Many businesses rely on tools like Mailchimp for newsletters and email reach-outs. But as convenient as these tools are, there's a common issue that almost every growing business encounters: the costs can spiral out of control as your email list expands.
We've felt this pinch, too. The more our subscriber list grew, the more we found ourselves paying more. It just didn’t make sense. So, we went back and experimented until we found a solution that not only fits our budget but also scales beautifully.
It is a combination of ListMonk (open source and self-hostable email campaign manager) and AWS SES (an email service by AWS, costs $0.10/1000 emails; Pay as you go.)
And after hosting it in AWS EC2 instance for 5$ plan in Hetzner cloud (Cloud Server Company), it works as one of the most scalable (in terms of contacts and campaigns).
Here’s unit economics compared to mailchimp:
Mailchimp:
For same numbers, Unlimited contacts, 30000 emails each month,
Listmonk + Hetzner + AWS SES
0 + $5/month + $3 = $8
However, here, The hetzner price is fixed per month, the only variable is the price for AWS SES.
Still, that’s a significant savings if you are sending 100ks of emails per month to endless contacts.
The Cost-Scalability Challenge
Email marketing is a powerful tool for businesses, but as your subscriber list grows, so do the costs. Popular tools like Mailchimp are fantastic, but they can become quite expensive as your audience expands. This exponential cost increase can be a significant barrier, especially for startups and small businesses.
Our Solution: ListMonk & AWS SES
To tackle this issue, we experimented with different tools and found a perfect combination that offers both affordability and scalability. Here’s how it works:
ListMonk:
This is an open-source email campaign manager that you can host yourself. Being open-source means you have complete control over customization and there are no subscription fees. You can tailor it to your specific needs, ensuring it fits perfectly with your business processes.
AWS SES:
Amazon's Simple Email Service is incredibly cost-effective, charging only $0.10 per 1,000 emails. It operates on a "pay as you go" model, so you only pay for what you use, making it highly scalable. Whether you’re sending a few hundred emails or millions, AWS SES can handle it efficiently.
How It Works Together
We host ListMonk on an AWS EC2 instance, which costs around $5 per month on Hetzner Cloud. This setup is not only affordable but also highly scalable. Here’s a step-by-step overview of how it works:
Setup: We installed ListMonk on an AWS EC2 instance, which is a virtual server in Amazon's cloud. By using Hetzner Cloud's $5 plan, we keep our hosting costs minimal.
Integration: ListMonk can be configured to use AWS SES for sending emails. This combination allows us to leverage the powerful email capabilities of AWS while maintaining full control over our campaign management with ListMonk.
Scalability: As our email list grows, we don’t have to worry about skyrocketing costs. AWS SES’s pay-as-you-go pricing ensures that our expenses scale smoothly with our needs.
Case-in point
This combination of ListMonk and AWS SES has proven to be a game-changer for us. We’ve been able to manage large email campaigns efficiently without breaking the bank. Here’s an example:
Campaign Success:
We ran a large email campaign to over 50,000 subscribers. The total cost for sending these emails was just $5 for hosting and $5 for the emails themselves, totaling only $10. Compare this to traditional tools where costs could have easily reached hundreds of dollars.
Conclusion
In summary, if you’re looking for an affordable and scalable email marketing solution, combining ListMonk with AWS SES is the way to go. It offers the best of both worlds: cost-effectiveness and scalability, without sacrificing control or functionality.
Give it a try and see how it transforms your email marketing efforts. We’d love to hear about your experiences, so feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!