• 8 min read

Building My Open Source Marketing Stack (while launching my first book)

How I built a complete marketing stack on a VPS for less than $60/month using open-source tools and AI

marketing open-source automation analytics book-launch

Building My Open Source Marketing Stack (while launching my first book)

I’ve always believed marketers should own their tools instead of depending only on SaaS.
With today’s mix of open-source + AI-powered tools, it’s possible to create a full marketing stack on a VPS for less than $60/month.

In this post I’ll share the exact setup I’m using to support the launch of my first book.
Each tool solves a real marketing need: content, automation, analytics, community.

🖥️ Infrastructure

VPS with Hostinger

  • What it is: A virtual private server where all my services live.
  • Why: Stable, cheap, and gives me control over my environment.
  • Price: ~$6/month
  • Link: Hostinger VPS

Everything starts here. It’s my “home base” instead of paying for multiple SaaS subscriptions.

Docker

  • What it is: A system to run each app inside its own container.
  • Why: No conflicts, easy updates, I can start/stop services independently.
  • Price: Free
  • Link: Docker

This is how I manage multiple apps on one VPS without headaches.

Nginx

  • What it is: A web server I use as a reverse proxy.
  • Why: Handles SSL certificates, HTTPS routing, and gives each service a clean URL.
  • Price: Free
  • Link: Nginx

For marketers: this means I can serve my website, analytics, and tools all under branded subdomains (e.g. analytics.mydomain.com).

🗄️ Data Layer

MySQL

  • What it is: A relational database.
  • Why: Acts as the single source of truth for forms, leads, and CRM data.
  • Price: Free (comes with the VPS setup)
  • Link: MySQL

This is where all raw data lives: signups, lead info, campaign interactions.

NocoDB

  • What it is: An open-source Airtable alternative.
  • Why: Turns my MySQL database into a spreadsheet-like interface.
  • Price: Free
  • Link: NocoDB

For marketers: it means I can manage leads and campaigns like I would in Airtable—without paying per seat.

⚙️ Automation Layer

n8n

  • What it is: An open-source Zapier alternative.
  • Why: Connects all my tools: database, email, analytics, social.
  • Price: Free (self-hosted)
  • Link: n8n

Planned flows:

  • Nurture sequences for book launch leads
  • Cross-channel automations (email + Telegram + Twitter)
  • Analytics-driven triggers (e.g. send emails if someone visits a landing page)

📧 Email & CRM

Here’s where I’m still experimenting.

Mailcoach (tested, but paused)

  • What it is: A premium self-hosted email marketing + automation tool.
  • Price: €249/year (license)
  • Link: Mailcoach
  • Why paused: I didn’t want to lock into the yearly license yet.

Alternatives under review

  • Postal: Postal – open-source mail server.
  • Listmonk: Listmonk – newsletter + campaign manager.

My current idea: use Postal + Listmonk or Postal + n8n + NocoDB to orchestrate newsletters, nurture campaigns, and CRM flows.

📈 Analytics

Plausible

  • What it is: A lightweight, privacy-friendly analytics tool.
  • Why: Google Analytics is heavy and intrusive. Plausible is simple, fast, and GDPR-friendly.
  • Price: Free (self-hosted) / Paid from $9/month (cloud)
  • Link: Plausible

For marketers: I can define custom events (like clicks on my book landing page) and later feed them into n8n for automations.

📅 Social Media

Postiz (tested, limited)

  • What it is: An open-source Metricool / TweetHunter alternative.
  • Price: Free
  • Link: Postiz
  • Limitation: To publish on X you need the paid API → doesn’t fit my budget.

Alternative

  • Typefully: Typefully → $12/month.
    Currently using it to schedule tweets, write threads, and track performance.

�� Contact Management

Chatwoot (next to test)

  • What it is: An open-source customer messaging platform.
  • Why: Centralizes WhatsApp, Telegram, email, and live chat in one inbox.
  • Price: Free (self-hosted) / Paid plans from $19/month (cloud)
  • Link: Chatwoot

Not a priority yet, but it will be key once readers of my book start reaching out through multiple channels.

🧠 Paid AI Tools

Alongside open-source tools, I also rely on a few paid AI helpers:

  • ChatGPT Plus → $20/month → OpenAI
    My brainstorming partner for copy, content, and strategy.

  • Cursor → $20/month → Cursor
    AI-powered IDE. Helps me write code and explains how to deploy services.

  • Typefully → $12/month → Typefully
    For Twitter/X scheduling and thread writing.

  • Domain → ~$10/year

💸 Cost Recap

  • VPS (Hostinger) → $6/month
  • Domain → $10/year
  • Typefully → $12/month
  • ChatGPT Plus → $20/month
  • Cursor → $20/month

👉 Total: ~$58/month

This stack replaces tools like Airtable, Zapier, Google Analytics, HubSpot, and Mailchimp—all at a fraction of the cost.

✅ Wrap-up

As a marketer launching my first book, my needs are simple but demanding:

  • Collect leads
  • Automate follow-ups
  • Track campaign performance
  • Manage conversations

With AI + open-source, I’ve built a modular stack that can grow with me.
No vendor lock-in, full control, and costs under $60/month.

Next step: connecting analytics, CRM, and automation into one growth loop. ��

Stay tuned.