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Mobile Development · head to head

Capacitor vs Mautic

Capacitor logo

Capacitor

Mobile Development

MIT-licensed native runtime bridging web apps to iOS, Android and native APIs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Mautic logo

Mautic

Marketing

The main open source marketing automation platform, self-hosted and GPL licensed

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Capacitor uI still renders in a system WebView, so complex animation and heavy graphics work require more manual tuning than a natively-rendered framework provides by default.; Mautic mautic depends on reliably scheduled cron jobs to process segments and send campaigns, and a misconfigured or silently failing schedule stops sends without an obvious error, which is the most common way Mautic deployments fail in production.
  • They diverge on capability: Capacitor covers Native project generation, Mautic covers Visual campaign builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Capacitor and Mautic actually diverge.

Attributes where Capacitor and Mautic differ
AttributeCapacitorMautic
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker
CategoryMobile DevelopmentMarketing

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Capacitor

  • Native project generation
  • Plugin bridge
  • Custom native plugins
  • Live Reload
  • Framework agnostic
  • Capacitor Assets and Configure CLIs

Only in Mautic

  • Visual campaign builder
  • Contact management and segmentation
  • Landing pages and forms
  • Lead scoring
  • Dynamic web content
  • Email builder and A/B testing
  • Self-hosted data control
  • No feature gating

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Capacitor

  • A team wrapping an existing responsive web app to publish it to the App Store and Play Storenot Mautic
  • A product using React or Vue that wants native device APIs without adopting a full mobile frameworknot Mautic
  • A developer who wants to drop into native Swift or Kotlin code for the parts a plugin does not covernot Mautic
  • A company migrating off Apache Cordova, since Capacitor was designed as a modern, actively maintained successornot Mautic

Mautic

  • A marketing agency running automation for many clients that cannot pass on per-contact SaaS pricing at scalenot Capacitor
  • A European university or public body whose data protection position requires contact data to stay on infrastructure it controlsnot Capacitor
  • A company with a list of several hundred thousand contacts where SaaS per-contact pricing has become the largest line in the marketing budgetnot Capacitor
  • A team that needs to modify the automation logic itself, not just configure it, and wants source access to do sonot Capacitor

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Capacitor

  • UI still renders in a system WebView, so complex animation and heavy graphics work require more manual tuning than a natively-rendered framework provides by default.
  • Every native capability not covered by an official or community plugin means writing and maintaining native Swift and Kotlin code, which erodes the single-codebase promise for device-heavy apps.
  • It is maintained by the same team as Ionic, and while it does not require the Ionic UI library, its release cadence and roadmap priorities are set by a company now owned by OutSystems.
  • Cordova plugins are not automatically compatible and often need adaptation, so migrating a legacy Cordova app is a real porting project, not a drop-in swap.
  • App store review teams scrutinise WebView-wrapped apps more closely for "just a website" rejections, so thin wrapper apps carry more approval risk than natively-compiled alternatives.

Mautic

  • Mautic depends on reliably scheduled cron jobs to process segments and send campaigns, and a misconfigured or silently failing schedule stops sends without an obvious error, which is the most common way Mautic deployments fail in production.
  • Email sending is not included: you must arrange, pay for and warm up your own sending infrastructure through Amazon SES, SendGrid or similar, and deliverability problems become entirely your problem with no vendor to escalate to.
  • Acquia owns the commercial descendant, Campaign Studio, and is the largest contributor, so the loudest commercial interest in the ecosystem benefits from a hosted product rather than from the self-hosted one being easy.
  • Upgrades between major versions have historically been disruptive, requiring database migrations and plugin compatibility checks, so a neglected instance can become expensive to bring current.
  • The interface and the reporting are noticeably behind commercial platforms, so marketing teams that came from HubSpot or ActiveCampaign will find everyday tasks slower and will need training.

Pricing, plan by plan

Capacitor

Free
  • CapacitorFree
    • MIT licensed, unlimited apps
    • Core plugin set included
    • Community support via GitHub and Discord

Mautic

Free
  • Self-hosted communityFree
    • GPL licensed, no licence fee and no contact limits
    • All features included, no paid edition
    • You provide hosting, database, cron scheduling and email sending
  • Managed Mautic hosting$undefined/month
    • Third-party managed hosting listed by the project
    • Updates, backups and cron scheduling handled for you
    • Pricing varies by provider and is not set by the project

Which should you pick?

Choose Capacitor if

  • You need native project generation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want plugin bridge.
Capacitor review

Choose Mautic if

  • You need visual campaign builder.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker.
  • You also want contact management and segmentation.
Mautic review

Questions people ask

Is Capacitor or Mautic better?
Neither clearly leads. Capacitor starts at Free and Mautic at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Capacitor or Mautic?
Capacitor starts at Free and Mautic at Free.
Does Capacitor or Mautic run on more platforms?
Capacitor runs on Web, iOS, Android. Mautic runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker.
Can I use Capacitor for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Capacitor best used for?
Capacitor is most often used for a team wrapping an existing responsive web app to publish it to the app store and play store, a product using react or vue that wants native device apis without adopting a full mobile framework, a developer who wants to drop into native swift or kotlin code for the parts a plugin does not cover, a company migrating off apache cordova, since capacitor was designed as a modern, actively maintained successor. Of those, a team wrapping an existing responsive web app to publish it to the app store and play store and a product using react or vue that wants native device apis without adopting a full mobile framework are not what Mautic is typically brought in for.
What can Capacitor do that Mautic cannot?
Capacitor covers Native project generation, Plugin bridge, Custom native plugins, Live Reload. Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, Contact management and segmentation, Landing pages and forms, Lead scoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Capacitor: Do I need Ionic components to use Capacitor?

No. Capacitor is the native runtime and plugin bridge; the Ionic UI component library is a separate, optional layer.

Mautic: Is Mautic free?

Yes, GPL licensed with no licence fee and no contact limits. You pay for hosting, email sending and the staff time to maintain it.

Capacitor: Is Capacitor free for commercial apps?

Yes, it is MIT licensed with no fee for commercial use, and there is no paid tier of Capacitor itself.

Mautic: Does Acquia own Mautic?

Acquia acquired the founding commercial entity in 2019 and sells Campaign Studio built on it, but the Mautic trademark sits with the Open Source Collective and the project is community governed.

Capacitor: Is it a replacement for Cordova?

Functionally yes for most teams, though existing Cordova plugins need adaptation rather than working unmodified.

Mautic: What breaks most often?

Cron scheduling. If segment rebuilding and campaign triggers are not running on schedule, campaigns quietly stop sending with no alert.

Mautic: Can it handle large contact lists?

Yes, but performance at several hundred thousand contacts depends on database tuning and queue configuration, which is work you must do yourself.

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