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SMTP for Amazon SES – YaySMTP

by YayCommerce · Email & Marketing

Also makes 15 other plugins · 76.4K+ installs across the portfolio →

Try it live ↗ wp.org ↗

Send WordPress emails through Amazon SES server using YaySMTP

Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.

Health

A 86/100

no flags

Active installs

3K+

≈3.9K estimated

Momentum

+122%

downloads vs prior 30d

Biggest opportunity: Swap “aws” and “smtp” for “smtp plugin” and “smtp mail”. “aws” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #19. “smtp plugin” sits at #21 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “smtp” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #13. “smtp mail” sits at #24 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.

See the detail → Get the free audit
How scoring works →
86 Health · A
Maintenance 100/100
Rating quality 76/100
Support 70/100
Security 94/100

86 health vs 66 average across 2,121 Email & Marketing plugins

3K+

Active installs

≈3.9K estimated

41.8K

Total downloads

since 2021 · 7.2% still active

4.0/5

Rating

4.2 on wp.org · 10 reviews

+122%

1.5K

Downloads · 30d

category median +13%

Install conversion

How it's measured →

7.2%

of downloads still active

At least 3K of 41.8K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Email & Marketing plugin keeps 0.9%, across 1,296 plugins.

Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Email & Marketing plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.

This plugin shipped 2 releases in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.

Ratings · 10 reviews

Read on wp.org ↗
5★
8 4★
0 3★
0 2★
0 1★
2

Details

Version
1.9.2
Last updated
2mo ago
Added
2021-05-21 · 5 yrs old
Requires WP
4.0
Tested up to
7.1.4
Requires PHP
5.3
Changelog ↗Support forum ↗Reviews ↗Advanced stats ↗

Directory ranking optimization

How it's scored →

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

78 / 100

Well optimized

Most to gain: Support resolution

Update recency 100/100

Updated 45 days ago

WP compatibility 100/100

Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer

Rating quality 63/100

4.2★ over 10 reviews, smoothed to 4.12★ and held back under 25 reviews

Listing tuning 100/100

5 of 5 tags set · short description in place

Support resolution 0/100

0 of 1 support threads resolved in the last 2 months

To rank higher: Mark more forum threads resolved — the resolved ratio feeds the ranking.

Get the full rank-higher report →

Daily downloads

Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive

+122% vs prior 30d
4631 Oct 2026

30-day downloads

Rolling 30-day volume · peak 2.8K · peaks are release surges

1.5K31 Oct 2026

Directory rank vs rivals

wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you

SMTP for Amazon SES · #3971youMBC SMTP Flex · #35826GoSMTP · #124Post SMTP · #162

Rating trend

Star average over time · dips mark rough releases

4.231 Oct 2026

Health trend

Composite health score, snapshotted daily

8631 Oct 2026

Update activity

How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.

49231 Oct 2026

Release cadence

Occasionally updated
from wp.org release tags

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

2

releases in the last 12 months

2mo ago

latest release · v1.9.2 · 16 Sep 2026

8

tagged releases on record

Recent releases

1.9.2 · 16 Sep 20261.9.1 · 18 May 20261.9 · 12 Jul 20251.8 · 10 Apr 20251.7.1 · 4 Feb 20251.7 · 22 Mar 20241.6 · 21 Dec 20231.5 · 24 Oct 2023

What its installed base runs

via wordpress.org

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 83% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

v1.9 83%
v1.7 9.4%
Older / other versions 7.3%

Estimated active installs

The public count shows “3K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.

tracked estimate
3K–4K ≈3.9K

Crossed into this band 2.1 years ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 90% of the way through.

Install history since 22 Oct 2021

3K31 Oct 2026

Recent reviews

All reviews on wp.org ↗
  1. ★★★★★ wpfewd
    8mo ago

    AWS SES is super reliable and a great feature to add to WordPress. This plugin takes a complicated task and makes it simple.I would however like to see an option to store the Secret Keys in the wp-config.php file rather than the database.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  2. ★★★★★ eei
    1.1y ago

    I spent hours trying to get WP MAIL SMTP to send email with Amazon SES. They wanted $$ per year to use Amazon SES and I couldn’t get it to work as just a simple SMTP. This plugin took me 2 minutes (since I already had my keys configured at Amazon SES.) This was super fast and it worked on the first attempt.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  3. ★★★★★ dylandawg
    1.6y ago

    I’ve used “WP Mail SMTP Plugin” (the pigeon one) for years but recently i switched to Amazon SES and found they sell that feature. I think that’s a bit too much to ask for what it is.This plugin is 400kb and get it done for free, in seconds, are you kidding me? Download it ASAP.The 2 negative reviews aren’t relevant any more.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  4. ★★★★★ paywall
    3.5y ago

