I have no major complaints with Buttondown, it gets the job done, and done well. They are transparent and open to feedback, and it's great being able to have such a flexible platform.

I love being able to write with markdown, and how easy it is to have RSS and an archive of what I've sent!

The analytics are not very intensive. I don't mind that personally, but I could see that being a deal breaker for others.

I’m still a relatively new user, but so far I’m underwhelmed with the analytics side of things. With my previous platform, I was able to easily track number of opens by email and by subscriber (for free). I now pay for analytics that are not as good. The Buttondown platform is easy to use, which is great, but may not make up for the analytics.

I like how easy Buttondown was to set up and start sending emails.

Tracking engagement was pretty much nonexistent until I upgraded my account. Even now, the analytics aren’t great.

It was easy to get up and running. The UI is easy to use and very straightfoward.

The analytics take some time to update, and there's no confirmation of an email being sent when you sent to a few people from your list.

Buttondown is an easy to use newsletter platform that packs a lot of features into a simple user interface. Anyone can learn to use it, though it's best for users with some amount of tech-savvy. Onboarding was easy — I picked a url for my newsletter and added some basic details. The user interface for setting up custom domains walked me through all the arcane DNS changes and could check if I had set things up correctly. Then, I was able to use the editor. The editor supports writing in both rich text and Markdown modes, plus comes with a live preview. It's only 2 clicks to send a test email. The platform is highly customizable. The default email style is simple (looks very close to a handwritten email) but everything can be changed by writing custom CSS. Unlike Substack, where all emails look the same, I can make the colors, fonts, and other styles match my website to provide a consistent look-and-feel. I can even change the subject and body of reminder emails for people who have not yet confirmed their subscriptions. The free tier is quite generous as it has no time limit and includes advanced features like custom domains. It can send newsletters with up to 100 subscribers. For the first year, I was able to run my newsletter entirely on the free tier. Finally, [sensitive content hidden] provides great customer support, even on the free and entry-level tiers. He seems to respond to most/all tickets personally. He is very responsive to feedback, especially about documentation, which has resulted in a rich knowledge base that can resolve most of my problems.

While the editor's simplicity makes it far more intuitive than marketing tools like MailChimp, the editor's functionality is still more bare-bones compared to other newsletter platforms like Substack. For example, both platforms allow embedding X and Instagram posts in the email. Buttondown's format only includes the text of X posts, no image previews. It doesn't seem to be working reliably for Instagram. The user needs to insert a screenshot manually if they want the X/ Instagram posts to look good. Preview also seems slow overall, so I would recommend keeping the preview window closed while writing. The scheduling feature is a little confusing. After scheduling an email, I am allowed to change my mind and unschedule it. However, I did not find an easy way to send the email immediately instead. I must change the scheduled time to a date in the past.

A fantastic service that far exceeds the majority of other email marketing and campaign management services out there.

It’s such a clean and rich control panel. The whole set up for how you deliver campaigns in button down is better than all other services we’ve used.

Nothing. Buttondown just works well across the board.

Beutifukly designed, quick to get in and out of, easy navigation. Lots of thoughtful features.

My initial newsletter had a weird mobile formatting issue that I needed help with.

It’s by far my favorite email service and I’ve used a few. To top it off the customer service is top notch, even for a small guy like me. It’s by far the best in the email space and beyond.

Buttondown is super easy to get started and use for almost any e-mail use case imaginable.

Feature segmentation could be a little friendlier to smaller publishers.

After evaluating options for hosting my paid newsletter, I chose Buttondown for its flexibility (design, formatting for email/web, incorporating my logo and branding), payment integration, subscriber analytics, affordability, and flat fee-for-service as opposed to paying a share of subscription revenue.

Set-up was more complicated than expected, but many of my obstacles were easy to overcome via the online documentation and knowledge gained during set-up means an easier path going forward. I did have a couple items warrenting additional support and was amazed at how quick and helpful the Buttondown can be. I was sold on the service itself by the support I received during setup and sending my first newsletter. One item flagged by me is now a update for all users. That is fantastic customer service!

Ease of use, affordability, and very attentive customer service.

Some of the onboarding process was a little confusing. Would appreciate more design options, too, but not essential.

Ease of use; quality of output; granular options; spectacular customer service

It's getting better and better - I think the contact management could be improved but I'm still happy

The first three things that drew me to Buttondown when a friend suggested it as a possible alternative to Substack: (1) Free tier that includes unlimited customer service. Many newsletter platforms are doing away with free tiers entirely, and those that still have them typically limit free customer service to the first 30 days, which is basically useless to someone like me who only sends out one newsletter per month. (2) Ability to important subscribers and past issues from Substack, as I was looking specifically to move away from Substack for a variety of reasons. (3) The transparency! Going through the pages about Buttondown and its use really impressed me. I was amazed to even find a page about when and how Buttondown provides information to law enforcement - all platforms have a clause in their privacy policy about providing information to law enforcement if they must, but this is the first time I've ever seen a platform describe in what situation this would happen. Since starting to use Buttondown: I like how easy it was to important everything from my old Substack. I love that I've been able to customize my newsletter's look more than I could on Substack. I love that there's built-in alt text and that alt text is included in the "are you really ready to publish" checklist! And I've had a great experience with [sensitive content hidden] and the customer service team.

