About this plugin
MailNest is a fully-featured newsletter and email automation plugin built for WordPress. Send campaigns, automate sequences, track opens and clicks, and manage your subscribers — all without monthly fees or subscriber limits.
Why MailNest?
Most newsletter plugins either charge per subscriber, cap your monthly sends, or hold your data hostage. MailNest is 100% free and open source, runs on your own server, and gives you complete control.
Core Features
Email Sending
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* Amazon SES integration (raw API, no SDK required)
* Automatic wp_mail() fallback
* Real PHPMailer error reporting
Subscriber Management
* Double opt-in with confirmation emails
* Single opt-in mode (optional)
* Bulk confirm, delete, and resend confirmation
* CSV import and export
* Inactive subscriber detection and removal
* Bounced email detection
Campaign Builder
* Full WordPress rich-text editor
* Merge tags: {{first_name}}, {{last_name}}, {{email}}
* Schedule campaigns or send immediately
* Insert Post modal — embed your posts as formatted email blocks
* Auto unsubscribe link in every email
Automation
* Auto daily digest — fetches and sends your latest posts automatically
* Welcome email sequence (day 0, 3, 7 — fully customisable)
* Re-engagement emails for inactive subscribers
* Auto-unsubscribe cold subscribers after X days
* Duplicate send protection (race condition safe)
Analytics
* Open tracking (pixel-based)
* Click tracking (redirect-based)
* Subscriber growth charts
* Campaign performance table with open and click rates
* Top clicked links leaderboard
* Cumulative KPI dashboard
Forms
* Inline subscription form via [mailnest_subscribe] shortcode
* Popup form (exit intent / scroll / time delay)
* Visual form builder
* Honeypot spam protection
* Auto-append form after posts (optional)
Access Control
* Role-based permissions (editor, author, contributor)
* Settings locked to admin only
No Limits
- Unlimited subscribers
- Unlimited campaigns
- Unlimited monthly sends (limited only by your SMTP provider)
- No upgrade walls
- No tracking or telemetry
External Services
Amazon Simple Email Service (SES)
This plugin optionally connects to Amazon SES to send emails. This feature is only active if you enter your AWS Access Key and Secret Key in the plugin settings. No data is sent by default.
What is sent: recipient email address, sender name, email subject, and HTML email body.
When it is sent: only when a campaign, confirmation, or automated email is triggered.
Data processor: Amazon Web Services, Inc.
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Chart.js (bundled)
js locally to render analytics charts in the WordPress admin. No data is sent to any external server.
Amazon SES
* What it does: Sends newsletter emails on your behalf
* Data sent: Email address of recipient, email subject and body
* When: Only when a campaign or automated email is triggered
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This plugin does NOT collect any user data, phone home, or send any analytics to external servers.