The AI-native platform for local media.
- News, businesses, events and jobs on one site
- AI does the grunt work, you approve
- Built to be found and cited by AI search
Newsletter software for local media
Every story. One issue.
lightbreak pulls in the news, homes, restaurants, events, pets and jobs your readers care about, and builds them into one edited issue in your voice. In under 15 minutes.
Works with Beehiiv and ActiveCampaign. No subscriber migration.
01 · This week in Leander
02 · The issue that went out
House
$825,000 · 4 bed · 3 bath in Liberty Hill
News
New rooftop event center coming to Cedar Park
Restaurant
Big Mediterranean flavor on Hero Way
Business
Eyemart Express opens Oct. 12 in Leander
Event
Leander ArtFest · Saturday, Oct. 3
Pet
Pet of the week: meet Dizzle, 10 months
Leander ScoopSEP 29 ISSUE
20+
Publications on lightbreak
170K+
Subscribers served
<15 min
To build an issue
$0
Cost to migrate
How it works
Drag a story in. Get it back finished.
- 1Drop in local news
Pick a story from today's feed. It comes back written in your voice, with The Gist and Why It Matters.
- 2Drop in a restaurant
Turn on Photo GIF and the section makes a moving GIF from the place's own photos.
- 3Drop in a home
A listing becomes a Featured Home with the price, beds, baths and its own GIF.
- 4Preview, then push
See exactly what readers get. Push the issue to Beehiiv or ActiveCampaign.
app.lightbreak.ai
Only in lightbreak
Every story comes with its own GIF.
Drop in a listing, a restaurant or the pet of the week. lightbreak writes the story and makes a moving GIF for it. Nobody else does this.
Real sections from real Leander Scoop issues. The GIFs are made automatically.
Sources
Every feed your town has. One place.
lightbreak checks your sources every morning. When you open it, the stories are already waiting.
NewsCity, schools, county and police
PetsShelter pets ready to adopt
PlacesNew restaurants and businesses
HomesNew listings near you
EventsCommunity calendars
JobsWho is hiring in town
VideosLocal video channels
Your ownPaste any website or RSS feed
Review agent
Nothing goes out wrong.
Before you send, lightbreak reads the whole issue against every source it came from. Links, photos, prices, dates. Then it tells you what to fix.
31links opened
18stories fact-checked
27seconds, start to finish
Caught before sendingLeander Scoop · Sep 29
JOBS
Swim InstructorYMCA of Central Texas · Part time
$15 to $19 an hour$15.00 an hour
The job post says $15.00 an hour.Checked against the original listing.
Pricing
One call. A plan built around your newsletters.
Your planUnlimited issuesIncluded
Every source feedIncluded
Stories in your voiceIncluded
Auto GIFsIncluded
Review agentIncluded
API and MCP accessIncluded
Templates set up for youIncluded
Beehiiv or ActiveCampaignIncluded
Moving your list$0
Monthly priceBased on how many newsletters you run
Built by publishers who run 20+ local newsletters
Book your call
30 minon Zoom
Real issuebuilt live
Your sourcesplugged in
Articles
Learn how local newsletters are built and sold.
How to write a subject line in five minutes when you publish several newsletters a weekOne fixed method that works the same way for every newsletter you run: write the line last, draft three options from the strongest story, pick one, and move on.lightbreak Staff3 min read
How to turn your local website's stories and events into a newsletter issueBuild one email issue from the articles, events and listings you already published, without rewriting everything.lightbreak Staff2 min read
How to revive a cold real estate drip list with a weekly local newsletterTrade listing-only email for a weekly community newsletter that leads with local content and features one home per issue.lightbreak Staff2 min read
How to fill your newsletter's events section every week from free sourcesBuild one reusable list of your town's public calendars, then spend the same short check on it each week instead of hunting from scratch.lightbreak Staff2 min read
How to keep an AI-written newsletter consistent every weekFix the parts that drift before the model writes a word: reusable section instructions, a voice sheet, a locked layout, one checklist, and your own edit of the draft.lightbreak Staff2 min read
Can you write a local newsletter with just Claude or ChatGPT?Yes, and here is how to do it properly, plus the four things a repeatable AI newsletter needs and where the chat-only approach honestly breaks.lightbreak Staff4 min readWhy we built this
We're publishers too.
lightbreak came out of our own newsrooms. We run 20+ local publications with 175,000+ subscribers and couldn't find a tool that solved the production problem. So we built one.
Every feature exists because we needed it on a Thursday morning at 7am, with two hours to deadline and a part-time contributor on the keyboard. If it didn't earn its place in our own newsroom, it didn't ship.
Questions publishers ask first
What is lightbreak?
Newsletter publishing software for local media. It pulls in local news, restaurants, businesses, homes, events, pets and jobs, writes each story in your publication's voice, makes GIFs for homes, pets and restaurants, checks the whole issue with a review agent, and pushes the finished issue to Beehiiv or ActiveCampaign.
How long does an issue take?
Most publications on lightbreak ship an issue in under 15 minutes from source to send. The manual workflow usually takes 2 to 3 hours.
Do I have to switch email platforms?
No. lightbreak works with Beehiiv and ActiveCampaign today. Your subscribers, delivery history and list health stay exactly where they are.
What sources does it support?
Local news feeds, restaurants, businesses, Zillow listings, event calendars (Google and iCal), pet adoption feeds, local job boards, YouTube channels, Google Drive and direct uploads.
How much does it cost?
Pricing depends on how many publications you run. Book a call and we'll show you the numbers for your portfolio. Moving over costs nothing.
Can my own AI use lightbreak?
Yes. lightbreak has an API and an MCP server. With a key, an agent like Claude or ChatGPT can build an issue, have lightbreak write each section, run the review and push a draft to Beehiiv or ActiveCampaign. A person still decides when it sends.
Your next issue. Under 15 minutes.
See lightbreak with your own publications. We'll build a real issue with you on the call.
Built in6:42
lightbreak is a product of 8th replay.
We build software for local media, and we run 20+ local publications on it ourselves. If lightbreak fits, its siblings might too.
8threplay.com
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