It's not very intuitive, which does create more of a learning curve for me as someone who isn't tech savvy than I might have on other platforms. However, this is offset by the pages and pages of resources and guides to using Buttondown (as well as the fantastic customer service).

Buttondown has made my newsletter much easier to create, schedule, and manage overall, so I actually DO my newsletters now and regularly! It's made my life less stressful, and I really appreciate that!

I switched over to Buttondown from another popular email service provider because I thought Buttondown looked much simpler and more intuitive to use, and I was RIGHT! It's been such a delight to use: much less hassle and stress, very easy to understand, wonderful features always being added, and a great system overall. I love being able to more easily see my archive and that current subscribers and potential subscribers can see the archive whenever they wish. I also appreciate the way [sensitive content hidden] listens to the community and takes our requests and needs to heart!For example, I once messaged him about how to include alt text in my newsletters, and after providing me with a way to do it, he also promised to develop a feature that made it easier and quicker to include alt text soon-- and then he did exactly that within less than, I believe, 8 weeks!I deeply appreciate [sensitive content hidden] responsiveness to the community for requests, and I'm excited to see how Buttondown continues to grow!

Honestly, anything that is a con for me eventually turns into a positive because [sensitive content hidden] is constantly working to improve the service and add functions that we request as users. Currently, I think the scheduling to send an email is a little slow at times, but it always goes out to all my subscribers, and I just factor in a few minutes extra if something is critical for arriving by a specific time.And this one isn't a complaint so much as an idea, but I would love to see a "like" button for the emails so that newsletter subscribers have a simple and quick way to engage with the content! But honestly, it's fine with or without that lol.

I originally transitioned from Tinyletter, which uses the same idea as Buttondown, to send emails simply and also have an online archive that works like a simple blog. Buttondown does this along with many new features. The ownder is diehard committed to this tool now, and response quickly to questions in a very friendly manner. Email delivery is excellent, which is what you want and is most important.

It is one of the few newsletter tools that also includes an online arcive page. The writing area is clutter free so you can concentrate on your content better.

Over the past couple years there have been many improvements made at a rapid pace, so every time I went to send an email campaign I needed to first spend some time learning the new way around the UI. Also, but business model has changed, although my account is grandfathered, I would not need the present business model if I had to pay for it. ... there are other alternatives that do better for my needs.

I look forward to working with Buttondown. There aren't many services I can say that about. Plenty of "ick" with a lot of the tech I have to deal with. When it’s time to work with Buttondown, it’s a relief, because it’s so thoughtfully designed. I can also clearly see

The most important quality of Buttondown for me is that it plays nicely with my own CMS, which existed for many years before I started a newsletter. Even though I’m happy to give credit to Buttondown for powering my newsletter, I am very happy to be able to publish a newsletter that looks like a product of my business. Another critical integration factor: with just a handful of API calls, my premium subscribers can also be in my bespoke membership program on my own website. Noice.

It is a little bit rough around the edges, as you would expect from any small shop with a complex product. But don’t get me wrong, this barely qualifies as a not-liking: all products have issues, and I would much rather spar with bugs with a responsive and thoughtful developer any day of the week.

Buttondown simply lets me write emails. Perhaps more importantly, Buttondown lets me write emails simply.In a crowded field of all-singing, all-dancing newsletter platforms, Buttondown is an oasis of simplicity. I wanted to write a privacy-first newsletter, no tracking or pixels or prickly stuff like that. It felt like every provider on the market promised a dozen features, but none cared about providing an easy, efficient, simple product. Buttondown does.And the thing is, Buttondown can offer all the bells and whistles that others have (automations, complex contact management, drip sequences) — but they're opt-in, rather than the default.Every other platform felt suffocatingly complex, Buttondown makes it easy for me to write. What a joy.

Privacy-first features and a supremely clear, focused writing page.

When I first signed up, the UI was a little bit difficult to decipher. A lot of work has gone on since and it's consistently improving, but it's still a little bit idiosyncratic.

I started using Buttondown in 2020. I had had a daily blog that had run its course, so I wanted to switch to something that would reach people weekly. Buttondown fit the bill. I think (though I'm not sure) that I encountered [sensitive content hidden] on social media, and we discussed it before I deployed

It's easy to use. I like Markdown, so that's a natural way for me to do things. The interface is mostly quite friendly, and I know that they have things in the roadmap that will make it even better. And for me, the best thing about Buttondown is the tech support. The people are great, helpful, and welcoming. The bottom line: I started on the free tier, and I'm not actually using any features that would require payment -- but I recently upgraded to a paid tier because Buttondown and its team are so useful and helpful that I figure that I should chip in at least something to the endeavour.

