How to Send 1 Million Emails with AWS SES

Sending a million emails per day might sound daunting, but with the right architecture and AWS SES, it's entirely achievable. Here's how to do it.

Understanding AWS SES Limits

AWS SES has sending limits that vary based on your account status. New accounts start in the sandbox with a 200 email/day limit. Once you request production access, you'll typically get 50,000 emails/day to start, with the ability to request increases.

The key insight is that these limits are per-account. By using multiple AWS accounts, you can multiply your sending capacity linearly.

The Multi-Account Strategy

To send 1 million emails daily, you'll need approximately 20 AWS accounts, each with a 50,000/day limit. Here's how to set this up:

• Create separate AWS accounts for email sending
• Configure SES in each account with verified domains
• Set up IAM roles for cross-account access
• Implement intelligent routing to distribute load

Intelligent Load Balancing

Simply having multiple accounts isn't enough. You need smart routing that:

• Distributes emails based on account capacity
• Monitors sending rates in real-time
• Automatically fails over when accounts hit limits
• Tracks deliverability metrics per account

Using MARC for Scale

MARC handles all of this complexity for you. Simply connect your AWS accounts, configure your sending pools, and start sending through a single API endpoint. MARC automatically:

• Routes emails across your accounts using weighted round-robin
• Respects each account's sending limits
• Provides unified analytics across all accounts
• Handles failover automatically

Best Practices

When sending at scale, follow these best practices:

1. Warm up new accounts gradually over 2-4 weeks
2. Monitor bounce and complaint rates closely
3. Use dedicated IPs for better reputation control
4. Implement proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
5. Segment your sending by email type (transactional vs. marketing)