Softwr

E-Commerce · head to head

Drip vs Listmonk

Drip logo

Drip

E-Commerce

Ecommerce email marketing and automation priced purely on contact count

From
$39/month
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: Drip drip SMS is closed to new accounts and was US-only when it was open, so the multichannel positioning that competitors offer is not actually available to a new customer.; 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: Drip covers Ecommerce data sync, Listmonk covers Single binary deployment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Drip and Listmonk actually diverge.

Attributes where Drip and Listmonk differ
AttributeDripListmonk
Starting price$39/monthFree
Pricing modelPer month by contact countOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, Self-hosted, Docker, Linux, macOS, Windows
CategoryE-CommerceEmail Marketing

Identical on both: 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 Drip

  • Ecommerce data sync
  • Visual workflow builder
  • Behavioural segmentation
  • Onsite forms and popups
  • Unlimited sends
  • No feature gating
  • Product recommendations
  • A/B testing

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.

Drip

  • A Shopify retailer wants abandoned cart, winback and post-purchase automation without the tier-by-tier feature gating that makes Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign quotes unpredictable.not Listmonk
  • A store with a mid-sized list finds Klaviyo expensive for the volume it sends and wants a comparable ecommerce data model at a lower monthly cost.not Listmonk
  • A marketer needs onsite capture forms and popups included rather than paying separately for a popup tool alongside the email platform.not Listmonk
  • A team sends high email volume to a modest list, such as daily deals or frequent restocks, where unlimited sends on a contact-based price is materially cheaper than send-metered plans.not 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 Drip
  • A developer wants campaign audiences defined by an arbitrary SQL query against subscriber attributes, which no hosted segment builder will express.not Drip
  • 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 Drip
  • 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 Drip

Where each one falls short

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

Drip

  • Drip SMS is closed to new accounts and was US-only when it was open, so the multichannel positioning that competitors offer is not actually available to a new customer.
  • Pricing scales on total contacts regardless of engagement, so an unpruned list of lapsed subscribers costs the same as an active one and list hygiene becomes a direct budget item.
  • Analytics and revenue attribution are thinner than Klaviyo, with no predictive lifetime value or churn scoring, so a data-led ecommerce team hits the ceiling on measurement before it hits it on sending.
  • The integration catalogue is far smaller than Klaviyo or Mailchimp, and outside the main ecommerce platforms and Zapier you will often be writing against the API yourself.
  • It sits inside Leadpages rather than being an independent company, and as the smaller of the two products its roadmap is subject to a parent whose primary business is landing pages rather than ecommerce email.

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

Drip

$39/month
  • Up to 2,500 contacts$39/month
    • Unlimited email sends
    • All workflows and segmentation
    • Onsite forms and popups
  • Up to 5,000 contacts$89/month
    • Identical feature set
    • Unlimited email sends
  • Up to 10,000 contacts$154/month
    • Identical feature set
    • Unlimited email sends
    • Price continues to scale with contact count above this

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 Drip if

  • You need ecommerce data sync.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want visual workflow builder.
Drip 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 Drip or Listmonk better?
Neither clearly leads. Drip starts at $39/month and Listmonk at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Drip or Listmonk?
Listmonk has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $39/month for Drip and Free for Listmonk.
Does Drip or Listmonk run on more platforms?
Drip runs on Web, API. 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. Drip starts at $39/month.
What is Drip best used for?
Drip is most often used for a shopify retailer wants abandoned cart, winback and post-purchase automation without the tier-by-tier feature gating that makes mailchimp and activecampaign quotes unpredictable., a store with a mid-sized list finds klaviyo expensive for the volume it sends and wants a comparable ecommerce data model at a lower monthly cost., a marketer needs onsite capture forms and popups included rather than paying separately for a popup tool alongside the email platform., a team sends high email volume to a modest list, such as daily deals or frequent restocks, where unlimited sends on a contact-based price is materially cheaper than send-metered plans.. Of those, a shopify retailer wants abandoned cart, winback and post-purchase automation without the tier-by-tier feature gating that makes mailchimp and activecampaign quotes unpredictable. and a store with a mid-sized list finds klaviyo expensive for the volume it sends and wants a comparable ecommerce data model at a lower monthly cost. are not what Listmonk is typically brought in for.
What can Drip do that Listmonk cannot?
Drip covers Ecommerce data sync, Visual workflow builder, Behavioural segmentation, Onsite forms and popups. Listmonk covers Single binary deployment, SQL segmentation, Multi-SMTP queues, Arbitrary subscriber attributes.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Drip: Does Drip do SMS?

Not for new customers. Drip SMS is closed to new accounts and was only ever available in the United States, so treat Drip as an email and onsite platform.

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.

Drip: How is Drip priced?

Entirely by contact count, from 39 US dollars a month for 2,500 contacts. Email sends are unlimited and no features are held back on lower tiers.

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.

Drip: Who owns Drip?

Leadpages, which acquired it in 2016. Drip retains its own name, site and product.

Listmonk: What licence is it under?

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

Drip: How does it compare to Klaviyo?

Cheaper at small and mid list sizes with a similar ecommerce data model, but weaker on analytics, predictive segmentation and the breadth of its app ecosystem.

Listmonk: Is there an official hosted version?

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

Share

Related pages

More on Drip

More on Listmonk

Keep looking

Other head to heads