# Full-platform alternative to Buttondown

Buttondown stops at newsletters. Bitelio runs newsletters, transactional email, and workflow automation from a single platform — unlimited contacts included, with 1,000 free emails every month.

## Why teams choose Bitelio

### Transactional Emails

Receipts, password resets, alerts, and notifications go out through the very platform that publishes your newsletter. This entire category simply doesn't exist in Buttondown.

### Workflow Automation

String triggers, wait steps, and conditions together into automated sequences — welcome series, drips, win-back flows. Buttondown ships nothing of the sort.

### Dynamic Segmentation

Segments rebuild themselves as contact data and behavior shift, so the right message reaches the right readers — without you maintaining static lists by hand.

### Unlimited Contacts

Hold as many contacts as you want — the meter runs on sending, not storage. Buttondown, by contrast, prices every plan on subscriber count.

### EU-Hosted & GDPR-Compliant

All processing happens on EU infrastructure in line with GDPR, and the API lets you pull out contacts and data whenever you choose.

### Developer API

A complete REST API with SDKs puts everything under programmatic control: fire emails from your backend, record custom events, manage contacts. The dashboard is entirely optional.

## Feature comparison

| Feature | Bitelio | Buttondown |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free Tier | 1,000 emails/month | Up to 100 subscribers |
| Pricing Model | Free plan + tiers from $19/mo | Per-subscriber monthly plans |
| Transactional Emails | Yes | No |
| Marketing Campaigns | Yes | Yes |
| Workflow Automation | Yes | No |
| Dynamic Segmentation | Yes | No |
| API Access | Yes | Limited |
| Custom Domains | Yes | Yes |

## FAQ

### When should I choose Buttondown over Bitelio?

If you're a solo writer who wants nothing more than a minimal, beautifully simple newsletter tool, Buttondown is hard to beat — the writing experience is its whole reason for being. Reach for Bitelio when your needs extend past publishing: transactional email alongside your newsletters, workflow automation, dynamic segments, or full programmatic control through a modern API.

### What is the pricing difference between Bitelio and Buttondown?

The two price on entirely different axes. Bitelio meters emails sent — 1,000/month free, Pro at $19/month with 15,000 included, then a flat $1.20 per extra 1,000 — with unlimited contacts on every plan. Buttondown meters subscribers: free up to 100, then from $9/month for up to 1,000, climbing alongside your list. A large audience that hears from you only occasionally is dramatically cheaper to keep on Bitelio.

### Can Bitelio replace Buttondown for newsletter publishing?

It can. Marketing campaigns in Bitelio cover newsletter-style broadcasts to your full list or any segment, complete with scheduling, open and click tracking, and unsubscribe handling. One caveat: Bitelio is developer-first, so writers who want a no-code, prose-centric editor may still feel more at home in Buttondown.

### What does Bitelio offer that Buttondown doesn't?

Four big things: transactional email (receipts, password resets, notifications), multi-step workflow automation triggered by events, dynamic audience segmentation, and a complete API for programmatic control — plus unlimited contacts on every plan. Buttondown stays squarely in newsletter territory and offers no transactional sending at all.


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> Source: https://dev.bitelio.com/vs/buttondown