Switching from Mailchimp to open-source Mailtrain and AWS SES • Hacker News Board

Re: Switching from Mailchimp to open-source Mailtrain and AWS SES

#61

Post by chiefalchemist » Sun, May 23, 2021, 10:31 PM UTC

tashoecraft wrote: post #26

throayobviousl wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This line of reasoning is how to tell the difference between a manager and an engineer :)

An engineer should recognize what is worth their time. If setting this up takes more than 5hour a year of time to setup and maintain then it’s not worth it. You’ll be wasting money

Yes and no. There is some value in the experience gained. That being said, there might be better experiences to be gained (i.e., stick with Mailchimp and learn some other tool).

Regardless, it's not simply about time.

Re: Switching from Mailchimp to open-source Mailtrain and AWS SES

#62

Post by that_guy_iain » Sun, May 23, 2021, 10:33 PM UTC

andrewnicolalde wrote: post #58

that_guy_iain wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're in the EU you're also saving the GDPR fines. And the author probably saved 500 euros a year on a basic plan. But if you're on the top end plan you would save tens of thousands.

I don’t think GDPR is applicable to private individuals running a newsletter..

GDPR as far as I know applies to anyone collecting data within the EU. But seriously the people who would think this is a great ad for mailchimp because the savings are so low are companies.

Re: Switching from Mailchimp to open-source Mailtrain and AWS SES

#63

Post by that_guy_iain » Sun, May 23, 2021, 10:34 PM UTC

ratww wrote: post #46

Silhouette wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What GDPR fines are those, specifically?

EDIT: I misread the grandparent post.

Not FUD there has been a court ruling on using mailchimp being a breach of GDPR.

Re: Switching from Mailchimp to open-source Mailtrain and AWS SES

#64

Post by chiefalchemist » Sun, May 23, 2021, 10:36 PM UTC

windsignaling wrote: post #47

For those saying that this is a complicated solution: it is. I started using Sendy with SES a few years ago and it was much easier to setup compared to this blog post. Went from $120 / mo to pennies, + the initial cost of Sendy. If you're a developer, it's worth it.

Is there anything similar that does not use Amazon?

Re: Switching from Mailchimp to open-source Mailtrain and AWS SES

#65

Post by Karishma1234fff » Sun, May 23, 2021, 10:39 PM UTC

I have seen far too many articles of these types.

As someone who has sent billions of emails I can tell you the following.

1. SES is shit. 2. Value of mailchimp is not in its interface. It is in mail deliverability.

Use at least sendgrid.

Re: Switching from Mailchimp to open-source Mailtrain and AWS SES

#66

Post by chiefalchemist » Sun, May 23, 2021, 10:41 PM UTC

antoineaugusti wrote: post #17

If you're ready to pay 5$ each month for each thousand subscribers, Buttondown seems like a great tool. It does offert paid subscriptions as well if you want to earn money with your content. https://buttondown.email

Intriguing. But run by one person? That's not worth the risk.

Re: Switching from Mailchimp to open-source Mailtrain and AWS SES

#67

Post by degenerate » Sun, May 23, 2021, 10:45 PM UTC

atonse wrote: post #19

Is there an open source server that gives you all the goodies that MailGun abd SendGrid do? Like delivery abd bounce webhooks?

I don't think there is. NodeMailer kind of gets close by letting you request Delivery Status Notifications, but doesn't have webhooks or handle them for you: https://nodemailer.com/smtp/dsn/

The closest thing I think exists would be Sendy, but it's a closed source paid app.

Re: Switching from Mailchimp to open-source Mailtrain and AWS SES

#68

Post by OJFord » Sun, May 23, 2021, 11:11 PM UTC

yread wrote: post #34

sam_lowry_ wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And then, it is not even your own solution, but AWS SES. I have been running mail servers for 20+ years, sending volumes that would have made me multiple times bancrupt if I was doing it via Mailchimp or SES.

AWS SES is ~1$/10,000 emails. Are you the biggest spammer or just very very poor? Also, 20 years ago running your email server was way easier than now

Not to mention the free tier.

Re: Switching from Mailchimp to open-source Mailtrain and AWS SES

#69

Post by tclancy » Sun, May 23, 2021, 11:13 PM UTC

paulcole wrote: post #20

tqkxzugoaupvwqr wrote: post #7

500€ is 5 hours of labor. If you are skilled and everything works right away you may only spend 2 hours on the self-maintained solution which means you save 3 hours or in other words … nothing. You also have to maintain/update the system, maybe spend time teaching other people. It’s not worth the effort. If you don’t have expert knowledge in the required tools/services, it will take much longer than 5 hours to set up…

> 500€ is 5 hours of labor Only if someone will pay you for those 5 hours. Otherwise may as well say they’re worth 37 starfish or 92 leprechauns.

It’s not possible to catch an even number of leprechauns. I mean, basic fact checking is what I expect from a HN commenter. This place is turning into Reddit.

Re: Switching from Mailchimp to open-source Mailtrain and AWS SES

#70

Post by mgbmtl » Sun, May 23, 2021, 11:14 PM UTC

atonse wrote: post #19

Is there an open source server that gives you all the goodies that MailGun abd SendGrid do? Like delivery abd bounce webhooks?

CiviCRM can handle bounces (fetches them from a mailbox using a VERP), but for spam complaints, you need to own your IP block in order to manage feedback loops, which is another level of complicated.