Skip the monthly fees for your new newsletter

You’re excited about the new thing, which is good. But that excitement often leads to a specific, expensive mistake: signing up for supporting services before you actually need them.

Say you want a professional mailing address, so you pay $40 a month for a service like Earth Class Mail. You want a newsletter, so you pay $20 a month for Mailchimp. It feels like progress. But if you’re just starting out, you might be buying a car when you only need a bicycle.

I’m a computer guy, so I’m comfortable with the alternatives, but the point is that there is a massive amount of open-source software that is free and can be self-hosted. If you don’t need fancy automations, AI integrations, or complex subscriber management, you probably don’t need the paid tier.

For my own newsletter, I use a tool called Listmonk. It’s totally free, runs across platforms, and has been really good for me so far. I only have a handful of subscribers right now, so this free option covers everything I need. If you’re curious about how to set this up, or if you have questions about the specific tools I’m using, comment "list" and I’ll get back to you.