If your team relies on Amazon Pinpoint for email or SMS campaigns, you have probably heard the news. AWS is sunsetting Pinpoint, and teams across the world are now facing a migration decision with real business implications.

This guide explains what is happening, what it means for your business, and the practical steps you should take to keep your customer communication running without disruption.

What Is Happening with Amazon Pinpoint

Amazon Pinpoint is being deprecated as AWS consolidates its customer engagement offerings. The AWS End User Messaging service now handles SMS and push notifications, while email sending remains available through Amazon SES (Simple Email Service).

For teams that built their marketing and transactional communication around Pinpoint, this means:

• Journey automation features will no longer be actively developed
• Future AWS updates may not be compatible with existing Pinpoint configurations
• Support timelines are winding down, meaning slower response times for issues
• Teams need to plan a migration to avoid last-minute operational risk

The shutdown is not immediate, but AWS has signaled that now is the time to plan your transition. Waiting until the final deadline leaves you scrambling to migrate contact lists, recreate journeys, and re-verify sending domains under time pressure.

Timeline and What It Means for Your Planning

While exact end-of-life dates vary by region and service tier, the practical reality is that migration planning should start now. Most teams underestimate how long a migration takes, especially if you have:

• Complex journey automations with multiple branches
• Large contact lists (over 100,000 records)
• Custom integrations with internal systems
• Active SMS campaigns that need template approval on a new platform

A realistic migration timeline for a mid-sized business with these characteristics is 4 to 8 weeks from decision to full cutover. This includes:

• Week 1 to 2: Platform evaluation and vendor selection
• Week 3 to 4: Data migration and template recreation
• Week 5 to 6: Testing and deliverability warmup
• Week 7 to 8: Parallel running and final cutover

Waiting until the last 90 days before sunset means you may not have time to do this properly, which risks deliverability drops, lost campaign data, and gaps in customer communication.

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Impact Assessment by Region

For US Teams

US businesses using Pinpoint face a straightforward infrastructure decision but may have more platform options. Considerations include:

• Sender reputation: US-based email sending has stringent deliverability requirements. Any migration must preserve your sender authentication (DKIM, SPF, DMARC) to avoid inbox placement drops.
• TenIO-10DLC compliance: If you use Pinpoint for SMS, migrating to a new provider requires re-registering your 10DLC campaigns, which can take 2-4 weeks.
• Integration ecosystem: US teams often have deeper integrations with CRMs like HubSpot, Salesforce, or Marketo. Check that your new platform supports these integrations natively.

For European Teams

European businesses have additional compliance considerations:

• GDPR data handling: Any migration must ensure contact lists and campaign data remain GDPR-compliant. Check where your new platform stores data and whether data processing agreements (DPAs) are in place.
• Sender reputation in EU: European mailbox providers (especially in Germany and France) can be stricter about sender reputation. A dedicated IP warmup period of 2-4 weeks is often necessary.
• Currency and billing: Some platforms bill only in USD, which creates foreign exchange exposure for EU businesses. Platforms that support EUR billing simplify finance operations.

For Asia-Pacific and Indian Teams

Teams in APAC and India have specific regional considerations:

• WhatsApp integration: Many APAC teams, especially in India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, use WhatsApp as a primary customer channel. Pinpoint never supported WhatsApp natively. If you are migrating anyway, this is the moment to consider a platform that handles both email and WhatsApp.
• Local payment methods: Platforms that support local payment options (UPI in India, regional bank transfers) simplify vendor management.
• Support timezone: Some platform support teams operate primarily in US or European timezones. For APAC teams that need real-time assistance during business hours, local support availability matters.

