Mailpiece vs WordPress.org
Free software. Some assembly required.
Here we compare WordPress you install on your own server, with a newsletter plugin such as MailPoet or The Newsletter Plugin. For the hosted WordPress.com, see Mailpiece vs WordPress.com. WordPress is free, open source and yours, and we like that. But we think a newsletter deserves to be more than a plugin on a website: if all you do is write to people who asked to hear from you, you're keeping a site, its plugins and a sending plan up to date to send a letter.
With WordPress.org
A website, with a newsletter plugin
- Write in the plugin's designer, on your site
- Mail new posts automatically, or each issue by hand
- Count opens and clicks unless you turn it off
- Keep WordPress and every plugin updated
With Mailpiece
A newsletter, on your server
- Ask your agent to write it, or write it yourself
- Mail through the provider you choose
- No tracking. Readers say if they liked it
- Free, on your own server and domain
A week with each
build the issue in the plugin's designer, or wire an agent to WordPress's REST API or its MCP adapter yourself
tell your agent what this week's issue is about, and it drafts, tests and schedules it
pick a template, choose the lists, then send or schedule
write the issue as an issue, and send yourself a test first
check opens and clicks, unless you set tracking to none
hear from the readers who say they liked it
move up the plugin's plan as subscribers come in
greet new readers with welcome emails you write, and say goodbye to those who leave
keep WordPress, the theme and every plugin updated, and back up first
keep one newsletter running on your own server
Side by side
- WordPress is built to run a whole website, with the newsletter as a plugin. In Mailpiece, your evenings go to writing, not to updating plugins.
- With WordPress on your server, you write in the plugin's designer, or wire your agent to its REST API or MCP adapter yourself. In Mailpiece, your agent does all you can do on screen: drafts, sends you a test, schedules, publishes.
- With WordPress, your list lives in your own site, on your server. In Mailpiece, it does too.
- With WordPress, your readers' opens and clicks are tracked unless you turn it off. In Mailpiece, they're left alone.
- As your list grows, so do the plugin's plan and your sending service's bill. In Mailpiece, the app stays free, and only your sending service's bill follows your list.
- With WordPress, your day goes to keeping the core, the theme and every plugin up to date. In Mailpiece, there is one app to update, and your day goes to writing.
Moving from WordPress.org
Install Mailpiece, export your subscribers from the plugin as a file and import the addresses, then connect the mail provider you want to send with. Your next issue goes out from Mailpiece, on your own domain. Your posts, your theme, your templates and your stats stay in WordPress: keep the site up for as long as you like, and point its sign-up form at Mailpiece.
Who should stay on WordPress.org?
Someone whose newsletter is really a website: pages, a theme, a shop, a dozen plugins that do the rest. WordPress does all of that, in the open, and Mailpiece is only a newsletter, on purpose.
WordPress is free, open source and on my server too. Why switch?
You don't have to: both are yours and both run where you choose. Switch if you'd rather write than run a site: Mailpiece is one newsletter instead of WordPress, a plugin and its plan, your agent can write and test each issue, and nobody is tracked.
Is this the same as WordPress.com?
No. WordPress.org is the software you install yourself; WordPress.com hosts it for you and mails your posts from its own newsletter. For that one, see Mailpiece vs WordPress.com.
Can an agent send my WordPress newsletter?
WordPress's REST API can create, schedule and publish posts, and a newsletter plugin can mail each new post. Its MCP adapter lets an agent use whatever abilities your plugins register, so what it can send depends on them. In Mailpiece, your agent does all you can do on screen, from the first install.
Move your newsletter this afternoon
Install Mailpiece on a server, import your list, connect your sender, and send your next issue from it.