BentoMigrate from Buttondown to Bento
See how to export subscribers from Buttondown and import them into Bento, rebuild key automations, and protect deliverability while you switch platforms without losing readers.
Migration Steps and Data Transfer
DATA TRANSFER
What transfers from Buttondown?
Here's what data we can migrate from your current platform to Bento.
Contacts & Segments
All your subscribers, tags, and custom fields transfer seamlessly.
Email History
Email history transfers partially based on platform limitations.
Commerce Data
Commerce data may require reconnection to your store.
STEP-BY-STEP
Export from Buttondown
Follow these steps to export your data and prepare for migration.
1. Clean up your Buttondown list
Log in to Buttondown, review your subscribers, and remove obvious test addresses or stale segments so you only migrate contacts you still care about.
2. Export subscribers from Buttondown
From the Subscribers view in Buttondown, choose the list or filter you want to export, then use the export option to generate a CSV file. Buttondown will either download the CSV directly or send you a download link by email depending on the export size.
3. Collect tags and custom fields
Review your Buttondown tags, segments, and custom fields, then note how you use them. This helps you recreate equivalent tags and properties in Bento before importing.
WHY SWITCH
Why migrate from Buttondown?
Here's why teams are making the switch to Bento.
Reason 1
Value based pricing that charges for emails you send, not contacts you store
Reason 2
All in one platform for product, marketing, and transactional email with advanced automation
Reason 3
Built in deliverability infrastructure plus live chat, shared inboxes, and a real operator community
TERMINOLOGY & MIGRATION GUIDE
Buttondown → Bento Translation
Different platforms use different terms. Here's how Buttondown concepts map to Bento, plus tips for a smooth migration.
In Buttondown you manage subscribers to a newsletter. In Bento the same people are contacts that can receive product, marketing, and transactional email.
One off newsletters in Buttondown are broadcasts. In Bento they are campaigns that can target segments across all your data.
Buttondown supports simple time based drips. In Bento you build automations and flows that react to events, behavior, and attributes.
Both platforms use tags, but Bento lets you mix tags with events and properties for much richer segments.
Custom fields in Buttondown become properties on contacts and events in Bento so you can filter and personalize at a granular level.
Buttondown can charge for access to a newsletter directly. In Bento you track billing events from your payment stack and trigger email around them.
Buttondown can email new posts from a feed. In Bento you trigger automations from content and product activity across your stack.
Migration Tips
- Start with a small test segment from Buttondown and send a preview campaign from Bento to confirm tracking, links, and branding look right.
- Use Bento tags and properties to recreate any key segments you relied on in Buttondown before turning on automations.
- Map your paid or VIP subscribers clearly during import so you can keep benefits and messaging consistent.
- Turn off Buttondown welcome emails and drips only after your Bento automations are live and tested.
Watch Out For
- Historical send and open history from Buttondown will not appear in Bento, so plan your re engagement rules based on fresh engagement once you move.
- If you charge for access to your newsletter through Buttondown, make sure billing and access are handled correctly in your new stack before closing your old account.
- Check that unsubscribed and bounced addresses from Buttondown are not re imported as active contacts.
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