Sendy is a $69 one-time PHP application you install on your own server (Sendy, 2026). Mailblast is a hosted management layer starting at $10 per month after a free tier covering 1,000 contacts. Both turn your own Amazon SES account into a workable newsletter platform; both bill you separately for AWS SES at $0.10 per 1,000 emails (AWS, 2026). The choice between them isn't about features or sending costs - those are roughly equivalent. It's about who runs the server and who carries the operational risk.
This post walks through the head-to-head with real numbers, then makes a recommendation based on operator profile rather than feature checklist.
The Two Models: Self-Hosted vs Managed Amazon SES
Sendy and Mailblast sit in the same category of product: management layers for your own Amazon SES account. You bring AWS credentials, AWS handles sending and bills you per email, and the management layer handles the parts SES isn't designed for (drag-and-drop editor, subscriber lists, automation, per-campaign reports). This is genuinely different from full ESPs like Mailchimp or Brevo, which own the sending infrastructure themselves and charge per contact.
The split between the two products is hosting and ownership. Sendy is a PHP application: you buy a license, download a ZIP, install it on a Linux server you own, configure PHP and MySQL, set up cron, and maintain it forever. Mailblast is a SaaS: you sign up, paste your AWS credentials, and start sending. The Sendy server is your problem; the Mailblast service is the provider's problem. AWS SES is identical in both cases.
That distinction explains almost every feature, pricing, and operational difference below. Sendy is cheaper at the license level because it ships you the work. Mailblast is more expensive at the subscription level because the work is included.
Sendy vs Mailblast: Feature Comparison
The two products cover the same surface area but with different trade-offs in how each feature is implemented:
| Feature | Sendy | Mailblast |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $69 one-time license | Free up to 1,000 contacts; from $10/month |
| Hosting | Self-hosted (your server) | Hosted (no server needed) |
| Stack | PHP + MySQL/MariaDB | None on your side |
| Amazon SES integration | BYO-SES (your AWS account) | BYO-SES (your AWS account) |
| Drag-and-drop editor | ✓ Yes (built in) | ✓ Yes (BeeFree-powered) |
| Automation / autoresponders | ✓ Yes (drip campaigns) | ✓ Yes (welcome sequences, drip, triggers) |
| List segmentation | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Bounce and complaint handling | Manual SNS webhook setup | Managed (handled in-platform) |
| Multi-brand / white-label | ✓ Yes (built in) | ✗ No |
| Platform branding on sent emails | None (your domain only) | None (your domain only) |
| PHP/MySQL maintenance | Your responsibility | Not applicable |
| Server uptime monitoring | Your responsibility | Not applicable |
| Operational time per month | 1-3 hours typical | Effectively zero |
Two features that show up as "yes" in both columns are worth a closer look. The drag-and-drop editor in Sendy is functional but spartan; the BeeFree-powered editor in Mailblast is more polished. Both support the basic content blocks marketers expect. The automation engines on both sides cover welcome sequences, drip campaigns, and list-based triggers; neither is at the depth of a Customer.io or Klaviyo for behavioral automation.
The two features that meaningfully differ are multi-brand support (Sendy bundles unlimited brands into one self-hosted install; Mailblast supports multiple brands via separately billed sub-accounts) and managed operations (Mailblast handles them, Sendy doesn't). Both differences flow from the hosting model.
Real Total Cost of Ownership
The headline pricing - $69 once vs $10 per month - hides the real number. Sendy's actual cost includes a Linux VPS (typically $10-20 per month for a 1-2 GB droplet) plus the operator's time on PHP/MySQL upkeep, security patches, and AWS reputation monitoring. AWS warns at 5% bounce and threatens suspension at 10% (AWS, 2026), and Sendy surfaces neither of those signals natively - the operator has to watch.
The software-only line is roughly a draw. Once you price the operator's time at any realistic hourly rate, Sendy's economics depend entirely on how much time it actually takes. Many Sendy operators run on autopilot for months and then suddenly lose a weekend to a failed PHP upgrade or an AWS SES reputation event that wasn't surfaced anywhere visible. Mailblast's hosted operations cap that risk.
For developers who genuinely enjoy running a Linux server, Sendy's ops time can be close to zero. For everyone else, the realistic time cost is one to three hours per month over a year, which puts Sendy meaningfully above Mailblast in real total cost.
Where Each One Wins
Neither tool is the universal answer. The decision turns on three variables: how many brands or clients you serve, how comfortable you are running a Linux server, and what your time is worth. AWS SES itself bills the same $0.10 per 1,000 emails regardless of which management layer sits on top (AWS, 2026), so the choice is purely about operational fit. The rules below cover the common cases.
