← Directory

useSend

useSend is an open-source, self-hostable email platform for developers and small teams that sends transactional, product, and marketing emails via Amazon…

  • Development
  • Monitoring & Logging
  • Network Services
useSend is an open-source, self-hostable email platform for developers and small teams that sends transactional, product, and marketing emails via Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) through a dashboard, REST API, SMTP, and contact management, offering reliable pay-per-use sending without per-contact storage fees.

Platform availability

Available on 0 of 9 platforms

  • Unraid (not listed)
  • TrueNAS (not listed)
  • Umbrel (not listed)
  • ZimaOS (not listed)
  • Proxmox (not listed)
  • Helm (not listed)
  • Mac (not listed)
  • Windows (not listed)
  • Linux (not listed)

Health score?A 0-100 score computed nightly from four factors: maintained (40%: recent commits and steady activity), popular (25%: GitHub stars, log scale), easy to install (20%: platforms, install notes, setup guides, Docker image) and light to run (15%: minimum RAM, ARM support). When the source code has been checked, a fifth factor, security check (20%: automated scan for committed secrets, unsafe desktop-app settings, known-vulnerable dependencies and project hygiene; any serious finding caps it at 20), is added. Factors without data are left out and the rest are rescaled.

58/100 Fair

Maintained
90last commit 33 days ago
Popular
734,721 GitHub stars
Easy to install
150 install platforms, install notes
Light to run
No data
Security check
201 serious finding, 3 minor, CI, tests

Based on 4 of 5 factors.

GitHub stars
4,721
Open issues
42
Last commit
2026-09-08
Latest release
v1.9.8
License
AGPL-3.0
Activity
stale

Checked today - source: GitHub (usesend/useSend)

Resources & Compatibility

Requirements not published yet.

First-install notes

  • Put a .env settings file next to compose.yml Make a .env file by copying .env.example in the same folder as compose.yml, then fill in the required settings. Without it, Docker Compose cannot start the useSend app and its database. source
  • Use ports 3000 and 3001 to reach useSend Ports are the numbered doors browsers use to reach the app; use 3000 for the dashboard and 3001 for the marketing site. If you want to open useSend from another device, allow those two ports in your firewall. source
  • Keep .env safe from accidental sharing The .env file holds passwords and secret settings for your server. Keep it private and never upload it publicly, because losing it can let someone access or break your useSend setup. source

Fetched today - each note links to its source

Alternatives (7)

  • Brevo - All-in-one solution for email, SMS, marketing automation, transactional messaging, integrations with CMS and e-commerce platforms, and tier…
  • Klaviyo - Optimize customer engagement with multichannel messaging, CRM integration, and AI-driven analytics, unifying marketing, service, and data f…
  • Listmonk - Listmonk is a fast, standalone, self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager packed into a single binary.
  • Mailchimp - All-in-one platform for creating, automating, and sending marketing emails, building landing pages, running ad campaigns, and analyzing aud…
  • Mailgun - Mailgun is email automation for developers.
  • SENDER - Create responsive emails with a drag and drop editor, set up automated email and SMS campaigns, integrate with ecommerce tools, and track a…
  • Sendgrid - Scalable email delivery for transactional email SendGrid transparently handles DKIM, SPF, ISP rate limits, content inspection, bounces, and…

Checked today - source: AlternativeTo

Common questions

Can I use my own AWS or SES credentials with self-hosted useSend?

BYO AWS credentials is not currently available. useSend uses Amazon SES under the hood to send emails.

Can useSend receive inbound emails?

No, inbound email is not currently supported. There is an open discussion about adding support for receiving, parsing, storing, and exposing incoming messages.

Which ports should be exposed for a self-hosted useSend instance?

Use port 3000 for the dashboard and port 3001 for the marketing site. Open both ports in the firewall if you need to access useSend from another device.

Can existing applications send through useSend using SMTP?

Yes, useSend provides an SMTP relay that works with any app or framework. It is also useful with services such as Supabase.

Why might the self-hosted dashboard show a failed SES callback?

The dashboard can report the SES callback status as Failed without explaining the underlying reason. This issue is useful for troubleshooting missing or failed SES callback configuration in a self-hosted setup.

Answers sourced from github.com, github.com, github.com, github.com, useSend.com

Community

Collected today - public community threads