Run by a small remote team, with a markdown editor and hosted archives. Buttondown is a newsletter platform run by a small remote team. Its pricing page says it costs nothing for your first 100 subscribers, and the free price includes a rich text or markdown editor, sending from a custom domain, hosted newsletter archives and what it calls a privacy-first setup. Extras are sold as monthly add-ons: $9 each for segmentation, paid subscriptions, comments and surveys, analytics, RSS-to-email and attachments, $29 each for sponsorships, multiple newsletters, automations and archives on a custom domain, and $79 each for whitelabeling and teams. Charges follow active subscribers, and the quoted prices assume at most one email a day to your whole list. Capterra shows 4.8 from 114 reviews, though several of the quoted reviews were vendor referred with an incentive, and reviewers praise the API and support while citing rough edges, a stuck-in-draft incident and the add-on pricing.
Free tier quotas
Free subscribers
Your first 100 subscribers cost nothing
Editor
Rich text or markdown editor
Custom domain sending
Included in the free price
Archives
Hosted newsletter archives
Privacy
Privacy-first, per the pricing page
Card
The page description says start free with no card needed (vendor claim)
Sending volume
Prices assume at most one email a day to your whole subscriber base
Non-profits
50% discount for registered 501(c)(3) organizations or equivalents
Last sniffed Oct 20, 2026. Always confirm on the official pricing page.
👍 Good boy
+The first 100 subscribers are free and include a markdown editor, custom domain sending and hosted archives, which covers a developer newsletter at launch.
+Capterra reviewers call out developer freedom. One said it plays well with their own CMS and that a handful of API calls put premium subscribers into their own membership program.
+Pricing is per active subscriber, not all contacts, according to the pricing FAQ, so inactive contacts do not raise your bill.
+You buy only the extras you need. Add-ons start at $9 a month each, and a Capterra reviewer who evaluated several tools chose it partly for a flat fee instead of a share of subscription revenue.
+Importing from Substack was easy, according to a Capterra reviewer from November 2023.
+Reviewers mention responsive support. A Capterra reviewer said answers came promptly with clear instructions, and an HN user thanked the team for prompt problem solving when they found a bug.
👎 Watch out
−Free ends at 100 subscribers. One Capterra reviewer said they were gently invited to upgrade after hitting 100, which they called appropriate.
−Add-ons add up. Segmentation, analytics, paid subscriptions and comments are $9 a month each, and automations are $29, so a full setup costs more than the base price suggests.
−A Capterra reviewer said the pricing structure meant they could not run two newsletters without paying for a higher plan, even with small audiences (February 2024).
−One reviewer reported emails stuck in a Draft status in August 2025 and could not tell why. Another said they could not use analytics software (May 2025).
−Some language confuses non-developers, per a January 2025 Capterra review, and another reviewer described the product as rough around the edges.
−Several of the most helpful Capterra reviews are labeled vendor referred with an incentive, so read the ratings with that in mind.
The catch
Free covers the first 100 subscribers only. Past that, the price follows your active subscriber count (the slider on the pricing page sets it), and the quoted prices assume you send at most one email a day to your whole list. If you send more, you are asked to contact them for usage-based pricing.
The feature gaps matter for developers. Tagging and segmentation, analytics, paid subscriptions and automations are paid add-ons, not part of the free price.
The no-card claim comes from the pricing page description, which is the vendor's own wording. Reviewers on Capterra praise the API and support but also report an emails-stuck-in-draft incident and add-on pricing that surprised them. Commercial terms for the free plan are unknown.
What’s included
✓Markdown and rich text editor
✓Send from a custom domain
✓Hosted newsletter archives
✓Paid subscriptions (add-on)
✓Tagging and segmentation (add-on)
✓Automations (add-on)
✓RSS-to-email (add-on)
✓Multiple newsletters (add-on)
✓API
Free tier value
Generosity
B
Estimated value
A free newsletter platform for up to 100 subscribers
Feature parity
Pricing scales with active subscribers. Segmentation, paid subscriptions and comments are add-ons.
Screenshots
Buttondown homepageButtondown pricing page
Paid plans
Per-subscriber base price
Charged on active subscribers. The pricing page uses a slider, and the exact tiers beyond 100 subscribers were not captured.
Add-ons at $9 a month each
Tagging and segmentation, paid subscriptions, comments and surveys, analytics, RSS-to-email support and email attachments.
Add-ons at $29 a month each
Sponsorships, archives on a custom domain, multiple newsletters and automations.
Add-ons at $79 a month each
Whitelabeling and teams.
Common questions
Is Buttondown free?
Yes for your first 100 subscribers. The free price includes a rich text or markdown editor, custom domain sending and hosted archives.
Do I need a credit card?
The pricing page description says to start free with no card needed. That is the vendor's wording.
How does Buttondown count subscribers?
The FAQ says it charges for active subscribers, not all contacts.
Is there a sending limit?
Prices assume at most one email a day to your whole subscriber base. For more, contact them about usage-based pricing.
What do reviewers like and dislike?
Capterra reviewers like the developer freedom, API and support. They cite rough edges, add-on pricing, and one reported stuck-in-draft incident.
Change history
Checked October 22, 2026
Pricing page read in full. Capterra rating (4.8 from 114 reviews as of the search result date) and review excerpts read; several are vendor referred with an incentive. HN thread comments are from August 2024. Per-subscriber price tiers were not captured.
