How We Send Email Sequences and Product Update Emails for ~$0.001

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:

1. Create a new contact in Groundhogg.
2. Add a tag (e.g., onboarding-started).
3. 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: "no-reply@yourdomain.com",
});
 
await gh.createContact({
  email: "john@example.com",
  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!