Choose a newsletter tool: seven neutral criteria

Last reviewed: 2 November 2026

Translated from German; if the versions differ, the German version applies.

Not legal advice: Legal content on this page appears only as verbatim quotations from statutes, court rulings or authority papers, with their source; quotations from German texts are our working translations. We do not assess them ourselves, and no lawyer has reviewed this page. It is no substitute for legal advice in your individual case.

If you want to send a newsletter, you need a sending platform – a program or service that manages sign-ups, sends emails, processes unsubscribes and returned emails, and evaluates them. An ordinary email inbox is not made for this. Whether you call it a newsletter tool, newsletter software or sending platform, the same thing is meant. This checklist helps you choose, regardless of the provider; the checklist itself names no products and compares no providers. How to design your first issue afterwards is explained under Create a newsletter.

1. Clarify what you want to send

Advertising, club information or a specialist newsletter? Quotations from German laws, court rulings and authority papers are our working translations; only the German wording is authoritative (see the German version of this page). For email advertising, the German Act against Unfair Competition (UWG) reads: “An unacceptable nuisance is always to be assumed […] in the case of advertising using […] electronic mail without the prior express consent of the addressee” (Section 7(2) no. 2 UWG, our translation). Section 7(3) UWG begins with the words “By way of derogation from subsection 2 number 2, an unacceptable nuisance is not to be assumed in the case of advertising using electronic mail if” (our translation) and then lists four conditions (wording: Advertising to existing customers). How many recipients do you expect, and how often do you want to send? The pricing plan and the technical requirements depend on this.

Art. 7(1) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) reads: “Where processing is based on consent, the controller shall be able to demonstrate that the data subject has consented to processing of his or her personal data.” The German Data Protection Conference (Datenschutzkonferenz, DSK) writes in its guidance on direct marketing: “For consent declared electronically, the double opt-in procedure is required to verify the declaration of intent of the data subject” (Section 3.3, p. 11, our translation). Ask whether the platform offers double opt-in and logs sign-up and confirmation (time, wording of the sign-up text, confirmation). More on this: Consent and double opt-in.

Sources

Verordnung (EU) 2016/679 (Datenschutz-Grundverordnung), Erwägungsgründe 32, 43, 47, Art. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 21, 25 und 28, Europäische Union (EUR-Lex), Erwägungsgründe 32, 43 und 47; Art. 4 Nr. 4 und 11, Art. 5 Abs. 1 lit. c, Art. 6 Abs. 1 (lit. a, b und f), Art. 7 Abs. 1 bis 4, Art. 8 Abs. 1, Art. 9, Art. 13 Abs. 1 und 2, Art. 21 Abs. 2 bis 4, Art. 25 Abs. 2, Art. 28 Abs. 3 DSGVO; zusätzlich Art. 4 Nr. 7, Art. 13 Abs. 1 lit. d, Art. 28 Abs. 1 und 9, Erwägungsgrund 47 Sätze 1, 2 und 4 (in German) (accessed on 2 November 2026)
Orientierungshilfe der Aufsichtsbehörden zur Verarbeitung von personenbezogenen Daten für Zwecke der Direktwerbung unter Geltung der DSGVO (Februar 2022), Datenschutzkonferenz (DSK), Abschnitt 1.1 (Begriff der Werbung, S. 3), 1.3.2 (Praxisfälle Interessenabwägung, Profiling, S. 5), 1.4.1 (Bestandskunden, S. 6), 2.1 (Informationspflichten, S. 7–8), 3.1 (Gestaltung der Einwilligung, S. 10–11), 3.2 (Visitenkarten, S. 11), 3.3 (Double-Opt-In-Verfahren, S. 11–12), 3.4 (Koppelungsverbot, S. 12), 3.5 (Gültigkeitsdauer, S. 13), 3.6 (besondere Kategorien, S. 14), 3.7 (Widerruf, Nachweis, S. 14–15), 4.2 (Impressumsdaten, S. 15), 4.3 (Beipack-Werbung, S. 15), 5.1–5.4 (Werbewiderspruch, S. 17–20); 1.3.1 (Grundsätzliches zur Interessenabwägung, S. 4) (in German) (accessed on 2 November 2026)

3. One-click unsubscribe

Section 7(2) UWG names as a case in which an unacceptable nuisance is always to be assumed: “in the case of advertising with a message […] in which there is no valid address to which the recipient can send a request to stop such messages without incurring any costs other than the transmission costs at the basic rates” (Section 7(2) no. 3(c) UWG, our translation). Large mailbox providers additionally require bulk senders to offer one-click unsubscribe in the email header (List-Unsubscribe according to RFC 8058). Yahoo requires unsubscribes to be honoured within two days. Ask whether the platform does this automatically.

