Run by a human

Hi! I'm Justin. I run Buttondown.

Buttondown is indie newsletter software.

Buttondown is a passion project. I didn’t start it to "revolutionize” or “disrupt” the landscape – I wanted a better tool for my own newsletter, and then I wanted to share it with you.

There’s no customer success team or board of directors: just me, working on a project I love. Email asking for help onboarding? You’ll get a response from me. Have a bug report or a feature request? You’ll get a response from me.

Running this tool is probably the most fun I’ve had in my ten years of being a developer, and it’s something I want to take care of not just for the next ten years but the next fifty.

I try to be as transparent as possible with a lot of the ins and outs of running Buttondown. That’s why I publish all running costs and write weekly development notes. You know exactly what’s happening with the tool as I’m working on it.

Because I don’t have to worry too much about a profit motive, I can also do things like donate a percentage of all profits to the open source software that powers Buttondown.

Transparency and honesty

All of my costs and plans are available online for your curious perusal.

Talk to a human, not a bot

I'll reply to you myself: no dealing with customer service agents or middle managers.

Learn about indie development

I write openly and honestly about what I've learned building Buttondown. Join me for the ride!