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Surveys · head to head

Cognito Forms vs Mautic

Cognito Forms logo

Cognito Forms

Surveys

Powerful forms made easy

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Mautic logo

Mautic

Marketing

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Cognito Forms individual free plan caps at 100 entries per month and 1 user; 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.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cognito Forms and Mautic actually diverge.

Attributes where Cognito Forms and Mautic differ
AttributeCognito FormsMautic
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWebWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker
CategorySurveysMarketing

Identical on both: starting price (Free), 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 Cognito Forms

Nothing recorded that Mautic does not also cover.

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.

Cognito Forms

  • Building HIPAA-compliant data collection forms without codingnot Mautic
  • Creating multi-step approval workflows for contract signingnot Mautic
  • Collecting payments inline within customer intake formsnot Mautic
  • Routing applications automatically based on responsesnot Mautic

Mautic

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

Where each one falls short

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

Cognito Forms

  • Individual free plan caps at 100 entries per month and 1 user
  • Pro plan ($24/mo monthly, $19/mo billed annually) still limits to 2 users and 2,000 entries per month
  • HIPAA compliance and single sign-on are restricted to the Enterprise tier ($174/mo monthly, $129/mo annual)

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

Cognito Forms

Free
  • IndividualFree
    • 100 entries per month
    • 1 user
    • Cognito Forms branding included
  • Pro$24/month
    • 2000 entries per month
    • 2 users
    • Electronic signatures
  • Team$49/month
    • 10000 entries per month
    • 5 users
    • 5 guest access
  • Enterprise$174/month
    • Unlimited entries
    • 20 users
    • 20 guest access

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 Cognito Forms if

  • You want to start without paying.
Cognito Forms 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 Cognito Forms or Mautic better?
Neither clearly leads. Cognito Forms 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, Cognito Forms or Mautic?
Cognito Forms starts at Free and Mautic at Free.
Does Cognito Forms or Mautic run on more platforms?
Cognito Forms runs on Web. Mautic runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker.
Can I use Cognito Forms for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Cognito Forms best used for?
Cognito Forms is most often used for building hipaa-compliant data collection forms without coding, creating multi-step approval workflows for contract signing, collecting payments inline within customer intake forms, routing applications automatically based on responses. Of those, building hipaa-compliant data collection forms without coding and creating multi-step approval workflows for contract signing are not what Mautic is typically brought in for.
What can Cognito Forms do that Mautic cannot?
Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, Contact management and segmentation, Landing pages and forms, Lead scoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cognito Forms: How much does Cognito Forms cost?

Cognito Forms offers a free Individual plan with 100 entries per month. Paid plans start at $24/month for the Pro plan, $49/month for the Team plan, and $174/month for the Enterprise plan. Annual prepayment provides up to 20% discount off monthly rates.

Source
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.

Cognito Forms: What is the difference between Cognito Forms plans?

The Individual plan (free) includes 100 entries/month and 1 user. Pro adds electronic signatures and accommodates 2000 entries/month with 2 users. Team plan (Best Value) supports 10000 entries/month with 5 users and includes client portal and approvals. Enterprise provides unlimited entries, 20 users, and HIPAA compliance.

Source
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.

Cognito Forms: Does Cognito Forms have a free version?

Yes, Cognito Forms offers a free Individual plan that includes 100 entries per month, 1 user, unlimited forms, and payment processing capabilities. Higher-tier plans are available for increased capacity and features.

Source
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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