Amazon SES

How to integrate Amazon SES with Webflow

Amazon SES provides no marketplace app or embed options for Webflow — integration requires API-based implementation through server-side architecture. This approach offers complete control over email templates, access to detailed delivery metrics through CloudWatch, and cost-effective scaling for high-volume sending.

Webflow doesn't provide native email infrastructure that scales beyond basic form notifications. Building with the Amazon SES API gives you complete control over email templates, access to detailed delivery metrics through CloudWatch, and cost-effective scaling for high-volume sending.

Native features, direct embeds and widgets

Amazon SES doesn't provide browser-embeddable widgets or direct Webflow integrations because email sending requires server-side authentication and cannot be performed securely from client-side JavaScript. AWS credentials must remain on secure servers, making native Webflow embeds architecturally impossible. Instead, use the API-based methods below that maintain security through server-side processing.

Build with Webflow and Amazon SES APIs

The Amazon SES API provides multiple endpoints for different email sending scenarios. All methods require verified domains and IAM permissions configured in your AWS account. According to the AWS SES API Reference, the service supports SendEmail, SendRawEmail, SendTemplatedEmail, and SendBulkTemplatedEmail endpoints.

Method 1: Webhook-triggered email via AWS Lambda

Create a serverless email handler that receives Webflow form data and sends emails through SES without managing server infrastructure. According to Webflow's webhook documentation, Webflow sends JSON POST requests to your specified endpoint when forms are submitted. The AWS Lambda function URLs documentation explains how to create a Lambda function URL (the simplest option) or use Amazon API Gateway for more advanced control to expose Lambda functions as HTTPS endpoints that receive these webhooks directly.

Implementation steps:

Configure webhooks in your Webflow dashboard by navigating to form settings and adding your Lambda function URL as the destination. The Lambda function receives the form data, validates the webhook signature using the Webflow-Webhook-Signature header, and calls SES APIs to send emails. AWS handles scaling automatically — your function processes one submission or thousands without infrastructure changes.

Use cases:

• Contact form notifications using SendEmail API for internal team alerts
• Order confirmations using SendTemplatedEmail API with dynamic order data
• File attachment forwarding using SendRawEmail API when forms collect uploads

Send basic notification emails with SendEmail

Use SendEmail API for simple HTML and text emails where SES formats the MIME message. This endpoint requires Source (sender email), Destination (recipients), and Message (subject and body). Best for contact form notifications, inquiry confirmations, and internal team alerts where you don't need complex MIME structures or file attachments.

Send formatted and raw emails with attachments using SendEmail and SendRawEmail

The SendRawEmail API accepts base64-encoded MIME content for complete control over message structure. Use this when Webflow forms collect file uploads that need to be forwarded via email, when you need custom headers for email tracking, or when building complex multi-part MIME messages with both HTML and plain text alternatives.

Send Personalized Transactional Emails with SendTemplatedEmail

According to the SendTemplatedEmail API documentation, SendTemplatedEmail enables template-based email delivery with dynamic content substitution, making it ideal for personalized transactional emails. Required parameters include Source (sender address), Destination (recipients), Template (template name reference), and TemplateData (JSON string containing template variable values). This endpoint is essential for use cases like order confirmations and customer notifications in Webflow integrations.

Create reusable email templates with dynamic content substitution through SendTemplatedEmail API. According to CreateTemplate API documentation, templates use double-brace syntax like {{customer_name}} for variable substitution. This approach works well for transactional emails like order confirmations, account verification messages, and password reset communications where content structure stays consistent but data changes per recipient.

Send bulk emails with SendBulkTemplatedEmail

Use SendBulkTemplatedEmail to process up to 50 recipients per API call with efficient newsletter delivery. This endpoint accepts an array of destinations, each with replacement template data containing unique variable values for personalization at scale. Implement this method for bulk campaigns like subscriber newsletters triggered by Webflow CMS updates, announcement emails when new blog posts publish, or promotional emails sent to customer segments. According to the research, SendBulkTemplatedEmail improves batch sending by combining multiple recipients in a single API call, reducing overall API invocations while maintaining template-based personalization for each recipient.

