How to email your fans when you post a new YouTube video
The short answer
Use a list people joined on purpose. fallo does that, and it is free: fans join with your link or a QR code, and fallo emails them when a new video goes public. YouTube’s bell is free too, but it sends notifications rather than an email you control, and a new subscriber starts on Personalized, which does not cover every upload. Kit and Buttondown can email a list you already have, one message per new video, by reading your channel’s RSS feed. Mailchimp and MailerLite read that same feed on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule instead of when you press Publish.
This is the first page in a plain guide to fan-retention tools, one job at a time. The longer story of why a subscriber isn’t the same as a viewer is in How to keep your YouTube fans. How fallo’s own emails go out is on Video alerts.
How they compare
Ranked by how close each one gets to “email the people who asked, when the video goes public.” A famous tool can sit lower here and still be the right one for a newsletter you write yourself. Prices are from each company’s own pages as of October 2026.
| Option | Best for | Setup | Automatic on a new upload | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. fallo | An email when the video goes public, with nothing else to run | A few minutes | Yes | Free |
| 2. Kit | One email per new video, if you already collect fans in Kit | A list, a feed, and a template | Yes, after a delay | Paid |
| 3. Buttondown | One email per new video from a newsletter you already send | A list, a feed, and a template | Yes, within about 30 minutes | Paid add-on |
| 4. Mailchimp | A daily, weekly, or monthly roundup of new videos | A list, a feed, and a schedule | No. On a schedule | Freemium |
| 5. MailerLite | A scheduled roundup, on a paid MailerLite plan | A list, a feed, and a schedule | No. On a schedule | Paid |
| 6. YouTube’s bell | Subscribers who choose to be notified. Not an email list. | Nothing for you to set up | Not an email | Free |
The email tools don’t email your YouTube subscribers. They email people on their list. They notice a new video from the channel’s RSS feed. YouTube’s own channel page includes a link of the form https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id= plus the channel id (it starts with UC), and that address returned the channel’s videos when this page was written. Open your channel page, view the source, and search for feeds/videos.xml. fallo doesn’t need that feed. It watches the channel you verified.
1. fallo
Fans join at your fallo link, or by scanning your QR code. When a new video, premiere, or live stream goes public, fallo emails them. You don’t write the email. Video alerts is the full walk-through of what gets sent and when. It’s usually within a few minutes of the video going public.
It’s free for every creator: no credit card and no trial clock. Joining is free for fans, and fallo doesn’t put ads in the emails. If that ever changes, fallo’s pricing page says you’ll hear it well before, and you can take the list with you.
What’s good
- The email goes out because the video went public, not because a day of the week arrived.
- Fans join from the link or QR code you already put on videos, streams, and descriptions.
- You can leave sending on automatic, or hold each video and press Send yourself.
- The list is yours. You can download it as a CSV.
The catch
- YouTube subscribers are not added for you. Someone has to join the list.
- The email is the video (thumbnail, title, and a Watch button), not a newsletter you write.
2. Kit
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) can connect an RSS feed and draft a broadcast for each new item, or a digest on the days you pick. Turn on “Send automatically” and Kit sends that draft 30 minutes later. Kit’s guide also says the draft itself can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to show up after you publish.
You still need a list inside Kit, and you need your channel’s RSS address (below). The email template has to include Kit’s Post block or the connection won’t turn on. You can edit the draft before it sends.
RSS campaigns are not on Kit’s free plan, which otherwise includes up to 10,000 subscribers. They are on the paid Creator and Pro plans. As of October 2026, Kit’s plan comparison lists Creator starting at $39 a month and Pro starting at $79 a month, for up to 1,000 subscribers. The price scales with the list, and paying yearly changes the monthly number.
What’s good
- One email per new post, or a digest, from a tool many creators already use.
- Automatic send is a switch. Leave it off and each email waits as a draft.
