SendPortal is an open-source, self-hosted email marketing application for teams that want to run newsletters and campaigns on their own servers. It manages subscribers and lists, sends campaigns through outside delivery providers, and reports opens, clicks, and bounces, with multiple workspaces for separate brands or domains.[1][2]
Quick verdict
Small teams running newsletters on infrastructure they control benefit most from SendPortal. One MIT-licensed Laravel app covers subscriber lists, campaigns with open and click tracking, templates, a REST API, and multiple workspaces, sending through SES, Postmark, SendGrid, Mailgun, Mailjet, Postal, or SMTP. The constraint is operational: PHP 8.3, a database, queues, cron, and sender reputation are yours to run. Teams that can carry that should default to SendPortal; teams wanting zero operations should compare hosted Mailchimp, and minimal-setup self-hosters should compare Listmonk first.[1][2][3][4]
Key features
Subscriber and list management Subscriber and list management: grow lists with forms and pages, organize contacts with segments and tags, and keep bounces and unsubscribes handled.[1][2]
Email campaigns with tracking Email campaigns with tracking: build and send campaigns, then follow opens, clicks, and bounces per message and per campaign.[1][2]
Templates and messages Templates and messages: reuse email templates across campaigns and review per-message reports from the dashboard.[1][2]
Seven sending integrations Seven sending integrations: dispatch through Amazon SES, Postmark, SendGrid, Mailgun, Mailjet, Postal, or any SMTP server instead of running mail infrastructure.[1][2]
Queue-backed dispatch Queue-backed dispatch: campaigns go out through queue workers with cron-driven scheduling, so large sends process in the background.[1]
REST API REST API: manage templates, subscribers, tags, and campaigns programmatically through documented endpoints.[1]
Multiple workspaces Multiple workspaces: run separate brands or client domains with their own lists and campaigns from one installation.[1][2]
Standalone or Laravel package Standalone or Laravel package: run the full application with its own authentication, or embed sendportal-core in an existing Laravel app that already handles users.[1][2]
Who will love it
Newsletter teams fleeing per-subscriber SaaS fees: the MIT license has no contact-count pricing, so list growth stops raising the software bill.[1][2][3]
Laravel shops: PHP 8.3 and Laravel 13 under the hood mean a team already running Laravel can host, extend, and debug it with familiar tooling.[1][2]
Agencies and multi-brand operators: multiple workspaces plus a REST API cover separate client domains and programmatic list management from one server.[1][2]
Who should avoid it
Teams without server skills: PHP, Composer, a database, web-server configuration, queues, and cron are mandatory, and sender reputation and DNS setup stay your problem.[1]
Teams wanting built-in deliverability: SendPortal sends through your provider account and does not warm IPs, manage reputation, or run mail infrastructure for you.[1][2]
Teams needing marketing automation journeys: documented scope centers on lists, campaigns, and tracking, with no visual journey or lead-scoring builder evidenced.[1][2]
Alternatives and compatibility
SendPortal is the natural catalogue comparison to Listmonk and Mautic: all three are self-hosted campaign tools, while SendPortal is the Laravel-native choice against Listmonk single Go binary and Mautic broader automation suite.[1][2][3]
SendPortal fits teams that already operate PHP infrastructure and want campaign software that lives inside their stack, including embedding it in an existing Laravel application.[1][2]
Listmonk fits minimal-operations teams: one binary plus PostgreSQL against SendPortal PHP, Composer, and queue setup. Mautic fits teams needing multi-channel journeys beyond email campaigns.[1][2]
Questions worth asking
Is SendPortal really free?
Can you self-host SendPortal?
Yes, that is its whole job. Install it standalone with git clone plus Composer, or as a package inside an existing Laravel application. Either way you need PHP 8.3 or newer, MySQL 5.7 or newer or PostgreSQL 10 or newer, a web server pointed at the public directory, and queue workers with a cron entry.[1][2][3]
Which email providers does SendPortal work with?
What is the best SendPortal alternative for non-technical users?
Sources and editorial review
Source research. Reviewed on October 12, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.
We have not run or tested this product.
- SendPortal official site
official · Observed October 11, 2026
Official homepage: modern open-source self-hosted email marketing; subscriber and list management, email campaigns, message tracking, reports, multiple workspaces; SES, Postmark, SendGrid, Mailgun, Mailjet integrations; v4 install instructions.
- SendPortal installation docs
official · Observed October 11, 2026
Docs installation page: standalone app or Laravel package; PHP 8.3+, Composer, MySQL 5.7+ or PostgreSQL 10+, Laravel 13; clone mettle/sendportal v4.0.0; web server on public/; queue workers and cron; API section for templates, subscribers, tags, campaigns; SES, Postmark, SendGrid, Mailgun, Mailjet, Postal, SMTP.
- mettle/sendportal README
official · Observed October 11, 2026
Repository README: modern open-source self-hosted email marketing; core in sendportal-core package; subscriber/list management, campaigns, tracking, reports, multiple workspaces; SES, Postmark, SendGrid, Mailgun, Mailjet; PHP 8.3+, Laravel 13, MySQL or PostgreSQL.
- mettle/sendportal LICENSE
official · Observed October 11, 2026
Repository LICENSE file: full MIT License text, copyright Mettle 2020.
- SendPortal on AlternativeTo
aggregate telemetry · Observed October 11, 2026
Directory listing: SendPortal described as open-source self-hosted email marketing, MIT licensed, about 1.8k stars, in email marketing software.