The best Buttondown alternative for you depends on what your newsletter is for. Writers growing a readership suit a dedicated newsletter platform. Small businesses selling through email suit a marketing tool. Developers who want control can self-host or use a delivery service. Whatever you choose, check you can export your subscriber list in full.
If you're looking beyond Buttondown, it's usually because you want more growth features, a website attached, or more technical control. Those are three different journeys, and they lead to different tools.
Three kinds of newsletter tool
- Writer platforms. These put the newsletter at the centre, often with a web archive, recommendations and subscriptions for readers.
- Email marketing tools. These treat the newsletter as one campaign among many, with automations, segments and testing for businesses.
- Technical options. Self-hosted apps and delivery services give developers control, and expect you to look after more of the setup.
The nine tools below cover all three. They're in no particular order, A to Z, and each description is based on the vendor's own website.
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Nine newsletter tools to compare
beehiiv
Best for: Creators, publishers and businesses who want to grow, publish and monetise a newsletter audience from one place.
Curated
Best for: Writers who collect links, add their own commentary and publish them as a newsletter and website.
Ghost
Best for: Independent publishers who want modern publishing with email newsletters and subscriptions built into their website.
Mailchimp
Best for: Businesses that want email marketing driven by real-time user behaviour data and AI to turn readers into customers.
MailerLite
Best for: Small businesses that want digital marketing tools to grow an audience, with round-the-clock support behind them.
Moosend
Best for: Marketers who want A/B testing, analytics and straightforward campaign management for their newsletters.
Postmark
Best for: Developers who care about getting transactional and marketing email delivered on time, every time.
Sendy
Best for: Technical writers happy to self-host a newsletter app that sends trackable email through Amazon Simple Email Service.
Substack
Best for: Independent writers who want newsletters, video and podcast hosting in one app, with reader subscriptions built in.
Comparing the nine
| Tool | Type | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| beehiiv | Newsletter platform | Growing and monetising a newsletter |
| Curated | Link newsletter tool | Link roundups with your commentary |
| Ghost | Publishing platform | A newsletter and website in one |
| Mailchimp | Email marketing | Behaviour-based marketing emails |
| MailerLite | Email marketing | Growing an audience with support on hand |
| Moosend | Email marketing | A/B testing and campaign analytics |
| Postmark | Email delivery service | Developers sending app and marketing email |
| Sendy | Self-hosted newsletter app | Sending via Amazon SES on your own server |
| Substack | Newsletter and community app | Writers building an audience on one app |
A small standard worth knowing about
Here's a detail most writers never look at. IETF RFC 2369, published back in 1998, describes mailing list command header fields: a set of structured fields added to email messages sent by email distribution lists. They sit in the email headers your readers never see, and mail programs can read them.
You don't need to understand the technical side. When you trial a tool, send yourself a test issue, open the original message in your email program, and look for list headers such as an unsubscribe header. If you can't find them, ask the vendor about it. It's a quick check that tells you how seriously a tool treats the plumbing of email.
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What readers notice, and what they don't
Readers don't care which tool you send from. They notice whether the email arrives, whether it looks good on a phone, and whether unsubscribing is easy. Everything else is for you. So when you compare tools, send the same test issue from each one to a few different inboxes and look at it on your phone, the way most people will read it.
They also notice the sender name. Keep it the same when you move, so your issue doesn't look like a stranger's email. And keep your welcome email: it's the one message every new reader opens, and it's easy to lose in a migration.
Before you export your list
- Export everything: email addresses, sign-up dates and any tags you've added.
- Check what happens to your archive. If old issues live on a web page that gets traffic, you'll want that moved or redirected.
- Warm up gently. Sending a big issue from a brand-new account on day one can hurt delivery, so ask the new vendor how they handle imports.
- Tell your readers. A short note saying the newsletter is moving, and the sender name may look a little different, saves a lot of confusion.
If you're weighing up this move against a wider switch, my guide to choosing between email marketing platforms when switching goes into more detail. And for inspiration on what good looks like, here are some AI newsletters worth reading.
Growth features versus writing features
Some tools lean hard into growth: referral programmes, recommendations from other newsletters, sign-up forms everywhere. Others lean into the writing: a clean editor, a good archive, a website that looks like a publication. Neither is better. It depends on whether your problem today is finding readers or keeping the ones you've got.
If you're stuck for readers, growth features will help. If your open emails are steady but readers drift away, put your energy into the writing and the welcome sequence instead. The software can't fix a newsletter people don't look forward to, but it can make a good one far easier to share.
My advice for independent writers
Pick the tool that matches where you want the newsletter to be in a year, not where it stands today. If it's a business, choose a marketing tool with automations. If it's your writing, choose a platform built for writers. If it's a technical side project, go technical. And whatever you pick, make sure you can take your list with you, because your list is the asset, not the software.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I move my subscribers from Buttondown to another tool?
In most cases you can export your subscriber list and import it elsewhere. Check what the new tool needs, and ask how it handles imports so your delivery doesn't suffer.
Should I self-host my newsletter?
Only if you're comfortable with servers and email setup. Self-hosting gives you control, but you're responsible for keeping it running.
What are list headers in email?
They're structured header fields, described in IETF RFC 2369, that email distribution lists add to messages. Mail programs can use them, for example to offer an unsubscribe option.
Do I need a website as well as a newsletter?
Not always, but a web archive of past issues helps new readers find you through search and lets you share individual issues. Some tools on this list include a website, others focus on the email alone.
Are these tools ranked?
No. They're in no particular order, A to Z, and the descriptions come from each vendor's own website.
