Consider this experimental. Managing mail servers can be complicated and if you decide to implement
your own then take care to check that you have it configured properly. This is informational only and not
meant to have all the answers, just a proof of concept as of this writing. We will see how manageable this is
in the long term.
What is a mailing List? What is a mailing list service? Why do I want one?
Mailing lists are basically email subscription lists. they can be hosted independently or by purchasing a Saas service
like mailchimp or Aweber.
Mailing lists are a powerful way to engage with an audience. Many swear by it as a way to generate revenue online by
using email something everyone uses and depends on. I personally subscribe to many mailing lists
and love the simplicity of just checking my email to keep up with substack and any other platforms I subscribe to.
Also direct subscriptions on websites especially indepependent bloggers.
Self Hosting vs Sass services like aweber
By self hosting I mean you install and run the mailing list software on your server as opposed to paying for a
Saas(software as a service) like aweber. The benefits of self hosting are cost at scale, complete control of your email
list, and customization. The benefits of using a Saas service is it is turn key and there are no technical
obstacles(other than learning their software). Whether self hosting will save you money or cost you more will depend on many details,
like how tech savy you are, how much you depend on the mailing list already and if you are not tech savy, whether you
have a tech team to implement it.
In my case I did it all myself so it cost me time and the cost of a digital ocean vm. .
Self Hosting with listmonk and postfix
Listmonk is the mailing list software and postfix
is the smtp mail server software I used for my setup. Listmonk is one of many open source mailing list software packages
you might consider for self hosting. Its what I decided to use.
Postfix is a mail server software that you would additionally install and is more
complicated to administer. Another option that is often suggested is to use a 3rd party smtp service like mailgun instead
of hosting the smtp mail server yourself.
This is perhaps the part that makes this experimental becaus the smtp portion of this setup is the part most likely to
give you trouble.
How It Works
First of all, all of this is installed on a linux server hosted in a data center. You can test some of it on a local home
computer if you wanted to. In the end you would need to host it on a public IP address with a proper hostname.
Listmonk considerations
Listmonk runs at localhost:9000(127.0.0.1:9000) by default. It can be configured to run on all interfaces
using 0.0.0.0:9000 but this is not a good idea as it will not be secure. If you are hosting on the web you need to use
a reverse proxy using a web server like nginx or apache set up securely using TLS/https.
This is not spelled out on the listmonk site so keep that in mind.
Postfix
Postfix requires more time to understand and make sure it is configured correctly. Based on past experience with
running a mail server I wanted to make sure my server was not relaying or allowing any other unwanted behavior.
Checking mail logs and configuring ssl are requirements to make sure everything is working as expected and to keep
connections encrypted. In the main config file you configure postfix to only relay mail from the local server and the
server that listmonk is installed on.
Self Hosting Final Notes
As of lately running your own smtp server has generally been discouraged. The main reason being that if you want your
mail to arrive and arrive without ending up in a spam folder you may need to build trust in the www mail server universe.
Many use Saas services like mailchimp or aweber instead for this reason or mailgun for the smtp portion of it.
When using software like listmonk it is often remcommended to
use a 3rd party service for smtp but if you are more adventurous you can run roll your own smtp server as well.
Installing Listmonk and or Postfix are DIY solutions for tech savy folks or an IT dept.
Having said that it is doable. With AI built into search engines finding the details has become easier. If
you are using claude or some other more complete AI solution it can probably be vibe coded. Roll you own at
your own risk.
