Broadcast

Broadcast removes the per-subscriber tax that makes email retainers shrink as client lists grow. A $150 Regular License covers unlimited subscribers on one production server, and the $1000 Extended License permits installs across up to 25 servers for client work. The trade is explicit: agencies swap recurring SaaS margin leakage for Ubuntu server maintenance they must own.

The Extended License costs $1000 one-time and permits installation on up to 25 servers, which sets a hard ceiling on how many client deployments a single purchase can cover. Divide that figure across the installs you actually run and the per-client license cost lands near $40, but only if you fill the slots. An agency running six client installs carries roughly $167 of license cost per account, while the same $1000 spread across twenty-five accounts drops to $40 each. The Regular License at $150 covers one production server and suits a single internal deployment, not a multi-client book. Before quoting a retainer, count how many Broadcast installs you can realistically maintain on Ubuntu with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configured, because unfilled license slots are the quietest margin leak in a self-hosted email practice.

Retainer Floor Math is the practice of calculating the minimum monthly retainer a client account can support before any email work begins, using the platform fee as the floor rather than the ceiling. A 5,000-contact list on a low-cost sender such as EmailOctopus or Moosend costs the client a few tens of dollars a month, so a retainer priced against that fee alone collapses to near zero margin. The framework says the sellable unit is the bundle: list growth, segmentation, creative, and sends. Agencies that price the bundle hold margin; agencies that price the tool lose the account to a freelancer. The same logic applies to white-label resale, where BigMailer and Mailmunch let an agency consolidate many client brands under one dashboard, turning per-client tool cost into a shared line item that no single retainer has to carry.

Send Cost Inversion is the point where the platform fee stops being the billable line item and becomes a rounding error inside a larger service retainer. On a 5,000-contact list, a send platform might cost $30 to $60 per month, which cannot support a standalone agency retainer at any defensible hourly rate. The inversion happens when list growth, segmentation logic, creative production, and lifecycle flows are bundled and priced as one deliverable, so the $40 tool fee sits inside a $2,500 monthly scope rather than being marked up on its own. Agencies that price the tool separately compete on a number the client can look up in five minutes. Agencies that price the bundle compete on outcomes the client cannot price at all. The practical test: if a client can cancel your retainer and keep sending for under $100 a month, you have not inverted anything.

Buy the $1000 Extended License only once you have two or more client deployments to place on it; below that, start on the $150 Regular License and prove the delivery model first.

Quote email marketing only as a bundle of list growth, segmentation, creative, and sends, and treat the platform fee as a pass-through cost rather than the billable unit.

IF your agency already runs Ubuntu infrastructure and can absorb SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup, THEN the Regular License at $150 one-time removes per-subscriber fees across unlimited campaigns. IF you need to install for multiple clients, THEN the Extended License at $1000 one-time covers up to 25 servers with priority email support. IF nobody on staff owns server maintenance, THEN the license savings get eaten by delivery overhead.

Deploy Broadcast on a client-dedicated Ubuntu server, wire it to Amazon SES or Postmark, and hand over a branded email platform the client owns outright for a one-time license instead of a monthly SaaS bill.