Solving Odoo Email Sending Limits with Amazon SES: A Complete Guide

Introduction: Why Reliable Email Sending is Critical for Odoo Users
Email is an essential communication tool for businesses using Odoo. Whether you’re sending transactional emails (such as invoices, sales orders, and notifications) or conducting email marketing campaigns to engage customers, having a reliable email-sending solution is crucial. However, Odoo’s default email configuration and external SMTP providers often present limitations that can impact business operations.
Why Email is Essential for Business Success?
- Customer Engagement: Email is a direct way to connect with leads and customers, providing them with valuable updates, offers, and insights.
- Marketing & Promotions: Email marketing remains one of the highest ROI digital marketing channels, allowing businesses to reach thousands of potential customers efficiently.
- Transaction Confirmations: Sales, orders, and invoices require instant email notifications to customers and vendors.
- Internal Communications: Automated workflow approvals, team updates, and CRM reminders depend on email reliability.
The Challenge: Odoo’s Email Sending Limitations
While Odoo is a powerful ERP, its email handling differs based on deployment:
- Odoo Self-Hosted (On-Premise or Custom Cloud): Requires manual SMTP configuration (e.g., Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Mailgun, SendGrid, or a custom SMTP server). No built-in email relay.
- Odoo.sh (Odoo Cloud Hosting): Comes with pre-configured Mailgun integration for transactional emails but has sending limits and less control over authentication settings.
- Odoo Online (SaaS): Uses Odoo’s built-in relay (Mailgun) with predefined limits, making it easy to set up but restricting email volume.
Common Odoo email sending issues:
- Email Queue Delays: Odoo processes emails in batches, leading to delays in high-volume scenarios.
- SMTP Provider Limits: Many email hosts cap outgoing emails, preventing bulk sending beyond 100-500 emails per day.
- Spam & Deliverability Issues: Without proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC settings, emails may land in the spam folder.
- Marketing Campaign Restrictions: Email marketing in Odoo requires high-volume email throughput, which traditional SMTP servers often struggle to support.
To solve these issues, businesses need a transactional email service like Amazon SES.
Comparing the Best Email Solutions for Odoo
Feature | Amazon SES | Mailgun | SendGrid |
---|---|---|---|
Best Use Case | Odoo transactional emails, CRM, marketing, hosted email replacement | Transactional emails (higher cost) | Marketing emails (good API) |
Cost (50,000 emails) | $5 | $35 | $15 |
Extra Emails (per 1,000) | $0.10 | $0.80 | $0.30 |
Daily Sending Limit | Unlimited (after warm-up) | 100,000 | 100,000 |
Spam Protection | ✅ SPF, DKIM, and DMARC | ✅ SPF, DKIM, DMARC | ✅ SPF, DKIM, DMARC |
Ease of Setup in Odoo | Moderate (needs SPF/DKIM setup) | Easy (built-in tools) | Easy (built-in UI) |
🔹 Why Choose Amazon SES for Odoo?
- Most cost-effective → 8x cheaper than Mailgun.
- Scalable → Sends millions of emails per month.
- Best for Odoo business emails & hosted email alternatives → CRM notifications, invoices, sales follow-ups.
Using Amazon SES as a Hosted Email Alternative
Beyond transactional and marketing emails, Amazon SES can also be used as a full replacement for traditional hosted email services (such as Google Workspace or other SMTP providers). This allows businesses to:
- Send and receive emails using their custom domain.
- Avoid restrictions and high costs associated with hosted email providers.
- Improve email deliverability with Amazon SES’s trusted infrastructure.
How to Set Up Amazon SES as a Hosted Email Alternative
- Verify Your Domain in Amazon SES – Ensure that all emails sent from your domain pass SPF/DKIM authentication.
- Configure Incoming Emails – Use AWS Lambda or an email forwarding service to route incoming messages to your preferred inbox.
- Set Up Email Clients (Outlook, Thunderbird, Odoo, etc.) – Configure Amazon SES SMTP credentials in your email client or Odoo instance.
- Ensure Proper DNS Settings – Update MX records for your domain to use Amazon SES for email routing.
✅ This setup allows businesses to fully transition from traditional hosted email solutions to Amazon SES, reducing costs and increasing control.
Configuring Amazon SES in Odoo
Once Amazon SES is set up as your SMTP provider, you need to configure Odoo to use it for outgoing emails.
Step 1: Get Amazon SES SMTP Credentials
- Go to Amazon SES → Navigate to SMTP Settings.
- Click Create SMTP Credentials and generate a Username and Password.
- Copy these credentials for later use in Odoo.
Step 2: Configure SMTP in Odoo
- Open Odoo and navigate to Settings → General Settings → Email.
- Under Outgoing Mail Servers, click Create.
- Fill in the following SMTP settings:
- SMTP Server:
email-smtp.<region>.amazonaws.com
- Port:
587
(for TLS) or465
(for SSL) - Security: Choose TLS or SSL
- Username: Use the Amazon SMTP username generated earlier
- Password: Use the Amazon SMTP password
- SMTP Server:
- Click Save and then Test Connection to ensure everything works.
- If the test is successful, set this SMTP server as the default for Odoo emails.
Step 3: Test and Monitor Email Deliverability
- Send a test email from Odoo → Email Marketing → Send Test Email.
- Monitor sent emails in Odoo’s Email Queue (Technical → Emails).
- Check SPF, DKIM, and DMARC compliance using online tools like Google CheckMX.
✅ Odoo will now send all transactional and marketing emails via Amazon SES, ensuring higher deliverability and lower costs!
Best Practices for Using Amazon SES in Odoo
1. Warm Up Your Amazon SES Account
- Amazon SES starts with a low sending limit and gradually increases it as you send more emails.
- Start by sending small volumes (e.g., 500 emails per day) and gradually increase the volume over a few weeks.
- Monitor bounce rates and spam complaints to avoid getting your SES account restricted.
2. Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for Better Deliverability
- Proper authentication ensures your emails don’t end up in spam.
- Add the necessary SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to your domain’s DNS settings.
3. Regularly Monitor Email Performance
- Use AWS SES Reports to track delivery rates and bounce issues.
- In Odoo, check the Email Queue (Technical → Emails) to ensure emails are sent without delays.
Conclusion: Why You Should Switch to Amazon SES for Odoo Emails
Amazon SES provides reliable, scalable, and cost-effective email delivery for Odoo users. By integrating Amazon SES, businesses can: ✅ Avoid SMTP sending limits.
✅ Ensure email marketing and transactional emails are delivered.
✅ Replace traditional hosted email services with a more flexible alternative.
🚀 Need help setting up Amazon SES with Odoo? Contact us for a consultation!