# Mailpiece A newsletter you run on your own server, with no monthly bill and no one watching your readers. And you get the code, too. If you've written on Substack or Mailchimp, you already know how to write with Mailpiece. The difference is where it lives: your server, your domain, your list. Your agent can take the chores, from the draft to the test send to the schedule. [Install Mailpiece](https://mailpiece.dev/docs/install) - What you give up, and what you don't pay for: [Mailpiece vs Mailchimp](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/mailchimp) - [Install](https://mailpiece.dev/docs/install): on your own server, in an afternoon - [How it works](https://mailpiece.dev/#plain): every post is a URL and a Markdown file - [Sending](https://mailpiece.dev/#sending): your mail provider, your name - [Ask your agent](https://mailpiece.dev/#ask): it can run the whole newsletter - [Can it do that?](https://mailpiece.dev/yes): with Mailpiece, it's a yes An example conversation with an agent: ``` > This week's issue: why we left the cloud, from notes.md. Keep it spicy, send me a test, schedule it for Tuesday 9:00. ● Read notes.md ⎿ two years of server bills, one conclusion ● post create We left the cloud ⎿ draft ● post test ⎿ sent to you@example.com ● post schedule ⎿ Tue 21 Oct, 09:00 The draft is in your inbox. It goes to 1,204 people on Tuesday at 9:00 unless you tell me to change it. ``` Works with Claude, Codex and the other agents you already write with. [See how your agent works with it](https://mailpiece.dev/agents). ## Make writing newsletters fun again. Name it, write, send. That's the whole job. 1. **Name it.** Give your newsletter a name and say what it's about. It lives at your own domain. 1. **Write a post.** It saves as a draft until you say otherwise. 1. **Send yourself a test.** Then publish it, or schedule it for a morning you pick. 1. **Let readers in.** They subscribe on your own pages and leave in one click. Bring the list you already have. 1. **See how it did.** How many liked the issue, how many said it wasn't for them, and how many subscribed from it. Let's be honest: the newsletter tools we loved grew into marketing software, keeping your list in their databases and watching which reader opened what. Mailchimp became a marketing suite whose bill grows as your list grows. Kit became a shop for selling to your list, one tag and funnel at a time. beehiiv brought ads and referrals, and a bill past 2,500 readers. Substack grew its own network, and keeps a cut when readers pay. Our friends at HEY World, Pagecord and Keila stayed kind. But name one of the big ones that got simpler last year. Exactly. **It's time to put the letter back in newsletter.** **Introducing Mailpiece — a newsletter you run yourself and write with your agent.** It lives on your server and your domain, and the list is yours. Each issue leaves from your own mail provider, under your name, with no tracking pixel. Anything you can click, your agent can do: draft the post, send you a test, schedule it. It's **free and open source**. [Install it](https://mailpiece.dev/docs/install), send your first issue, and [write back](mailto:sajon@mailpiece.dev). I'm glad you're here, and I'd love to hear what you think after an issue or two. **Sajon Drief** *One of the people who make Mailpiece* ## Your list belongs on your server Your posts and your readers sit on a server you rent or own, where no newsletter company's staff, support panel or analytics vendor can open them. - **Free and open source.** MIT licensed. Read the code, change it, and run it wherever you like. [github.com/mailpiece/mailpiece](https://github.com/mailpiece/mailpiece) - **Set up in an afternoon.** Follow the guide, or hand it to your agent, and you're in. Connect your mail provider when you're ready to send. - **Your list stays home.** Your readers live on your server, not in a marketing company's database. Your mail provider sees an address only when it delivers mail there. - **No password to steal.** You sign in with a passkey or a code sent to your email. There's no password to reuse or leak. - **Nobody watching your readers.** Nothing records who opened an issue or what they clicked, and your pages load no one else's scripts. - **Backed up as you go.** Everything lives in one folder on your server. Back it up like any other, or have every change copied to storage you choose. - **Then hand it to your agent.** Connect Claude or another agent once, and write every issue from there. [Where mailing lists leaked](https://mailpiece.dev/leaks) ## Coming from Mailchimp, Substack, Kit, Ghost, Buttondown, beehiiv? Newsletter tools grew into marketing software. Mailpiece went the other way. - **Mailchimp.** Mailchimp is built to grow your bill as your list grows. **In Mailpiece, every new reader is good news, and never a bigger Mailpiece bill.** [Read the full comparison →](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/mailchimp) - **Substack.