The archive is the best asset you own
A newsletter that only exists in inboxes is invisible to everybody who has not already subscribed. Every past issue is a page that can be found, linked to and shared, which makes the archive the part of this that keeps working while you sleep.
Live before you have configured anything
Every newsletter gets a free address the moment you create it, so your signup form and archive are working within a minute of starting. Add your own domain whenever you are ready and it takes over as the real address, with the free one forwarding to it, so you never end up with two versions of the same page competing with each other in search results.
The site takes your logo, your colour and your choice of typeface, and it is quick because there is nothing heavy on it, not because of anything clever.
What is on it
A home page with your description, a signup form people cannot miss and your latest issue. An archive of everything you have sent, page by page. Every issue as a page of its own, which is also where your "view in browser" link goes. A feed for readers who prefer those, and a proper preview card whenever anybody shares a link to you.
Optionally a form for readers to send you links, so good suggestions arrive without starting an email thread, and a sponsorship page in either enquiry or calendar mode. Reader submissions come to you as one summary a day rather than one email per link, which is the difference between a useful feature and a nuisance once a newsletter gets popular.
Signup forms that go wherever you need them
Every newsletter gets a form you can drop into another site, matching your colours, and a plain version for places that will not allow anything clever. Both quietly resist the bots that fill in forms for a living, and both record where the person signed up from, so after a month you can see which of your placements is worth keeping.
New readers get a confirmation email by default, which keeps mistyped and fake addresses off your list. That email comes from us rather than from you, so signups keep working from the first day, before your own sending is set up.
Questions
Can I use my own domain?
Yes, one per newsletter. You add two records where your domain lives, we check them, and we keep checking daily so you hear about it if one is ever removed by accident.
Do I have to use the website?
No, but the archive pages and the feed are most of what makes a newsletter findable by people who have not heard of you, so switching it off has a real cost.
Is there a "powered by" link on it?
Yes, in the footer. It is a small line of text, not a banner.
Can I change how it looks?
Your logo, your colour and your typeface, from a set that reads well on a screen. It is not a page builder, and the trade is that every archive built on it stays fast and readable on a phone.
The rest of it
The composer
Most newsletter tools hand you a blank canvas and a row of drag-and-drop blocks.
How sending works
There is nothing to connect, nothing to configure and nothing to paste anywhere.
Sponsorships
Sponsorship is how most curated newsletters make money, and most of them are running it on a spreadsheet and a long email thread.
Link tracking
Opens stopped meaning much once Apple began loading images on readers' behalf.