Sendy wins when:
- You run an agency or multi-brand operation that needs white-labeled client accounts bundled into one bill (Sendy does this natively; Mailblast supports it through separately billed sub-accounts).
- You have strong Linux and PHP ops chops and genuinely don't mind server maintenance.
- You're sending high volume on a tight cost-sensitive budget where even $10/month feels like overhead.
- You want full control over the data layer, including direct MySQL access for custom integrations.
Mailblast wins when:
- You want SES economics without owning a server.
- Your time on email operations is worth more than $50/hour.
- You don't have AWS or Linux skills in-house.
- You want managed bounce processing and SES reputation monitoring rather than building it yourself.
- You'd rather the platform handle deliverability issues than diagnose them in the AWS console.
Use neither is also valid in some cases: if you're sending under 1,000 emails per month and don't need any of the marketing features, a transactional API like Resend may be a better fit at that volume. See Amazon SES vs Resend for that comparison.
Migration: Sendy to Mailblast
The most common migration path is Sendy operators moving to Mailblast after a server incident or a major-version PHP upgrade. The migration is straightforward because both tools sit on top of the same AWS SES account, and reputation lives at the AWS level rather than in the management layer (AWS, 2026). Verified identities, dedicated IPs, and warm-up history all transfer with the AWS account.
The steps:
- Export subscribers from Sendy as CSV (lists and segments preserved as separate files).
- Import the CSVs into Mailblast lists. Mailblast supports the standard Sendy export format.
- Re-create templates and active campaigns in Mailblast. The drag-and-drop editor handles standard layouts well; complex custom HTML in Sendy may need rework.
- Update SNS topic subscriptions in AWS SES so bounce and complaint feedback now goes to Mailblast's webhook instead of your Sendy install.
- Keep the Sendy install running for 30 days as a fallback. After confirming the Mailblast send is producing the expected metrics, decommission the Sendy server.
Existing SES verified identities, dedicated IPs, and reputation transfer with the AWS account itself - migration doesn't reset your deliverability. See our Mailblast and Amazon SES setup guide for the full first-send walkthrough on the Mailblast side.
FAQ
Is Sendy or Mailblast cheaper?
At the software level, Sendy is $69 one-time and Mailblast starts at $10 per month for paid plans (with a free plan covering 1,000 contacts). Total cost of ownership tells a different story. Sendy's $69 plus VPS hosting averages $10-20 per month plus the operator's time on server maintenance, PHP upgrades, and deliverability monitoring. Mailblast's subscription covers all of that, and already undercuts Sendy's software-plus-hosting cost over 12 months before counting any operator time; add even an hour a month of Sendy ops and the gap widens fast.
Is Mailblast the same as Sendy?
Both are management layers for your own Amazon SES account: you bring your AWS credentials, AWS bills you for sending at $0.10 per 1,000 emails, and the management layer handles the UI, list management, automation, and reporting. The difference is hosting. Sendy is a PHP application you install on your own server. Mailblast is hosted - no server, no PHP, no MySQL, no upgrades. Both are BYO-SES.
Can I migrate from Sendy to Mailblast?
Yes. Mailblast accepts CSV imports of subscribers and lists, which is the standard Sendy export format. Campaigns and templates need to be recreated, since Sendy stores them in MySQL and Mailblast manages them in its own format. Existing AWS SES verified identities, IPs, and reputation transfer with the AWS account - you don't restart deliverability when switching the management layer.
Does Mailblast have white-label or multi-brand support like Sendy?
Sendy includes white-labeled client accounts as a core, built-in feature. Mailblast supports multiple brands through sub-accounts - each with its own AWS keys, lists, and optional independent whitelabel branding - but each sub-account is billed as its own subscription rather than bundled into one multi-tenant install like Sendy's. For an agency running many brands, a dedicated agency platform such as BigMailer is usually the more cost-effective fit. For a single sending operation, Mailblast's hosted model is simpler.
Which has better deliverability: Sendy or Mailblast?
Both use your own Amazon SES account for actual sending, so the deliverability infrastructure is identical. The difference is operational. Sendy gives you a basic bounce dashboard but expects you to configure SNS feedback, monitor reputation in the AWS console, and respond to AWS warnings yourself. Mailblast handles bounce processing, reputation monitoring, and AWS feedback integration as part of the hosted service. For most operators, Mailblast's managed deliverability reduces the chance of an avoidable AWS reputation hit.
Disclosure: Mailblast is a hosted management layer for your own Amazon SES account. This comparison is written with that bias acknowledged; the feature claims for Sendy reflect its publicly documented capabilities, and the operational time costs are estimates based on common patterns we see in the Sendy community.