What Curated does

Curated is a private, bootstrapped software company operating as Curated Software, founded in 2013 and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, with primary jurisdiction in Tennessee. The company operates a self-serve, product-led newsletter creation and distribution platform targeting individual creators, SMB publishers, and niche interest publications that produce editorial/digest-style newsletters. Its core offering combines link collection (via bookmarklet, Chrome extension, secret email address, and Slack slash command), issue composition with commentary and images, customizable email templates, and optional hosted publication websites with searchable archives on custom domains.

The platform's technical architecture relies on a public REST API (api.curated.co/api/v3) with token authentication, a Zapier integration exposing 4 triggers and 3 actions, native Slack collection, and a stack of third-party services including SparkPost for email delivery, Stripe for payments, Litmus for email analytics, MaxMind for geolocation, and Brightbox Systems / Amazon S3 (UK) for infrastructure. Differentiated features include an integrated sponsorship management module with availability calendars and booking workflow, paid subscription support with 0% commission on creator revenue, and per-link click tracking via a custom short-link system (cur.at).

Curated monetizes exclusively through tiered subscription plans priced by total subscriber count: a free tier up to 1,500 subscribers, paid tiers from $39/month (1,501-2,500) to $399/month (25,001-50,000), with custom enterprise pricing above 50,000. The company takes no commission on paid newsletter subscriptions or sponsorship transactions (creators handle sponsor payments directly). Distribution is entirely self-serve via the website and API, with no sales-led motion, and the company maintains GDPR compliance with documented sub-processors. With 1-10 employees, no disclosed funding rounds, and no enterprise contracts in evidence, Curated operates as a small, independent, cash-generative software business focused on a horizontal SMB segment within the newsletter platform market.

Name

Curated

Legal name

Curated Software

Website

https://curated.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Curated is a self-serve newsletter publishing platform for individual creators and SMB publishers, offering link collection, customizable email templates, hosted publication archives, sponsorship management, and paid subscriptions via Stripe with 0% commission. It operates as a bootstrapped private company serving a horizontal SMB segment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Newsletter Publishing Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Newsletter Publishing Platforms (MPACAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Content Curation & Bookmarking/Read-Later Platforms (MPACAKAH), Software/SaaS Subscriptions (Consumer & Prosumer) (CRAFAIAB)

Keywords

• Newsletter publishing platform
• Email curation software
• Content curation tools
• Subscriber management platform
• Newsletter monetization software

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Subscription Plans: Tiered subscription pricing based on subscriber count. Free tier up to 1,500 subscribers. Paid tiers range from $39 to $399/month depending on list size.
2. Paid Subscriptions (0% Commission): Newsletter creators can charge subscribers directly. Curated takes no commission on paid subscription revenue.
3. Sponsorship Management: Platform supports sponsorship but payment handling is outside the system - curators arrange payment directly with sponsors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Curated provides a self-serve SaaS platform purpose-built for editorial and digest-style newsletters. It enables newsletter creators to collect links from across the web via bookmarklet, Chrome extension, secret email address, or Slack; assemble issues with commentary and images; send customized email newsletters; host optional publication websites with searchable archives; manage subscribers and sponsorships; charge paid subscriptions through Stripe; and analyze engagement via integrated dashboards and third-party tracking tools.

