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The email notification part is what I find to be very interesting. I haven't looked at how in-depth you can configure things with deliverability / message cust

The email notification part is what I find to be very interesting. I haven't looked at how in-depth you can configure things with deliverability / message customization, but I'd have to believe it's very robust. If it can do what I think it does, did it just make SendGrid dead in the water? ie- 2 dollars per 100k messages via Amazon vs. 80 per month for 50k messages on sendgrid.

javery 17y ago
The only downside I see on the email part is that it required an opt-in from the subscriber side. I understand why it's there, but it could be confusing and limiting for people who want to use this as part of their SaaS app. You would have to select to be notified in the app and then also confirm it through email.
- jasonlbaptiste 17y ago
  i read that, but my guess is this: the "opt-in" part is taken care of when you do a normal confirm this registration email. if this is a huge issue for devs, Amazon will just deal with it.
terrellm 17y ago
Seeing as how EC2 IP addresses are being blocked by many spam blocking services*, I don't know that I'd want to depend on Amazon to ensure my emails are delivered. Sure I realize it's probably a different block of IPs, but I wonder how long before those get blocked too. Source: https://community.engineyard.com/faqs/questions/ssmtp https://community.engineyard.com/faqs/questions/ssmtp
- guelo 17y ago
  Why couldn't SendGrid get blocked?
  - dotBen 17y ago
    Let's say SendGrid did get blocked, despite their work to make sure they don't (they have more of vested interest than Amazon do). If it was costing them serious business, presumably they would change their IPs, etc. Where as Amazon are unlikely to because sending email isn't their core business.
    - lyime 17y ago
      Hard to say. Amazon takes all their AWS products pretty seriously. I am sure they have thought through email deliverability. I wouldn't discount their solution just because their EC2 IPs have been blocked in the past for mass email.
  - DXL 17y ago
    They could, but I assume SendGrid has more checks in place to prevent their users from sending unwanted emails. That way SendGrid has little risk of getting blacklisted, whereas a presumably uncontrolled service like Amazon's would.
  - joelstrellner 17y ago
    They assign IP addresses to each of their clients. If a client sends spam, only that IP gets blocked.
    - Hoff 17y ago
      You'd hope. I'm aware of AWS firewall blocks at various sites. Have a look around at some of the forums for web masters, and you'll find wholesale blacklisting of these server farms is regularly discussed. And implemented. The presumption being that outbound connects from these server farms are usually something where the VPS has vastly more bandwidth, or bugs, or breaches; where the attackers and the spammers and the scrapers have quickly adopted or targeted these server farms just because of their capabilities. And yes, there are well-intentioned folks using AWS that are getting painted with this same brush.
- agotterer 17y ago
  From what I understand this service is completely opt-in via the customers email address. I'm not sure you could actually send unsolicited messages.
shafqat 17y ago
That was my first thought, and we are happy SendGrid customers. Of course, SendGrid has analytics and lots of other features that help get emails delivered...But 2 dollars versus 80 is a huge difference.

javery 17y ago

The only downside I see on the email part is that it required an opt-in from the subscriber side. I understand why it's there, but it could be confusing and limiting for people who want to use this as part of their SaaS app. You would have to select to be notified in the app and then also confirm it through email.

jasonlbaptiste 17y ago
i read that, but my guess is this: the "opt-in" part is taken care of when you do a normal confirm this registration email. if this is a huge issue for devs, Amazon will just deal with it.

terrellm 17y ago

Seeing as how EC2 IP addresses are being blocked by many spam blocking services*, I don't know that I'd want to depend on Amazon to ensure my emails are delivered. Sure I realize it's probably a different block of IPs, but I wonder how long before those get blocked too. Source: https://community.engineyard.com/faqs/questions/ssmtp https://community.engineyard.com/faqs/questions/ssmtp

guelo 17y ago
Why couldn't SendGrid get blocked?
- dotBen 17y ago
  Let's say SendGrid did get blocked, despite their work to make sure they don't (they have more of vested interest than Amazon do). If it was costing them serious business, presumably they would change their IPs, etc. Where as Amazon are unlikely to because sending email isn't their core business.
  - lyime 17y ago
    Hard to say. Amazon takes all their AWS products pretty seriously. I am sure they have thought through email deliverability. I wouldn't discount their solution just because their EC2 IPs have been blocked in the past for mass email.
- DXL 17y ago
  They could, but I assume SendGrid has more checks in place to prevent their users from sending unwanted emails. That way SendGrid has little risk of getting blacklisted, whereas a presumably uncontrolled service like Amazon's would.
- joelstrellner 17y ago
  They assign IP addresses to each of their clients. If a client sends spam, only that IP gets blocked.
  - Hoff 17y ago
    You'd hope. I'm aware of AWS firewall blocks at various sites. Have a look around at some of the forums for web masters, and you'll find wholesale blacklisting of these server farms is regularly discussed. And implemented. The presumption being that outbound connects from these server farms are usually something where the VPS has vastly more bandwidth, or bugs, or breaches; where the attackers and the spammers and the scrapers have quickly adopted or targeted these server farms just because of their capabilities. And yes, there are well-intentioned folks using AWS that are getting painted with this same brush.
agotterer 17y ago
From what I understand this service is completely opt-in via the customers email address. I'm not sure you could actually send unsolicited messages.

shafqat 17y ago

That was my first thought, and we are happy SendGrid customers. Of course, SendGrid has analytics and lots of other features that help get emails delivered...But 2 dollars versus 80 is a huge difference.