Our take
Pick Buttondown if writers who will stay on Free at $0 (100 subscribers) while they open a first Write draft, then Basic at $9/month (1,000 subscribers) — not Standard $29 unless they need 5,000, and not Professional $79 unless they need 10,000. Pick Loops if saaS teams who will stay on Free $0 (1,000 subscribed contacts, 4,000 marketing+transactional sends / 30 days, Loops footer, 10 emails/sec, no card) while they
Best for
Buttondown An email editor you start at a public $
Loops Email you start at $0
Free plan
Buttondown $0 · 100 subscribers
Loops $0 · up to 1,000 subscribed contacts. 4,000 total marketing + transactional sends per rolling 30 days. 10 emails/second. “Powered by Loops” footer. Unlimited contact *storage*; the send cap is the limiter
Lowest paid
Buttondown Basic $9/mo
Loops Not published by the vendor
Next step up
Buttondown Standard $29/mo
Loops
Runs where
Buttondown Hosted
Loops Desktop editor; models hosted
Watch out
Buttondown Free is 100 subscribers
Loops Free is 4,000 sends / 30 days to the first 1,000 contacts
Last checked
Buttondown 2026-10-23 · buttondown.com/pricing
Loops 2026-10-22 · loops.so/pricing
writers who will stay on Free at $0 (100 subscribers) while they open a first Write draft, then Basic at $9/month (1,000 subscribers) — not Standard $29 unless they need 5,000, and not Professional $79 unless they need 10,000.
Read the Buttondown pagesaaS teams who will stay on Free $0 (1,000 subscribed contacts, 4,000 marketing+transactional sends / 30 days, Loops footer, 10 emails/sec, no card) while they send a first onboarding mail, then land on Growth at $49/month (starts at 5,000 subscribed contacts on the card we fetched; slider continues) when they need unlimited sends and the branding off.
Read the Loops page
