Custom email templates have been one of the most-requested features we've had to set up manually for people. Until now, you had to reach out to us and ask us to flip a switch — which is a pretty annoying way to access a feature you're already paying for. That changes today: if you're on a Professional plan or higher, you can now set up a custom email template directly from your email design settings.

What this actually gives you

Buttondown's built-in themes (Modern, Classic, etc.) cover most use cases, but some authors need pixel-level control over their email HTML. Custom email templates let you edit the full HTML of your email layout — headers, footers, spacing, fonts, the works. Think of it as the email equivalent of custom CSS, but for the entire document structure rather than just styles.

When you first open the template editor, we'll initialize it with your current theme's HTML so you have a working starting point rather than a blank page. From there you can modify anything you want, preview changes in real time, and roll back to previous versions using the built-in design history.

How to get started

Head to Settings > Email and look for the new Custom template section. Click "Open full editor" to get started. This is part of Buttondown's white-labeling feature set, available on Professional plans and above.