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Email Marketing · head to head

Dotdigital vs Sendy

Dotdigital logo

Dotdigital

Email Marketing

UK-listed email and cross-channel marketing platform with deep Adobe Commerce and Dynamics connectors

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sendy logo

Sendy

Email Marketing

Self-hosted newsletter app bought once for $69 that sends through your own Amazon SES account

From
$69/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Dotdigital pricing is anchored on contact tiers, so inactive and unsubscribed contacts keep counting until you actively delete them and the bill grows with list decay rather than with sending.; Sendy free updates run only to the next major version, so the one-time purchase is really one purchase per major release and the long-term cost is not zero.
  • They diverge on capability: Dotdigital covers Automation builder, Sendy covers One-time licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dotdigital and Sendy actually diverge.

Attributes where Dotdigital and Sendy differ
AttributeDotdigitalSendy
Starting priceOn request$69/one-time
Pricing modelquoteOne-time purchase
PlatformsWeb, REST APIWeb, Linux

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Email Marketing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Dotdigital

  • Automation builder
  • Commerce connectors
  • Dynamics 365 integration
  • Regional data residency
  • Liquid personalisation
  • SMS and WhatsApp

Only in Sendy

  • One-time licence
  • Amazon SES delivery
  • Multiple brands
  • Autoresponders
  • Segmentation
  • Bounce and complaint handling
  • Reporting
  • Client access

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Dotdigital

  • A Microsoft Dynamics 365 organisation that needs marketing automation without building the CRM sync itselfnot Sendy
  • An Adobe Commerce retailer that wants basket and order data in campaigns without middlewarenot Sendy
  • A European buyer that needs contact data held in the UK or EU with a named hosting region in the contractnot Sendy
  • A procurement team that wants to review published financial statements before committing to a multi-year platformnot Sendy

Sendy

  • A publisher with a large list sending frequently, where a hosted platform bills by subscriber count month after monthnot Dotdigital
  • An agency managing newsletters for several clients who each get their own brand and login under one licencenot Dotdigital
  • A business that must keep subscriber data on its own infrastructure for privacy or contractual reasonsnot Dotdigital
  • A developer wiring signups from a custom application into a mailing list without paying platform API feesnot Dotdigital

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Dotdigital

  • Pricing is anchored on contact tiers, so inactive and unsubscribed contacts keep counting until you actively delete them and the bill grows with list decay rather than with sending.
  • SMS, WhatsApp and chat are add-ons billed on top of the platform fee, so cross-channel programmes cost noticeably more than the headline quote suggests.
  • The automation builder handles scheduled and behavioural triggers well but is not designed for high-frequency real-time orchestration, which is where growing teams outgrow it.
  • Attribution reporting beyond opens, clicks and connected commerce revenue is thin without the additional analytics module.
  • Automation logic is not portable, so migrating away means rebuilding programmes by hand after exporting contacts and data through the API.

Sendy

  • Free updates run only to the next major version, so the one-time purchase is really one purchase per major release and the long-term cost is not zero.
  • Deliverability becomes entirely your problem: SES gives you a raw sending pipe and no warm-up guidance, reputation dashboards or deliverability consultants when a campaign starts landing in spam.
  • Amazon SES requires production access approval and will suspend accounts on high bounce or complaint rates, which can take a list offline mid-campaign with little warning.
  • The template editor and design tooling are basic next to Mailchimp or Klaviyo, so anything visually ambitious means hand-written HTML email.
  • You own the server: PHP upgrades, database backups and patching are yours, and an unmaintained Sendy install holding a subscriber list is a data breach waiting to happen.

Pricing, plan by plan

Dotdigital

On request
  • Dotdigital$undefined/month
    • Priced on a contact tier combined with a monthly email send allowance
    • SMS, WhatsApp and additional channels billed separately
    • Annual contracts standard, monthly available on entry tiers

Sendy

$69/one-time
  • Sendy licence$69/one-time
    • One-time purchase, no subscription
    • Free updates only up to the next major version
    • Unlimited lists, subscribers and campaigns
  • AI Assistant bundle$39/one-time
    • Optional add-on, listed at a discount from $49
    • AI writing assistance inside the campaign editor
  • Installation service$79/one-time
    • Optional one-off setup by the vendor
    • For buyers who do not want to configure hosting and SES themselves

Which should you pick?

Choose Dotdigital if

  • You need automation builder.
  • You work on Web, REST API.
  • You also want commerce connectors.
Dotdigital review

Choose Sendy if

  • You need one-time licence.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want amazon ses delivery.
Sendy review

Questions people ask

Is Dotdigital or Sendy better?
Neither clearly leads. Dotdigital starts at On request and Sendy at $69/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dotdigital or Sendy?
Dotdigital starts at On request and Sendy at $69/one-time.
Does Dotdigital or Sendy run on more platforms?
Dotdigital runs on Web, REST API. Sendy runs on Web, Linux.
What is Dotdigital best used for?
Dotdigital is most often used for a microsoft dynamics 365 organisation that needs marketing automation without building the crm sync itself, an adobe commerce retailer that wants basket and order data in campaigns without middleware, a european buyer that needs contact data held in the uk or eu with a named hosting region in the contract, a procurement team that wants to review published financial statements before committing to a multi-year platform. Of those, a microsoft dynamics 365 organisation that needs marketing automation without building the crm sync itself and an adobe commerce retailer that wants basket and order data in campaigns without middleware are not what Sendy is typically brought in for.
What can Dotdigital do that Sendy cannot?
Dotdigital covers Automation builder, Commerce connectors, Dynamics 365 integration, Regional data residency. Sendy covers One-time licence, Amazon SES delivery, Multiple brands, Autoresponders.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Dotdigital: Are unsubscribed contacts billed?

Yes, if they remain in the account. Contact tiers count stored contacts, so suppression lists still consume allowance until records are removed.

Sendy: What does it actually cost to send?

The licence is $69 once. Delivery is Amazon SES at roughly $1 per 10,000 emails, plus your own hosting, so a 50,000-contact weekly newsletter costs a few dollars a month to send.

Dotdigital: Is it a real alternative to enterprise engagement platforms?

For scheduled and behavioural ecommerce and B2B programmes, yes. For real-time cross-channel orchestration at scale it is not competing in the same bracket.

Sendy: Are updates free forever?

No. Updates are free up to the next major version, for example within 7.x. Moving from 7.x to 8.x is a paid upgrade.

Dotdigital: Where is contact data stored?

In the region contracted, with UK, EU, US and Australian hosting available, which is why it appears on European shortlists with residency requirements.

Sendy: Do I need to know how to set up a server?

Standard PHP and MySQL hosting is enough and the vendor compares it to installing WordPress, but the SES side needs AWS configuration. An $79 installation service is offered if you would rather not.

Sendy: What happens if Amazon suspends my SES account?

Your sending stops until you resolve it with AWS. There is no alternative delivery route built in, and this is the single biggest operational risk of the model.

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