An August 2025 request involved around 20,000 subscribers and a requirement for standalone, shareable newsletter pages. Beehiiv felt expensive at the quoted price, while the existing LeadSquared and Mailmodo setup did not provide the desired publishing workflow. Substack was considered, but importing the large list was a concern.

Sendy, using Amazon SES, was recommended for evaluation, with advice to warm up the sending domain and increase volume gradually. A later discussion suggested MailerLite for simpler needs, Brevo for multichannel automation and ActiveCampaign for complex journeys; Zoho received a positive bulk-sending account. The conversations did not establish that every option met the original publishing requirement, so that remains a separate check.