Buttondown is a very powerful tool — but it's not for everyone. Here, you'll find some alternatives to Buttondown if you're looking for a specific feature that might not fit what we try to do.
What we do
We would rather do a few things exceptionally well than make something that's for everyone. Why? Because a tool for "everyone" ends up being for no one. In fact, you're probably reading this because your email platform got too bogged down with features you don't find yourself using.
If you want to see what Buttondown's capable of, check out our features section.
What we try not to do
Here's a list of some very broad things that Buttondown doesn't handle (and has no real plan on handling):
Drip campaigns with branching logic
Email marketers might be familiar with automated sequences that are personalized to specific behaviors, sending different sequences based on what customers do. Buttondown offers this in the form of automations, but it's not as complex as some of the other tools out there. If you're looking to have these sorts of workflows where you need branching logic, retries, and so on, check out Kit.
A content management system
Buttondown offers a web archive which keeps track of the emails you've sent. However, if you're interested in more advanced publishing tools like block-based editing & deep template customization, Buttondown may not be the best tool for you. We recommend Ghost, which offers newsletter & paid subscription functionality on top of their core CMS.
Self-hosted, open source
If you want to use software that you can host yourself and audit the source code, we'd recommend checking out Listmonk.
Podcast or media hosting
Buttondown allows you to attach files & images to your emails, but that's not quite the same thing as being a full-fledged media host. If you're looking for a place to grow your media presence by gating access to content, check out Patreon or Memberful.
Ecommerce
If you're looking for an email solution for your store, it's almost certainly a better idea for you to choose an option that handles things like coupon codes, shopping cart integrations, and so on. Bento really shines here.
Pricing calculator
Not sure which platform will be most cost-effective for your newsletter? Use this calculator to compare the costs of different platforms based on your subscriber count and pricing.
How many subscribers do you have?
How many of them are paid?
How much do you charge them?
Revenue: $10,000/month
Buttondown costs: $459/month + $590 card fees
Profit: $8,951/month
Compare with...
No credit card required. Only pay for what you use. Cancel anytime.
Other options
We've also created a full list of comparisons with other email newsletter tools:
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Anything we missed?
If you're not sure whether your use case is a good fit for Buttondown, please email us. We'll reply quickly and spare you the hard sell; we care far more about your finding the right tool for your needs.