Sendy

Overview

Sendy is a self-hosted email newsletter application that allows sending bulk emails through Amazon Simple Email Service at dramatically lower costs than traditional email marketing platforms. Sendy is a self-hosted email newsletter application that lets you send bulk emails via Amazon SES, paying only $1 per 10,000 emails . With Sendy, customers pay per email sent rather than a recurring subscription fee, making it a cost-effective solution .

The software operates fundamentally differently than SaaS email platforms. Rather than paying monthly subscription fees that increase with subscriber count, you purchase Sendy once, install it on your own web server, and then pay only Amazon SES costs for actual email sending. You pay a one-time fee of $59 to buy Sendy, and then it's yours to use forever, paying only Amazon SES costs after that . This model can reduce email marketing expenses by up to 100 times compared to traditional platforms, particularly for creators with large subscriber lists.

For newsletter creators, Sendy represents a technical but highly economical alternative to managed platforms. You gain complete control over your email infrastructure, own your data entirely, and eliminate concerns about platform shutdowns or pricing changes. However, this independence requires technical comfort with server management, Amazon Web Services, and basic troubleshooting. The tradeoff is clear: maximum cost savings and control in exchange for technical responsibility.

Best For

Sendy works best for technically skilled newsletter creators or those with development resources who send high email volumes and want to minimize costs. This includes creators with tens of thousands of subscribers where traditional platform costs become prohibitive, developers comfortable managing servers and troubleshooting technical issues, publishers sending millions of emails monthly requiring maximum cost efficiency, and creators who value data ownership and platform independence. The platform is not suitable for non-technical users who need managed services with customer support.

Key Features

• Self-Hosted Infrastructure: Sendy allows you to self-host and control the email sending architecture, avoiding issues if companies go out of business . You install the software on your own server, maintaining complete ownership of your email infrastructure and subscriber data. This independence means no vendor lock-in and protection against platform shutdowns or policy changes that affect managed services.

• Amazon SES Integration: Sendy lets you send trackable emails via Amazon SES, making it possible to send authenticated bulk emails at an insanely low price without sacrificing deliverability . The integration leverages Amazon's enterprise email infrastructure, ensuring reliable delivery at costs far below managed platforms. If you use Sendy on AWS SES, you get 62,000 sends free per month when hosted on Amazon EC2, with $1 per 10,000 emails thereafter .

• Unlimited Lists and Campaigns: The one-time Sendy license includes unlimited subscriber lists, unlimited campaigns, and unlimited brands. Newsletter creators can manage multiple publications or experiment with different list segments without additional software costs. This scalability without recurring fees makes Sendy increasingly economical as operations grow.

• Email Tracking and Analytics: Sendy tracks opens, clicks, bounces, and unsubscribes, providing essential analytics for understanding campaign performance. While less sophisticated than enterprise platforms, the tracking covers fundamental metrics newsletter creators need to optimize content and measure engagement.

• Complete Data Ownership: Running Sendy on your own server means complete control over subscriber data, sending history, and campaign records. No third party accesses your information, and you can export or migrate data without platform restrictions. For creators concerned about data privacy or vendor dependence, this ownership provides peace of mind.

Pricing

Sendy charges a one-time license fee of $69 with no recurring monthly costs. After purchasing Sendy, users pay only Amazon SES costs at $0.10 per 1,000 emails , making sending dramatically cheaper than subscription platforms. Hosting Sendy on Amazon EC2 provides 62,000 free monthly sends, plus $0.02 per GB of attachments . Beyond the Sendy license and SES costs, creators must factor in web hosting expenses for running the software, typically $5-20 monthly for basic servers capable of handling Sendy. For creators sending 100,000 emails monthly, total costs might be approximately $80 for Sendy plus $10 monthly for SES and $10-20 for hosting, compared to $300-500+ on traditional platforms for the same volume.