Buttondown vs Convert
Side-by-side plans, pricing, and feature gates for Buttondown and Convert, verified . Buttondown is primarily email marketing; Convert is primarily a/b testing.
Plans side by side
Every published plan from each vendor, with the headline monthly anchor price. Some prices scale with subscriber count or seats; full detail lives on each tool's page.
Buttondown
- Free
Up to 100 subscribers with markdown editor, custom-domain sending, and hosted archives.
Free - $9 add-ons
Pay per feature; this bundle is illustrative of the $9 add-on tier.
$9/mo - $29 add-ons
Pay per feature; this bundle is illustrative of the $29 add-on tier.
$29/mo - $79 add-ons
Pay per feature; this bundle is illustrative of the $79 add-on tier.
$79/mo
Convert
- Growth$299/mo
- Pro
Most popular: $420/mo billed yearly
$420/mo - EnterpriseCustom
Limits at the entry paid tier
Compares $9 add-ons (Buttondown) against Growth (Convert). Both are the lowest-priced non-free, non-custom plan on each side.
| Limit | Buttondown | Convert |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | Custom | · |
When Buttondown wins
- Independent writers and indie creators running a paid newsletter.
- Privacy-minded operators who want to avoid tracking pixels.
- Markdown-native authors who prefer plain text over WYSIWYG bloat.
Where Buttondown is the wrong fit
- High-volume senders pushing multiple campaigns per day.
- E-commerce teams needing deep behavioral automation and segmentation.
- Marketing teams that want a single flat tier covering every feature.
When Convert wins
- Marketing and CRO teams running 5+ tests per month with budgets to match
- Companies scaling out of free Optimize or VWO Free tier deprecations
- Mid-market e-commerce running structured experimentation programs
Where Convert is the wrong fit
- Small teams that can use PostHog feature flags and experiments for free
- One-test-a-quarter buyers where cost-per-test is too high
- Enterprises with Optimizely contracts where switching incentive is weak
Common questions
- Is Buttondown cheaper than Convert?
- At the entry tier, Buttondown starts at Free versus Convert at $299/mo. Buttondown is cheaper at the entry. Pricing scales differently above that, so check the full plan grid.
- Does Buttondown or Convert have a free plan?
- Only Buttondown has a permanent free plan. Convert only offers a free trial.
- Are Buttondown and Convert in the same category?
- No. Buttondown is primarily a email marketing tool; Convert is primarily a a/b testing tool. They overlap on use case but sit in different primary categories, so the comparison is between adjacent tools rather than direct competitors.
- Which has more plans, Buttondown or Convert?
- Buttondown ships 4 plans; Convert ships 3. Buttondown's longer ladder gives more granular upgrade steps, which can mean smoother price escalation as your team scales.
- Where can I see alternatives to Buttondown or Convert?
- Each tool has a dedicated alternatives page on TierGauge with ranked options and verified pricing: /alternatives/buttondown for Buttondown and /alternatives/convert for Convert. Alternatives are derived from each tool's editor-flagged competitors plus same-category tools we track.
Buttondown: https://buttondown.com/pricing · Convert: https://www.convert.com/pricing/
Last verified . Pricing changes between refreshes; confirm at the vendor before purchasing.