# Listmonk

> Newsletters and mailing lists: manage subscribers, design campaigns, and track results.

- Web page: https://documentation.federated.computer/apps/listmonk/
- Category: Marketing and analytics
- Use instead of: Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Brevo, Kit (ConvertKit), Substack (email)
- Typical address: `listmonk.example.com`
- Project website: https://listmonk.app/
- Official docs: https://listmonk.app/docs/

## Overview

Listmonk is a newsletter and mailing list manager. It handles subscribers, sign-up forms, campaign sending, and basic analytics, and it's fast enough for lists of hundreds of thousands of people.

Main capabilities:

- **Lists**, public or private, with **single or double opt-in**.
- **Subscribers** with custom attributes (stored as JSON) for segmentation and personalization.
- **Campaigns** written in a rich text editor, Markdown, raw HTML, or visual builder, with **templates**.
- **Segmentation** using SQL-style queries on subscriber data.
- **Analytics**: views, clicks, bounces, and link tracking.
- **Subscription forms** you can embed on your website, and a public archive of past campaigns.
- **Transactional email API** for one-off messages from your other systems.
- Automatic **unsubscribe** handling and **bounce processing**.

### What it replaces

Listmonk replaces Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Brevo (Sendinblue), and Kit (ConvertKit) for newsletters, without paying by list size.

## Signing in

Open your Listmonk admin address (usually ending in `/admin`) and sign in with the account provided by your administrator.

## Create a list

1. Go to **Lists**, then **New**.
2. Choose:
   - **Public** (shown on your subscription page) or **Private** (only you can add people).
   - **Single opt-in** or **Double opt-in** (subscribers confirm by email). Double opt-in is strongly recommended for public lists.

   ![The Listmonk New list dialog with name, type, and opt-in fields](https://documentation.federated.computer/screenshots/listmonk/new-list.png)

   *The **New list** dialog.*

3. Save.

## Add subscribers

- **One at a time**: **Subscribers**, **New**.
- **In bulk**: **Subscribers**, **Import**. Upload a CSV with at least `email` and `name` columns. Extra columns can go into the `attributes` column as JSON. Choose the list and whether to overwrite existing subscribers.
- **From your website**: **Lists**, **Forms** generates HTML you can paste into a page (or into [WordPress](https://documentation.federated.computer/apps/wordpress/)).

Only import people who agreed to receive your email. Sending to purchased or scraped lists harms your domain's reputation and is illegal in many countries.

## Send a campaign

1. Go to **Campaigns**, **New**.
2. Enter a name, subject, and **from address**, and choose the lists to send to.

   ![The Listmonk New campaign form with a list selected and the Send test message panel](https://documentation.federated.computer/screenshots/listmonk/new-campaign.png)

   *A new campaign. **Send test message** is on the right.*

3. Pick a **template** and write the content. Personalize with tags such as `{{ .Subscriber.FirstName }}`.
4. Select **Send test message** to send to yourself, and check it on desktop and phone.
5. **Schedule** it or select **Start campaign** to send now.

Watch the campaign's progress and stats under **Campaigns**. Use **Analytics** for views and clicks over time.

## Templates

Under **Campaigns**, **Templates**, edit the layout that wraps every campaign: your logo, colors, footer, and unsubscribe link. Keep `{{ template "content" . }}` where the campaign body should appear, and always keep the unsubscribe link.

## Settings (administrators)

Open **Settings**:

- **General**: root URL, default from address, and whether a public archive is enabled.
- **SMTP**: the mail servers used to send campaigns. Large lists should use a dedicated sending service; see below.
- **Bounces**: process bounce emails so invalid addresses are blocklisted automatically.
- **Privacy**: options for individual subscriber data exports and self-service deletion.
- **Users and roles**: add colleagues and limit them to specific lists.

## Superpanel settings

- **Access**: choose which groups are given the Listmonk admin address.

> **Sending volume and deliverability**
>
> For lists beyond a few hundred subscribers, send through a dedicated email delivery service (such as Amazon SES, Postmark, or Mailgun) configured under **Settings**, **SMTP**, and make sure your domain has SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Ask Federated Computer support for help before your first large send.

## Further reading

- [Listmonk documentation](https://listmonk.app/docs/)
- [Templating and expressions](https://listmonk.app/docs/templating/)
- [Importing subscribers](https://listmonk.app/docs/importing-subscribers/)
- [Listmonk on GitHub](https://github.com/knadh/listmonk)