An editor that stays out of the way
Type, then press / for headings, pictures and callouts. Preview it on a phone before it goes out.
Run your newsletter75% cheaper than beehiiv, 64% cheaper than Mailchimp, 64% cheaper than Ghost(Pro), 45% cheaper than MailerLite
You pay for the emails you send, not for the subscribers who stopped opening in March. From $7 a month.
- Every feature on every plan
- Cancel anytime
- Your list exports in one click
botensten.com/mail/campaigns/7c1e
Campaigns Issue 42
Draft Test Send
SubjectWhat broke this week, and the fix
PreviewA queue that lost jobs, a 9-line patch, and a test that would have caught it.
The build log, issue 42
Tuesday the send queue dropped 312 jobs. Nobody noticed for six hours. Here’s what happened, the 9-line patch, and the test I should have written first.
Retries now carry the same idempotency key
HeadingImageCalloutDivider
The math, at every list size
Every other tool prices the list. We price the sending, which is the part that costs anything. A 5,000-subscriber weekly newsletter is $27 a month here.
- vs beehiiv
- −75%$27 vs $109
- vs Mailchimp
- −64%$27 vs $75
- vs Ghost(Pro)
- −64%$27 vs $75
- vs MailerLite
- −45%$27 vs $49
What a list costs a monthone issue a week
- KitFreeFree
- SubstackFreeFree
- Botensten MailCreator$27
- ButtondownStandard$29
- MailerLiteComfort$49
- MailchimpEssentials$75
- Ghost(Pro)Publisher$75
- ActiveCampaignStarter$99
- KlaviyoEmail$100
- beehiivLite$109
At 5k subscribers, Botensten Mail costs less than every paid plan here. Free plans come with a catch: ads, a cut of your revenue or missing features. Cheapest plan that fits, billed monthly, from each pricing page on October 19, 2026.
Everything a newsletter needs. Nothing you pay extra for.
Scheduled for when they read
Pick a day and time, or the one your readers open most. It goes out on its own.
Out of the spam folder
Built in and on by default: authentication, warm-up, list cleanup and automatic pauses.
Bring your list in a minute
Import from beehiiv, Substack, Mailchimp or any CSV. Bad addresses stay out.
Your domain, your name
Send from your own domain with DKIM and DMARC. No “powered by” badge, on any plan.
Signup forms, welcome emails
Double opt-in and a welcome email for every new reader, from your site or ours.
A real API
Everything the dashboard does, over REST or MCP.
Your AI agent can run it too
Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor over MCP, or use the REST API with a key. Your agent drafts, tests, schedules and reads the stats. Sending to your list can’t be undone, so it asks you first.
- 1Claude drafts issue 43 from your notescreate_campaign()
- 2Claude sends you a testsend_test_email()
- 3ChatGPT schedules it for Tuesday, 8 AMschedule_campaign()
- 4Cursor imports the readers from your appimport_contacts()
- 5Claude tells you how it didget_campaign_report()
C
Charles BotenstenBuilds and runs Botensten Mail
I send my own newsletters with this, from the same servers you’ll use.
Most newsletter tools bill by the subscriber, including the ones who haven’t opened anything since spring. Sending an email costs a fraction of a cent. Keeping an address costs nothing. So Botensten Mail bills by the email, and readers who stopped opening get one last email instead of a line on your invoice.
It’s built on MailCheap, Marc Lou’s open-source newsletter app, with my own delivery, billing and support on top. The code is public. Read it before you trust it.
Every feature, on every plan
Plans grow with the emails you send, not the size of your list.
25,000
For up to 12,500 subscribers
Creator
$1.08 per 1,000 emails
$27/month
Billed monthly
Every plan includes
- Campaigns
- Scheduling
- Website
- Your own domain
- Signup forms
- Welcome emails
- Imports
- Stats
- AI agents and API
- Email support
Subscribe
75% cheaper than beehiiv5,000 subscribers, one email a week: $27 on Botensten Mail Creator, $109 on beehiiv Lite. Prices checked October 19, 2026.
Questions
How do you keep my emails out of spam?
Your emails prove they come from you: DKIM, SPF and DMARC on your own domain, with the records shown on the Domains page.
New senders start slow. Up to 200 emails go out at once, then your account earns its speed over 30 days of clean sends. The first time you email new contacts, 5% of them go first, and the rest follow 3 hours later if bounces and spam reports look normal.
A campaign pauses when over 2% of its emails bounce or 0.08% get marked as spam. Past 5% or 0.3%, the account stops until we review it. One bad sender doesn't get to spoil everyone's inbox placement.
Why charge per email and not per subscriber?
Because sending is what costs money. Storing an address costs almost nothing.
Per-subscriber pricing charges you for readers who stopped reading, and keeps charging until you delete them by hand. Here, readers who ignore your issues for months get one last email. No answer, and they stop getting issues. They're never deleted, and they never cost you anything.
Do I need my own domain?
Yes. You send from your own domain, so the reputation you build is yours and your emails never share a From address with strangers. Add it on the Domains page and copy the DNS records it shows into your registrar.
What happens if I go over my plan?
Signups keep working and confirmation emails still go out. New sends wait until you upgrade or your next month starts. Upgrading takes effect right away, and Stripe charges only the difference for the rest of the month.
Can I bring my list from beehiiv, Substack or Mailchimp?
Yes. Export your subscribers as a CSV and import it on the Contacts page. You confirm they agreed to get your emails; duplicates, typos like gmial.com, spam traps and throwaway inboxes stay out.
How does it work with my AI agent?
Connect it in Claude or ChatGPT with your sign-in, or give Claude Code, Cursor or Codex an API key. It can write drafts, send you tests, schedule issues and read the stats. Sending to your list asks you first.
Is there a free trial?
No. Plans start at $7 a month for 5,000 emails, and you can cancel anytime. Paying yearly costs 11 months.
Can I cancel or get a refund?
Cancel anytime from the billing page. Your plan keeps working until the end of the month or year you paid for. We don't refund partial periods, unless we close your account without you breaking the terms: then you get the unused part back.
More than 500,000 emails a month?
Email hello@botensten.com with your volume and we'll set up a plan for it.
Who runs Botensten Mail?
Charles Botensten builds and runs it. Questions go to hello@botensten.com, and a person answers.
Bring your list. Keep the difference.
Import it from beehiiv, Substack, Mailchimp or a CSV. A 5,000-reader weekly list costs $27 a month here, $109 on beehiiv.
Start sendingbeehiivInvoice, Jan
Total$109.00
beehiivInvoice, Feb
Total$109.00
beehiivInvoice, Mar
Total$109.00
beehiivInvoice, Apr
Total$109.00
beehiivInvoice, May
Total$109.00
beehiivInvoice, Jun
Total$109.00
beehiivInvoice, Jul
Total$109.00
beehiivInvoice, Aug
Total$109.00
beehiivInvoice, Sep
Total$109.00
beehiivInvoice, Oct
Total$109.00
beehiivInvoice, Nov
Total$109.00
beehiivInvoice, Dec
Total$109.00
$27a month, here