Softwr

Email Marketing · head to head

Dotdigital vs Moosend

Dotdigital logo

Dotdigital

Email Marketing

UK-listed email and cross-channel marketing platform with deep Adobe Commerce and Dynamics connectors

From
On request
Rated
-
Moosend logo

Moosend

Email Marketing

Low-cost email marketing from 9 US dollars a month, owned by Sitecore since 2021

From
On request
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Moosend there is no free forever plan, only a 30-day trial, so a very small list that would sit inside Mailchimp or MailerLite free tiers has to start paying immediately.
  • They diverge on capability: Dotdigital covers Automation builder, Moosend covers All features at every tier.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dotdigital and Moosend actually diverge.

Attributes where Dotdigital and Moosend differ
AttributeDotdigitalMoosend
Pricing modelquotePer month by contact count
PlatformsWeb, REST APIWeb, 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 Dotdigital

  • Automation builder
  • Commerce connectors
  • Dynamics 365 integration
  • Regional data residency
  • Liquid personalisation
  • SMS and WhatsApp

Only in Moosend

  • All features at every tier
  • Automation workflows
  • Drag-and-drop email builder
  • Landing pages and forms
  • Segmentation
  • SMTP relay
  • Credit model
  • Ecommerce tracking

What people use each for

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

Dotdigital

  • A Microsoft Dynamics 365 organisation that needs marketing automation without building the CRM sync itselfnot Moosend
  • An Adobe Commerce retailer that wants basket and order data in campaigns without middlewarenot Moosend
  • A European buyer that needs contact data held in the UK or EU with a named hosting region in the contractnot Moosend
  • A procurement team that wants to review published financial statements before committing to a multi-year platformnot Moosend

Moosend

  • A small ecommerce store that wants abandoned cart automation without paying for a tier upgrade to unlock itnot Dotdigital
  • A charity or seasonal business that sends heavily twice a year and would waste a monthly subscription, using the credit packs insteadnot Dotdigital
  • An agency managing several small client lists that needs automation on every account without per-account tier jumpsnot Dotdigital
  • A business moving off Mailchimp purely on cost that still needs landing pages and a working automation buildernot Dotdigital

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Moosend

  • There is no free forever plan, only a 30-day trial, so a very small list that would sit inside Mailchimp or MailerLite free tiers has to start paying immediately.
  • Sitecore acquired Moosend in 2021 and Moosend is a low-price product inside an enterprise digital experience vendor, so it competes for investment against products with far higher deal values.
  • The prices for higher contact tiers are not shown as a table; you must select your contact count to reveal a figure, which makes comparing the cost curve against competitors tedious.
  • The integration catalogue is small compared with Klaviyo or ActiveCampaign, and deep ecommerce features such as predictive segmentation and advanced product recommendations are shallow by comparison.
  • Deliverability on shared infrastructure at the entry tier is adequate rather than good, and dedicated IP access sits in the quoted Enterprise tier, which matters if you send high volume to cold-ish lists.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Moosend

On request
  • Pro$9/month
    • 500 contacts at this price, scaling with list size
    • Unlimited emails
    • Automation workflows
  • Moosend+$undefined/month
    • Pro features plus selected enterprise add-ons
    • Configured per customer
    • Pricing quoted, not published
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Dedicated account management and SLA
    • Custom reporting and priority support
    • Dedicated IP options
  • Email credits$350/month
    • 350,000 credits for 350 US dollars, scaling to 1,000,000 for 1,000
    • No monthly subscription required
    • Suited to businesses that send in bursts rather than continuously

Which should you pick?

Choose Dotdigital if

  • You need automation builder.
  • You work on Web, REST API.
  • You also want commerce connectors.

Choose Moosend if

  • You need all features at every tier.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want automation workflows.

Questions people ask

Is Dotdigital or Moosend better?
Neither clearly leads. Dotdigital starts at On request and Moosend at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dotdigital or Moosend?
Dotdigital starts at On request and Moosend at On request.
Does Dotdigital or Moosend run on more platforms?
Dotdigital runs on Web, REST API. Moosend runs on Web, API.
What is Dotdigital best used for?
Dotdigital is most often used for a microsoft dynamics 365 organisation that needs marketing automation without building the crm sync itself, an adobe commerce retailer that wants basket and order data in campaigns without middleware, a european buyer that needs contact data held in the uk or eu with a named hosting region in the contract, a procurement team that wants to review published financial statements before committing to a multi-year platform. Of those, a microsoft dynamics 365 organisation that needs marketing automation without building the crm sync itself and an adobe commerce retailer that wants basket and order data in campaigns without middleware are not what Moosend is typically brought in for.
What can Dotdigital do that Moosend cannot?
Dotdigital covers Automation builder, Commerce connectors, Dynamics 365 integration, Regional data residency. Moosend covers All features at every tier, Automation workflows, Drag-and-drop email builder, Landing pages and forms.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Moosend: Does Moosend have a free plan?

No. It has a 30-day trial with unlimited sends to 1,000 contacts, then you must move to a paid plan or buy credits.

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.

Moosend: Are features restricted on the cheapest plan?

No, and this is the main reason to choose it. Every Pro feature is available at every contact tier; only list size changes the price.

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.

Moosend: Who owns Moosend?

Sitecore, which acquired it in 2021. The product remains sold under the Moosend name at its own pricing.

Moosend: What are email credits for?

Irregular senders. 350 US dollars buys 350,000 credits with no monthly subscription, which is cheaper than a year of subscription for a business that sends in bursts.

Share

Related pages

Other head to heads