MailerLite
Send newsletters, build forms, and run a small welcome sequence
The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For MailerLite, send newsletters, build forms, and run a small welcome sequence. The hard boundary is deliverability, editor polish, landing pages, automations, and integrations, plus deliverability, growth network, and integrations.
Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability
What you give up
- deliverability, editor polish, landing pages, automations, and integrations
- inbox-placement expertise
- advanced automations
- commerce integrations
- recommendation and ad networks
Why people still pay
People still pay for MailerLite because newsletter operators pay for inbox placement, growth mechanics, and operational confidence on publication day. The recurring cost buys DNS authentication, reputation, bounces, complaints, unsubscribe compliance, templates, queues, analytics, backups, and support, not just the visible interface.
Your build guide
The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.
Before you start
- Runtime and tools: TypeScript, Node, PostgreSQL, a scheduled worker and one user-supplied email delivery provider.
- Before starting: A verified sending domain, a provider account, consented example recipients and its current webhook/signature documentation.
Use these project rules and optional skill references alongside the prompt. Review each skill before adding it to your agent; the AGENTS.md export includes the same guidance.
Project rule — domain: Store Signup, ConsentEvent, SequenceVersion, SubscriberStep and Suppression; a subscriber's sequence progress is independent of later template edits and suppression is checked at each step.
Project rule — scope and recovery: Use one sending provider and a small sequence. Sender reputation, spam complaints and inbox placement require ongoing operations; do not promise deliverability from a template engine.
Project rule — acceptance: Unsubscribe between welcome steps, resubscribe deliberately and replay the confirmation callback; avoid duplicate subscription records or sending an old queued step.
Project rule — delivery: document real setup commands and permissions; do not claim a build, accuracy level, performance result or security certification that has not been demonstrated.
Recommended skill: supabase-postgres-best-practices — review this PostgreSQL domain schema, uniqueness constraints, transaction boundaries and access-scoped queries; Supabase hosting is not required. Follow the maintainer's installation instructions and match its requirements to the chosen runtime.
Recommended skill: sharp-edges — review configuration and API defaults against the app-specific invariants and recovery boundaries above; this is not a security certification. Follow the maintainer's installation instructions and match its requirements to the chosen runtime.
Implementation plan
Phase 1
Pin the working slice and create its example input: Collect confirmed newsletter subscriptions through an embedded form, send a reviewed welcome sequence and publish campaign archives. Confirm setup: A verified sending domain, a provider account, consented example recipients and its current webhook/signature documentation.
Phase 2
Implement persistence and write-time invariants before decorating the UI: Store Signup, ConsentEvent, SequenceVersion, SubscriberStep and Suppression; a subscriber's sequence progress is independent of later template edits and suppression is checked at each step.
Phase 3
Connect the working view to real saved state. Separate drafts, recipient snapshots, attempts and provider receipts. Honor unsubscribe and suppression at dispatch time, authenticate provider webhooks, and never replay an ambiguous send automatically.
Phase 4
Expose the app-specific limits and recovery path in context: Use one sending provider and a small sequence. Sender reputation, spam complaints and inbox placement require ongoing operations; do not promise deliverability from a template engine.
Phase 5
Walk through this concrete acceptance case and preserve its exported evidence: Unsubscribe between welcome steps, resubscribe deliberately and replay the confirmation callback; avoid duplicate subscription records or sending an old queued step. Finish the README and backup/restore instructions; report unfinished capabilities explicitly.
