Switching from Newsletter

Newsletter (The Newsletter Plugin) is free and has no subscriber limit either, so this is not a move away from a paywall. People switch for what sits behind Newsletter's add-ons, for a simpler screen, or because they want tags, custom fields and a digest without buying anything. Postalion brings your subscribers, lists and custom fields over in one go. Here is what the move looks like, honestly.

What comes over by itself

Subscribers, with first and last names and their original sign-up dates.
Statuses: confirmed stays subscribed, not confirmed stays waiting, unsubscribed stays unsubscribed; bounced and complained addresses are treated as unsubscribed. Newsletter's test subscribers stay behind.
Lists: Newsletter's numbered lists become Postalion lists with the same names, and people keep their memberships. You tick which lists to bring.
Custom fields: Newsletter's profile fields become Postalion custom fields with the same names, text or a choice with the same options, and every subscriber's values come with them. You can use them in emails right away, as {company} or whatever the field is called.
Users of your site: recipients in Postalion by default; if they had unsubscribed in Newsletter, they stay unsubscribed.

Nothing in Newsletter is changed or deleted, and the import can be run again; it only adds people who are not here yet.

What you set up again

Forms: replace [newsletter_form] and the Newsletter widget with the Postalion block, the element in your page builder, or [postalion_form]. A form per list becomes list="slug"; the fields you asked for become fields="company, city". The forms page has every option, including the popup.
Welcome email and post notifications: switches under Settings → Automatic emails. The digest replaces a scheduled "latest posts" newsletter: pick the day, the hour and, if you like, the categories.
Sending: enter your SMTP service under Settings → Sending method and press Send test; the sending page explains the choices. If you used a Newsletter add-on for Amazon SES, Mailgun or another service, the same credentials go in here.
Sender and templates: check the sender name and address, pick one of the eight templates, send yourself a test.

What does not come over

Sent newsletters and their statistics stay in Newsletter. Keep it installed, deactivated, if you want to look back.
Newsletter designs made in its composer have no equivalent. Postalion's composer is a text editor with email blocks and a template around it; most letters are rebuilt in minutes.
Autoresponder sequences and WooCommerce purchase emails, which Newsletter sells as add-ons, are planned for the Postalion Pro add-on. The free plugin gives you the Customer tag and the last-order fields for WooCommerce buyers today.
Subscriber preferences pages (the "profile" page) are not part of Postalion: people subscribe, confirm and unsubscribe; you manage lists and fields for them.

What is different

Included, not an add-on: open and click statistics per newsletter, automatic emails from new posts, a digest, the web version with an archive, SMTP, and the imports. Newsletter keeps several of these in its paid bundle.
Tags and custom fields that work in filters, audiences and emails, and that other plugins and forms can set.
Fewer screens. Newsletter has grown a large settings area over the years; Postalion has one settings page and seven screens. Some things it simply does not do, on purpose.

The steps, in order

Install and activate Postalion while Newsletter is still active.
Settings → Sending method: enter your SMTP service, send a test, save.
Settings → Import from Newsletter: tick the lists, press Import now, wait for "Done". The custom fields it found are listed above the button.
Check Subscribers and Lists & tags: the counts should match Newsletter's, minus test subscribers and minus users of the site, who are counted separately. Open one person and check their fields.
Replace the forms on your pages; turn on the automatic emails you had.
Send one newsletter from Postalion. When it has arrived everywhere it should, deactivate Newsletter.

Why people move

Everything in one free plugin, with no add-on list to compare. Tags, custom fields and a digest that need no extra purchase. Nothing sent to outside servers, no account, no telemetry. Your database, thirteen tables. And when the Pro add-on comes, nothing in the free plugin will move behind a price.

Postalion is not affiliated with The Newsletter Team. Newsletter is a trademark of its owner; which features are free and which are add-ons is as published on its site at the time of writing, and may change.