How to Get Free SMTP, Want to send emails for free without paying for SendGrid, Mailgun, or Postmark? This guide walks you through using Amazon SES (Simple Email Service) under the AWS Free Tier—perfect for red teamers, developers, or email testers looking for high deliverability and low cost.

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🎯 Why Use AWS SES SMTP for Free?

Let’s face it—SMTPs can get pricey when you’re sending bulk test emails or simulating phishing scenarios for red teaming. Most platforms offer trial limits, then cut you off or ask for a credit card.

But Amazon Web Services (AWS) gives you:

• 💸 3,000 free emails per month for 12 months
• 🚀 Enterprise-grade SMTP performance
• 🔐 Secure, scalable infrastructure
• 🔄 Seamless integration with EC2, Lambda, or your own script

And yes, it’s real SMTP, not some restricted sandbox like others.

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🪜 Step-by-Step Guide to Set Up AWS Free Tier + Free SMTP (SES)

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Step 1: 🧾 Create Your AWS Free Tier Account

1. Go to https://aws.amazon.com/free
2. Click “Create a Free Account”
3. Enter:
   • Real name
   • Business or personal email
   • Valid card (no charge if you stay within limits)
4. Verify your identity (via phone)
5. Choose “Basic Support Plan” (free)

🎁 Your free tier includes:

• 750 hours/month of EC2 (t2.micro or t3.micro)
• 5 GB S3 storage
• 3,000 email sends/month via SES

✅ Now you have 12 months of AWS Free Tier access.

Contact SpamTools on Telegram

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Step 2: ✉️ Open SES (Simple Email Service)

1. Log in to AWS Console
2. In the search bar, type SES and open it
3. Select your preferred region (e.g., US East - N. Virginia)
4. Click on “Verified Identities” → Create Identity
5. Choose “Email” or “Domain” to send from
6. Confirm via email (if using email) or add DNS records (if using domain)

🚫 Default mode: Sandbox — can only send to verified recipients

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Step 3: 🆙 Exit Sandbox Mode

To send emails to anyone:

1. Go to Support Center > Create Case
2. Choose:
   • Service limit increase
   • Limit type: SES Sending Limits
   • Choose your region
3. Fill out:
   • Mail type: Transactional
   • Use case: “Red teaming simulations / transactional alerts”
   • Volume: Request 100–500/day
4. Submit and wait for approval (usually 24–48 hours)

📢 Once approved, your SES can email the world.

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Step 4: 🔐 Generate Your SMTP Credentials

1. In SES → Go to SMTP Settings
2. Click “Create SMTP Credentials”
3. Enter a user name (like smtp_user)
4. Save the credentials:
   • SMTP Username
   • SMTP Password

📌 AWS generates these using IAM. Treat them like root passwords.

SMTP Settings:

Host: email-smtp.<your-region>.amazonaws.com
Port: 587 (TLS) or 465 (SSL)

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Step 5: 💻 Optional — Use EC2 to Send Emails (Free Tier Friendly)

1. Go to EC2 → Launch Instance
2. Choose Amazon Linux 2 or Ubuntu
3. Select t2.micro (eligible for free)
4. SSH into your instance
5. Install:
   • PHP + PHPMailer
   • Python + smtplib
   • Node + Nodemailer

Use your SMTP credentials to send directly from your EC2—no cost for emails during the first 12 months.

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🧪 Example: Sending Email Using Python + SES

import smtplib
from email.mime.text import MIMEText

smtp_server = "email-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com"
port = 587
sender = "[email protected]"
password = "YOUR_SES_SMTP_PASSWORD"

msg = MIMEText("This is a test email from SpamTools.")
msg["Subject"] = "Test SES Email"
msg["From"] = sender
msg["To"] = "[email protected]"

with smtplib.SMTP(smtp_server, port) as server:
    server.starttls()
    server.login("YOUR_SES_SMTP_USERNAME", password)
    server.send_message(msg)

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📉 What Happens After Free Tier Ends?

After 12 months:

• $0.10 per 1,000 emails sent
• $0.12 per GB of attachments

That’s still cheaper than most other SMTP providers and ideal for scale testing, phishing simulations, or transactional alerts.

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📌 Pro Tips from SpamTools

Tip	Description
✅ Verify SPF/DKIM/DMARC	Ensures high deliverability
⚠️ Monitor usage	Set AWS Budgets to avoid charges
💼 Use custom domain	Avoid spam folder issues
🔁 Rotate SMTPs	Use backup SMTPs for redundancy

Need to check if your emails land in spam or not? Run it through SpamTools Email Tester for a spam score, blacklist check, and domain health.

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• Free SMTP service
• AWS SES setup guide
• Amazon SMTP free tier
• How to send bulk emails from AWS
• Red team SMTP for phishing simulation
• SES sandbox removal 2025
• Email sender for developers
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🏁 Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a powerful, free, and high-deliverability SMTP for simulations, alerts, or testing email infrastructure, AWS SES is your go-to option. This guide walks you through every step—set it up, send your first email, and scale it as needed.

And remember — for email validation, spam detection, and red teaming email tools, SpamTools.org is your ultimate ally.