listmonk hosting Your newsletter, on a server we run.
listmonk hosting on Selfhost.dev runs listmonk with its own PostgreSQL on a dedicated server we provision, secure and run, with HTTPS and your lists on persistent volumes. You set the admin login in the deploy form, so the first page is a sign-in; then add your SMTP service and send.
The admin exists before the first boot, so the first page anyone sees is a sign-in, not a setup screen.
- listmonk6.2.0, pinned
- databaseits own PostgreSQL 16
- admincreated from your login
- HTTPSon from the start
- sendingyour SMTP service; add it first
What is listmonk hosting?
What it is
listmonk is an open source newsletter and mailing-list manager. It keeps your subscribers and lists and sends campaigns built from templates through an SMTP service you add. listmonk hosting runs it, with its PostgreSQL, on a server that stays on.
Who it is for
Developers and small teams who want their newsletter and subscriber list on a server of their own, sending through the mail service they already use.
When to use it
When you want listmonk running with HTTPS, its database and a seeded admin, without writing the Docker Compose file and the install step by hand.
listmonk Docker, set up for you
The one click runs the official listmonk image pinned to v6.2.0 beside its own PostgreSQL 16. Before it serves, it runs the install and any upgrade step and creates the admin from your login. These are the settings that matter.
The stack, end to end
You and your subscribers
TLS and routing
listmonk 6.2.0
PostgreSQL 16
Your admin login
| What the template sets | Why |
|---|---|
listmonk/listmonk:v6.2.0, an exact tag | The image changes only when a newer release ships and you upgrade, never on a restart |
Its own install, then --upgrade, before it serves | The first boot creates the schema; a redeploy on the same volume skips the install and keeps your data |
| The admin from your login, set before the first boot | No setup screen for the first visitor and no default password |
Its own postgres:16-alpine, named per service | Two listmonk apps on one server never reach each other's database |
| A database pool of 25 connections | A busy campaign cannot open connections until PostgreSQL refuses more |
| HTTPS through our proxy, no host port | Port 9000 stays inside the container |
listmonk hosting requirements
listmonk hosting requirements are light. The platform weighs listmonk as a light app with no memory floor, so it starts on the default 4 GB server, x86 or ARM, with room for other apps beside it.
What it needs
- listmonk
- v6.2.0, pinned
- Database
- Its own PostgreSQL 16, on the server
- Memory and CPU
- 4 GB, the platform default; x86 or ARM
- Login
- An admin username of 3 or more letters, digits, hyphens or underscores (admin by default) and a password of 8 or more characters
- Sending
- An SMTP service you add after deploy
- Ports
- 443 over HTTPS; 9000 stays inside the container
How to deploy listmonk in 3 steps
Set the login, deploy, then add your mail service.
-
Choose listmonk and set the admin login
Launch opens the listmonk template in the console. Pick a 4 GB server and keep the username admin or choose one of 3 or more letters, digits, hyphens or underscores. Then set a password of 8 or more characters with no space at either end.
-
Sign in and add your SMTP service
When the console reads Running, open listmonk and sign in with that login. Add your SMTP service under Settings, SMTP, on port 587 with STARTTLS: listmonk sends nothing until you do.
-
Set Root URL, then send
Under Settings, General, set Root URL to the address listmonk answers on, so the links in your emails point there. Set your own email in your profile so a password reset can reach you, then import subscribers and send.
What listmonk hosting costs
listmonk hosting here is one server line. listmonk is free under the AGPL-3.0 licence, the template adds no fee and subscribers cost nothing extra. A European 4 GB server is $0.02/hr, about $15 to $16 a month, paid by the hour from prepaid credits. Your SMTP service bills you for sending, separately.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| listmonk | $0 |
| Subscribers, lists and campaigns | $0, limited only by the server size |
| Sending email | Billed by your SMTP service, not by us |
| Bandwidth | $0, traffic is included in the server price |
| Optional daily backups | +20% of the server price |
| Server | RAM, cores, disk | Where | Rate | About a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
cx23 (recommended) | 4 GB, 2 cores, 40 GB | Europe | $0.02/hr | $15.18 |
cax11 (ARM) | 4 GB, 2 cores, 40 GB | Europe | $0.02/hr | $16.35 |
cpx21 | 4 GB, 3 cores, 80 GB | US | $0.12/hr | $87.75 |
cpx22 | 4 GB, 2 cores, 80 GB | Singapore | $0.10/hr | $72.56 |
Monthly figures assume 730 hours.
