Buttondown

ALMOST

A weekend of work, and real gaps remain.

A small newsletter tool: write in Markdown, send to a list, and let people subscribe from a form. Deliberately plain, with an API and no visual builder.

Promptfree, for everyone, and the only version there is

Build me a Markdown newsletter with my own list.

STACK
- SQLite for subscribers and issues, a small Node process
- Amazon SES or Postmark for delivery — do not run your own mail server

THE LIST
- Double opt-in: signup writes a pending row and sends a signed confirmation link
- One-click unsubscribe honouring the List-Unsubscribe-Post header, which large providers now require
- Never delete a subscriber row; mark it unsubscribed and keep the date

WRITING AND SENDING
- An issue is a Markdown file with front matter
- Render to HTML and to a plain-text part; send both, always
- Send in batches with a concurrency cap, and record per-recipient status

BOUNCES
- Subscribe to the provider webhook; a hard bounce or a complaint marks the address dead at once

ARCHIVE
- A public page per issue and an RSS feed, generated from the same Markdown

Include the schema, the send worker and a README on SPF, DKIM and DMARC.

What you lose

Deliverability — a warmed sending domain and someone watching complaint rates so your mail reaches inboxes rather than spam folders
Bounce and complaint handling wired to the list, so a dead address stops being retried automatically
A hosted archive, an RSS feed and a subscribe page you did not have to build

If you would rather not build

Ghost, if you want a site with the list
A plain SES script, for very small lists

The escape hatch

open source · no votes, no paid placement

Listmonk

One Go binary and Postgres; handles large lists comfortably.

knadh/listmonkfree · open source

Keila

Self-hosted newsletter tool with double opt-in already built.

pentacent/keilafree · open source

Why this verdict

our own opinion · changed only by a person

58/100

Verdict kinda at 58. The application is a weekend; deliverability is the part that decides whether it works, and it is not code.

History

tracked since 10 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten

Interest · last 30 days

Nothing recorded yet. This chart fills in once the page has visitors, votes or prompt copies — it will not draw a flat line to look busy.

Questions about Buttondown

answered from the record above

Is Buttondown free?

No — the plan we track is $9 a month. Basic at $9/month billed monthly for 1,000 subscribers; the price steps up with the list.

Can you replace Buttondown by building your own?

ALMOST. A weekend of work, and real gaps remain. Replacement score 58 out of 100, build time a weekend. Read what you lose before you decide.

How much does Buttondown cost?

$9 a month on Basic — $108 a year. Recorded 9 Aug 2026.

What do you lose by replacing Buttondown?

Deliverability — a warmed sending domain and someone watching complaint rates so your mail reaches inboxes rather than spam folders; Bounce and complaint handling wired to the list, so a dead address stops being retried automatically; A hosted archive, an RSS feed and a subscribe page you did not have to build. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.

Is there an open-source alternative to Buttondown?

Yes: Listmonk, Keila. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.

Related entries

same category first, most replaced first

All 22 in Email & newsletters

Coming soon

Every week, something stops being worth paying for.

New verdicts, prices that moved, entries added. One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click.

free forever · no tracking pixel · every prompt stays free on the site