Email Marketing · head to head
Campaign Monitor vs Dotdigital
Campaign Monitor
Email Marketing
Email marketing platform priced by contact tier, with unlimited sends only from the mid tier up
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Dotdigital
Email Marketing
UK-listed email and cross-channel marketing platform with deep Adobe Commerce and Dynamics connectors
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Campaign Monitor the Lite tier caps monthly sends at 2,500 regardless of contact list size, so a list of any meaningful size cannot be emailed even once a month without exceeding it.; Dotdigital pricing is anchored on contact tiers, so inactive and unsubscribed contacts keep counting until you actively delete them and the bill grows with list decay rather than with sending.
- They diverge on capability: Campaign Monitor covers Drag-and-drop email builder, Dotdigital covers Automation builder.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Campaign Monitor and Dotdigital actually diverge.
| Attribute | Campaign Monitor | Dotdigital |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per month by contact tier and plan level | quote |
| Platforms | Web | Web, REST API |
Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Email Marketing).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Campaign Monitor
- Drag-and-drop email builder
- Automation workflows
- List segmentation
- Send-time optimisation
- Landing pages and forms
- Multi-brand management
Only in Dotdigital
- Automation builder
- Commerce connectors
- Dynamics 365 integration
- Regional data residency
- Liquid personalisation
- SMS and WhatsApp
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Campaign Monitor
- A small marketing team wanting straightforward campaign design and automation without a full martech stacknot Dotdigital
- A business with a list under a few thousand contacts and infrequent sends, where the Lite tier's cap is not a real constraintnot Dotdigital
- An agency managing multiple brands wanting Enterprise-tier multi-brand account managementnot Dotdigital
- A team wanting a bundled website builder alongside email on the Premier tiernot Dotdigital
Dotdigital
- A Microsoft Dynamics 365 organisation that needs marketing automation without building the CRM sync itselfnot Campaign Monitor
- An Adobe Commerce retailer that wants basket and order data in campaigns without middlewarenot Campaign Monitor
- A European buyer that needs contact data held in the UK or EU with a named hosting region in the contractnot Campaign Monitor
- A procurement team that wants to review published financial statements before committing to a multi-year platformnot Campaign Monitor
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Campaign Monitor
- The Lite tier caps monthly sends at 2,500 regardless of contact list size, so a list of any meaningful size cannot be emailed even once a month without exceeding it.
- Unlimited sending only starts at the Essentials tier, so the cheap headline Lite price is not comparable to competitors that offer unlimited sends at their entry tier.
- Its e-commerce-specific automation (abandoned cart flows, predictive segments) is less developed than Klaviyo's, making it a weaker fit for retail-heavy senders.
- As part of the Marigold group alongside Sailthru and other acquired brands, product roadmap priority is shared across a portfolio rather than dedicated solely to Campaign Monitor.
- Pricing multiplies on two axes, contact tier and plan level, so estimating total cost requires checking both dimensions rather than a single number.
Dotdigital
- Pricing is anchored on contact tiers, so inactive and unsubscribed contacts keep counting until you actively delete them and the bill grows with list decay rather than with sending.
- SMS, WhatsApp and chat are add-ons billed on top of the platform fee, so cross-channel programmes cost noticeably more than the headline quote suggests.
- The automation builder handles scheduled and behavioural triggers well but is not designed for high-frequency real-time orchestration, which is where growing teams outgrow it.
- Attribution reporting beyond opens, clicks and connected commerce revenue is thin without the additional analytics module.
- Automation logic is not portable, so migrating away means rebuilding programmes by hand after exporting contacts and data through the API.
Pricing, plan by plan
Campaign Monitor
On request- Lite$undefined/month
- Monthly send cap of 2,500 emails regardless of list size
- Basic campaign and template tools
- Priced by contact tier from under 500 to 50,000+
- Essentials$undefined/month
- Unlimited monthly email sends
- Priority support
- Priced by contact tier from under 500 to 50,000+
- Premier$undefined/month
- Unlimited monthly email sends
- Premier-level phone support
- Drag-and-drop website builder included
- Enterprise$undefined/year
- Custom quote
- Multi-brand account management
- Dedicated account manager, SOC2 and GDPR-aligned security
Dotdigital
On request- Dotdigital$undefined/month
- Priced on a contact tier combined with a monthly email send allowance
- SMS, WhatsApp and additional channels billed separately
- Annual contracts standard, monthly available on entry tiers
Which should you pick?
