands at $12 per 5,000 contacts (BigMailer, 2026), with white-label console rebranding and per-brand sender isolation, all consolidated into one bill. The same applies if you need landing pages or transactional email inside the same platform as your marketing campaigns, or if you have more than 200,000 contacts and want the volume-discount pricing on Agency Pro.
Concrete fits: a marketing agency running enough client brands that separate per-brand subscriptions would cost more than BigMailer's consolidated pricing. A franchise network where local franchisees need their own scoped email tools but you want centralized brand control and one invoice. Any operation where the multi-brand surface area and the pricing math both favor a single agency-priced account.
BigMailer's multi-brand model is the more cost-effective implementation of agency email management once you're past a handful of brands. The white-label option lets you rebrand the console for client logins, and sub-account permissioning means a client can edit their own campaigns without touching other accounts. If that workflow describes your business at scale, the wider feature set and per-5k contact pricing model are designed exactly for you.
For multi-brand agencies, BigMailer is also more comparable to legacy platforms like MailWizz; see our MailWizz vs Mailblast breakdown for the self-hosted alternative side of that comparison.
When Mailblast is the right call
Mailblast is the right call for operators who want predictable BYO-SES pricing: $0 for 1,000 contacts and 10,000 emails per month on the free plan, then a 32-rung ladder from $10/month that adds automation and unbranded sending. That structure gives most SaaS founders, indie ecommerce operators, and content creators room to scale into without re-platforming. It also works for agencies running a small number of client brands through sub-accounts, though the per-brand pricing stops being competitive with BigMailer once you're past a handful.
The BeeFree drag-and-drop editor is the same editor used by enterprise ESPs, and Mailblast layers Liquid templating on top for personalization. Recipient-level event data means you can see exactly which contact opened, clicked, or unsubscribed, not just aggregate rates. You will not get landing pages or BigMailer's consolidated agency pricing, and that is the deliberate trade for a simpler, cheaper-at-small-scale product.
If you are weighing Mailblast against other single-brand SES tools, the Sendy vs Mailblast comparison is the closest adjacent decision; Sendy is the self-hosted alternative for solo operators who prefer one-time licensing over SaaS subscriptions.
FAQ
Is BigMailer or Mailblast cheaper for a single brand with 15,000 contacts?
At 15,000 contacts, Mailblast's ladder lands on its 20,000-contact rung at $25/month, while BigMailer's Business Lite bills $22.50/month (three $7.50 5,000-contact blocks) - BigMailer is about $2.50/month cheaper at this specific count, though the gap shifts at other contact totals. Check both current pricing pages before committing.
Does Mailblast support multiple client brands like BigMailer does?
Yes, through sub-accounts - an agency creates a separate account per client, each with its own AWS keys, lists, and optional independent whitelabel branding. What Mailblast doesn't have is BigMailer's consolidated agency pricing: each sub-account is its own $10+/month subscription, so 10 brands cost more on Mailblast than on BigMailer's flat per-5,000-contact rate. BigMailer is the more cost-effective choice at agency scale; Mailblast's sub-accounts work fine for a handful of client brands.
Do both BigMailer and Mailblast use Amazon SES?
Mailblast is fully BYO-SES on every plan. BigMailer is BYO-SES only on the free Startup and Business Lite tiers; Business Pro and Agency Pro send through BigMailer's own infrastructure. That distinction matters because BYO-SES means SES costs pass through at AWS rates, while platform sending bundles delivery into the subscription.
Does either platform offer a free plan?
Yes, both do. Mailblast's free plan covers 1,000 contacts and 10,000 emails per month with no automation sends and a "Sent with Mailblast" footer. BigMailer's Startup plan is free but requires connecting your own Amazon SES and includes a BigMailer logo in the email footer and unsubscribe page. Both platforms remove branding once you're on a paid plan.
Which platform has landing pages?
BigMailer includes landing pages on every paid tier - 20 on Business Lite, 50 on Business Pro, and 100 on Agency Pro - plus 10 to 50 site domains for hosting them. Mailblast does not include landing pages. If you need landing pages inside your email tool, choose BigMailer or pair Mailblast with a dedicated landing page builder.
Disclosure: This post is published by Mailblast and compares our own product to BigMailer. We've tried to keep the comparison honest - BigMailer genuinely wins on price and tooling for agencies running many brands, and we've recommended it openly above. Pricing and feature details for BigMailer are from their public pricing page as of August 2026; verify current details on bigmailer.io before committing.