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Newsletter platform built to help creators easily start, grow, and monetize email newsletters
Keila
Self‑hosted newsletter platform with flexible email delivery options
Keila lets you design, send, and manage newsletters using a WYSIWYG editor, sign‑up forms, and multiple delivery backends—from personal SMTP to AWS SES, Sendgrid, Mailgun, and Postmark.
Overview
Overview
Keila is a self‑hosted newsletter solution that provides a full‑featured campaign editor, built‑in sign‑up form generation, and support for a range of email delivery services. Whether you run a small community list or a growing startup audience, you can start with a simple SMTP inbox and scale to providers such as AWS SES, Sendgrid, Mailgun, or Postmark without changing the UI.
Deployment & Control
The application is packaged as an official Docker image (pentacent/keila) and includes a ready‑to‑use Docker Compose file, making local or cloud deployment straightforward for teams comfortable with container orchestration. Released under the AGPL‑3.0 license, Keila gives you full access to the source code, allowing custom branding, template tweaks, or deeper integrations while avoiding vendor lock‑in.
Who Benefits
Ideal for developers, NGOs, and small‑to‑medium newsletters that value data ownership, cost transparency, and the ability to tailor the mailing workflow to their own infrastructure.
Highlights
WYSIWYG campaign editor with default templates
Embedded sign‑up form builder
Supports SMTP, AWS SES, Sendgrid, Mailgun, and Postmark
Docker‑ready self‑hosted deployment
Pros
- No vendor lock‑in, full source control
- Flexible choice of email delivery backends
- Free under AGPL‑3.0 license
- Simple Docker deployment
Considerations
- Requires own server or cloud environment
- Limited advanced analytics compared to commercial SaaS
- Self‑hosting introduces operational overhead
- Deliverability depends on chosen provider
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Fit guide
Great for
- Small to medium newsletters seeking self‑hosted control
- Teams comfortable with Docker and container management
- Organizations wanting to avoid recurring subscription fees
- Developers who need to customize the mailing stack
Not ideal when
- Very large enterprises needing built‑in AI segmentation
- Users without any server‑management experience
- Projects requiring extensive native reporting dashboards
- Those looking for a dedicated mobile app
How teams use it
Community group monthly updates
Consistent branding and direct inbox delivery using a personal SMTP server.
Startup product announcements
Scalable sending via AWS SES as the subscriber list grows.
Non‑profit event sign‑ups
Embedded sign‑up forms feed directly into campaign lists for follow‑up newsletters.
Developer blog newsletters
Full control over templates and source code, enabling custom integrations and branding.
Tech snapshot
Elixir66%
HTML20%
JavaScript8%
Liquid3%
SCSS1%
CSS1%
Frequently asked questions
How do I send newsletters without a third‑party service?
Keila can use any SMTP server, including your own email inbox, for small campaigns.
Can I host Keila on my own infrastructure?
Yes, via the official Docker image or Docker Compose configuration.
Which email providers are supported?
AWS SES, Sendgrid, Mailgun, Postmark, and generic SMTP.
What license governs Keila?
It is released under the AGPL‑3.0 license.
Is there a hosted version available?
A cloud‑hosted instance is offered at app.keila.io with paid plans.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 1,962
- Watchers
- 1,962
- Forks
- 136
LicenseAGPL-3.0
Repo age5 years old
Last commit2 days ago
Primary languageElixir
Last synced 12 hours ago