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Email Marketing · head to head

Campaign Monitor vs Sendy

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
Sendy logo

Sendy

Email Marketing

Self-hosted newsletter app bought once for $69 that sends through your own Amazon SES account

From
$69/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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.; Sendy free updates run only to the next major version, so the one-time purchase is really one purchase per major release and the long-term cost is not zero.
  • They diverge on capability: Campaign Monitor covers Drag-and-drop email builder, Sendy covers One-time licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Campaign Monitor and Sendy differ
AttributeCampaign MonitorSendy
Starting priceOn request$69/one-time
Pricing modelPer month by contact tier and plan levelOne-time purchase
PlatformsWebWeb, Linux

Identical on both: 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 Sendy

  • One-time licence
  • Amazon SES delivery
  • Multiple brands
  • Autoresponders
  • Segmentation
  • Bounce and complaint handling
  • Reporting
  • Client access

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

Sendy

  • A publisher with a large list sending frequently, where a hosted platform bills by subscriber count month after monthnot Campaign Monitor
  • An agency managing newsletters for several clients who each get their own brand and login under one licencenot Campaign Monitor
  • A business that must keep subscriber data on its own infrastructure for privacy or contractual reasonsnot Campaign Monitor
  • A developer wiring signups from a custom application into a mailing list without paying platform API feesnot 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.

Sendy

  • Free updates run only to the next major version, so the one-time purchase is really one purchase per major release and the long-term cost is not zero.
  • Deliverability becomes entirely your problem: SES gives you a raw sending pipe and no warm-up guidance, reputation dashboards or deliverability consultants when a campaign starts landing in spam.
  • Amazon SES requires production access approval and will suspend accounts on high bounce or complaint rates, which can take a list offline mid-campaign with little warning.
  • The template editor and design tooling are basic next to Mailchimp or Klaviyo, so anything visually ambitious means hand-written HTML email.
  • You own the server: PHP upgrades, database backups and patching are yours, and an unmaintained Sendy install holding a subscriber list is a data breach waiting to happen.

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

Sendy

$69/one-time
  • Sendy licence$69/one-time
    • One-time purchase, no subscription
    • Free updates only up to the next major version
    • Unlimited lists, subscribers and campaigns
  • AI Assistant bundle$39/one-time
    • Optional add-on, listed at a discount from $49
    • AI writing assistance inside the campaign editor
  • Installation service$79/one-time
    • Optional one-off setup by the vendor
    • For buyers who do not want to configure hosting and SES themselves

Which should you pick?

Choose Campaign Monitor if

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

Choose Sendy if

  • You need one-time licence.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want amazon ses delivery.
Sendy review

Questions people ask

Is Campaign Monitor or Sendy better?
Neither clearly leads. Campaign Monitor starts at On request and Sendy at $69/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Campaign Monitor or Sendy?
Campaign Monitor starts at On request and Sendy at $69/one-time.
Does Campaign Monitor or Sendy run on more platforms?
Campaign Monitor runs on Web. Sendy runs on Web, Linux.
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 Sendy is typically brought in for.
What can Campaign Monitor do that Sendy cannot?
Campaign Monitor covers Drag-and-drop email builder, Automation workflows, List segmentation, Send-time optimisation. Sendy covers One-time licence, Amazon SES delivery, Multiple brands, Autoresponders.

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.

Sendy: What does it actually cost to send?

The licence is $69 once. Delivery is Amazon SES at roughly $1 per 10,000 emails, plus your own hosting, so a 50,000-contact weekly newsletter costs a few dollars a month to send.

Campaign Monitor: Who owns Campaign Monitor?

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

Sendy: Are updates free forever?

No. Updates are free up to the next major version, for example within 7.x. Moving from 7.x to 8.x is a paid upgrade.

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.

Sendy: Do I need to know how to set up a server?

Standard PHP and MySQL hosting is enough and the vendor compares it to installing WordPress, but the SES side needs AWS configuration. An $79 installation service is offered if you would rather not.

Sendy: What happens if Amazon suspends my SES account?

Your sending stops until you resolve it with AWS. There is no alternative delivery route built in, and this is the single biggest operational risk of the model.

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