{"id":67926,"date":"2026-11-06T08:34:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T03:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=67926"},"modified":"2026-11-04T16:52:41","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T11:22:41","slug":"fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/","title":{"rendered":"How We Built a Cheap Newsletter with FluentCRM and Amazon SES"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Paying a newsletter service by the subscriber gets expensive fast. So for the QuickOnlineTips weekly newsletter we built our own <strong>FluentCRM Amazon SES<\/strong> setup inside WordPress: FluentCRM keeps the subscriber list and sends the campaigns, and Amazon SES delivers the emails for about 10 cents per 1,000. This post explains how we did it, why we picked these two tools, what it costs at 5,000 and 10,000 subscribers, and how a free Cloudflare Turnstile check keeps bots out of the signup form.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-69454\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter-megaphone.webp\" alt=\"Orange megaphone on an orange wall, like a weekly email newsletter going out to subscribers\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter-megaphone.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter-megaphone-300x158.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter-megaphone-1024x538.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter-megaphone-150x79.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter-megaphone-768x403.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> Install the free FluentCRM plugin to store subscribers and write campaigns in WordPress, connect WordPress to Amazon SES with the free FluentSMTP plugin, verify your domain in SES and ask AWS for production access, then add a signup form protected by Cloudflare Turnstile. At Amazon SES&#8217;s standard rate of $0.10 per 1,000 emails, a weekly newsletter to 10,000 subscribers costs about $4 a month in sending fees.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6aed77092df9a\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6aed77092df9a\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#Our_setup_at_a_glance\" >Our setup at a glance<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#Why_we_chose_FluentCRM\" >Why we chose FluentCRM<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#Why_we_chose_Amazon_SES\" >Why we chose Amazon SES<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#FluentCRM_Amazon_SES_cost_at_5000_and_10000_subscribers\" >FluentCRM Amazon SES cost at 5,000 and 10,000 subscribers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#FluentCRM_Amazon_SES_setup_step_by_step\" >FluentCRM Amazon SES setup: step by step<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#How_we_use_Cloudflare_Turnstile_to_secure_the_form\" >How we use Cloudflare Turnstile to secure the form<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#Single_opt-in_with_safeguards\" >Single opt-in, with safeguards<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#Why_do_people_still_pay_for_other_newsletter_services\" >Why do people still pay for other newsletter services?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#See_it_working_our_weekly_newsletter\" >See it working: our weekly newsletter<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#Is_FluentCRM_free\" >Is FluentCRM free?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#How_much_does_Amazon_SES_cost_for_a_newsletter\" >How much does Amazon SES cost for a newsletter?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#Do_I_need_Cloudflare_to_use_Turnstile\" >Do I need Cloudflare to use Turnstile?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2026\/11\/fluentcrm-amazon-ses-newsletter\/#Why_are_my_first_SES_emails_not_sending\" >Why are my first SES emails not sending?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Our_setup_at_a_glance\"><\/span>Our setup at a glance<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Job<\/th>\n<th>Tool we use<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Subscriber list, campaigns, unsubscribes<\/td>\n<td>FluentCRM (free WordPress plugin)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Sending the emails<\/td>\n<td>Amazon SES, connected through FluentSMTP<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Signup box on pages and after posts<\/td>\n<td>A small shortcode we added with the Code Snippets plugin<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bot protection<\/td>\n<td>Cloudflare Turnstile plus a hidden honeypot field<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Welcome email<\/td>\n<td>Sent instantly after signup<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_we_chose_FluentCRM\"><\/span>Why we chose FluentCRM<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>It lives inside WordPress.<\/strong> Subscribers, campaigns and reports sit in the same dashboard as our posts, and the list is stored in our own database, not on someone else&#8217;s servers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>No fee per subscriber.<\/strong> We use the free FluentCRM plugin, so a growing list doesn&#8217;t push us into a more expensive plan. Our only running cost is Amazon SES sending. A paid Pro version exists if you need advanced automations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It does the basics well.<\/strong> Lists and tags, email campaigns, an unsubscribe link in every email, and bounce handling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_we_chose_Amazon_SES\"><\/span>Why we chose Amazon SES<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/ses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon Simple Email Service (SES)<\/a> is the bulk email engine from Amazon Web Services. You pay only for what you send: the <a href=\"https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/ses\/pricing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SES pricing page<\/a> lists $0.10 per 1,000 outbound emails on its pay-as-you-go pricing, plus $0.12 per GB of attachments. A text-and-image newsletter that loads its pictures from your website has no attachments, so the email count is what matters. New AWS customers can also get Free Tier credits, which AWS says can be used on SES.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FluentCRM_Amazon_SES_cost_at_5000_and_10000_subscribers\"><\/span>FluentCRM Amazon SES cost at 5,000 and 10,000 subscribers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Here is the sending cost for one issue a week (about four issues a month) at SES&#8217;s $0.10 per 1,000 emails:<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Subscribers<\/th>\n<th>Emails a month<\/th>\n<th>Approx. SES cost a month<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>1,000<\/td>\n<td>4,000<\/td>\n<td>$0.40<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5,000<\/td>\n<td>20,000<\/td>\n<td>$2.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>10,000<\/td>\n<td>40,000<\/td>\n<td>$4.