What is the difference between Buttondown and Loops?

Buttondown is best for Writers wanting a minimal, developer-friendly newsletter tool, while Loops is best for SaaS companies wanting email for product-led growth. Buttondown starts at Free and Loops starts at Free.

Is Buttondown or Loops cheaper?

Buttondown starts at Free with a free tier. Loops starts at Free with a free tier.

Is there a free alternative to Loops?

Both Buttondown and Loops offer free tiers.

Buttondown vs Loops

Buttondown is simple, elegant newsletter tool with markdown support, automation, and paid subscriptions, while Loops is email platform built for SaaS with event-triggered emails and in-app messaging. Buttondown is built for writers wanting a minimal, developer-friendly newsletter tool, whereas Loops targets saas companies wanting email for product-led growth.

At a glance

	Buttondown	Loops
Best for	Writers wanting a minimal, developer-friendly newsletter tool	SaaS companies wanting email for product-led growth
Starting price	Free	Free
Free tier	✓	✓
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	✓	✓
Open source	—	—
API	✓	—
Analytics	—	✓
Event Triggers	—	✓
Loops	—	✓
Markdown	✓	—
Paid Subscriptions	✓	—
RSS-to-Email	✓	—
Segmentation	—	✓

Buttondown

Strengths

Full Markdown support with live preview for clean, structured notes
Includes Paid Subscriptions as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
Free for 100 subscribers — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Includes api alongside the core feature set — fewer separate tools needed

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Developer-oriented tooling may not suit non-technical team members
Deliverability depends on your sender reputation, which takes time to build
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Buttondown → Full review

Loops

Strengths

Includes Event Triggers as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
Includes Loops as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
Free for 1K contacts — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Includes segmentation alongside the core feature set — fewer separate tools needed

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Deliverability depends on your sender reputation, which takes time to build
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Loops → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Both tools offer free tiers, so you can test each before committing. Buttondown's free plan: Free for 100 subscribers. Loops's free plan: Free for 1K contacts.

Feature gaps: Buttondown offers API, Markdown and Paid Subscriptions that Loops lacks. Loops brings Analytics, Event Triggers and Loops that Buttondown does not have.

Team fit: Buttondown is geared toward individual users and small setups, while Loops is aimed at small teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Where each tool shines: Buttondown's biggest strengths are: full markdown support with live preview for clean, structured notes. includes paid subscriptions as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows. Loops's biggest strengths are: includes event triggers as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows. includes loops as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows.

Watch out for: With Buttondown, users commonly note that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade. With Loops, the main complaint is that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade.

Choose Buttondown if...

You need a tool built for writers wanting a minimal, developer-friendly newsletter tool
You specifically need API and Markdown
You care about includes paid subscriptions as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
Your team size fits the individuals profile Buttondown is designed for
The free tier works for you: free for 100 subscribers

Choose Loops if...

You need a tool built for saas companies wanting email for product-led growth
You specifically need Analytics and Event Triggers
You care about includes loops as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
Your team size fits the small teams profile Loops is designed for
The free tier works for you: free for 1k contacts