EmailOctopus lacks crucial features for you to start your newsletter.

EmailOctopus is a complex, powerful tool, but it lacks some of the most important features that you need when you're building a newsletter.

Buttondown is a more light-weight tool that gives you the same ease of use as EmailOctopus, as well as support for features like:

1. Scheduled emails that can automatically send whenever you want
2. A rich, detailed API so you can programmatically interact with your emails and subscribers
3. Dynamic tagging and segmentation of your subscribers
4. Friendly 24/7 support

Kind words from happy writers

Your settings page is a joy to use and everything about Buttondown makes me happy.

Gareth Jelley

Magazine editor

have been on Buttondown for ~18 months and I can't recommend it enough.

Elizabeth Minkel

Podcast host

You really do make ALL other customer service look terrible by comparison.

Chris Mead

Improv teacher

There is a caring person on the other side of this software, which is one of the things I like the most about Buttondown.

Keith Calder

Film & TV Producer

I’d also like to add that @buttondown is an absolute joy to use. Hats off, Justin!

Elliot Jay Stocks

Creative Director, Google Fonts

Shoutout to @buttondown and @jmduke for building an amazing bootstrapped product for newsletters, all while being very open to feedback and connecting directly with customers 🙏 Easily one of the most enjoyable product experience I've had.

Den Delimarsky

Head of Ecosystem, Netlify

if you are looking for "newsletter tool for hackers" i tentatively believe the answer is @buttondown full api, compose in markdown, good docs for setting up domain auth, simple subscribe form HTML that you style yourself (or not)

Brian David Hall

Author, Your Website Sucks

I really like @buttondown as a blogging platform, it has the simplicity of Substack but the corporate culture is less toxic.

Chad Loder

Extremism researcher

I worked with @buttondown and asked for some new payment support beyond the supporter single tier / pay-what-you-want options. Justin was great and built it in just a couple days.

Dan Hon

Author & consultant

I write nonfiction and I use @buttondown buttondown.email/Changeset - indie, GREAT personal customer support, very nice default styling, all the options I want including ones to protect my readers' privacy

Sumana Harihareswara

Open source maintainer

I use @buttondown because it does exactly what I need (manage subscribers and send markdown emails), not more and not less 👍 As a bonus it's made by an indie dev which I love!

Max Stober

Founder, GraphCDN

If you’re considering running an email newsletter, or if you already run one and are considering a change of provider, I highly recommend @buttondownemail. Super-easy app, very fair pricing with a generous free tier, and exemplary support. 💯

Peter Gasston

Technologist and speaker

imo @buttondown is easily one of the best-designed services i’ve used in recent years, if you have a substack you should really consider switching!

Kabir Goel

Engineer, Cal

It feels incomparably good to be able to email just like a guy named Justin when you have a @buttondown question 15 minutes before you’re about to blast a Geistlist email. (Not a guarantee but wow this guy is human-level good.)

Jacob Ford

Designer About Town