Posting to Usenet in 2026 isn't what it was in 1998. Most providers either don't support it, restrict it to text-only groups, or charge extra for the privilege. If you're still actively posting, whether that's text discussions, binaries, or both, your provider choice matters more than it does for download-only users.
The providers on this list all include posting with their standard plans at no extra cost. But "free posting" alone doesn't tell you much. What matters is where your post originates, how it propagates, and whether the provider's infrastructure gives your articles the best chance of reaching other backbones quickly and reliably.
We tested posting on each provider by uploading standardized test sets and tracking propagation times, completion rates across multiple backbones, and header path accuracy. We also verified that posting doesn't count against bandwidth on providers that claim it's free. Full testing methodology on our methodology page.
Usenet Farm earns the #1 spot for posting. Posting is included with all plans, genuinely doesn't count against your bandwidth allocation, and originates on their own backbone for direct propagation to peers. If posting is your primary use case, start here.
Why Own-Backbone Posting Matters
When you post an article to Usenet, it goes to your provider's news server first. From there, it needs to propagate to other backbones so the rest of the Usenet world can see it. This propagation happens through NNTP feeds between backbone operators, using the IHAVE/SENDME protocol (or its modern streaming equivalent, CHECK/TAKETHIS).
Here's where backbone ownership becomes critical for posting. If your provider operates its own backbone, your article originates on that backbone's spool and propagates directly to peered backbones through established feed agreements. The article's Path header shows a clean, short route. Propagation is fast because the feed connections are direct.
If your provider is a reseller, your article gets injected into someone else's backbone. The reseller may or may not have optimized posting paths. The article might take an extra hop. The Path header shows the reseller's injection point, which some receiving servers may filter or deprioritize. And the reseller has less control over propagation timing because they don't manage the feed agreements.
For text group discussions, an extra hop or two doesn't matter much. For binary posting where you're uploading hundreds or thousands of articles that all need to propagate together, backbone-level posting makes a real difference in completion rates on the receiving end.
IHAVE, CHECK/TAKETHIS, and How Propagation Works
The original NNTP posting propagation protocol is IHAVE. Server A says "IHAVE article-id@domain" to Server B. If Server B doesn't have it, Server B says "SENDME" and Server A transmits the article. It's simple and it works, but it's chatty. Every article requires a round-trip before the transfer.
Modern backbone operators mostly use the streaming extension: CHECK/TAKETHIS. Server A says "CHECK article-id@domain" and, without waiting for a response, immediately follows with "TAKETHIS" and the article body. Server B can accept or reject asynchronously. This is dramatically faster for bulk transfers and is what you want for binary posting propagation.
Providers that operate their own backbone and maintain direct feed agreements with other backbones typically use CHECK/TAKETHIS for their peering connections. Resellers that inject posts into someone else's backbone may be going through an intermediate layer that adds latency to the propagation chain.
You can see this in action by examining the Path header on articles you've posted. A shorter path with fewer intermediate hops generally means faster, more reliable propagation. If your article's path shows three or four hops before it reaches a major backbone, you're posting through intermediaries.
The Rankings
Usenet Farm
Posting included. Doesn't count against bandwidth. Own backbone with direct peering.
Usenet Farm treats posting as a first-class feature, not an afterthought. Posting is included with every plan, and it genuinely does not count against your bandwidth allocation. We verified this by uploading test sets and checking that our remaining bandwidth didn't decrease. It didn't.
Because Usenet Farm operates its own backbone out of the Netherlands, your posts originate directly on that backbone's spool. Propagation to peered backbones happens through established feed agreements. The Path headers on articles posted through Usenet Farm are clean and short, typically showing just one or two hops to reach major backbones.
For users who post regularly, whether it's text discussions or binary uploads, this combination is unmatched. You get backbone-level posting quality, no bandwidth penalty, and the posting infrastructure is maintained by the same team that runs the backbone. There's no third-party injection layer adding complexity or latency.
Usenet Farm also accepts Bitcoin and follows NTD-based takedown procedures, which matters if you want privacy on your posting activity as well as your downloads.
- Free posting that genuinely doesn't count against bandwidth
- Own backbone with direct peering for fast propagation
- Clean Path headers, short propagation chains
- Bitcoin accepted, NTD-based takedowns
NewsDemon
Free posting. UE backbone + ND proprietary spool since 2004. Post-quantum encryption covers posts too.
NewsDemon includes free posting with all plans. Your posts benefit from the UsenetExpress backbone infrastructure with NewsDemon's own proprietary spool on top. Articles originate on the ND spool and propagate through the UE backbone's peering arrangements to other backbones.
The post-quantum encryption (X25519MLKEM768) applies to your posting connections as well as your downloads. That means the content of your posts is protected by quantum-resistant encryption in transit. If you're posting content you'd rather keep private during transmission, this is the strongest encryption available on any Usenet posting server.
NewsDemon has been operating since 2004, which means their peering arrangements with other backbones are mature and well-established. Propagation from NewsDemon's backbone to other major spools is fast and reliable. In our testing, articles posted through NewsDemon showed up on other backbones within minutes, consistently.