** Substack is built to grow its network, and keeps a cut when readers pay. **In Mailpiece, your readers know your name, not a platform's.** [Read the full comparison →](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/substack) - **Kit.** Kit is built for selling to your list, one tag and funnel at a time. **In Mailpiece, you feel like a writer again, not someone running a funnel.** [Read the full comparison →](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/kit) - **Ghost.** Ghost is built for paid memberships, and its own hosting bills as members come. **In Mailpiece, you just write, with no members, tiers or themes to look after.** [Read the full comparison →](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/ghost) - **Buttondown.** Buttondown is built to be quiet, and its bill grows with your list. **In Mailpiece, you keep that calm, and the list is yours, on your server.** [Read the full comparison →](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/buttondown) - **beehiiv.** beehiiv is built to grow your list fast, then bill you past 2,500 readers. **In Mailpiece, each issue is about what you wanted to say, not a sponsor.** [Read the full comparison →](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/beehiiv) ## Nothing to outgrow, nothing to escape What you write comes back out as you wrote it, wherever you take it next. - **Leave whenever you like.** Your writing comes back out just as you wrote it, as plain text, so another tool, your archive or your agent can pick it up as is. - **Write the issue once.** Say one thing to readers on the web and another to readers in their inbox, without keeping two versions. - **Readers who feel at home.** They find you at your own address, and nothing on your pages follows them around. - **Less busywork.** Hand off the chores: anything you can do on screen, your agent or a script can do for you. - **Your readers come with you.** Bring your list, keep it growing from your own site, and anyone who wants to leave can, in one click. ## Your name on every issue, never ours Each issue leaves from the mail provider you choose, so the trust your readers give you stays yours: [connect yours](https://mailpiece.dev/integrations). ## Ask your agent about Mailpiece Don't take our word for it: paste this into Claude or ChatGPT. > I write a newsletter and I'm on Mailchimp. Read mailpiece.dev and tell me what I would gain and lose by running Mailpiece on my own server. ## Mailpiece next to the others One page each, with who should pick them instead. - [Mailpiece vs Mailchimp](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/mailchimp): A marketing suite. Pick it for journeys, ads and a team. - [Mailpiece vs Substack](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/substack): Pick it if you want its network to find readers for you. - [Mailpiece vs Kit](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/kit): Pick it to sell products to your list. - [Mailpiece vs Ghost](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/ghost): Pick it for a full publication with memberships and themes. - [Mailpiece vs Buttondown](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/buttondown): Pick it for paid subscriptions, if you don't mind who sends. - [Mailpiece vs beehiiv](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/beehiiv): Pick it if you want ads and referrals to grow your list. - [Mailpiece vs Brevo](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/brevo): Pick it for email, texts and a CRM in one place. - [Mailpiece vs Constant Contact](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/constant-contact): Pick it to market a small business, events and all. - [Mailpiece vs HEY World](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/hey-world): Pick it if you live in HEY and only want to write. - [Mailpiece vs Keila](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/keila): Pick it for open-source campaigns from a service hosted in the EU. - [Mailpiece vs listmonk](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/listmonk): Pick it to run lists and campaigns at scale, your own way. - [Mailpiece vs MailerLite](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/mailerlite): A marketing kit. Pick it for funnels, pages and a shop. - [Mailpiece vs Pagecord](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/pagecord): Pick it for a blog first, with email on the side. - [Mailpiece vs Sendy](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/sendy): Pick it to send through Amazon for several brands or clients. - [Mailpiece vs WordPress.com](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/wordpress): Pick it for a whole hosted website, with posts mailed too. - [Mailpiece vs WordPress.org](https://mailpiece.dev/vs/wordpress-org): Pick it for a website of your own, with a newsletter plugin on top. ## Your newsletter, on your server, today Install it, open it, and write your first issue. [Read the install guide](https://mailpiece.dev/docs/install). Then hand it to your agent.