Build the following focused alternative to MailerLite. This is a deliberately limited personal or small-team substitute, not parity with the paid service. WORKING SLICE Collect confirmed newsletter subscriptions through an embedded form, send a reviewed welcome sequence and publish campaign archives. SETUP AND ARCHITECTURE Use TypeScript, Node, PostgreSQL, a scheduled worker and one user-supplied email delivery provider. Prerequisites: A verified sending domain, a provider account, consented example recipients and its current webhook/signature documentation. Before integrating anything, record actual versions and permissions, plus model files or provider limits only where used, in the README; make unavailable dependencies visible rather than simulating success. DOMAIN MODEL AND INVARIANTS Store Signup, ConsentEvent, SequenceVersion, SubscriberStep and Suppression; a subscriber's sequence progress is independent of later template edits and suppression is checked at each step. IMPLEMENTATION CONTRACT Separate drafts, recipient snapshots, attempts and provider receipts. Honor unsubscribe and suppression at dispatch time, authenticate provider webhooks, and never replay an ambiguous send automatically. Provide an input/setup view, the main work view, and a review/export view appropriate to this workflow. Preserve the last saved state if a job or save fails. Include empty, loading, permission-denied, partial and retryable-error states. Log identifiers and error categories without secret values or unnecessary private content. APP-SPECIFIC BOUNDARY AND RECOVERY Use one sending provider and a small sequence. Sender reputation, spam complaints and inbox placement require ongoing operations; do not promise deliverability from a template engine. ACCEPTANCE SCENARIO Unsubscribe between welcome steps, resubscribe deliberately and replay the confirmation callback; avoid duplicate subscription records or sending an old queued step. Also reopen the app after an interrupted operation, confirm the saved record/export remains inspectable, and document the recovery action. These are implementation acceptance requirements, not a claim that this guide has been tested. DELIVERY Deliver a runnable repository with migrations or project-format versioning, a non-sensitive example, environment/permission setup, the exact manual acceptance steps, and a backup/export-and-restore walkthrough. Implement the working slice before optional integrations; list any deferred paid-product capabilities honestly. Do not add capabilities outside the working slice just to resemble the original product. PROJECT RULES FOR AGENTS.md Keep the domain invariants above executable at the write boundary. Propose scope changes before adding providers or permissions. Never fabricate source evidence, publish results, identity matches or successful delivery. Preserve user originals and require an explicit confirmation for destructive changes or external publication.
$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md
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Alternatives to building your own
all 5 free alternatives to MailerLite →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
MailerLite pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| free | $0/workspace | $0/workspace | 250 subscribers, 2,500 monthly emails, 2 seats, 1 website, 1 landing page, 3 forms, 3 active automations, 5 automation steps.24/7 email and chat support for first 14 days. |
| comfort | $12/workspace | $10.80/workspace | Starting paid plan; 3 seats, email sends 10x subscriber tier, 50 automations, 100 steps, 10 sites/landing pages/forms, 5 products/bookings.Annual price uses official 10% yearly discount. |
| power | $25/workspace | $22.50/workspace | Unlimited monthly emails, unlimited user seats, unlimited sites/landing pages/forms/automations, 100 automation steps, 24/7 live chat.Annual price uses official 10% yearly discount; fair-use limits apply. |
| enterprise | — | — | Custom terms above 200,000 subscribers.Contact sales. |
free tier$0; 250 subscribers, 2,500 monthly emails, 2 seats, 1 website, 1 landing page, 3 forms, 3 active automations, 5 automation steps.
billingmonthly + annual (-10%); subscriber-based tiers
hidden costsIf you outgrow subscriber limit, billing can move to the next tier; Free locks sending above 250 subscribers; dedicated IP add-on on higher tiers.
pricing sources checked 2026-08-10 · pricing source ↗
Questions about MailerLite
Can you build your own MailerLite with AI?
Partly. The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For MailerLite, send newsletters, build forms, and run a small welcome sequence. The hard boundary is deliverability, editor polish, landing pages, automations, and integrations, plus deliverability, growth network, and integrations.
What does the MailerLite build prompt cover?
The prompt starts with this scope: Collect confirmed newsletter subscriptions through an embedded form, send a reviewed welcome sequence and publish campaign archives. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: deliverability, editor polish, landing pages, automations, and integrations; inbox-placement expertise; advanced automations. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.
How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?
Start with the MailerLite prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.
How long will this MailerLite project take?
The catalogue estimate is multi-day for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.
What would I give up by replacing MailerLite?
deliverability, editor polish, landing pages, automations, and integrations; inbox-placement expertise; advanced automations; commerce integrations; recommendation and ad networks. People still pay for MailerLite because newsletter operators pay for inbox placement, growth mechanics, and operational confidence on publication day. The recurring cost buys DNS authentication, reputation, bounces, complaints, unsubscribe compliance, templates, queues, analytics, backups, and support, not just the visible interface.
What price is this guide comparing against?
The recorded Comfort plan is $12/mo (monthly), checked 2026-08-10. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.
What can I use instead of building MailerLite?
Brevo Free: Campaigns, forms and automation with a 300-email daily throttle. EmailOctopus Free: Newsletters, one form and a small welcome automation for 2,500 contacts. Kit Free: Forms, landing pages and one sequence for up to 10,000 subscribers; one recommendation slot is not yours. Compare all listed options at https://howtovibecodeit.dev/mailerlite/alternatives. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.