nowfound

Dev tools · May 8, 2019

OS

Open sourcing my email sending startup

Hi all, I've posted a few times here about Maildown, a startup that I've been trying to validate lately. Due to lack of time to focus on this, I've taken the decision to abandon the project as a startup, but to make it available as an open source solution instead. The (still very basic) github repository is here: https://github.com/chris104957/maildown Maildown now exists as a simple CLI wrapper for Amazon SES which bakes in Markdown and styling support, making it much easier to get transactional mails up and running in any project Thanks for looking, Chris

Open sourcing my email sending startup launched on May 8, 2019 with 38 votes, #828 of 3,072 launches that month and more than 90% of that year's launches.

In plain words

Maildown is an open-source command-line tool that simplifies sending transactional emails by wrapping Amazon SES with built-in Markdown and styling support. Designed for developers integrating email functionality into projects, it reduces the complexity of setting up transactional mail systems. The tool was released as open source after the creator decided to pivot away from pursuing it as a commercial startup.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

Does a similar job

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  • MM
    Maildown – Markdown email campaigns2019 · ▲92

    Hi, The beta program of my new startup, Maildown, is now complete and is now accepting paying customers: https://www.maildown.app As well as a lot of stability enhancements, we've added a new help system, a new CLI (https://github.com/chris104957/mailer-cli) and a REST API. Maildown lets you create transactional and marketing email campaigns using Markdown syntax, so you can generate and send your email content far more quickly than with traditional WYSIWYG editors. Thanks for looking, Chris

  • Maildown – Super Simple Email API2019 · github.com · ▲98

    A super simple CLI for sending emails. Contribute to chris104957/maildown development by creating an account on GitHub.

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