- The free plan is real for ordinary broadcasts. This job is the part that needs a paid plan.
The catch
- It is not instant. Budget minutes to a few hours, then another 30 minutes.
- You collect the email addresses yourself. YouTube will not hand them over.
- A paid plan is required for the RSS part.
3. Buttondown
Buttondown can send an email every time a new item shows up in an RSS feed, or wait and send weekly or monthly (and only if something new is there). You can also have it create a draft instead of sending. Its docs say it checks the feed every thirty minutes, so a per-item email is close to the upload, not the minute you press Publish.
You write a template that pulls in the title, link, and whatever else the feed includes. There is a setting to skip items that are already more than a day old, which matters when you first connect a channel that has a backlog.
As of October 2026, Buttondown is free for your first 100 subscribers, and RSS-to-email is a $9 a month add-on. The same page says those prices assume you send at most one email a day to the whole list. More than that means talking to them about a different price. A creator who uploads several times a day should read that line before counting on it.
What’s good
- A per-video email, with a stated check every 30 minutes.
- Drafts instead of sending, if you want to read it first.
- The newsletter itself can be free at a small list size. The RSS piece is the add-on.
The catch
- RSS-to-email is not included. As of October 2026 it is $9 a month on top.
- The published price assumes one email a day to everyone on the list.
- You build the template, and you bring your own list.
4. Mailchimp
Mailchimp’s RSS automation pulls a feed into an email and sends it every day, every week, or every month, at a time you choose. It does not send at the moment you upload. It also sends at most once a day, even if you change the time. If the feed has nothing new, it doesn’t send.
Mailchimp’s guide says to publish at least 3 hours before the scheduled send if you want that post included. The first send only looks back 24 hours (daily), 7 days (weekly), or 30 days (monthly). After that it sends what appeared since the last email. You design the email with RSS blocks. Mailchimp says you can’t restyle the feed’s content in the builder; you change the feed itself if you want it formatted differently.
As of October 2026, Mailchimp’s free plan includes up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a daily send limit of 250. Paid plans are Essentials, Standard, and Premium. Mailchimp’s plan write-up does not say which of those include RSS automations, so check the plan before you assume the free one can do this.
What’s good
- A familiar tool if the audience is already in Mailchimp.
- A roundup suits a channel that posts often and doesn’t want one email per video.
- Nothing goes out on a quiet week.
The catch
- Not when you upload. Fans wait for the next scheduled send, and posts need about 3 hours of lead time.
- Two uploads in a day still produce one email.
- Whether the free plan includes this automation isn’t stated on Mailchimp’s plan page.
5. MailerLite
MailerLite’s RSS campaign sends on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule you set. It checks the feed five minutes before that send. After the first email, later ones go out only when the feed has a new post (turn on “show only new posts” if you don’t want older videos repeated).
The email needs an RSS block in the design, and the feed address needs https:// on the front. Updating an old video’s title does not make it a new post.
MailerLite’s help says RSS campaigns are a paid feature on the Comfort and Power plans. As of October 2026, MailerLite’s pricing page lists Comfort starting at $12 a month and Power starting at $25 a month. The free plan (up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month) does not include them. The RSS feature page says a new account can try premium features, including RSS campaigns, for 14 days without a card.
What’s good
- Same shape as Mailchimp: one scheduled email, skipped when you didn’t upload.
- A 14-day try of the paid feature, if you want to see the email before you pay.
The catch
- Not at upload time. The send is the clock you set.
- The ongoing feature needs Comfort or Power, not the free plan.
- You still have to collect the addresses yourself.
6. YouTube’s bell
The bell is free, it’s already there, and you should leave it alone. It is not an email you send. YouTube’s help says a new subscriber gets personalized notifications, and that not every new upload results in a notification. “All” is a choice each subscriber makes. On All, YouTube says they get mobile, web, or inbox notifications for long-form uploads and live streams. Shorts can still be personalized. You can’t flip someone to All, and if they unsubscribe and come back, the setting resets.