If your balance reaches zero
With a card on file or a past top-up, listmonk keeps running for 5 days after your balance reaches zero. Then it is stopped and kept for 24 hours before it is deleted; a top-up in that time restarts it. After the delete, a copy of the server is kept for 14 days and you can restore the project from the Projects page. We email you when the balance reaches zero and again when it stops. Welcome-credit-only servers are deleted at zero, with a 3-day copy if the project went live.
Price another size or region in the calculator, no signup.
What we run and what you set up
listmonk, its PostgreSQL, the volumes and HTTPS are ours to run. The mail service, your lists and two settings are yours.
On the server (we set it up)
- listmonk, PostgreSQL, HTTPS and the data volumes
- The admin, created from your login
- The health check
What you set up
- Your SMTP service under Settings, SMTP
- Root URL under Settings, General; your email in your profile
- Subscribers, lists, templates and campaigns
Four checks on every listmonk server
- No setup screen left open. The admin is created from your login before the first boot. A username under three characters is refused at deploy, so listmonk never starts on an open first-user form.
- A password that signs in. listmonk trims what you type at sign-in, so a password with a space at either end is refused at deploy instead of locking you out.
- A deploy is never reported done until listmonk is healthy. Its PostgreSQL has to be ready and its own health check has to pass first.
- Your listmonk version moves only when you upgrade. The image is an exact tag, so a restart brings back the same build; when we ship a newer release, the console shows Update available and upgrades it from there.
The console allows up to ten minutes for the listmonk template after the server is ready; first-time server provisioning adds time.
listmonk hosting limitations
- Bring your own SMTP. listmonk manages lists and campaigns; delivery goes through an SMTP service you add. It sends nothing until you do.
- Root URL does not follow the address. listmonk builds the links in your emails from its Root URL setting, which a fresh install leaves on localhost. Set it to your address now and again after you add a domain.
- The deploy login is read once. Only the first install creates the admin from it; change the password later inside listmonk.
- One server, one PostgreSQL. listmonk and its database run as one copy on one server, with backups only if you switch them on.
Nothing here in your way? Set the login, add your SMTP service and send.
Launch listmonklistmonk backup and restore
listmonk keeps subscribers, lists, templates and campaigns in its PostgreSQL and the images you upload on a separate volume. The server can take an optional daily image of both; for a portable copy, ask us for container access over SSH and take a pg_dump.
| Method | What it covers | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Daily server backup (optional, +20%) | listmonk, its database and its uploads; the last 7 kept | With the server |
pg_dump of the listmonk database | Subscribers, lists, templates and campaigns | Your storage, via container access over SSH, granted on request |
| A copy of the uploads volume | The images in your campaigns | Your storage, via container access over SSH, granted on request |
Sending to a big list?
Tell us roughly how many subscribers you have and how often you send. We send back the size we would pick and what it costs a month.
Frequently asked questions
Is listmonk free?
Yes. listmonk is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Here you pay only for the server it runs on, by the hour from prepaid credits; the template adds no fee and subscribers, lists and campaigns cost nothing extra. Your SMTP service bills you for sending, separately. See pricing.
Who is the listmonk admin?
You. listmonk creates its super admin from the username and password you set in the deploy form, before its first boot, so there is no setup screen for a stranger to claim and no default password. Only that first install reads the login, so change the password later inside listmonk.
Can I use my own domain for listmonk?
Yes. Every deployment gets its own HTTPS address first. To use a domain you own, point an A record at the server and add the domain from the project in the console; there is no TXT step. Then set Root URL under Settings, General, to the new domain, because listmonk builds the links in your emails from that setting, not from the address it answers on.
How do I back up listmonk?
With the server. Subscribers, lists, templates and campaigns live in its PostgreSQL and the images you upload on their own volume. Turn on the optional daily server backups or ask us for container access over SSH to take a pg_dump.
Your newsletter on a server we run. Signed in from the first page.
- listmonk 6.2.0 with its own PostgreSQL 16
- The admin created from your login, no setup screen to claim
- A European 4 GB server, about $15 to $16 a month
About Selfhost.dev
Selfhost.dev is a managed self hosting platform for developers and small teams. Open source apps and databases on dedicated servers you control, billed by the hour, in six locations across three continents.
Best for: listmonk, Mautic, Chatwoot and managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, ClickHouse, OpenSearch and Kafka.