Sendy alternative

The best Sendy alternative for 2026 — self-hosted, multi-SMTP, full source code

Sendy is a lean, $69 self-hosted newsletter app built around Amazon SES. If you've outgrown it — you want branching automation, more sending providers, editable source, or a full reseller layer — the strongest self-hosted alternative is AcelleMail ($80 one-time, full PHP source, 8 sending drivers, visual automation, multi-tenant SaaS). listmonk is the lightest free option, Mautic has the deepest open-source automation, and EmailOctopus/BigMailer are hosted SaaS if you'd rather not self-host at all. Full comparison + a Sendy migration guide below.

Try the live demo

Sendy alternatives compared (2026)

Tool Price model Self-hosted Sending Source Automation Reseller / SaaS
AcelleMail $80 / $199 one-time Yes (PHP/MySQL) 8 drivers + SMTP + SDK Full unencrypted PHP Visual branching Yes (Extended, 6 gateways)
Sendy $69 one-time Yes (PHP/MySQL) SES + SendGrid/Mailjet/Elastic Commercial PHP Autoresponder drips White-label client accounts
MailWizz One-time (CodeCanyon) Yes (PHP/MySQL) SES/SendGrid/Mailgun/SMTP Commercial PHP Follow-up campaigns Yes (Extended SAAS)
listmonk Free (AGPLv3) Yes (Go binary) SMTP + Messenger webhook Open source Minimal (API-driven) No (single-tenant)
Mautic Free (GPLv3) Yes (PHP/Symfony) SMTP + plugins Open source Deepest (visual) Limited (1 instance)
Mailcoach SaaS €9.99/mo + self-host licence Yes (Laravel licence) SES/Mailgun/SendGrid/Postmark Commercial Laravel No-code workflows Via your own app
EmailOctopus Hosted: free → $9/mo No (hosted SaaS) Platform / SES Connect Proprietary Automations No
BigMailer Hosted: free → $20/mo No (hosted SaaS) BYO Amazon SES / platform Proprietary Via integrations Yes (multi-brand agency)

Facts from each vendor's site (2026) + the AcelleMail codebase. "Source" = how the application code is licensed/shipped; "Self-hosted" = runs on your own server. Deep dives: vs Sendy · vs listmonk · vs Mautic.

What to look for in a Sendy alternative

Sendy does one thing well: cheap, self-hosted broadcast sending through Amazon SES. People shop for an alternative when they hit one of these ceilings — use it as your checklist:

  • Sending flexibility — more than SES + a few SMTP providers, ideally with generic SMTP and a way to add vendors.
  • Branching automation — behavior-triggered journeys with conditions, not just linear autoresponder drips.
  • Editable source & extensibility — full source you can modify, and a plugin model.
  • A real reseller layer — customer accounts with subscription plans, payment gateways, and dunning, if you sell email to clients.
  • Try-before-you-buy — a live demo and a clear one-time vs recurring cost.

1. AcelleMail — the most complete self-hosted pick

AcelleMail is a PHP/Laravel app on a $80 one-time licence (Regular) with the full, unencrypted source. It bundles a drag-and-drop builder, a visual branching automation engine (Automation2), A/B testing, a visual segment builder, 8 sending drivers plus a plugin SDK, an 18-locale UI, and — on the $199 Extended licence — a multi-tenant SaaS layer (customer accounts, subscription plans, 6 payment gateways, prorated upgrades, dunning, white-label). It pairs with Amazon SES exactly like Sendy, so your delivery cost stays at ~$0.10 per 1,000.

Is AcelleMail's sending slow?

No. Throughput is bound by your sending service and server, not a software cap. Delivery runs through queue workers — add more workers (and Redis) to raise parallelism — and you can set per-sending-server daily/hourly limits to warm an IP up gradually or respect a provider's rate limit. On a modest VPS with SES, teams send hundreds of thousands of emails per campaign, with no software-imposed subscriber or send-volume limit. (Older forum comments about slow sending predate the current queue/worker model.)

Best for: teams that want to own a full-featured platform outright — automation, multi-provider sending, and a reseller path — without a recurring SaaS fee or the copyleft of the free options. See the full AcelleMail vs Sendy comparison →

2–7. The other Sendy alternatives, honestly

2. MailWizz — the closest like-for-like

A self-hosted PHP/MySQL app on a one-time CodeCanyon licence, like Sendy and AcelleMail. It supports SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, SparkPost, Elastic Email, and generic SMTP, and its Extended licence powers a full SAAS business (unlimited customers, price plans). Best for: a like-for-like self-hosted upgrade from Sendy with a reseller layer. Where AcelleMail differs: bundled visual branching automation and a documented plugin SDK.

