8 Best Sendy Alternatives in 2026 (Cheaper and Better Options)

EmailOctopus is the simplest hosted step away from Sendy, and the free plan is the reason. Starter covers 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month (Nov 2026), with no server to install and no SES account to configure. Pro starts at $9 a month billed yearly ($10 monthly) for up to 500 subscribers, and at 10,000 subscribers it costs $40 a month billed yearly. The tool stays focused: campaigns, forms, landing pages and automation, with nothing extra to pay for.

The catch is scope. There is no SMS channel, no website builder, and no paid subscription system, so monetization means a separate tool. Some integrations, such as Shopify, run through Zapier rather than a direct connection. Free emails carry EmailOctopus branding, and free reports expire after 30 days.

Buttondown is the cheapest paid route off Sendy for a writer who mostly sends plain newsletters. It is free for the first 100 subscribers, and Basic costs $9 a month for up to 1,000 subscribers, or $90 a year (Nov 2026). It takes 0% of paid subscription revenue, with Stripe fees on top. The editor is Markdown or rich text, sending comes from your own domain, and a hosted archive is included. You pay for active subscribers only, and nobody asks you to patch a server.

The catch is that features come as add-ons. Paid subscriptions cost an extra $9 a month, and automations cost more again, so a newsletter that needs both pays $18 a month before it grows. The free plan stops at 100 subscribers, which a growing list passes quickly.

Substack removes the billing question entirely. Publishing is free at any subscriber count, and the cost appears only when you turn on paid subscriptions: Substack keeps 10% of subscription revenue, plus Stripe processing fees (Nov 2026). There is no plan to pick, no server to run, and no subscriber cap to watch. Readers can also find you through the Substack app, which no other tool here offers. For a writer who only wants to publish and charge, it is the simplest exit from Sendy.

The catch is the 10% cut, which grows with your income. At $90 a month in paid revenue, the cut passes EmailOctopus Pro at $9 a month billed yearly. Substack also gives you little control: no custom themes, no segments, no automations, and your emails still send from a substack.com address.

beehiiv is the pick for Sendy users who want their newsletter to earn money and grow on its own. The free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends, and Lite starts at $59 a month ($49 billed yearly) at 1,000 subscribers (Nov 2026). Paid subscriptions carry a 0% beehiiv cut, and the ad network, recommendation network, polls and automations are built in. Sendy has none of those, so beehiiv covers the whole business side it skips, with no server work at all.

The catch is the jump from free to paid. Lite is the first plan with monetization, so a free newsletter that starts charging moves straight to $49 a month billed yearly. Removing beehiiv branding needs Pro at $109 a month ($95 billed yearly), and the free plan lost custom domains in the October 2026 repricing. Prices also rise with list size, reaching $139 a month for Lite at 10,000 subscribers.

Kit is built for creators, and its free plan is the reason it sits this high. The Newsletter plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, landing pages and forms (Nov 2026). That is four times EmailOctopus Starter's 2,500 subscribers, and you pay nothing until you need sequences or visual automations. Paid plans add commerce, paid recommendations and the automation builder creators actually use, all hosted, with no server to touch.

The catch is the price jump when you do pay. Creator starts at $39 a month for up to 1,000 subscribers ($33 billed yearly), far above EmailOctopus Pro at $9 billed yearly. The free plan also limits automation, so a creator who needs sequences pays sooner than the 10,000-subscriber cap suggests. Kit has no SMS channel and suits stores less than MailerLite. If your budget is the main worry, EmailOctopus costs less.

MailerLite is the pick for Sendy users who want more than a plain sender. The free plan covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month and includes three automations (Nov 2026). Comfort starts at $12 a month for 500 subscribers and raises the cap to 50 automations. Websites, landing pages and digital product sales come built in, and the template library gives every email a designed look that Sendy's dated interface cannot match.

The catch is the free plan. It shrank in June 2026, from 500 subscribers and 12,000 emails to 250 and 2,500, so it is far smaller than EmailOctopus Starter's 2,500 subscribers. MailerLite also has no paid subscription system, so a paid newsletter needs a separate checkout tool. Paid prices still rise with subscriber count, and full API access needs a paid plan.

Flodesk is the design pick for Sendy leavers who care how each email looks. Its templates are the prettiest in this list, and Lite costs $25 a month ($19 billed yearly) for up to 1,000 subscribers with unlimited sends (Nov 2026). Every paid plan includes unlimited email sends with no per-email charges, and pricing scales by active subscriber count. The free plan lets you build forms, landing pages and link-in-bio pages with no subscriber limit before you pay anything.

The catch is that the free plan does not send emails. Its pricing card lists sending, but its FAQ says sending needs a paid plan or the 14-day trial, so budget for Lite from the start. Lite also includes only one workflow, and automation and reporting are lighter than Kit or MailerLite. Flodesk has no website builder and no paid subscriptions, so it replaces Sendy's email, not the whole job.

Ghost is the pick for Sendy users who want a publication, not just a newsletter. Ghost(Pro) Starter costs $18 a month ($15 billed yearly) for up to 1,000 members, with a full website, newsletter and member system in one account (Nov 2026). Ghost takes 0% of member payments, which run through Stripe. The open source core means you can also self-host for free, and themes give you full control over design.

The catch is that Starter cannot take paid subscriptions. A paid newsletter needs Publisher at $35 a month ($29 billed yearly), which adds custom themes and three staff users. Email automation is basic compared with marketing platforms, and self-hosting means you handle the server, updates and email delivery yourself, which is the same work you left Sendy to escape. Ghost suits a publisher who wants ownership, not a sender who wants less work.