Item id: 41631227
a year ago
Plunk will run you $1.5 every time you want to send out an email ($0.001/email * 1500)
Plunk is pretty much Amazon SES + an open source tool turned into a product. It's selfhostable but if you prefer software intended to be selfhosted then Sendy might work well for you too. Issue is Sendy costs $70~ upfront.
Plunk: https://useplunk.com
Sendy: https://sendy.co
a year ago
ty!
a year ago
Looks like usePlunk is solving a problem people had for long
a year ago
I manage phplist for a small doctor's office. Works well with 4k subscribers. Open Source.
a year ago
Template + contact managing aside, I guess my concern is all of the various pieces that need to be setup and monitored to keep the email bit working
a year ago
I used emailoctopus for the newsletter I shut down a while back. Worked well, but you need to test it to make sure deliverability is good from the get go.
a year ago
Came here to say the same thing. EmailOctopus (https://emailoctopus.com/pricing) is free for 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month.
There was a service called tinyletter.com but it is now defunct has MailChimp bought them and shut them down. Super simple UI, and free newsletters, it was awesome.
a year ago
Thank you, Octopus looks good!
a year ago
Gumroad is a free option. I run a programming newsletter with about 1000 subscribers.
a year ago
Thanks I'll take a look!
a year ago
Why is no one mentioning Substack? It's an honest question. To me, in OP's situation, it's the obvious choice. What am I missing?
a year ago
There are competitors out there as well if substack doesn't work for some reason!
I understand the desire to own one's own data and all that, but the most popular solutions are often popular for at least one or two good reasons!
a year ago
Yeah good point, not one I had considered tbh. In my head it was a bit like medium, seems like offer a lot these days
a year ago
last I checked, Substack did not allow writers to set canonical links for their posts.
a year ago
Buttondown.com is really good, with a founder that still cares about the business.
a year ago
ah nice, that one had come up in my searches too. Looks good!
a year ago
ConvertKit (soon to be Kit) is free for up to 10,000 subscribers.
convertkit.com
(I work there)
a year ago
ok, I'll take a look!
Edit: What is Creator Network and why can't the free account opt-out? does not look like we get API access either? so it seems like I have to use your forms which my customers can get recommended other accounts? seems weird honestly
a year ago
You can use https://listmonk.app or https://sendy.co and use a provider lke SES under the hood.
a year ago
Had not seen listmonk, will take a look!
a year ago
You may consider MailerLite. Cheap and reliable.
SES + Sendy is pretty cheap but SES production approval is not very easy to get these day, specially for new projects
a year ago
Yea, I'd also read that if you don't send frequently SES then it's not that great.
a year ago
£34 a month
That’s not nothing and can feel like more than it should cost. It’s also less than a one sided Xerox at Kinkos, that is cheap relative to historical newsletter costs and within the budget of any business and most organizations.
White listed email servers are what you are paying for. Tools and service are also what you are paying for. A hobby project might not need those, but it is a cost of doing business for a business. £34 a month can and should be passed on to customers. Good luck.
a year ago
Thanks, I don't know what a Kinko's is, but £34 is more than we're paying to run our entire stack and live streaming video infra. It doenst make sense to be paying more to send a newsletter twice a month.
a year ago
Whitelists are why it is value for money. Email is more complicated than it appears because the infrastructure is so mature.
Statistically, your 1500 emails is spam. I'm not saying it is spam. But every default across the internet is to treat it as spam.
I can't tell you that optimizing £34/month is not the best use of your time and energy. Statistically, it isn't.