This blog runs on a self-hosted Ghost instance. Ghost is a platform for independent publishers to create, share, and grow a business around their content, offering modern tools for website building, content publishing, newsletters, and paid subscriptions.
Currently the only bulk mail API Ghost supports is Mailgun whose free offering includes:
- 5,000 messages/month
- There is a limit of 300 messages per day on the included sandbox domain (you cannot create custom domains)
- And you can only send to (a maximum of 5) Authorised Recipients
For someone like me who's just starting their blog and doesn't have an audience at all, 5 authorised users is okay, but it isn't scalable!
The next pricing tier, Foundation, is 35 USD/month! That includes:
- 50,000 messages/month (10 times as many messages as the free tier)
- No daily sending limit
- You can create custom domains
- Use of Authorised Recipients is not required to send with custom domains; you may send to whomever you like!
If it isn't justifiable for you to spend 35 USD/month to send up to 50,000 emails in the same time window, then there is an alternative - the secret Flex Plan.
Mailguns Flex plan is their secret pay as you go offering. You get similar benefits to the Foundation plan, but it's 1 USD/1,000 messages and you get the first 1,000 messages/month free! From your 1,001th message each month, you will be charged 1 USD per 1,000 messages. If on average you send less than 36,000 message per month, it's worth downgrading to the Flex Plan.
How to downgrade the Flex Plan
- Open an account with (you won't be charged for the Foundation tier if you downgrade to the Flex Plan during your free trial) or downgrade to the Foundation tier
- Click your username in the top right
- Under ACCOUNT SETTINGS, click Account Details
- Follow the instructions next to Account downgrade/cancellation to downgrade to the Flex Plan