Dripline
Self-hosted email campaigns, drip automation and multi-provider sending
Dripline is a free, open-source alternative to Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign and other paid platforms: broadcast campaigns, drip and event-triggered automations, and multi-provider SMTP/SES sending, with per-recipient delivery tracking so a crash never silently drops subscribers. Self-host it on your own server — no per-subscriber fees, ever.
- Free forever
- Campaign broadcasts
- Drip sequences
- event-triggered workflows
Switch from
Other self-hosted senders
Same self-hosted simplicity as the open-source alternatives, without the single-checkpoint bug that can silently skip subscribers mid-campaign.
Mailchimp / ActiveCampaign
No monthly per-subscriber pricing — pay once for hosting, not per contact on your list.
HubSpot Marketing Hub
Full automation builder and multi-provider sending without a SaaS subscription or seat limits.
SendGrid / Postmark
A full marketing platform, not just a transactional API — lists, drip sequences and campaign analytics built in, with your own SMTP/SES behind it.
What's inside
Everything you need to run email marketing yourself
01 — Broadcasts
Campaign broadcasts with a crash-safe sender
Rich-text, HTML, Markdown, plain-text or a drag-and-drop visual builder. Every recipient gets its own tracked row, so a paused or crashed campaign resumes exactly where it left off instead of silently skipping subscribers.
02 — Automations
Drip sequences and event-triggered workflows
Build multi-step automations from delays, branching conditions, tag/list actions and outbound webhooks. Trigger on list signup, tag applied, a campaign link click, an incoming webhook, or manual API enrollment.
03 — Sending
Multi-provider sending with failover
Configure SMTP or Amazon SES connections, each with its own rate limit enforced globally. Route campaigns and workflow emails through a primary connection plus ordered fallbacks, with no accidental mixing of sending domains.
04 — Subscribers
Lists, tags and single/double opt-in
Manage subscribers and lists with custom attributes, single or double opt-in, bulk CSV import/export, and blocklisting.
05 — Deliverability
Bounce handling and campaign analytics
Automatic bounce processing via webhook or mailbox scan, including ARF spam-complaint feedback, plus open, click and view tracking on every campaign and automation email.
06 — API
A full HTTP API access through custom API user
Create and query subscribers, manage lists, and trigger sends from your own app.
07 — User role
Set user permissions by creating user roles
Create user roles with different permissions. Assign that role to any user.
08 — File storage
S3 compatible file storage
Use AWS S3 or any other S3 compatible storage such as Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2 and etc.
09 — Sending throttle for campaign
Campaign level email send throttling
Set maximum number of emails can be sent within a specific time period at Campaign level
10 — Sending throttle for connection
Connection level email send throttling
Set maximum number of emails can be sent within a specific time period at Connection level
Before you install
What Dripline needs to run
Server
1 vCPU / 1 GB RAM
A cheap VPS can run Dripline smoothly
Database
PostgreSQL 14+
Single dependency — no Redis
Runtime
Node.js 22+
Only for the no-Docker systemd install
Domain
A public domain or subdomain
For tracking pixels and unsubscribe links
One container runs the admin UI, the API and the background workers together.
Known limits
What Dripline doesn't do (yet)
Dripline is under active development. It has an initial implementation of every planned phase, but hasn't been battle-tested at very large list sizes or gone through a security audit.
- Scale Row-per-recipient tracking is deliberate for delivery correctness, but very large lists (multi-million) haven't been load-tested yet.
- Providers SMTP and Amazon SES ship today; Postmark, SendGrid and Mailgun are planned as the same sender interface gets new implementations.
- Multi-tenancy Single-tenant by design — run multiple sending domains from one instance via per-campaign connections, not isolated tenant accounts.
- Security audit Not yet independently audited. Review the code yourself before handling sensitive subscriber data at scale.
Changelog
Recent releases
-
0.2.2 Mobile-friendly admin UI
Reworked the admin UI's mobile layout.
-
0.2.1 Automation reporting, email previews and richer tracking
Added per-step automation reporting, open/click tracking on automation emails, an email preview, optional from-name/reply-to overrides per automation step, and ARF spam-complaint feedback in bounce scanning.
-
0.2.0 Test-send for automations
Added the ability to send a test email for any automation step, with template support.
FAQ
Questions about Dripline
Is Dripline really free?
Yes — Dripline is 100% free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 license. There's no paid tier, no per-subscriber pricing and no feature gate. You self-host it, and you own your data and your sending reputation.
How is this different from listmonk?
Dripline is inspired by listmonk and keeps what works well — the HTTP API, templating, and per-campaign rate limiting — but tracks delivery per recipient instead of with a single checkpoint, so a crash or pause mid-send can't silently skip subscribers. It also adds drip sequences, event-based automation triggers, and multi-provider sending with failover, none of which listmonk supports.
What do I need to self-host it?
A small VPS with Docker and a Postgres database. It ships as a single container plus Postgres — no Redis or other broker required. Point a domain at it, generate three secrets, and `docker compose up` handles migrations and setup. Dokploy, Coolify, CapRover and a no-Docker systemd install are also supported.
Can I migrate from listmonk?
A dedicated import tool isn't built yet — it's an open item on the roadmap. The data model is similar enough that migrating subscribers and lists by hand through the API is possible in the meantime.
Is it production-ready?
All seven planned phases have an initial implementation, and we are running our own marketing email on it. It hasn't been battle-tested at very large list sizes(multi-million) yet, so review the code yourself before handling sensitive subscriber data at very large scale.