Use third-party automation platforms

Third-party automation platforms like Zapier and Make provide pre-built workflows that connect Webflow form submissions directly to Amazon SES without writing code. These no-code approaches suit teams without development resources, though they introduce additional subscription costs and may not support advanced SES features like configuration sets or complex conditional logic.

Set up domain verification and authentication

Before sending emails through any method, verify your sending domain in the SES console. According to AWS SES domain verification documentation, AWS recommends domain verification using CNAME records, which includes adding three CNAME records for DKIM authentication to your DNS provider. For Webflow-hosted sites, add these records through Webflow's DNS settings interface.

Enable DKIM signing by following the email authentication methods documentation. AWS automatically generates DKIM keys and provides three CNAME records with the format [token]._domainkey.yourdomain.com. Add an SPF record at your root domain: v=spf1 include:amazonses.com ~all. For email sending, implement DMARC with a TXT record at _dmarc.yourdomain.com: v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com.

New AWS accounts start in sandbox mode with strict limitations. Request access through the SES Console Account Dashboard by describing your use case and bounce handling approach. AWS typically reviews requests within 24-48 hours.

Handle bounces and complaints with SNS notifications

Configure SNS topics for bounce and complaint notifications to maintain sender reputation and comply with AWS requirements. According to AWS deliverability best practices, bounce rates above 5% and complaint rates above 0.1% trigger AWS investigations that can result in account restrictions. Navigate to SES Console > Notifications tab > select your verified domain and configure SNS topics to publish bounce and complaint events. This infrastructure is mandatory for use — AWS monitors these metrics continuously and suspension can occur without proper bounce and complaint handling in place.

Create a Lambda function that subscribes to these SNS topics and processes events. The notification contents documentation details the JSON payload structure. For permanent bounces (hard bounces), remove the email address from your mailing lists immediately. For complaints (spam reports), unsubscribe the recipient and add them to a suppression list. According to SES deliverability best practices, keeping bounce rates below 5% and complaint rates below 0.1% prevents account restrictions.

Track email engagement with configuration sets

Set up configuration sets to track opens, clicks, and delivery events. Configuration sets support seven event types: Send, Reject, Bounce, Complaint, Delivery, Open, and Click. The event publishing documentation explains how to route these events to SNS topics for processing. According to AWS SES configuration set documentation, open and click tracking require configuration sets with custom tracking domains configured through the custom tracking domain documentation.

Enable open and click tracking through custom tracking domains. Create a subdomain like tracking.yourdomain.com and add the required DNS records. This configuration requires a configuration set to be created first, and then SES will rewrite links in your emails to pass through AWS tracking infrastructure before redirecting to the final destination, capturing click events and IP addresses.

Build a webhook handler that receives SNS notifications containing SES engagement events (Bounce, Complaint, Delivery, Send, Reject, and optionally Open and Click when Configuration Sets are enabled with custom tracking domains). Parse the event type from the notificationType or eventType field and update Webflow CMS collections using the Webflow API. For example, when receiving a Bounce event with bounceType: "Permanent", update the contact's email-status field to "bounced" in your CMS. When processing Click events, record which links generated engagement for campaign improvement and store the click timestamp for engagement tracking in your CMS collections.

What you can build

Integrating Amazon SES with Webflow provides email infrastructure for applications requiring advanced features that Webflow's native email system cannot deliver: customizable templates, detailed deliverability analytics, bounce and complaint tracking, and the ability to send at scale with enterprise-level reliability and authentication protocols.

Transactional e-commerce email system: Build automated order confirmation and shipping notification workflows. Webflow e-commerce form submissions trigger Lambda functions via webhooks that send branded, template-based emails through SES. Configure delivery tracking and bounce/complaint handling through SNS notifications.

Membership site verification system: Create secure email verification flows for membership platforms where new user registrations generate time-limited verification tokens sent via SES, with Lambda functions processing verification link clicks and updating Webflow CMS membership status fields through the Webflow API.

High-volume newsletter platform: Develop subscriber management systems that handle 10,000+ recipients by storing subscriber data in Webflow CMS, triggering bulk email sends through SES when new blog posts publish, and automatically processing unsubscribes through SNS bounce notifications.

Agency client email infrastructure: Deploy centralized email sending for multiple client websites using a single AWS account with separate IAM roles per client, SES configuration sets for per-client analytics, and shared management that reduces per-site costs while maintaining client data isolation.