Mailchimp vs listmonk
Pick Mailchimp for a hosted tool with a small free plan and support; pick listmonk if you can self-host and want to avoid per-contact pricing.
Pick Mailchimp if…
You want a hosted email tool with templates, automation and support, and a free start for up to 250 contacts.
Pick listmonk if…
You are comfortable running a server and PostgreSQL, and want free software without per-contact fees.
Price
- Freemium
- Free
- Open source
Starting price
Free plan
Open source
Works on
| Feature | Email and SMS marketing platform with campaigns, automations, templates and audience tools. | Free, open source, self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager with a web dashboard. |
|---|---|---|
| Price |
|
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| Starting price | Essentials: starts at $13/month (after a 14-day free trial) | — |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Works on | Web, iOS, Android, API | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, API |
| Try Mailchimp (opens the Mailchimp website in a new tab) | Try listmonk (opens the listmonk website in a new tab) |
Mailchimp's Free plan is $0/month with a limit of 250 contacts and 500 sends a month (250 a day), and without automation flows, scheduling or branding removal. Paid plans start at $13/month (Essentials) and $20/month (Standard), with a 14-day free trial, and Premium is listed at $350.00/mo for 12 months under an offer. Prices depend on contact count.
listmonk is free and open source under AGPL-3.0. The software itself has no contact limit or fee, and its site says it manages millions of subscribers across lists. You pay only for your own server and SMTP sending, since the project does not state prices for third-party hosts.
Features differ in style. Mailchimp lists automations, A/B testing, predictive segmentation, popup forms, SMS add-on, mobile apps and 300+ integrations. listmonk lists SQL-based segmentation, analytics, Go templating, multi-SMTP queues and a transactional API, and you work in its web dashboard.
Setup is the main cost of listmonk: you generate a config, set up a PostgreSQL database and run the binary or Docker image. Mailchimp needs no setup but charges more as your list grows.
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Last updated 16 October 2026. How we make money