Product overview

Curated is a newsletter publishing platform built specifically for editorial/digest-style newsletters. The core offering is the Curated Newsletter Platform, which provides end-to-end functionality: Quick Capture for collecting links via bookmarklet, Chrome extension, secret email address, or Slack integration; Effortless Editing for assembling issues with commentary and images; Beautiful Publications with customizable email templates and optional publication website hosting; Sponsorship Management for monetizing through sponsored categories and booking calendars; Paid Subscriptions via Stripe with 0% commission; Audience Management with import/export and filtering capabilities; and Analytics/Statistics for tracking engagement. The platform also exposes a public REST API (api.curated.co/api/v3) for programmatic management of publications, subscribers, issues, and links. Billing is based on total subscriber count across all publications, with a free tier for up to 1,500 subscribers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Curated Newsletter Platform Comprehensive newsletter creation and distribution platform designed specifically for editorial/digest newsletters. Includes link collection via bookmarklet, Chrome extension, secret email, and Slack; issue editing with commentary and images; customizable email templates; and optional publication website hosting with searchable archives. Targeted at newsletter creators, publishers, and marketers.
• Publication Website Hosting Optional hosted publication website with fully searchable issue archives. Hosted at your-publication.curated.co by default, with support for custom domain configuration (top-level domain or subdomain). Includes sitemap generation and HTTPS support. Included at no extra fee with the newsletter platform.
• Audience Management Subscriber management with import/export capabilities, double opt-in support, UTM parameter tracking for subscriber attribution, subscriber filtering by status/source/activity/audience, and reconfirmation workflow for GDPR compliance. Targeted at newsletter publishers needing organized subscriber operations.
• Sponsorship Management End-to-end sponsorship system including public sponsorship pages with availability calendars, sponsorship inquiry forms, sponsor management dashboard, booking system with provisional/booked status tracking, and sponsored categories that can display up to a configurable number of sponsored links per issue. Enables newsletter creators to monetize through sponsors.
• Paid Subscriptions Paid newsletter subscription support with Stripe integration. Curated takes 0% commission on paid subscriptions, allowing creators to monetize their publications directly. Targeted at newsletter creators seeking to charge readers for premium content.
• Analytics and Statistics Unified analytics dashboard tracking open rates, click rates (unique and total), per-link click statistics, subscriber growth, and attribution data. Supports Google Analytics integration for publication websites and Facebook Pixel/Twitter Ads conversion tracking for advertising campaigns.
• Curated REST API Public REST API at api.curated.co/api/v3 enabling programmatic management of publications, email subscribers, issues, categories, and collected links. Uses token-based authentication, JSON data format, HTTPS, and ISO8601 date formats. Maximum page size of 500 results for subscribers and 250 for issues. Limitations: can only collect links (not text items) and cannot publish issues via API.
• Slack Integration Native Slack integration allowing team members to collect links directly from Slack channels using the /curated slash command or message actions, without leaving Slack. Supports multiple publications with a default publication setting.
• Zapier Integration Native Zapier integration with 4 triggers (new subscriber, unsubscriber, published issue, collected link) and 3 actions (add subscriber, remove subscriber, add collected link) for workflow automation across 5,000+ apps. Includes preconfigured Zaps for common use cases like auto-posting to social media when issues publish.
• Save to Curated Bookmarklet / Chrome Extension Browser bookmarklet and Chrome extension for one-click link capture while browsing the web. Part of the Quick Capture feature set, enabling users to save articles they think their readers will like without interrupting their browsing workflow.

Quantifiable outcome

• Free tier available up to 1,500 subscribers with full feature access
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ZapiercoreTechnology or IntegrationZapier integration enables automation workflows. Curated has 4 triggers (new subscriber, unsubscriber, published issue, collected link) and 3 actions (add/remove subscriber, add collected link). Preconfigured Zaps available for common use cases like auto-posting to social media when issues publish.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe processes subscription payments for paid newsletter features. Customers can connect their Stripe account to charge subscribers directly.
• SparkPostcoreTechnology or IntegrationEmail delivery service used to send newsletters to subscribers.
• Brightbox SystemscoreTechnology or IntegrationCloud infrastructure provider hosting Curated's servers in the UK. Databases backed up hourly (7 days) and daily (30 days), stored on Amazon S3 in the UK.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ghost: Open-source publishing platform widely used for newsletters and membership publications; competes with Curated on subscription-driven newsletters, particularly among technical and open-source-friendly creators.
• MailerLite: Affordable email marketing and newsletter platform for SMBs and creators; competes on price and ease-of-use with Curated in the small-publisher newsletter segment.
• Beehiiv: VC-backed newsletter platform targeting creators and media companies; directly competes with Curated in the newsletter creation, monetization and audience-growth workflow with a freemium model and tiered pricing.
• ConvertKit (Kit): Creator-focused email and newsletter platform with commerce and automation features; overlaps with Curated for SMB and individual newsletter creators monetizing via subscriptions and sponsorships.
• Substack: Newsletter-first publishing platform with built-in paid subscriptions and a network effect; the dominant consumer-facing competitor to Curated for independent writers and curators.

Emerging players

• Mailbrew: Email digest builder that aggregates RSS feeds, newsletters and other sources into curated digests; directly overlaps with Curated's link-curation newsletter use case at the prosumer level.
• Feedly: RSS reader and content-curation platform with paid newsletter features (Feedly Leo, Leo for Teams); intersects with Curated in the content-aggregation and curation workflow.
• Buttondown: Indie-focused newsletter and RSS-to-email tool popular with technical writers; smaller niche player with comparable creator-first philosophy and pricing tiers similar to Curated's SMB offering.

Broad incumbents

• Mailchimp: General-purpose email marketing platform with newsletter capabilities as part of a much broader marketing suite; the established incumbent Curated positions against in its messaging.
• Medium: Large-scale publishing platform with email digest and subscriber features; competes for the same writer/curator audience Curated serves, particularly through its daily digest format.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/curatedhq
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/curated-co-email-newsletters

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Curated