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Groups.io Review

Worth it

Should I use Groups.io?

Groups.io is a modern email group service and listserv alternative with no ads. Create mailing lists with calendars, files, wikis, and more. - groups.io

· 1 month ago

Buy if you run a community, HOA, nonprofit, or fan group that lives on email discussion — it is cheap, ad-free, and well supported. Skip it for internal team chat or plain distribution lists; Slack or Google Groups fit those better and cost less.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 14 public sources; several are competitor comparison pages, so pricing and privacy claims are secondhand.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Free

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Premium$20/mo minimum ($0.04/member)
Large groups$0.04/member/month

Best for

  • HOAs and neighborhood groups
  • Nonprofits and community organizations
  • Hobbyist and user communities
  • Academic research networks

Not for

  • Small teams wanting internal chat — use Slack or Discord instead
  • Anyone needing member anonymity — emails are visible to the group
  • Companies that only need distribution lists — Google Groups is free
  • Chat-first communities that will never check email threads

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Pricing cliff: free ends at 100 members, then $20/month minimum applies.

medium

Competitor says member email addresses appear in every message — verify privacy settings before onboarding.

medium

No public security page; vet data handling yourself before committing sensitive groups.

low

Per-member billing adds up: 2,000 members = $80/month, forever.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free for lists under 100 participants
  • No ads, unlike Google Groups or Yahoo Groups
  • Includes calendars, files, wikis, unlimited subgroups on premium
  • Support described as excellent by long-time group owners
  • Cheap at scale: 2,000 members cost $80/month

Cons

  • Minimum $20/month once you pass 100 members
  • Competitor claims member emails exposed in every message
  • No public security page found
  • G2 lists chat tools like Slack and Gitter as alternatives

Sources & method

- 12 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x1review x6security x2news x3

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free under 100 members, $0.04/member after
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Email-based; members just reply
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Calendars, files, wikis, unlimited subgroups
  • Support quality: 5/5. Long-time users call support excellent
  • Security posture: 3/5. No public security page found
  • $20/mo Paid plan minimum up to 500 members
  • $0.04 Per-member rate per member per month
  • Yes Free tier lists under 100 participants
  • $80/mo 2,000-member group scales linearly with members

Pricing

Free

$0

  • Lists under 100 participants
  • Core email group features

Premium

$20/mo minimum ($0.04/member)

  • Up to 500 members at $20/mo
  • Unlimited subgroups, wikis, calendars

Large groups

$0.04/member/month

  • 2,000 members = $80/mo
  • Nonprofit rates referenced by reviewers

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Users praise Groups.io as a solid, ad-free hosted listserv with excellent support; critics flag member-email visibility and the paid-tier minimum.

“groups.io is decent if you're looking for hosted solutions.”
Hacker News
“The two biggest advantages I can think of are that Groups.io has no ads and support is excellent.”
Groups.io user forum
“groups.io lists are free for lists with under 100 participants, the $20/mo would be for a premium plan which doesn't sound like you'd need that.”
Hacker News

Companies that use it

  • American University (Multiscale RECIPES network)⁶
  • Virtual CRASH Users Group12

Companies that could

  • Case Western Reserve University⁸ Uses Google Groups instead
Full analysis

Based on 14 public sources; several are competitor comparison pages, so pricing and privacy claims are secondhand.

Cheap, ad-free listserv for communities and HOAs. Free under 100 members, $20/mo minimum. Wrong fit for team chat or private lists.

Methodology

Based on 14 public sources; several are competitor comparison pages, so pricing and privacy claims are secondhand.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Groups.io | Email Discussion Groups & Listserv Alternativegroups.io
    official
  2. Best Groups.io Alternative for Email Groups (2026) — Gaggle Mailgaggle.email
    review
  3. groups.io is decent if you're looking for hosted solutions — Hacker Newsnews.ycombinator.com
    review
  4. Groups.io Alternative with True Member Privacy — EMail Parrotemparrot.com
    security
  5. Groups.io Security pagegroups.io
    security
  6. What is groups.io and how do I use it? — American Universitywastedfood.american.edu
    news
  7. The Best Google Groups Alternatives — Keepingkeeping.com
    review
  8. Emails moving from Sympa listserv to Google Groups — Case Observerobserver.case.edu
    news
  9. Google groups alternatives? — Ask MetaFilterask.metafilter.com
    review
  10. Top 10 Groups IO Alternatives & Competitors in 2026 — G2g2.com
    review
  11. Groups.io – a Functional Replacement for Yahoo!Groupsblindmapmaker.wordpress.com
    review
  12. Virtual CRASH Users Group on Groups.io — LinkedInlinkedin.com
    news

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