Run your own focused, open-source newsletter platform with phpList and Cloud Containers

Email marketing continues to be one of the most reliable and cost-effective communication channels for organisations of all sizes. However, as subscriber lists grow, many businesses encounter a recurring challenge: SaaS-based email marketing platforms often become expensive, restrictive, or opaque in terms of data ownership.

phpList focuses on doing one thing exceptionally well: managing subscribers, mailing lists, and large-scale email campaigns.

If you’re starting to wonder whether MailChimp or anything similar is costing too much, it might be time to look into self-hosting an open source alternative. Our Cloud Containers are perfect for hosting phpList, for example.

For teams looking to retain full control of their mailing infrastructure while reducing long-term operational costs, self-hosted solutions are an attractive alternative. In this article of our marketing automation series, we explore phpList, a mature open-source email marketing platform, and examine its strengths, use cases, and core features.

What is phpList?

phpList is an open-source email marketing and newsletter management application designed specifically for high-volume email delivery. Rather than providing full marketing automation workflows, phpList focuses on doing one thing exceptionally well: managing subscribers, mailing lists, and large-scale email campaigns.

Key features of phpList include:

• Subscriber and mailing list management.
• HTML and plain-text email campaigns.
• Scheduled and repeat mailings.
• Bounce handling and delivery reporting.
• Plugin-based extensibility.
• Strong performance with large subscriber lists.

This focus makes phpList particularly suitable for organisations whose primary requirement is reliable newsletter distribution rather than complex automation logic.

If that's you, then it's time to look more closely at phpList. The main advantages of phpList over platforms like MailChimp are cost and the overall control.

Reason #1 to consider phpList: Cost

Commercial email marketing platforms typically charge based on the number of subscribers or contacts you have, and/or the number of emails you send each month. If your mailing lists grow, your costs grow. If you want to talk to your audience more often (i.e. scale your marketing efforts), your costs grow.

Growth shouldn't be its own penalty. By self-hosting phpList, you can:

• Avoid per-subscriber or per-email pricing.
• Enjoy predictable long-term operating costs.

That's because the software is free, no matter how many contacts or email campaigns you upload. All you have to pay for is hosting.

Reason #2 to consider phpList: Control

Although self-hosting introduces operational responsibility, phpList is intentionally lightweight and designed to be straightforward to run and maintain. As a phpList admin, you:

• Retain full ownership of subscriber data.
• Can integrate directly with existing infrastructure.
• Control upgrade cycles and custom customisations.

What you can do with phpList: Core functionality overview

If you adopt phpList, here's a quick look at what you'll be able to do with it.

Manage subscribers and lists

Subscribers can be added manually, imported from CSV files, or collected through subscription forms. Each subscriber can belong to one or more mailing lists, which act as targets for campaigns.

Create and send campaigns

Campaign creation in phpList is simple and efficient:

• Define a subject and sender
• Write or paste HTML and plain-text content
• Select the target mailing list
• Preview messages or send test emails
• Schedule delivery or send immediately

Reporting and Monitoring

After sending a campaign, phpList provides visibility into:

• Delivery progress
• Opens and clicks (if tracking is enabled)
• Bounces and unsubscribes

There's a basic statistics interface to quickly let you view overall performance, and you can also drill down into the numbers with advanced campaign statistics.

These reports help teams evaluate engagement and maintain list quality. You can view stats in phpLise itself, download CSV files, or integrate Google Analytics.

Who is phpList best for?

phpList is well suited for:

• Organisations sending large newsletters or announcements.
• Teams that prioritise reliability and scalability over automation.
• Environments with strict data ownership requirements.
• Technical teams managing their own infrastructure.

Get started today

phpList is a robust and focused solution for organisations that require reliable, large-scale email distribution without the overhead or cost of full marketing automation platforms. Its open-source nature, low resource footprint, and proven track record make it an excellent choice for self-hosted newsletter delivery.

Even better, you can make a low-cost start by spinning up a Cloud Container and seeing what phpList is like for you.

In the Knowledge Base we cover the technical steps to deploy phpList on SiteHost Cloud Containers.