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Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress

By Stefano Lissa

Marketing & Advertising / Email Marketing & Campaigns

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress Review - In-Depth Analysis

An email marketing tool for your blog that helps create subscription forms and newsletters with unlimited subscribers.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

7.29/10

User Rating

4.6/5 (based on 1204+ reviews)

Active Installations

200,000+

Update Frequency

Outstanding It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

5.67 / 10 (Medium Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

The newsletter plugin is a real newsletter and email marketing system for your WordPress blog. It is perfect for list building, allowing you to easily create, send, and track emails without any headaches. It just works out of the box!

You can get unlimited subscribers and use various subscription forms such as popups, post-injected forms, widgets, and shortcodes. The plugin is GDPR ready and includes features like double opt-in, privacy checkboxes, and the ability to organize and segment your subscribers into lists.

With the ability to create unlimited newsletters, you can track clicks and opens. The drag and drop composer makes it easy to design fully responsive emails. You can also customize everything from forms to messages and emails. The plugin is compatible with every SMTP plugin and includes diagnostic pages for full control.

Comparing to Alternatives

Newsletter competes in a crowded field of WordPress email marketing plugins. It stands out for offering an unusually feature-rich free tier, but faces stiff competition from tools with more modern interfaces or tighter automation focus.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Generous free version that covers subscriber management, campaign sending, and design without requiring an upgrade
Self-hosted sending gives full control and avoids per-subscriber pricing common with SaaS tools like Mailchimp
Extensive add-on ecosystem for advanced needs (automation, WooCommerce, analytics)
Long track record and large install base, indicating maturity and ongoing development

Weaknesses

Steeper learning curve than some modern drag-and-drop alternatives like MailPoet or FluentCRM
Newsletter editor feels dated compared to newer visual builders
Automatic new-post notification, a basic feature elsewhere, is not included free

User Sentiment Analysis

With a 4.6/5 average across 1,204 ratings and 90% of reviews at 4-5 stars, sentiment is strongly positive. Only 7.2% of reviews fall into the 1-2 star range, suggesting most users find the plugin reliable once set up.

Positive highlights

"BEST FREE NEWSLETTER PLUGIN! Thank you!" — edbellsmokeandbooze
"It strikes a fantastic balance between power and ease of use" — wdtp
"For users looking for a dependable newsletter solution with clean integration options, this plugin is a practical choice" — Bettega
"Now it's all in my WP. And easy to use!" — PacificSailors, comparing it favorably to Mailchimp
"The real solution any publisher needs for total control over their newsletters" — Loukas Stamellos

Common complaints

Basic functionality like automatic new-post notification emails is missing from the free version
Newsletter sending can silently stop working with no clear troubleshooting path
Difficulty exporting subscriber email data, even with official add-ons
Support can be hard to reach when problems arise

Weaknesses

Considerable history of security vulnerabilities (18 recorded), including a recent high-severity unauthenticated stored XSS fixed in 9.3.4
Some users report sending reliability issues that are difficult to diagnose
Free version limitations can surprise users expecting simple post-notification features

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Site owners who want a self-hosted, feature-rich newsletter solution without recurring SaaS fees, and who don't mind investing time to learn a more complex interface. It particularly suits publishers and small businesses migrating away from costly platforms like Mailchimp.

Not ideal for

Users wanting a simple out-of-the-box post-notification tool, or those uncomfortable with a plugin that has a long history of patched vulnerabilities, including a recent high-severity XSS issue. Sites without dedicated technical support may struggle if sending issues arise, since community support has mixed reviews.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version includes subscriber management, campaign creation, list building, and basic sending functionality — enough for many small sites to run without ever upgrading. However, some expected basics, like automatic new-post notification emails, are not included.

Pro version (79 - 269 EUR / year)

Paid extensions and bundles typically add automation workflows, advanced statistics, WooCommerce integration, professional templates, and marketing automation add-ons for users needing more than the core free feature set.

Final Verdict

Newsletter earns its strong reputation through a genuinely capable free tier and a large, satisfied user base, with many reviewers praising its balance of power and self-hosted control compared to services like Mailchimp. Complaints tend to center on specific gaps (like missing post-notification emails), occasional sending reliability problems, and support responsiveness rather than fundamental flaws.

The plugin's long vulnerability history, including a high-severity unauthenticated XSS patched fairly recently, is a legitimate concern worth weighing, especially for sites handling sensitive subscriber data. Users should ensure they stay current with updates. Overall, Newsletter remains a solid choice for those wanting a self-hosted alternative to SaaS email tools, provided they keep the plugin updated and are prepared for a learning curve compared to more modern alternatives like MailPoet or FluentCRM.