Email marketing is essential, especially for SaaS, but the costs can be a killer if you're on a scrappy, bootstrapped budget. Most services charge you based on the size of your contact list. As you grow, so do your bills. This "success tax" can put a real strain on a bootstrapped business or a new startup in the early stages while you're still figuring out PMF.
We faced this exact problem and here's how I solved it.
I "built" a powerful, low-cost email automation stack using Groundhogg.io and a simple node.js wrapper I created. The best part? SnitchFeed's email marketing costs don't scale with our user list. We send thousands of emails for ~$0.001 each, and you can, too.
Why We Chose a Self-Hosted Stack
We wanted control. We wanted to own our data and our tools without being at the mercy of a SaaS provider's pricing plan. Our solution combines the best of both worlds: a powerful, full-featured CRM and email automation platform with a cost-effective, self-hosted sending service.
The Key Components:
- Groundhogg.io: A fantastic, open-source CRM and marketing automation tool for WordPress. It has all the features of expensive competitors, but you own it.
- AWS SES: Amazon's Simple Email Service is an industry-standard, high-deliverability email sending service with a pay-as-you-go model. It costs a fraction of what other services charge.
- groundhogg-js: A simple, easy-to-use npm package that lets us manage contacts, tags, and funnel enrollments directly from our backend applications.
Plus, if we ever feel the need to move to a "fuller" email marketing platform, we can simply import a CSV and be done with it.
Simple Automation, Powerful Results
groundhogg-js makes it incredibly easy to connect your application to Groundhogg's API and powerful automation features. Imagine a new user signs up on your website. With just a few lines of code, you can:
- Create a new contact in Groundhogg.
- Add a tag (e.g.,
onboarding-started). - Automatically enroll them in your onboarding email sequence.
No more manual entry, no more expensive integrations. It just works.
import { GroundhoggClient } from "groundhogg-client";
const gh = new GroundhoggClient({
baseUrl: process.env.GROUNDHOGG_API_URI!,
publicKey: process.env.GROUNDHOGG_PUBLIC_KEY!,
token: process.env.GROUNDHOGG_TOKEN!,
defaultFrom: "[email protected]",
});
await gh.createContact({
email: "[email protected]",
first_name: "John",
last_name: "Doe",
tags: [123, "newsletter"],
});
The simple code snippet that creates a new contact and adds a tag from our backend.
Groundhogg’s funnels then take over, sending a series of perfectly timed, personalized emails.
[Screenshot: A Groundhogg funnels screenshot, showing an example of an onboarding funnel that is triggered by the onboarding-started tag]
A view of the Groundhogg funnel UI, showing how a tag can trigger a series of emails.
The Stack Has Everything We Need
Groundhogg is a robust platform with all the features you need to run a successful email marketing program.
- Clicks & Opens Tracking: The reporting is fantastic. You can see exactly how your funnels and newsletters are performing, giving you the data you need to optimize.
- Drag-and-Drop Email Builder: The UI for designing beautiful emails is intuitive and powerful.
- Self-Serve Subscription Management: A great way to build trust and reduce support tickets. Your contacts can manage their own subscriptions without you lifting a finger.
A beautiful email designed with Groundhogg's easy-to-use editor.
The Cost Breakdown
This is where the true power of this stack becomes clear.
- Hosting: ~$5/mo (SnitchFeed is hosted on two VPS instances, so we could even use the same servers)
- Groundhogg: Free tier is perfectly fine for what we need (funnel automation, reporting), but they do have paid plans for extra features.
- AWS SES: $0.10 for every 1,000 emails you send.
With this setup, your email marketing costs remain predictable and low, regardless of whether we're sending 200 or 20,000 emails/mo. (which we do, because we're a social listening platform!)
Hope this helps you!