Choose Campaign Monitor if
- You need drag-and-drop email builder.
- You also want automation workflows.
Choose Dotdigital if
- You need automation builder.
- You work on Web, REST API.
- You also want commerce connectors.
Questions people ask
- Is Campaign Monitor or Dotdigital better?
- Neither clearly leads. Campaign Monitor starts at On request and Dotdigital at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Campaign Monitor or Dotdigital?
- Campaign Monitor starts at On request and Dotdigital at On request.
- Does Campaign Monitor or Dotdigital run on more platforms?
- Campaign Monitor runs on Web. Dotdigital runs on Web, REST API.
- What is Campaign Monitor best used for?
- Campaign Monitor is most often used for a small marketing team wanting straightforward campaign design and automation without a full martech stack, a business with a list under a few thousand contacts and infrequent sends, where the lite tier's cap is not a real constraint, an agency managing multiple brands wanting enterprise-tier multi-brand account management, a team wanting a bundled website builder alongside email on the premier tier. Of those, a small marketing team wanting straightforward campaign design and automation without a full martech stack and a business with a list under a few thousand contacts and infrequent sends, where the lite tier's cap is not a real constraint are not what Dotdigital is typically brought in for.
- What can Campaign Monitor do that Dotdigital cannot?
- Campaign Monitor covers Drag-and-drop email builder, Automation workflows, List segmentation, Send-time optimisation. Dotdigital covers Automation builder, Commerce connectors, Dynamics 365 integration, Regional data residency.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Campaign Monitor: Does the cheapest plan include unlimited sends?
No. Lite caps monthly sends at 2,500 emails regardless of list size; unlimited sending starts at the Essentials tier.
Dotdigital: Are unsubscribed contacts billed?
Yes, if they remain in the account. Contact tiers count stored contacts, so suppression lists still consume allowance until records are removed.
Campaign Monitor: Who owns Campaign Monitor?
Marigold, a marketing technology group that also owns Sailthru and other acquired email and loyalty platforms.
Dotdigital: Is it a real alternative to enterprise engagement platforms?
For scheduled and behavioural ecommerce and B2B programmes, yes. For real-time cross-channel orchestration at scale it is not competing in the same bracket.
Campaign Monitor: Is there a free plan?
A 30-day free trial with a 500-contact limit is available, but there is no permanent free tier.
Dotdigital: Where is contact data stored?
In the region contracted, with UK, EU, US and Australian hosting available, which is why it appears on European shortlists with residency requirements.
Related pages
More on Campaign Monitor
Other head to heads
- Campaign Monitor vs Zoho Campaigns
- Campaign Monitor vs Amazon SES
- Campaign Monitor vs MailerLite
- Campaign Monitor vs Brevo
- Campaign Monitor vs Klaviyo
- Campaign Monitor vs Moosend
- Campaign Monitor vs Shortwave
- Campaign Monitor vs Resend
- Campaign Monitor vs SAP Emarsys
- Campaign Monitor vs Keila
- Campaign Monitor vs Listmonk
- Campaign Monitor vs Sendy
- Campaign Monitor vs Attentive
- Campaign Monitor vs ActiveCampaign
- Campaign Monitor vs Ortto
- Campaign Monitor vs Instantly
- Campaign Monitor vs Sailthru
- Campaign Monitor vs EmailOctopus
- Campaign Monitor vs GetResponse
- Dotdigital vs Zoho Campaigns
- Dotdigital vs Amazon SES
- Dotdigital vs MailerLite
- Dotdigital vs Brevo
- Dotdigital vs Klaviyo
- Dotdigital vs Moosend
- Dotdigital vs Shortwave
- Dotdigital vs Resend
- Dotdigital vs SAP Emarsys
- Dotdigital vs Keila
- Dotdigital vs Listmonk
- Dotdigital vs Sendy
- Dotdigital vs Attentive
- Dotdigital vs ActiveCampaign
- Dotdigital vs Ortto
- Dotdigital vs Instantly
- Dotdigital vs Sailthru
- Dotdigital vs EmailOctopus
- Dotdigital vs GetResponse