# Listmonk on a Pikapod with AWS SES

> I finally found an email list service that I love (and control).

If you'd like to be responsible for your own mailing list, I've found a solution that I can recommend.

Install [Listmonk on a Pikapod](https://www.pikapods.com/pods?run=listmonk). [Listmonk](https://listmonk.app) is FOSS mailing list software. Pikapods are dead cheap virtual app containers. You'll have that up and running in literally one minute.

Now get yourself an [Amazon SES](https://aws.amazon.com/ses/) account. When I set mine up I had to send them my site details to prove that I was legit. Which is fair enough for a bulk email service. Still, it took a week to get approved. Be patient.

Now configure [bounce processing](https://listmonk.app/docs/bounces/#amazon-simple-email-service-ses).

And now you're done. I can send a couple of thousand emails to a list that I control for about $1. I love it.

If you run in to any problems let me know and I can share my setup. And if you can't be bothered doing any of this and you still want a privacy-first email service, use [Buttondown](https://buttondown.com). I'm a happy ex-customer.