Migration Checklist: What You Need to Move

Before you choose a new platform, inventory what you currently have in Pinpoint. This checklist covers the main items:

Contact lists and segments

• Export your full contact database with all custom attributes
• Document how your segments are defined (active users, dormant users, purchase history, etc)
• Note any dynamic segmentation rules that auto-update based on behavior

Email templates

• Export all active email templates (HTML and plain text versions)
• Note any templates that use dynamic personalization variables
• Document template IDs if you reference them via API

Journey automations

• Map out each active journey visually (entry criteria, branches, delays, exit criteria)
• Note any journeys that integrate with external systems
• Document fallback logic for email bounces or unsubscribes

SMS templates

• Export approved SMS templates
• Note template approval status and any pending submissions
• Document sender IDs and regulatory approvals (10DLC, alphanumeric sender IDs, etc)

Sending domains and authentication

• List all verified sending domains
• Document DKIM, SPF, and DMARC configuration for each domain
• Note any domain reputation issues or blocklist status

API integrations

• Inventory all applications that send via Pinpoint API
• Document API keys, endpoints, and webhook configurations
• Note any custom event triggers

Analytics and reports

• Export historical campaign performance data
• Document any custom reports or dashboards
• Note any data that feeds into external BI tools

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Choosing Your Migration Path

There are three main migration paths that teams consider:

Option 1: Stay within AWS (SES + custom build)

If your team has strong engineering resources and wants to stay within the AWS ecosystem, you can migrate email sending to Amazon SES and build custom journey logic using Lambda, Step Functions, and other AWS services.

Pros:

• Full control over infrastructure
• Native integration with existing AWS stack
• Lower per-message sending costs at high volume

Cons:

• Significant development effort to rebuild journey automation
• No visual journey builder or marketing UI
• You still need a separate solution for SMS and WhatsApp
• Ongoing maintenance overhead

This path makes sense for teams with dedicated DevOps and engineering capacity who want maximum control and are willing to invest in building their own marketing tooling.

Option 2: Move to a marketing automation platform

Platforms like CampaignHQ, SendGrid, or Braze offer ready-made marketing features including journey builders, contact segmentation, and analytics dashboards.

Pros:

• No need to build custom tooling
• Faster time to value
• Visual interfaces for marketing teams
• Some platforms support email and WhatsApp together

Cons:

• Less infrastructure control than raw SES
• Migration effort still required for data and templates
• Need to evaluate each platform’s fit for your specific needs

This path makes sense for teams that want to move quickly and do not have capacity to build custom tooling.

Option 3: Multi-platform approach

Some teams split their communication across multiple specialized platforms, such as SES for transactional email, a separate SMS provider, and a WhatsApp BSP.

Pros:

• Best-in-class tool for each channel
• Flexibility to swap individual components

Cons:

• Fragmented reporting and analytics
• Multiple vendor relationships to manage
• Higher operational complexity
• No unified customer view

This path makes sense for teams with very specific requirements per channel that no single platform satisfies well.

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Recommended Migration Partners

If you are evaluating CampaignHQ as your migration destination, the platform offers:

• Migration documentation and support for Pinpoint customers globally
• Assistance with contact list import, template recreation, and journey setup
• Email and WhatsApp in a single platform, reducing the number of tools you need to manage
• Flexible payment options including international and regional methods

CampaignHQ is a Meta Technology Partner, which means the WhatsApp integration has been validated against Meta’s standards. For teams in regions where WhatsApp is a primary customer communication channel, this integration support reduces migration risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have before Pinpoint stops working?

AWS has not announced an immediate shutdown date, but the practical guidance is to begin planning now. Waiting until the final deadline risks rushed migrations that compromise deliverability and lose campaign continuity.

Will my Pinpoint data automatically transfer to a new platform?

No, contact lists, templates, and journey definitions need to be exported from Pinpoint and imported into your new platform. Most platforms provide migration documentation, and some like CampaignHQ offer migration support services.

Can I keep using Pinpoint for some campaigns while migrating others?

Yes, you can run parallel campaigns during a transition period. The key is to ensure consistent sender domain authentication across both platforms to protect deliverability.

What happens to my Pinpoint sending reputation?

Sender reputation is tied to your sending domain and IP address, not the platform itself. If you migrate to a new platform using the same authenticated domain and dedicated IP, your reputation generally transfers. If you switch to a shared IP pool, you start with the pool’s reputation.

Do I need to get WhatsApp templates approved again if I migrate?

Yes, WhatsApp templates require approval from Meta regardless of which Business Solution Provider (BSP) you use. Template approval typically takes 24 to 48 hours for most business categories.

Written by CampaignHQ Team