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Welcome emails add a few cents more. Your WordPress hosting is a cost you already pay, and FluentCRM and FluentSMTP are free plugins, so there is no extra software bill.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FluentCRM_Amazon_SES_setup_step_by_step\"><\/span>FluentCRM Amazon SES setup: step by step<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Install FluentCRM<\/strong> from Plugins &gt; Add New and run its setup wizard. Create a list for the newsletter.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Set up Amazon SES.<\/strong> In the AWS console, verify your sending domain (SES gives you DNS records, including DKIM, to add at your domain host). New SES accounts start in a sandbox where you can only email verified addresses, so request production access before your first real campaign.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Connect WordPress to SES<\/strong> with the free <a href=\"https:\/\/fluentsmtp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FluentSMTP<\/a> plugin: choose Amazon SES as the connection, add your AWS access keys and region, and send a test email. FluentCRM then sends its campaigns through SES automatically.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Add the signup form.<\/strong> We wrote a small shortcode with the Code Snippets plugin that shows a one-field signup box on our newsletter page and after every post, and adds each new address straight to the FluentCRM list.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Protect the form<\/strong> with Cloudflare Turnstile and a honeypot (next section).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Send a welcome email<\/strong> the moment someone subscribes, with an unsubscribe link, so new readers know the signup worked.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Write the first campaign<\/strong> in FluentCRM, send a test to yourself, check it on a phone, then send it to the list.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_we_use_Cloudflare_Turnstile_to_secure_the_form\"><\/span>How we use Cloudflare Turnstile to secure the form<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/developers.cloudflare.com\/turnstile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cloudflare Turnstile<\/a> is a CAPTCHA alternative with a free plan. Visitors don&#8217;t have to solve a picture puzzle: Turnstile checks the browser quietly and gives the form a token, and our signup code checks that token with Cloudflare before it adds anyone to the list. You don&#8217;t need to move your site to Cloudflare to use it; you just create a widget in the Cloudflare dashboard and add its site key and secret key to your form.<\/p>\n<p>We also added a hidden honeypot field that people never see but bots tend to fill in, and a limit on how many signups one visitor can try in a short time. Together they keep fake addresses off the list, which matters because sending to bad addresses hurts your SES reputation.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Single_opt-in_with_safeguards\"><\/span>Single opt-in, with safeguards<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We chose single opt-in, so readers are subscribed as soon as they enter their email, with no confirmation click. To keep the list clean we rely on the bot checks above, the instant welcome email, automatic removal of addresses that bounce or mark us as spam, and a clean-up of subscribers who haven&#8217;t opened an email in about 90 days. If you&#8217;d rather have double opt-in, FluentCRM can send a confirmation email instead.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_do_people_still_pay_for_other_newsletter_services\"><\/span>Why do people still pay for other newsletter services?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Hosted newsletter services cost more, but they do more of the work for you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They handle sending, deliverability and bounces, so there is no AWS account, DNS setup or sandbox approval to deal with.<\/li>\n<li>They come with ready-made templates, landing pages and signup forms.<\/li>\n<li>Support is a chat window away when something breaks.<\/li>\n<li>Nothing runs on your own hosting, so a busy WordPress site isn&#8217;t slowed down by sending.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you are comfortable in WordPress and don&#8217;t mind a one-time setup, a FluentCRM Amazon SES newsletter gives you the same core job, a list and a weekly email, for a few dollars a month.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"See_it_working_our_weekly_newsletter\"><\/span>See it working: our weekly newsletter<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We run this exact FluentCRM Amazon SES setup on QuickOnlineTips right now. Every week it sends one short email with the week&#8217;s AI news in plain English, our newest guides, and free tools and games worth bookmarking. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/newsletter\/\">Subscribe to the free QuickOnlineTips newsletter<\/a> to see how it looks in your inbox. Designing your own emails? Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/web-safe-fonts-list\/\">web safe fonts list<\/a> shows which fonts display reliably in email.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_FluentCRM_free\"><\/span>Is FluentCRM free?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The core FluentCRM plugin is free and is what we use. A paid Pro version adds more automation features.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_much_does_Amazon_SES_cost_for_a_newsletter\"><\/span>How much does Amazon SES cost for a newsletter?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Amazon lists $0.10 per 1,000 emails on its pay-as-you-go pricing, plus $0.12 per GB of attachments. A weekly email to 5,000 subscribers is about 20,000 emails a month, or roughly $2.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_I_need_Cloudflare_to_use_Turnstile\"><\/span>Do I need Cloudflare to use Turnstile?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Turnstile works on any website. You only need a free Cloudflare account to create the widget keys.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_are_my_first_SES_emails_not_sending\"><\/span>Why are my first SES emails not sending?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>New Amazon SES accounts start in the sandbox, which only allows emails to verified addresses. Request production access in the SES console and verify your domain.<\/p>\n<p><em>Photo by Oleg Laptev on Unsplash<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paying a newsletter service by the subscriber gets expensive fast. So for the QuickOnlineTips weekly newsletter we built our own&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":69454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogging"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67926"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69456,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67926\/revisions\/69456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}