Hmm. The editor could be a tad better. I'd like to have a dark mode. But with the standardization on Markdown, I can write in a different tool and easily drop what I've written into the Buttondown editor window.

Overall positive. I've just barely started, and have only sent out one newsletter so far, but it seems to have worked fairly seamlessly and I will continue to expand my knowledge base for the platform as I use it more. I particularly appreciate [sensitive content hidden] helpful support and his cheerful and incredibly patient disposition.

I very much appreciate the support. I was able to schedule a half hour call with [sensitive content hidden] where he answered my questions. He seamlessly migrated my subscribers and archives over to Buttondown. Overall, once the DNS Records were switched, sending an email has been fairly straightforward, which I appreciate, as well as being able to choose between Markdown, HTML, or a mode in which it's done for me. The look is clean, and the archives page is easy to scan. The pricing (Standard) is reasonable.

I found it difficult to set up in large part because much of the "language" is foreign to me. My hosting server's help desk ended up switching the DNS Records for me because I didn't understand the directions. As well, I don't have the settings fully set up because I don't understand some of them. A lot of this is my own ignorance; some of it might be helped with a little more explanatory text or even "explain it to me like I'm a five year old" text. I very much hope comments are enabled when that is possible.

Positive, refreshing, and effective. It does what it says with no drama. Plus the notification emails are fun. [sensitive content hidden] clearly has a sense of humor and pours his being into the efforts

It was easy to set up, and when I upgraded to the basic tier, it was clear what would be included, and what performance to expect. It is easy to work with, I use the RSS feed to trigger the creation of a newsletter email, have it sit in my drafts (so I can tweak it if need be) and then send when I am ready. It does the job, quietly, competently, and without any drama. No surprises. Also, the few questions I had, [sensitive content hidden] was super responsive in answering and helping out.

Not really a Buttondown issue, but it is disappointing that most email clients trash carefully created CSS formatting tweaks.

Buttondown makes it simple and fun to write, send, and manage my newsletter, especially given privacy-first practice.

Simple, beautiful interface. Powerful features. Supportive and enthusiastic founder. Easy for me to use as a privacy-first company.

The only reason I might not use Buttondown in the future is it doesn't have the user base that, say, Substack has. However, this is only if I need to use a platform, as opposed to a tool.

I have reached a much wider audience and built respect for new parts of my practice by starting a Buttondown newsletter. Really happy to have made this choice.

Buttondown was the first newsletter I began with for promoting my work and sharing my writing. I have found it extremely user-friendly and clean/easy to work with. I also like that it's actually a bit more of an underground pick and that my newsletters don't look like everyone else's. The customer response time for getting questions answered is SUPER fast and I love that adjustments are always being made. The overall experience and interface make me WANT to and look forward to sending out my next newsletter. Paid option also feels fairly priced. Overall, really happy with the choice and glad I did it.

One thing I don't totally understand is that when people reply to newsletters that have gone out, the newsletter email body comes out super widened rather than fitting the screen. This seems not good for the potential that people might forward the one they receive to others, and that that might come out hard to read on the next reader's end. That said, not sure if this is a bug just on my email end or actually affecting others.

I was honestly shocked how easy the migration and setup was. Seriously - I thought maybe I had missed something or had done something wrong for it to be so simple. Painless, little effort, and well worth the price.

I was a Mailchimp user for sometime, but hit the limits of their free tier. Buttondown was affordable for me, but what interested me even more was the support (both in product and documentation) for migrating both my existing list as well as my RSS-based campaign.

Honestly "it just worked". I'm sure they are as perfect as any other company, but I've had no issues.

From setup to now, two years later, I've had great support from a great product. I've used it with two different companies and it's been no problem both times.

Unlike most email newsletter services, Buttondown's web application is fast and lightweight instead of slow and heavy (cough cough MailChimp). I've never had a problem with customers failing to receive my newsletters.

The analytics occasionally trigger ad blockers, but my paying customers don't seem to mind.

I really like how easy it was to migrate my newsletter content to Buttondown from Substack and TinyLetter.

I wish I could look at the list of my sent emails in descending order from email last sent to oldest email, but perhaps I have not figured out how yet.

Love it! Couldn’t be happier with the support and overall experience. Exactly what i was looking for coming from the monkey software.

I like that i can write campaigns in Markdown and focus on simple emails instead of lots of templates and drag and drop formatting.

Campaign management is minimal. It would be nice to be able to tag, filter, and sort campaigns better.

Very nice experience, elegant and well designed software, excellent, fast and reliable support team

I liked the approach, the elegance of the software architecture and approach.There are many software for mail marketing, but few products that are designed for newsletter for a free and paid audience.

There are same function that still need to be better implemented, I do not like that I can only dived the list in paid and free, and that on the list management, field like name and surname are not included by default