The 60+ connections available on NewsDemon plans are more than enough for heavy posting workloads. If you're uploading large binary sets, you won't be bottlenecked by connection limits.
- Free posting on all plans
- UE backbone + ND proprietary spool with mature peering (since 2004)
- Post-quantum encryption on posting connections
- 60+ connections, no posting throttle
NewsgroupDirect
Free posting. 100 connections. Multi-backbone means wider initial propagation.
NewsgroupDirect includes free posting and gives you 100 connections to work with. That connection count is relevant for posting because binary uploads benefit from parallelism. More connections means you can push more articles simultaneously, which matters when you're uploading a large set and want it to propagate before takedown bots start scanning.
The interesting angle with NGD is the multi-backbone architecture. When you post through NGD, your articles originate on their primary backbone. But because NGD has direct relationships with multiple independent backbone operators (Supernews, ViperNews, Usenet.Farm through their bundle plans), the initial propagation reach is potentially wider than posting through a single-backbone provider.
In practice, this means articles posted through NGD tend to appear on a broader range of backbones quickly. The multi-backbone relationships that make NGD good for downloading redundancy also work in the posting direction.
- Free posting with 100 connections
- Multi-backbone relationships for wider propagation
- High parallelism for large binary uploads
- 5,724+ day retention on posted articles
UsenetExpress
Free posting. Own Tier-1 backbone. Documented peering for predictable propagation.
UsenetExpress includes free posting on their own Tier-1 backbone. The standout here is the documented peering policy. UE publishes details about their backbone infrastructure, which means you can actually see who they peer with and make informed predictions about where your posted articles will propagate first.
That transparency is unusual and genuinely useful for power users who care about propagation paths. If you know UE peers with backbones A, B, and C, you know your articles will hit those spools first. You can plan your posting strategy accordingly.
With up to 150 connections available, UE offers the highest connection count on this list. For binary posting, that's significant. More connections means faster upload throughput, which means your complete article set hits the spool faster, which means propagation starts sooner across the board. Post-quantum encryption applies to posting connections as well, giving you quantum-resistant protection on your uploads.
- Free posting on own Tier-1 backbone
- Documented peering for predictable propagation paths
- Up to 150 connections for maximum upload throughput
- Post-quantum encryption on posting connections
XS News
Posting included. Abavia backbone. European server infrastructure.
XS News includes posting with all their plans, running on the Abavia backbone. For European users who post primarily to European-focused groups, XS News offers low-latency posting through Netherlands-based infrastructure.
The Abavia backbone is independent of Omicron, which means articles posted through XS News originate on a separate spool and propagate through Abavia's own peering arrangements. If you're already using an Omicron provider or a US-based backbone for downloads and want a posting server on a different backbone, XS News gives you that diversity.
The connection count is lower than some of the providers above, and the backbone doesn't have the same retention depth as the larger operators. But for users who need a reliable posting server with European infrastructure and independent backbone origination, XS News fills the role well. The service has been stable for years, which counts when you need your posting infrastructure to work reliably without surprises.
- Posting included with all plans
- Abavia backbone, independent of Omicron
- Netherlands-based infrastructure, low EU latency
- Stable long-term service record
Posting Feature Comparison
| Rank | Provider | Backbone | Free Posting | Counts Against BW | Connections | Post-Quantum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Usenet Farm | Own (NL) | Yes | No | 50 | No |
| 2 | NewsDemon | UE backbone + ND spool | Yes | Standard | 60+ | Yes (X25519MLKEM768) |
| 3 | NewsgroupDirect | Multi-backbone | Yes | Standard | 100 | No |
| 4 | UsenetExpress | Own (Tier-1) | Yes | Standard | 150 | Yes |
| 5 | XS News | Abavia | Yes | Standard | 30 | No |
Posting Best Practices
A few things we've learned from testing posting across these providers:
- Use SSL for posting. Your posted articles contain headers that identify your posting account. Encrypt the connection. If your provider offers post-quantum encryption, use it.
- Check your Path headers. After posting, retrieve your own article from a different backbone and examine the Path header. Shorter paths with fewer hops mean better propagation infrastructure.
- Post to an own-backbone provider. If you're doing binary posting, originate your articles on a provider that operates its own backbone. The propagation is faster and more predictable than posting through a reseller.
- Watch your connection count. For large binary sets, more connections means faster uploads. If you're posting hundreds of articles, the difference between 30 and 100 connections is significant wall-clock time.
- Consider posting and downloading on different providers. Some users separate their posting provider from their download provider. This splits the activity across different accounts and potentially different backbones, which has both privacy and redundancy benefits.
The State of Usenet Posting in 2026
Let's be honest: most Usenet providers have deprioritized posting. The majority of consumer Usenet traffic is downloads, and that's where providers focus their engineering and marketing. Posting support is often an undocumented feature that works but isn't actively developed or promoted.
The providers on this list are the exceptions. They actively support posting, they include it at no extra cost, and (in the case of the top four) they operate infrastructure that gives your posts a real shot at propagating broadly and quickly. If you're one of the users keeping Usenet's original two-way architecture alive, these are the providers investing in that capability alongside you.
See our top 3 overall provider picks for 2026 →