What email marketing newsletter platforms are based outside 5-Eyes/NATO countries?

Hi! If you truly need the provider’s headquarters and primary operations to be outside both Five Eyes (US/UK/CA/AU/NZ) and NATO, your realistic “off‑the‑shelf” options get pretty limited—most mainstream newsletter platforms are US/UK/EU (and many EU countries are NATO). In practice, people usually end up choosing either (a) a Swiss provider with Swiss hosting, (b) an India‑headquartered provider where you can pin your account to an India data center, or (c) a self‑hosted email marketing stack in a non‑NATO country (which gives you the cleanest data-residency story if you can run it well).

Here are options that are at least plausibly aligned with what you’re asking for, plus the “gotchas” to verify with each one.

Realistic platform options outside Five Eyes / NATO

1) Infomaniak (Switzerland) – Newsletter tool

• Switzerland is not in NATO and not in Five Eyes.
• Infomaniak positions itself strongly around Swiss data hosting/sovereignty and runs its own infrastructure in Switzerland.
• Best fit if you want a straightforward opt‑in newsletter tool and want “Switzerland end-to-end” to be a central requirement.

What to verify: whether all newsletter-related data (subscriber PII, event logs, backups, support exports) stays in Switzerland, and whether any subprocessors (analytics, SMS, file hosting, anti-abuse tooling) create data flows elsewhere.

2) Zoho Campaigns (India-headquartered) – Choose a non‑NATO data center

• Zoho is headquartered in India (not NATO, not Five Eyes).
• Zoho Campaigns supports multiple data center “regions/domains” (including India and EU).
• This can work well if your main goal is “provider HQ outside Five Eyes/NATO” and “my tenant is hosted in a specific region.”

What to verify: which exact data center your org is on, whether any operational data (deliverability telemetry, logs, support access, abuse detection, link tracking domains, etc.) can be processed outside that region, and what Zoho’s contractual commitments are around transfers and subprocessors.

3) SendPulse (Ukraine-based operations, multinational presence)

• Ukraine is not in NATO (as of today, January 15, 2026), and SendPulse describes its head office as being in Ukraine, with additional offices/representatives in other countries.
• It’s a capable email marketing/automation platform, but you’ll want to be extra careful about where data is actually stored/processed, because “office locations” don’t automatically equal “data residency.”

What to verify: the hosting region(s) for subscriber data and tracking events, where backups live, and whether any critical services are on US/EU clouds by default.

4) Self-hosted newsletter/email marketing (strongest residency control)
If you can handle a bit more technical work, this is often the cleanest answer to “outside Five Eyes/NATO”:

• Use a self-hosted platform (common choices are Mautic, listmonk, phpList, etc.).
• Host it with a provider in a jurisdiction you’re comfortable with (for example, Switzerland, Singapore, UAE, etc.—depending on your requirements).
• Pair it with an SMTP/MTA setup that matches your compliance posture (or a regional relay you trust).

This is usually the best route if you need to be able to say: “the application database, logs, and backups all reside in X country under Y legal regime,” but it does require good security and deliverability hygiene.

Key deliverability features to confirm (before you commit)

These matter regardless of jurisdiction—without them, you’ll end up in the spam folder even with a squeaky-clean compliance setup:

• Custom sending domain + authentication support: Easy setup for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC (and the platform shouldn’t “fight” you when you want strict DMARC).
• Dedicated sending options when needed: Ability to use a dedicated IP or dedicated sending domain for higher-volume programs (shared pools can be fine, but you want an exit hatch).
• Bounce handling + suppression lists: Automatic handling of hard bounces, complaint/unsubscribe suppression, and a clear policy that prevents re-mailing suppressed addresses.
• Unsubscribe that’s standards-friendly: One-click unsubscribe support (and not hiding unsub behind logins).
• List hygiene + consent-friendly mechanics: Double opt-in (if you want it), re-permission flows, and tools to remove inactive subscribers without hacks.
• Deliverability visibility: Per-campaign deliverability signals (bounces, blocks, complaints), not just opens/clicks.

Key compliance / data-residency questions to ask every vendor

Since your goal is specifically jurisdiction + residency, I’d ask these bluntly (and get written answers in the contract/DPA if it’s important):

Data location & processing

• Where are subscriber records stored?
• Where are tracking events stored (opens/clicks/web events)?
• Where are backups, logs, and message content archives stored?
• Is support able to access your tenant from other countries (and how is that controlled/audited)?

Subprocessors & transfers

• List of subprocessors (CDN, anti-abuse, analytics, SMS, storage, support tooling).
• Whether any data goes to US-based services for link tracking, analytics, uptime monitoring, or abuse prevention.
• Whether you can disable features that cause cross-border transfer (some platforms can keep “core” data in-region but still send tracking/telemetry elsewhere).

Security controls

• Encryption in transit + at rest, MFA/SSO options, role-based access, audit logs.
• Data retention controls (including what happens after unsubscribe).
• Breach notification process and timelines (they vary and often matter for your own obligations).

Email-law basics (not legal advice)

• Built-in support for consent records, easy unsubscribe, and required sender identity fields.
• If you have EU/UK subscribers, confirm GDPR/UK GDPR support; if you have US subscribers, make sure your flows align with CAN-SPAM basics (clear opt-out, honoring opt-out, truthful headers, etc.).

If you tell me (1) your preferred “acceptable” countries (e.g., “Switzerland only” vs “any non‑NATO”), (2) your approximate list size/sending volume, and (3) whether you need automations or it’s mostly a simple newsletter, I can narrow this to the best 2–3 paths and the exact questions I’d put in a vendor checklist.