Mailerlite is very similar to Buttondown in a lot of ways ¬– it's a tool explicitly tailored for simpler use cases and smaller businesses.
But Mailerlite lacks a handful of features that Buttondown offers, and it doesn't have the same level of polish or simplicity.
Buttondown is the better option if you're looking for a tool that lets you start quickly, easily, and for free — and grows as your newsletter grows.
Mailerlite can be confusing for starters, especially if you’re used to “tagging” of other email marketing tools. Furthermore, MailerLite’s approval process for new accounts is more rigorous than that of other providers. — Adam Preiser
Feature | Buttondown | Mailerlite |
Free for your first hundred subscribers | ||
Archives | ||
Embeddable widget | ||
Analytics | ||
Markdown support | ||
Drag and drop image uploading | ||
Email scheduling | ||
Free RSS support | ||
Clean, usable design | ||
Smart embeds | ||
Autosaving | ||
First-party API | ||
Paid subscriptions | ||
Third-party integrations | ||
Privacy-first | ||
Multiple newsletters | ||
'Pay what you want' mode | ||
Discussion threads |