Sorry, no simple answer here, though I did find one service free for up to 100 users: https://groups.io

Any "service", as opposed to software you install on your own system, needs to be paid for, somewhere, somehow. Email services in particular have significant infrastructure requirements, beyond software development.

Software development is actually not a problem here - there are in fact a number of open source projects. In many cases these are "I need to create a mailing list system, and now that it is all done, I'd like to let other people use it too." So the issue isn't software itself, it is infrastructure.

A typical mailing list system needs:

• A database to store the recipient lists
• SMTP server to send messages
• Software for maintaining the list (admin add/drop subscribers)
• Software for sending messages
• Software for handling user requests (typically via emails to special email addresses or with special Subject lines)

The software can be a web interface, in which case a web server is needed. It can also be email based (e.g., special email addresses or coded subject lines for particular commands), in which case the ability to read and process email is needed - which generally means integrating at the domain level, though technically it could also be done with software on a web server that periodically checks particular email addresses.

But all of this needs resources - CPU, RAM, storage, network access, etc.

If you self-host your own domain then that's fine, you provide the resources. And the resources are not that big for a small list. However, the average user is not equipped to self-host their own domain or even an automated email process.

If you pay for a typical commercially hosted domain, the hosting company is already providing all the necessary resources and will often include some mailing list software (either open source or commercial or their own creation) at no extra charge.

But wait, Gmail, Yahoo mail, etc. are all free! Google Docs is free! So many other great online web sites are free! Why can't this one be free too?

Every large "free" internet service is based on some sort of funding. The most common that I see are:

• Advertising - In fact, that is something I have seen quite a bit on "free" email lists - automatic advertising added to every mailing list message that goes out. For some people this is acceptable. For many others it is not, because (a) it is intrusive and (b) it is sometimes inappropriate (which is a very subjective thing).
• Small vs. Large - This is common on many products. Dropbox storage, Gmail and other email services, and many other systems are available free at the small size but with a real cost (typically monthly or yearly) at larger sizes. The companies make money on people who gradually get to the larger, paid, plans, or based on individuals recommending the paid product for businesses (e.g., AVG antivirus is marketed this way). I am sure some of the success of Gmail/Google Docs/etc. with paid corporate/government/educational accounts is due to the great experience people have with the free product - i.e., the "small vs. large" business model can work quite well.

One possible reason for a lack of free mailing list systems, compared to many other application categories, is that at the smallest levels many people will simply maintain a list in their computer and BCC: everyone, which generally works well up to a few dozen people. At some threshold value, many internet providers will block messages based on the number of recipients. So if you are sending to 20 people, you probably won't bother with an email list "system" and you will likely never be interested in an upsell to a paid system.

At a much higher level - perhaps 200 or more recipients, you are more likely to either be promoting a commercial product or working for some sort of organization (even if non-profit) and then paying a few $ a month for email services should not be a big deal.

So the in-between is a real issue. One that I have found (I have no connection except that one mailing list I am currently subscribed to uses it) is https://groups.io/static/pricing which has a free plan up to 100 recipients.

I have written my own software for two lists I run, each around 1,000 recipients, but that runs into the same issues as most open source systems - you need a server to run it and need to be able to install and maintain it.

Most of the other mailing lists I am currently subscribed to use mailing list software bundled with the hosting accounts or paid commercial services such as Constant Contact.

posted 12 months ago

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manassehkatz‭ staff

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