newsletter platform · Buttondown

Buttondown

Independent newsletter tool that is free to 100 subscribers and $7.50 a month at 1,000 when billed yearly.

71/100

#5 of 12 newsletter platforms
Facts checked 9 Oct 2026

In short

The first 100 subscribers are free; up to 1,000 costs $9 a month or $90 a year, which is $7.50 a month¹.
Buttondown says you keep all paid-subscription money after card fees, with no extra overhead³.
Subscribers export to CSV, and a CSV import recognises columns from Kit, Mailchimp and Substack^5,6.
Sending from your own domain is open to everyone; hosting archives on your own domain is a $29 a month add-on^7,1,8.
Prices assume at most one email a day to your whole list, and you pay only for active subscribers¹.

Buttondown suits writers who want low, flat pricing and a documented API, with no platform cut of paid subscriptions^1,3,13. Segments, welcome sequences and list import and export are built in^5,6,9,10. The catch: the sources show no recommendation network, referral rewards or A/B tests^11,17.

Best for: Writers who want low flat pricing and no cut of paid subscriptions.

Where the points come from

Earning18 of 25

Your list29 of 32

Growth9 of 26

Price15 of 17

Earning 18 of 25 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Paid subscriptions	YesReaders pay through a connected Stripe account; the pricing page lists paid subscriptions at +$9 a month^1,4.	8 / 8
Fee on paid subscriptions	0Buttondown says you keep all the money after credit card fees, with no extra overhead on paid subscribers³.	10 / 10
Built-in sponsorship or ad network	NoSponsorships are slots you sell yourself to sponsors you find; Buttondown takes no cut and runs no sponsor marketplace¹².	0 / 4
Sell digital products	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's features or paid-subscriptions pages^2,3.	0 / 3

Your list 29 of 32 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Export your subscriber list	YesThe Export button on the subscribers tab downloads all subscribers as a CSV file⁵.	8 / 8
Import subscribers	YesUpload a CSV; columns from Kit, Mailchimp and Substack are recognised⁶.	5 / 5
Website on your own domain	YesArchives can be served from your own domain on a paid plan; the pricing page lists it as +$29 a month^8,1.	7 / 7
Send from your own domain	YesSending from anything@yourdomain.com is open to everyone; the page covers SPF records but does not mention DKIM⁷.	5 / 5
Open source	Not publishedButtondown lists its own open-source packages; no page says whether the newsletter platform's source is public¹⁴.	0 / 3
Public API	YesDocumented REST API with a GET /subscribers endpoint that returns the subscriber list¹³.	4 / 4

Growth 9 of 26 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Recommendation network	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's features page or docs home^2,17.	0 / 6
Referral program	NoDocs say Buttondown provides building blocks for a referral system; the rewards are left to you¹¹.	0 / 4
Send to a tag or segment	YesTag subscribers and send to one tag, or save a filter as a segment; tagging is a paid feature⁹.	5 / 5
Automated email sequences	YesA welcome sequence of several emails can be one automation started by sign-up; it needs a paid plan¹⁰.	4 / 4
Subscriber source reports	Not publishedNo subscriber-source report found on the vendor's analytics pages¹⁶; the subscriber list has UTM and referrer columns¹⁵.	0 / 4
Subject-line A/B tests	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's features page or docs home^2,17.	0 / 3

Price 15 of 17 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Free plan	YesThe first 100 subscribers cost nothing, which meets the 100-subscriber test¹.	8 / 8
Cost at 1,000 subscribers	$7.50/moBasic covers up to 1,000 subscribers: $90 a year, from the pricing page's own plan data¹.	7 / 9

The rule behind each line: how we score newsletter platforms.

Plans and prices

As the vendor lists them, before tax. Prices are in US dollars unless the plan shows euros; the points use US dollars, with euros converted at the ECB rate.

Plan	Price as listed	Per month	Notes
FreeUp to 100 subscribers	Free¹	$0	Custom sending domain and API listed in the plan data
BasicUp to 1,000 subscribers	$9/month or $90/year¹	$7.50	Yearly price is $7.50 a month
StandardUp to 5,000 subscribers	$29/month¹	$29	Yearly price is $290 a year

Prices assume at most one email a day to the whole list; heavier sending needs a quote¹. Registered 501(c)(3) non-profits get 50% off¹. The pricing page lists add-ons: +$9 a month for tagging and paid subscriptions, +$29 for automations and custom-domain archives¹.

Strengths

Free for the first 100 subscribers, and billing counts only active subscribers¹.
No Buttondown fee on paid subscriptions or sponsorships; Stripe's fees still apply^3,12.
The documented REST API includes a call that lists subscribers¹³.
Tags and saved segments let you send to part of the list⁹.
Free migration help and CSV import cover Kit, Mailchimp and Substack lists^2,6.

Limits

The pricing page does not list a recommendation network or referral rewards¹¹.
Docs describe referrals as building blocks, with rewards left to you¹¹.
Archives on a custom domain cost an extra $29 a month^1,8.
Automations and multiple newsletters are priced as $29 a month add-ons¹.
Buttondown lists only side packages as open source; its sources do not say the platform's code is public¹⁴.

What Buttondown says

Vendor claims. We show them, but they earn no points.

Buttondown says it charges only for active subscribers, not all contacts¹.
Buttondown says sponsors pay through Stripe and it takes no cut of sponsorship revenue¹².

Other newsletter platforms

1
beehiivWriters who want an ad network, referrals and growth tools
97/100
$0cost at 1,000 subscribers
2
KitCreators who sell products and want a large free plan
94/100
$0cost at 1,000 subscribers
3
GhostWriters who want open-source software and no cut of paid-subscription revenue
77/100
$0cost at 1,000 subscribers
4
SubstackWriters who want paid subscriptions and reader discovery with no monthly fee
71/100
$0cost at 1,000 subscribers

All 12 newsletter platforms

Sources

Buttondown: Pricing, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Buttondown features, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Paid subscriptions, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Paid subscriptions (docs), Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Subscriber data exports, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Importing your data, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Sending from a custom domain, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Hosting domain, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Segmenting your audience, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Welcome sequence, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Subscriber referrals, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Sponsorships, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
List subscribers (API), Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Stack, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Subscriber dashboard, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Referrals analytics, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Buttondown documentation, Buttondown. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.

Website: buttondown.com · Markdown version · We are not affiliated with Buttondown.