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Email Marketing · head to head

Campaign Monitor vs Listmonk

Campaign Monitor logo

Campaign Monitor

Email Marketing

Email marketing platform priced by contact tier, with unlimited sends only from the mid tier up

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Listmonk logo

Listmonk

Email Marketing

Self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager that ships as a single Go binary

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Listmonk has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Listmonk it is not an email service provider. It hands mail to SMTP servers you configure and does nothing about IP warm-up, domain reputation, DKIM, DMARC or inbox placement, so deliverability failures are entirely yours to diagnose and fix.
  • They diverge on capability: Campaign Monitor covers Drag-and-drop email builder, Listmonk covers Single binary deployment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Campaign Monitor and Listmonk actually diverge.

Attributes where Campaign Monitor and Listmonk differ
AttributeCampaign MonitorListmonk
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelPer month by contact tier and plan levelOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Self-hosted, Docker, Linux, macOS, Windows

Identical on both: 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 Listmonk

  • Single binary deployment
  • SQL segmentation
  • Multi-SMTP queues
  • Arbitrary subscriber attributes
  • Go templating
  • Transactional API
  • Bounce processing
  • Messenger webhooks

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 Listmonk
  • A business with a list under a few thousand contacts and infrequent sends, where the Lite tier's cap is not a real constraintnot Listmonk
  • An agency managing multiple brands wanting Enterprise-tier multi-brand account managementnot Listmonk
  • A team wanting a bundled website builder alongside email on the Premier tiernot Listmonk

Listmonk

  • A publisher with hundreds of thousands of subscribers faces a five-figure annual bill from a hosted provider and can send the same volume through Amazon SES for a fraction of it.not Campaign Monitor
  • A developer wants campaign audiences defined by an arbitrary SQL query against subscriber attributes, which no hosted segment builder will express.not Campaign Monitor
  • An organisation under privacy or data residency rules needs subscriber data to stay on infrastructure it controls, which rules out every hosted newsletter platform.not Campaign Monitor
  • An open source project or nonprofit needs a mailing list tool with no per-subscriber cost, where the list will grow faster than any budget for it.not 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.

Listmonk

  • It is not an email service provider. It hands mail to SMTP servers you configure and does nothing about IP warm-up, domain reputation, DKIM, DMARC or inbox placement, so deliverability failures are entirely yours to diagnose and fix.
  • Running it means running PostgreSQL, backups, upgrades and a mail relay, and the true cost is the engineering time to keep that stack healthy rather than the zero licence fee.
  • The campaign editor and analytics are basic next to Mailchimp or Klaviyo: reporting is limited to opens, clicks and bounces, with no revenue attribution, no ecommerce integration and no deep engagement scoring.
  • SQL-based segmentation puts audience definition beyond a non-technical marketer, so a marketing team without engineering support will be blocked on routine tasks.
  • The AGPLv3 licence obliges you to release source modifications if you offer the software as a network service, which is a real constraint for anyone considering embedding it in a commercial product.

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

Listmonk

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • Full AGPLv3 source
    • Unlimited subscribers and campaigns
    • No feature gating and no send limits in the software
  • Third-party managed hosting$undefined/month
    • Several unaffiliated providers offer hosted Listmonk
    • No official hosted service from the maintainer
    • Prices vary by provider and are not published centrally

Which should you pick?

Choose Campaign Monitor if

  • You need drag-and-drop email builder.
  • You also want automation workflows.
Campaign Monitor review

Choose Listmonk if

  • You need single binary deployment.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted, Docker, Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want sql segmentation.
Listmonk review

Questions people ask

Is Campaign Monitor or Listmonk better?
Neither clearly leads. Campaign Monitor starts at On request and Listmonk at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Campaign Monitor or Listmonk?
Listmonk has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Campaign Monitor and Free for Listmonk.
Does Campaign Monitor or Listmonk run on more platforms?
Campaign Monitor runs on Web. Listmonk runs on Web, Self-hosted, Docker, Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Listmonk for free?
Yes. Listmonk has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Campaign Monitor starts at On request.
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 Listmonk is typically brought in for.
What can Campaign Monitor do that Listmonk cannot?
Campaign Monitor covers Drag-and-drop email builder, Automation workflows, List segmentation, Send-time optimisation. Listmonk covers Single binary deployment, SQL segmentation, Multi-SMTP queues, Arbitrary subscriber attributes.

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.

Listmonk: Does Listmonk send my emails?

No. It composes, queues and tracks campaigns, then hands the messages to SMTP servers you provide, such as Amazon SES, Postmark or your own relay.

Campaign Monitor: Who owns Campaign Monitor?

Marigold, a marketing technology group that also owns Sailthru and other acquired email and loyalty platforms.

Listmonk: What does it cost to run?

The software is free. The real cost is a small server, a PostgreSQL database and per-email SMTP charges, which through SES are a fraction of hosted newsletter pricing at large list sizes.

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.

Listmonk: What licence is it under?

AGPLv3, which requires you to publish modifications if you offer it as a network service to others.

Listmonk: Is there an official hosted version?

No. Some unaffiliated providers offer managed Listmonk, but the maintainer does not run a hosted service.

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