Viewers can also pick which email notifications they want in their own YouTube settings. That is their switch, not a list you own, and YouTube does not give you subscribers’ email addresses. Channels set as made for kids don’t get the bell at all.
Use the bell and an email list together. They reach different people. How to keep your YouTube fans is the longer version of why, and Bell Check is fallo’s free estimate for one channel.
What’s good
- Free, and you don’t set anything up.
- Subscribers who pick All do hear about long-form uploads and live streams.
- It keeps working alongside any email list. Nothing about fallo turns it off.
The catch
- It is not an email, and you can’t export who heard about the video.
- Personalized is the default, and YouTube decides which uploads those people see.
- Made-for-kids channels get no notifications, and you can’t change that.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to email fans when I post a new YouTube video?
For this job, fallo. Fans join with your link or QR code, and fallo emails them when a new video goes public. It is free for creators and for fans, and the emails don’t carry ads. Kit or Buttondown can also send one email per new video if you already have a list and you connect your channel’s RSS feed. Mailchimp and MailerLite send that feed on a schedule instead. YouTube’s bell notifies some subscribers, but it is not an email you send.
Does YouTube email my subscribers when I upload?
YouTube sends notifications, and each viewer can turn email notifications on in their own YouTube settings. A new subscriber starts on Personalized, which YouTube says does not notify them about every upload. All, which the subscriber has to choose, covers long-form uploads and live streams. You can’t turn that on for them, and you never receive their email address.
Can Mailchimp, Kit, or MailerLite email people the moment I upload?
Kit can, with a delay: it drafts an email when it sees the new post (Kit says that can take a few minutes to a few hours) and, if Send automatically is on, sends it 30 minutes later. Buttondown can send when it sees a new item, and it checks the feed every 30 minutes. Mailchimp and MailerLite send on a daily, weekly, or monthly time you choose, and they skip the send when the feed has nothing new. Mailchimp also sends an RSS automation only once a day, and it wants the post in the feed at least 3 hours before that send.
Do I have to pay to email fans about new videos?
No, if you use fallo. It is free for every creator, with no credit card and no trial clock, and free for fans. YouTube’s notifications are free too. Kit’s RSS campaigns are not on its free plan. As of October 2026, Kit lists Creator starting at $39 a month and Pro starting at $79 a month for up to 1,000 subscribers. Buttondown is free for the first 100 subscribers, and RSS-to-email is a $9 a month add-on as of October 2026. MailerLite’s RSS campaigns are on Comfort and Power; as of October 2026 those start at $12 and $25 a month. Mailchimp has a free plan (as of October 2026, up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month). Its plan page does not say whether RSS automations are included.
Can I use fallo and the YouTube bell together?
Yes. The bell still reaches subscribers who set it to All, and the ones YouTube’s Personalized setting picks. fallo emails the people who joined your list. One does not replace the other, and turning one on does not turn the other off.
Will any of these email my existing YouTube subscribers?
No. YouTube does not share subscribers’ email addresses. fallo, Kit, Buttondown, Mailchimp, and MailerLite only email people who joined that list. The link, QR code, or signup form has to be somewhere a viewer will actually see it.
Sources
Everything above about another company’s product is from that company’s own pages, read in October 2026. fallo’s rows are from this site.
- YouTube notifications: Manage YouTube notifications.
- YouTube’s channel feed, checked the same day on YouTube’s own channel: feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=….
- Kit: How to connect your RSS feed, the free plan, Creator and Pro.
- Buttondown: RSS-to-email and pricing.
- Mailchimp: Share your blog posts with Mailchimp and pricing plans.
- MailerLite: How to create an RSS campaign, RSS to email, and pricing.
Email the next upload
Claim a free fallo link, verify the channel, and put the link where viewers already are. The next video can go out by email without a feed, a template, or a card.