3. listmonk — the lightest free option

A single Go binary on PostgreSQL, AGPLv3 and free. It is fast, lean, and ideal for broadcast lists, with SMTP plus a "Messenger" webhook model for other backends. It keeps automation minimal (scheduling; API for multi-step) and is single-tenant. Best for: developers who want the smallest free footprint and are comfortable composing automation against an API.

4. Mautic — the deepest open-source automation

A PHP/Symfony platform, GPLv3 and free, with the most powerful open-source visual campaign builder of this group. The trade-off is operational weight — it is heavier to install, tune, and keep running than a single-purpose sender. Best for: teams that need advanced automation, have the ops capacity, and want open source. See vs Mautic.

5. Mailcoach — a Laravel option, hosted or self-hosted

A Laravel-based product available as SaaS from €9.99/mo or a self-hosted licence (purchased via spatie.be, single- or unlimited-domain, with a year of updates). It sends through SES, Mailgun, SendGrid, Postmark, Resend, or Brevo and offers no-code workflows. Best for: Laravel teams that want to embed sending into their own product, either hosted or self-hosted.

6. EmailOctopus — the easiest hosted option

A hosted SaaS (not self-hosted): a free tier up to 2,500 subscribers / 10,000 emails, a $9/mo Pro plan, and a separate SES-powered "Connect" product. Automations are included. Best for: people who want SES-class pricing without running a server, and don't need to own the software.

7. BigMailer — hosted, multi-brand for agencies

A hosted SaaS with a no-time-limit free tier (bring your own Amazon SES) and platform sending from ~$20/mo. It's built for agencies — add unlimited brands, invite clients, and control access — with automation via integrations and webhooks. Best for: agencies that want multi-brand management without self-hosting.

How to migrate from Sendy to AcelleMail

  1. Export from Sendy — CSV per list from the admin, or query the subscribers/lists MySQL tables. Note custom fields + the brand each list belongs to.
  2. Install AcelleMail — upload + run the 5-minute web installer (PHP 8.1+, MySQL/MariaDB).
  3. Reconnect your sending service — add the same provider you used with Sendy (SES/SendGrid/Elastic Email); your SES domain carries over. Publish the SPF/DKIM records AcelleMail generates.
  4. Import contacts — CSV/XLSX with field mapping; chunked import or REST API for very large lists.
  5. Rebuild templates + autoresponders — paste your HTML, and turn Sendy drips into workflows (optionally adding condition/branch nodes).
  6. Test + cut over — send a Mail-Tester/GlockApps check, run one campaign in parallel, then retire Sendy. Most teams finish inside a week.

Which Sendy alternative should you pick?

  • Own a full platform + resell, one-time: AcelleMail (or MailWizz for a leaner like-for-like).
  • Cheapest lean self-hosted sender: stay on Sendy, or listmonk if you want free + open source.
  • Deepest automation, open source, ops capacity: Mautic.
  • Embed into a Laravel product: Mailcoach.
  • No server, easiest hosted: EmailOctopus; or BigMailer for agency multi-brand.
Try the live demo

Sendy alternatives — frequently asked questions

It depends on what you want beyond Sendy. For a full self-hosted app you own outright, AcelleMail ships the most in one package — drag-and-drop builder, visual branching automation, 8 sending drivers, A/B testing, a plugin SDK, and a multi-tenant SaaS layer — for a $80 one-time license with full PHP source. MailWizz is the closest like-for-like self-hosted PHP app. listmonk is the lightest free (AGPLv3) option, and Mautic has the deepest open-source automation. The comparison table above lays out the trade-offs.

Yes — listmonk (AGPLv3, a single Go binary) and Mautic (GPLv3, PHP) are free, open-source, self-hosted options; you pay only for hosting and your sending service. They trade the licence fee for either fewer bundled features (listmonk) or heavier setup and operation (Mautic). AcelleMail, Sendy, and MailWizz are paid one-time licences; EmailOctopus and BigMailer are hosted SaaS with free starter tiers.