    Straightforward and easy to use plugin for sending transactional emails via Amazon SES.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  5. ★★★★★ pixcil
    3.6y ago

    I installed this to work with an email plugin I already had installed. Works fantastic and absolutely amazing for a free plugin.Their other, paid plugins, look great and will be definitely considering for a later site project as most of the features are not needed for the site I am currently working on. Cannot thank their team enough for making this simple plugin free and that it is so seamless to set up.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  6. ★★★★★ Saurav Sharma
    3.7y ago

    500 error on activated this plugin.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  7. ★★★★★ corytrevor
    3.7y ago

    This plugin works great to connect your site to Amazon SES for sending emails. It uses the AWS API to connect and send email which is much better than just using a regular SMTP plugin with the AWS SMTP credentials. It’s easy to set up and keeps a log of all outbound emails. The developers are very helpful and responsive and quickly resolve any issues.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  8. ★★★★★ matyssik
    4.8y ago

    Does not work with MariaDB 10.6, fails to create table and errors-out. *2 FastCGI sent in stderr: "PHP message: PHP Fatal error: Uncaught mysqli_sql_exception: You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MariaDB server version for the right syntax to use near 'IF' at line 1 in wp-includes/wp-db.php:2056

    Read on wp.org ↗

Latest updates

via wp.org changelog

Recent releases and news for this plugin

  1. — Version 1.9.1 Fixed: SQL Injection for Email logs query 1.9.1
  2. — Version 1.9 Fixed: XSS with special character 1.9
  3. — Version 1.8 Fixed: XSS Improved: UI for email log details 1.8
  4. — Version 1.7.1 Fixed: Change text-domain 1.7.1
  5. — Version 1.7 Fixed: Deprecated: Return type of YaySMTPAmazonSES 1.7
  6. — Version 1.6 Added: 6 new regions for Amazon SES: us-west-1 (US West (N. California)), eu-west-3 (EU (Paris)), eu-south-1 (EU (Milan)), eu-north-1 (EU (Stockholm)), ap-northeast-3 (Asia Pacific (Osaka)), me-south-1 (Middle East (Bahr 1.6

Security history

via Wordfence Intelligence

All 3 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (1.9.2). Sites still on an older version should update.

  1. Patched Medium · 4.9 SMTP for Amazon SES <= 1.9 - Authenticated (Administrator+) SQL Injection ↗
    2025-07-16 CVE-2025-54043 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command Affects <= 1.9 Patched in 1.9.1
  2. Patched High · 7.2 SMTP for Amazon SES – YaySMTP <= 1.8 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Email Logs ↗
    2025-04-10 CVE-2025-3434 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 1.8 Patched in 1.9
  3. Patched High · 7.2 Vulnerability: SMTP for Amazon SES <= 1.8 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Email Logs ↗
    2025-02-22 CVE-2025-0957 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 1.8 Patched in 1.9

Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.

CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.

Behavioral tests

via WP Hive

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.8.1

✓ Low memory footprint
✓ Low page-speed impact
✓ Runs on latest PHP + WP
✓ No PHP errors
✓ No JS errors
✓ Activates cleanly
✓ No resource errors
✓ No external HTTP errors
✓ Optimized database use
✕ Frequently updated

AI assistants

How it's measured →

Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.

Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.

Readme readiness

7 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026

Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.

  • ✓ Says what it does "Send WordPress emails through Amazon SES server using YaySMTP"
  • ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
  • ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
  • ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you want"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
  • ✓ Names what it works with Mentions WooCommerce.
  • ✓ Headings and lists 3 headings and 2 lists.
  • ✓ Enough to quote 2,184 characters of description.
  • ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

  1. 2024-09-15 2K+ → 3K+ up after 1 days in tier
  2. 2024-09-14 3K+ → 2K+ down after 1 days in tier
  3. 2024-09-13 2K+ → 3K+ up after 5 days in tier
  4. 2024-09-08 3K+ → 2K+ down after 2 days in tier
  5. 2024-09-06 2K+ → 3K+ up after 1 days in tier
  6. 2024-09-05 3K+ → 2K+ down after 1 days in tier
  7. 2024-09-04 2K+ → 3K+ up after 2 days in tier
  8. 2024-09-02 3K+ → 2K+ down after 1 days in tier

Competes with

The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for SMTP for Amazon SES – YaySMTP into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

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Preview card ↗

SMTP for Amazon SES – YaySMTP: 3K+ active installs, 4.2★ (10 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/smtp-amazon-ses

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