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Email Marketing · head to head

Keila vs TinyLetter

Keila logo

Keila

Email Marketing

AGPL newsletter tool from Germany, self-hostable or hosted in the EU with no free plan

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
TinyLetter logo

TinyLetter

News

The simplest way to send newsletters

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Keila there is no free hosted plan at all, stated as deliberate policy, so unlike almost every competitor there is no way to run a small list at zero cost without self-hosting it yourself.; TinyLetter tinyLetter merged into Mailchimp; no longer offered as standalone product
  • They diverge on capability: Keila covers Priced by emails sent, TinyLetter covers Newsletter publishing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Keila and TinyLetter actually diverge.

Attributes where Keila and TinyLetter differ
AttributeKeilaTinyLetter
Pricing modelPer month by emails sentsubscription
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Self-hostedWeb
CategoryEmail MarketingNews
FoundedUnknown2011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Keila

  • Priced by emails sent
  • Bring your own sender
  • Self-hosting
  • EU hosting
  • Sign-up forms
  • Segmentation
  • Markdown and block editor
  • Multiple projects

Only in TinyLetter

  • Newsletter publishing
  • Email templates
  • Subscriber management
  • Archive creation
  • Email delivery
  • Simple editor
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

What people use each for

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

Keila

  • A membership organisation holding forty thousand contacts but sending only one newsletter a month, where contact-metered pricing would cost many times morenot TinyLetter
  • A European publisher or public body that needs subscriber data held in the EU under a GDPR-friendly arrangementnot TinyLetter
  • A technical team that wants to self-host its newsletter tool and route sending through its existing AWS SES accountnot TinyLetter
  • An agency running several separate client lists that does not want to pay per project or per additional listnot TinyLetter

TinyLetter

  • Email newsletter distribution to subscribersnot Keila
  • Automated email marketing campaignsnot Keila
  • Customer communication and engagementnot Keila
  • E-commerce order notification systemsnot Keila

Where each one falls short

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

Keila

  • There is no free hosted plan at all, stated as deliberate policy, so unlike almost every competitor there is no way to run a small list at zero cost without self-hosting it yourself.
  • Marketing automation is minimal, with none of the behavioural triggers, journey builders or e-commerce revenue attribution that Klaviyo, Brevo and Mailchimp treat as table stakes.
  • The self-hosted route puts deliverability entirely on you: reputation, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, warm-up and bounce handling are your problem, and a badly configured instance will land in spam folders.
  • It is a small project from a small company, so the integration ecosystem is thin and there is no partner network, template marketplace or large body of community expertise to draw on.
  • Email volume tiers step in fixed blocks, so an organisation whose sending is uneven across the year either overbuys at the annual peak or has to change plan repeatedly.

TinyLetter

  • TinyLetter merged into Mailchimp; no longer offered as standalone product
  • Free tier limited to 250 contacts maximum
  • Pricing varies significantly by contact volume tiers
  • Premium plan at $350/month may be cost-prohibitive for small newsletters

Pricing, plan by plan

Keila

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • AGPL-3.0-or-later licence with no fee
    • Official Docker image and sample compose file
    • You supply hosting and a sending backend
  • Keila XS$8/month
    • Two thousand emails per month
    • Unlimited contacts and projects
    • Send with Keila or bring your own email server
  • Keila M$32/month
    • Fifteen thousand emails per month
    • Unlimited contacts and projects
    • Sign-up forms and segmentation
  • Keila XXL$256/month
    • Two hundred and fifty thousand emails per month
    • Unlimited contacts and projects
    • Intermediate tiers at 16, 64 and 128 EUR for 5,000, 50,000 and 100,000 emails

TinyLetter

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 250 contacts
    • Basic email campaigns
    • Customer insights
  • Essentials$13/month
    • A/B testing
    • Scheduling
    • Limited templates
  • Standard$20/month
    • Automations
    • Personalization
    • Generative AI
  • Premium$350/month
    • Phone support
    • Priority support
    • Multivariate testing

Which should you pick?

Choose Keila if

  • You need priced by emails sent.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want bring your own sender.
Keila review

Choose TinyLetter if

  • You need newsletter publishing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want email templates.
TinyLetter review

Questions people ask

Is Keila or TinyLetter better?
Neither clearly leads. Keila starts at Free and TinyLetter at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Keila or TinyLetter?
Keila starts at Free and TinyLetter at Free.
Does Keila or TinyLetter run on more platforms?
Keila runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted. TinyLetter runs on Web.
Can I use Keila for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Keila best used for?
Keila is most often used for a membership organisation holding forty thousand contacts but sending only one newsletter a month, where contact-metered pricing would cost many times more, a european publisher or public body that needs subscriber data held in the eu under a gdpr-friendly arrangement, a technical team that wants to self-host its newsletter tool and route sending through its existing aws ses account, an agency running several separate client lists that does not want to pay per project or per additional list. Of those, a membership organisation holding forty thousand contacts but sending only one newsletter a month, where contact-metered pricing would cost many times more and a european publisher or public body that needs subscriber data held in the eu under a gdpr-friendly arrangement are not what TinyLetter is typically brought in for.
What can Keila do that TinyLetter cannot?
Keila covers Priced by emails sent, Bring your own sender, Self-hosting, EU hosting. TinyLetter covers Newsletter publishing, Email templates, Subscriber management, Archive creation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Keila: Is Keila free?

The software is, under AGPL-3.0-or-later, if you self-host. The hosted service has no free plan by deliberate policy and starts at 8 EUR a month.

TinyLetter: Is TinyLetter still available separately?

No, TinyLetter has been merged into Mailchimp and is no longer offered as a standalone product. Existing TinyLetter users were migrated to Mailchimp's marketing platform.

Source
Keila: How is the hosted service priced?

By emails sent, from 8 EUR for two thousand up to 256 EUR for two hundred and fifty thousand a month. Contacts and projects are unlimited on every tier.

TinyLetter: Does Mailchimp offer a free email plan?

Yes, Mailchimp's free plan supports up to 250 contacts and allows you to create email campaigns and learn customer insights at no cost.

Source
Keila: Can I use my own email provider?

Yes. AWS SES, Sendgrid, Mailgun, Postmark, generic SMTP or a personal inbox are all supported as sending backends.

TinyLetter: What discounts does Mailchimp offer for annual billing?

Mailchimp offers 15% off the first 12 months for accounts with 10,000 or more contacts.

Source
Keila: Are there discounts?

Pentacent offers reduced rates to nonprofits and open source projects on request.

TinyLetter: Is there a free trial available for Mailchimp's paid plans?

Yes, a 14-day free trial is available for Standard and Essentials plans without requiring a credit card for the first 100 emails.

Source
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