Sendy Reviews

Pros

We migrated from a software called Muxemail that allowed us to send via Amazon SES (dramatically dropping costs vs what we had been paying at mailchimp).

Sendy offers the same functionality, but allows you to self-host and control the email sending architecture (avoiding issues if companies go out of business). They offer a very affordable self-installation service that made the switch effortless (less than 24 hours to switch and have all lists up and running, and Amazon SES validation completed).

Sendy is quite powerful, offers integration possibilities, and offers the same value for money that you get with SES.

The reporting is also great, we moved from a platform that made odd reporting choices (e.g. breaking up link clicks by individual rather than by aggregate). Sendy is miles ahead in this area.

The price point is also excellent (less than $70 for lifetime). Note, that you will need to pay for major upgrades if you want to take advantage (you don't have to though)

Cons

The in-built email editor might seem limited if you are used to the more design-friendly packages of Mailchimp and moosend and similar software. This wasn't an issue with us as we use an external email design program called stripo (that handily has a direct integration to sendy).

The overall UI looks a lot starker than competitors, this is only very minor though, as you soon adjust.

Alternatives Considered

Moosend and Mailchimp

Reasons for Choosing Sendy

Muxemail was teetering, and we were worried about the integrity of our lists. There was also missing functionality around reporting that we missed dearly.

Reasons for Switching to Sendy

The installation service, the ability to self-host, the price-point (which is very reasonable) and the ability to take advantage of our existing Amazon SES service.

Pros

Sendy is simple and easy to use. It integrates well and easily with Amazon SES, which means a significant savings for anyone used to paying for services like Mailchimp. Some design software like BEE also integrates with Sendy, allowing you to do WYSIWYG design before sending mass emails.

Cons

The software has to be installed on your own web server, which is fine. However, it's not open-source and some of the code is further encoded, which leads to some web hosts blocking installation of Sendy as potential malware. Other hosts have noted that mass Sendy mailouts use a great deal of bandwidth in comparison to software like phplist, which does not cause the same issues. However, these problems do not seem to apply to small/medium lists.

Alternatives Considered

Brevo

Reasons for Choosing Sendy

PRICE! Mailchimp got much more expensive and our list got much larger.

Switched From

Mailchimp

Reasons for Switching to Sendy

Largely due to price, although we also now use phplist with amazon ses.

Pros

It works with purchased lists, doesn't require very strict data import sources. It sends out emails at a significantly lower price compared to the biggest email marketing tools.

Cons

No drag & drop email template builder, it would be very easy with this. Less customizable with email sequences & drip campaigns and sometimes slightly doubtful analytics

Alternatives Considered

ActiveCampaign, Sender, Brevo and Mailchimp

Reasons for Switching to Sendy

Cost-Effective Platform. Easy to use. Easy to import data from purchased lists. Good Sender Reputation.

Pros

Being self-hosted is the number one criteria for a lot of people who are serious about their business. Being self-hosted means you only pay what you use through the email service providers you choose - which might even mean pennies. You don't pay monthly just for the number of subscribers.
It has nice clean integration with Amazon SES, but it doesn't stop there and allows you to have other email service providers via SMTP. Honestly, there are cheaper services than Amazon SES out there, and if you don't want to go through their initial hoops maybe SMTP via other providers is a better idea.
It has all the options needed for a basic email newsletter functionality - most notably: autoresponders, segmentation, rules, custom fields (important!), bounce handling and in the latest version Webhooks (huge!). It also has a lot of integrations.
But the most attractive thing is the price - a one time payment to use for life - or until you want the newest version. Of course you would be paying the email provider you'll chose, but that's based on usage.
But it's very affordable, and it has everything you need in a newsletter.

Cons

This might not be for someone non-techie. If you don't know what SMTP is, if you don't know how to setup DNS records, a SPF, or what a DKIM is and the like, then this might scare you. But I don't want to discourage you entirely because it might sound more complicated than it is. Sendy is one of the tools that's actually pretty easy to setup and it has a step-by-step instruction, not to mention the videos that show you how to set it up within about 10-15 minutes.
So before you give up on it, look at those setup videos and see. Does it really look that complicated? Sendy makes it all pretty easy and streighforward - I know that there are a lot more complicated self-hosted solutions out there, who have half the features.
It's not as simple as some push-button hosted solutions, but it doesn't cost as much as them either.

Pros

The ability to connect with AWS SES makes Sendy the most robust solution as the overall platform cost become highly profitable when compared to services like Mailchimp or Sendinblue.

Cons

Probably, the only drawback is that the software needs a basic level of technical knowledge as it needs to be configured on your own server and there is no on-demand support for Sendy.

Alternatives Considered

Brevo and Mailchimp

Reasons for Choosing Sendy

Monthly cost. Mailchimp is exponentially costlier when compared to Sendy.

Switched From

Mailchimp

Reasons for Switching to Sendy

Cost and reliability of AWS SES service.

Pros

I love how Sendy integrates so well with Amazon SES. The way it deals with bounces and complaints automatically is a huge time and reputation saver. It also helps track email trends with the click of a button.

Cons

The setup was the only thing I'd say I slightly disliked since it took a while and required a bit of technical knowledge but it's managable.

Pros

It uses AWS SES to send the emails and this makes it the cheapest and most powerful email sender. Also the cost to purchase the software is inexpensive and it is fully featured for the analytics

Cons

If you don't know how to install it and configure it could be a bit overwhelming, but nothing you can't fix finding some help on fiverr

Alternatives Considered

Elastic Email

Reasons for Choosing Sendy

Cheaper, you own your data, and you can personalize it

Switched From

Mailchimp

Reasons for Switching to Sendy

Cheapest and with the best features

Pros

I have been email marketing for years, This is the best way to send your emails. Its cheap to buy, cheap to send via AWS servers.

Cons

It does not have a drag and drop email builder, if it did, wow!Does not run well on shared hosting platforms

Pros

Good product for bulk emailing specific lists. This product doesn't let you setup a series of follow ups based on triggers without outside programs such as Zapier. But overall its a very solid program for a newsletter or cold emails if you run it through Amazon SES. Cost wise it's unbeatable. I would definitely recommend it to people looking to reach their clients or clients for others.

Cons

Doesn't allow you to setup triggers that allow auto-replies or queue emails to auto send over long periods of time.

Pros

Sendy is probably the best email marketing software that I've used, I like how you pay a one time fee and own it, then pay a small monthly bill implimenting Amazon SES with it. It gives me all the functionality of a subscription email service, with a one time fee.

Cons

The only thing I think is a slight con about sendy is how you need some webhosting knowledge to get it set up on your server, but once you overcome that, I honestly haven't had a single issue since.

Pros

Sendy helps you to setup your own email marketing system. It gets integrated with AWS, and you can send really cheap Emails from that.

Cons

The deployment is difficult especially non technical people like me. There are also very less resources available for deployment.

Alternatives Considered

SmartReach.io, SendBlaster, Saleshandy, GMass, Mailchimp and Overloop

Reasons for Switching to Sendy

Because of its cost effectiveness.

Pros

Easier to send mass mail using Amazon SES,Easier to use UI

Cons

Difficulties adding signatures while sending mass mail through sendy and unable to send personalized attachments. Also, difficult to resend the mail to those who did not open the mail.

Pros

Sendy allows me to send bulk email, manage my campaigns on top of SES. Its pricing is amazing and scalable without eating into my profits.

Cons

It's a little bit technical to setup and it doesn't have advanced features like many others.