Ethical Alternatives & Resources
Tools, services and organisations that do less harm than the default choice, in 43 categories. We’re re-checking every entry against our checklist, one category at a time.
Mailing Lists
Newsletter and mailing list tools, from hosted services for writers to software you run on your own server. When we judge a newsletter platform, we look at who owns it and how it’s funded, what it tracks about your readers, and how easily you can take your list with you.
Our top picks: Buttondown, a profitable newsletter tool with no investors, free for your first 100 subscribers. And Ghost, open-source blogs and paid newsletters from a non-profit foundation that can never be sold; ghost.org itself runs on AWS. If you’d rather host your own, listmonk is free and open source.
How we choose: we check every tool against the 6 principles in our manifesto (who owns it and how it makes money, what it collects, how it treats people, honesty, openness and staying power). This list was last checked on 13 October 2026.
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listmonk
Free open-source newsletter and mailing-list software you self-host, AGPL licence
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Buttondown
Self-funded newsletter tool, free for your first 100 subscribers, no investors
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Schleuder
Encrypted group mailing lists for activists and collectives, free software you self-host
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phpList
Open-source newsletter software you host yourself, AGPL licence, new 3.7 release in 2026
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Mautic
Open-source marketing automation, community-run under the Open Source Collective
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GNU Mailman
Free GNU software for running email discussion lists and newsletters on your own server
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Ghost
Open-source blogs and paid newsletters from a non-profit foundation that can't be sold