head to head · open source
Plunk vs useSend
Plunk has 5,474 GitHub stars, 401 forks, 61 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. useSend has 4,686 stars, 421 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. Plunk leads on adoption by 17% (5,474 vs 4,686 stars). Plunk is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; useSend is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Plunk has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, useSend 9%. Plunk was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Plunk | useSend | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.5K | ★ 4.7K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 401 | ⑂ 421 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Plunk if
- You weight community size — 5.5K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick useSend if
- You want the useSend feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and useSend fits your workflow better
About Plunk
Plunk is an open source email platform written in TypeScript and released under the AGPL 3.0 license. It combines transactional email, marketing campaigns, and workflow automation in a single system, and it is positioned as a self hosted alternative to SendGrid, Resend, and Mailgun. The project lives in the TypeScript and Node.js ecosystem, ships as a Docker image, and is documented at docs.useplunk.com with a community Discord for support.
read the full Plunk overview →
About useSend
useSend is open source sending infrastructure, positioned directly as an alternative to Resend, Sendgrid and Postmark, and written in TypeScript under the AGPL 3.0 license. It lives in the email and communication ecosystem, filed under Productivity & Utilities / Email & Communication. Like most email products on the market, it uses Amazon SES under the hood to transmit messages, and it wraps that delivery layer in an open dashboard for sending reliably and cheaply. The project's stated premise is simple: pay per email sent, rather than paying for contact storage. The repository carries 4676 stars, 421 forks and 3…
read the full useSend overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Plunk or useSend more popular?
Plunk has 5,474 GitHub stars and useSend has 4,686. Plunk has the larger community by that measure.
Are Plunk and useSend free?
Both are open source. Plunk is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and useSend under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Plunk and useSend?
Plunk is written in TypeScript and useSend in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Plunk or useSend?
Choose Plunk if you want the larger community (5,474 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose useSend if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.