4. Deliverability: own domain, SPF, DKIM, DMARC

Since 2024 (Gmail, Yahoo) and May 2025 (Outlook.com), the large mailbox providers have required senders with high sending volumes to have SPF, DKIM and a DMARC record. A good sending platform explains which DNS records you need to set for your own sender domain, and signs with DKIM on your behalf. Background: Deliverability.

5. Data protection: processing agreement and server location

The sending platform stores and processes the addresses for you. On processing by a processor, Art. 28(3) GDPR states: “Processing by a processor shall be governed by a contract or other legal act under Union or Member State law, that is binding on the processor with regard to the controller […]”. Ask the provider whether it offers a data processing agreement, where the data is stored and whether data is transferred to countries outside the EU. Also ask whether open and click tracking can be switched off.

If you already have addresses: can the records of consent be imported along with them?

Whether an email asking for consent after the event is itself advertising within the meaning of Section 7(2) no. 2 UWG is not expressly answered by the law or by the authority papers quoted here. On the concept of advertising in data protection law, the DSK writes: “The courts also base their decisions on this far-reaching view of advertising and thus also regard, for example, satisfaction enquiries to customers after a transaction, birthday and Christmas mailings etc. as advertising.” (guidance on direct marketing, Section 1.1, p. 3, our translation)

Sources

Orientierungshilfe der Aufsichtsbehörden zur Verarbeitung von personenbezogenen Daten für Zwecke der Direktwerbung unter Geltung der DSGVO (Februar 2022), Datenschutzkonferenz (DSK), Abschnitt 1.1 (Begriff der Werbung, S. 3), 1.3.2 (Praxisfälle Interessenabwägung, Profiling, S. 5), 1.4.1 (Bestandskunden, S. 6), 2.1 (Informationspflichten, S. 7–8), 3.1 (Gestaltung der Einwilligung, S. 10–11), 3.2 (Visitenkarten, S. 11), 3.3 (Double-Opt-In-Verfahren, S. 11–12), 3.4 (Koppelungsverbot, S. 12), 3.5 (Gültigkeitsdauer, S. 13), 3.6 (besondere Kategorien, S. 14), 3.7 (Widerruf, Nachweis, S. 14–15), 4.2 (Impressumsdaten, S. 15), 4.3 (Beipack-Werbung, S. 15), 5.1–5.4 (Werbewiderspruch, S. 17–20); 1.3.1 (Grundsätzliches zur Interessenabwägung, S. 4) (in German) (accessed on 2 November 2026)

7. Compare costs honestly

Pricing plans are usually based on the number of recipients or the number of emails sent. Also compare what is missing from the cheapest plan (own sender domain, one-click unsubscribe, data processing agreement, support in German).

Free plans: what to look out for

A free entry-level plan can be enough for a small mailing list. Check the same points beforehand as for any other plan, and also ask these questions:

Up to how many recipients or emails does the plan apply, and what happens if you exceed that?
Can you use your own sender domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC (step 4)?
Does the provider add its own notices or advertising to your emails in the free plan?
Is there a data processing agreement in the free plan too (step 5)?
Can you export addresses together with the records of consent if you switch later?

Information on prices and limits changes frequently. Rely on the provider’s current pricing page and note down the date on which you checked it.

Checklist to tick off

Purpose and group of recipients clarified
Double opt-in with a log
Unsubscribe link in the text and one-click unsubscribe in the header
SPF, DKIM, DMARC for your own sender domain
Data processing agreement offered, server location known
Import of records of consent possible
Pricing plan with all the necessary features; for free plans, limits and export checked

The checklist is also available as a tool to tick off: Checklist for choosing a sending platform.