Sendy sends through Amazon SES and, per sendy.co, also SendGrid, Mailjet, and Elastic Email. AcelleMail ships 8 built-in drivers (SES, SendGrid, SparkPost, Mailgun, Elastic Email, Blastengine, Gmail relay, generic SMTP) plus a plugin SDK. MailWizz supports SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, SparkPost, Elastic Email, and generic SMTP. listmonk defaults to SMTP plus its Messenger webhook model. So if provider flexibility is the goal, AcelleMail and MailWizz give the widest native choice while keeping generic SMTP as a fallback.

listmonk and Mautic are open source (AGPLv3 / GPLv3) — full source on GitHub, with copyleft obligations if you offer a modified version as a service. AcelleMail ships the full, unencrypted PHP source under a commercial CodeCanyon licence with no copyleft — you can read and modify it privately, and the Extended licence lets you resell. That "owned source without the AGPL trap" position is the main reason teams pick AcelleMail over the free options.

Sendy offers autoresponders (linear drips). For visual, branching journeys: Mautic has the deepest open-source campaign builder (at the cost of heavier hosting), and AcelleMail ships Automation2 — a visual canvas with trigger / wait / condition / branch / segment-move nodes — bundled on every licence. Mailcoach also offers no-code workflows. listmonk keeps automation minimal (campaign scheduling; multi-step flows via its API). Pick Mautic or AcelleMail if branching automation matters most.

Yes. Sendy has white-label client accounts (set pricing, permissions, sending limits). MailWizz's Extended licence and AcelleMail's Extended licence ($199) both add a full SaaS layer — customer accounts, plans, and billing. AcelleMail bundles 6 payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, Razorpay, Paystack, Offline), prorated upgrades, and dunning, so recurring client billing runs inside the app. BigMailer offers agency multi-brand management on a hosted plan if you prefer not to self-host.

Sendy stores subscribers and lists in its own MySQL database — export each list to CSV (or query the tables directly). Then in AcelleMail: install (5-minute web installer), reconnect the same sending provider you used with Sendy (your SES domain carries over), import the CSV with field mapping, rebuild templates and turn autoresponder drips into workflows, publish the SPF/DKIM records it generates, and run a deliverability test before cutover. Most teams cut over inside a week. The step-by-step guide is on the AcelleMail vs Sendy page.

No — throughput is bound by your sending service and server, not a software cap. Campaign delivery runs through queue workers, so you raise parallelism by adding workers (and Redis); you can also set per-server daily/hourly limits to warm an IP up gradually. On a modest VPS with Amazon SES, teams send hundreds of thousands of emails per campaign, and there is no software-imposed subscriber or send-volume limit. Older forum comments about slow sending predate the current queue/worker model and the per-server rate controls.

All three are self-hosted PHP/MySQL apps on a one-time licence. Sendy is the leanest and cheapest ($69) for broadcast newsletters plus simple drips. MailWizz and AcelleMail are fuller platforms with multi-provider sending and a SaaS/reseller layer. Choose AcelleMail when you want bundled visual branching automation, A/B testing, a plugin SDK, full unencrypted source, and a live demo to try first. See vs Sendy and vs listmonk for the detailed breakdowns.

If you do not want to run a server, EmailOctopus and BigMailer are hosted SaaS alternatives — EmailOctopus has a free tier (2,500 subscribers) and a $9/mo Pro plan plus an SES-powered "Connect" option; BigMailer is free with your own Amazon SES and ~$20/mo for platform sending with agency multi-brand tools. The trade-off versus AcelleMail / Sendy / MailWizz is ownership: hosted SaaS means recurring fees and your list living on a third-party platform rather than your own server.

Self-hosted one-time licences keep cost flat: Sendy $69, AcelleMail $80 (or $199 Extended), MailWizz a one-time CodeCanyon licence — plus a small VPS and Amazon SES at ~$0.10 per 1,000 emails. listmonk and Mautic add no licence fee. Hosted SaaS (EmailOctopus, BigMailer) is a recurring monthly fee that grows with your list. For a 10,000-contact sender, a self-hosted app on SES typically runs well under $750 over three years all-in.

Run your email marketing on your own server, your own terms

Join thousands of companies that have taken control of their email marketing with full source code, no recurring fees, and unlimited sending. One-time $80 license, lifetime updates.

Get the AcelleMail newsletter

Monthly issue with new releases, deliverability tips, and self-hosting playbooks. No spam.