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Email Marketing · head to head

SAP Emarsys vs Sailthru

SAP Emarsys logo

SAP Emarsys

Email Marketing

Retail-focused engagement platform now sold and contracted through SAP

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sailthru logo

Sailthru

Email Marketing

Retail and publisher email personalisation, now one product inside the Marigold portfolio

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: SAP Emarsys core modules including analytics, recommendations and loyalty are licensed separately, so the platform fee in the first quote is rarely the number you eventually sign.; Sailthru the product sits in a portfolio with several overlapping platforms under one owner, so roadmap investment is a portfolio decision rather than a product decision and is worth asking about in writing.
  • They diverge on capability: SAP Emarsys covers Tactics library, Sailthru covers Interest profiles.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which SAP Emarsys and Sailthru actually diverge.

Attributes where SAP Emarsys and Sailthru differ
AttributeSAP EmarsysSailthru
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, REST APIWeb, REST API

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 SAP Emarsys

  • Tactics library
  • Cross-channel campaigns
  • Smart Insight
  • Predict
  • Loyalty
  • SAP Commerce integration

Only in Sailthru

  • Interest profiles
  • Personalisation engine
  • Prediction Manager
  • Site personalisation
  • Zephyr templating
  • Lifecycle optimiser

What people use each for

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

SAP Emarsys

  • A retailer that needs standard lifecycle programmes live in weeks rather than building them from scratchnot Sailthru
  • An SAP Commerce Cloud customer that wants engagement contracted on the same paper as the commerce platformnot Sailthru
  • Consolidating email, SMS, push and paid audience suppression for a catalogue retailernot Sailthru
  • Teams that want per-programme revenue reporting without building attribution logic themselvesnot Sailthru

Sailthru

  • A publisher sending a personalised daily newsletter assembled per reader from a content cataloguenot SAP Emarsys
  • A retailer that wants email and on-site recommendations driven by the same affinity modelnot SAP Emarsys
  • High-cadence sending where per-recipient content assembly matters more than journey branchingnot SAP Emarsys
  • Teams that want churn and lifetime value scores available as native campaign conditions rather than imported fieldsnot SAP Emarsys

Where each one falls short

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

SAP Emarsys

  • Core modules including analytics, recommendations and loyalty are licensed separately, so the platform fee in the first quote is rarely the number you eventually sign.
  • Licensing counts stored contacts, so a database retained for years costs money every month regardless of whether those contacts are still mailable.
  • Since the SAP acquisition, contracting and support escalation follow SAP processes, which lengthens procurement noticeably for buyers who are not already SAP customers.
  • The product is built around retail patterns, so B2B, media and subscription use cases sit awkwardly on a data model designed for orders and products.
  • Implementation normally involves a partner and runs to a quarter, so the speed advantage of the tactics library only applies after the integration work is finished.

Sailthru

  • The product sits in a portfolio with several overlapping platforms under one owner, so roadmap investment is a portfolio decision rather than a product decision and is worth asking about in writing.
  • Pricing counts stored profiles, so retained inactive readers keep costing money long after they stopped opening anything.
  • On-site personalisation requires a developer to implement the JavaScript and maintain the content feed, which puts the highest-value feature behind engineering time.
  • Zephyr is a proprietary templating language, so template maintenance skills are scarce compared with the Liquid syntax used by most competitors.
  • It is built for high-cadence content and retail sending, and B2B lifecycle programmes with long sales cycles sit poorly on the model.

Pricing, plan by plan

SAP Emarsys

On request
  • SAP Emarsys Customer Engagement$undefined/year
    • Licensed on stored contact volume with send allowances
    • Smart Insight, Predict and Loyalty modules licensed separately
    • Annual contract through SAP procurement

Sailthru

On request
  • Sailthru$undefined/year
    • Priced on stored profiles and send volume
    • Site personalisation and prediction features licensed by module
    • Annual contract through Marigold

Which should you pick?

Choose SAP Emarsys if

  • You need tactics library.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, REST API.
  • You also want cross-channel campaigns.
SAP Emarsys review

Choose Sailthru if

  • You need interest profiles.
  • You work on Web, REST API.
  • You also want personalisation engine.
Sailthru review

Questions people ask

Is SAP Emarsys or Sailthru better?
Neither clearly leads. SAP Emarsys starts at On request and Sailthru at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, SAP Emarsys or Sailthru?
SAP Emarsys starts at On request and Sailthru at On request.
Does SAP Emarsys or Sailthru run on more platforms?
SAP Emarsys runs on Web, iOS, Android, REST API. Sailthru runs on Web, REST API.
What is SAP Emarsys best used for?
SAP Emarsys is most often used for a retailer that needs standard lifecycle programmes live in weeks rather than building them from scratch, an sap commerce cloud customer that wants engagement contracted on the same paper as the commerce platform, consolidating email, sms, push and paid audience suppression for a catalogue retailer, teams that want per-programme revenue reporting without building attribution logic themselves. Of those, a retailer that needs standard lifecycle programmes live in weeks rather than building them from scratch and an sap commerce cloud customer that wants engagement contracted on the same paper as the commerce platform are not what Sailthru is typically brought in for.
What can SAP Emarsys do that Sailthru cannot?
SAP Emarsys covers Tactics library, Cross-channel campaigns, Smart Insight, Predict. Sailthru covers Interest profiles, Personalisation engine, Prediction Manager, Site personalisation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

SAP Emarsys: Do we need to be an SAP customer?

No, it is sold standalone. But the contracting, legal and support processes are SAP processes, which is a real cost for smaller buyers.

Sailthru: Who owns Sailthru now?

Marigold, formerly CM Group, which also owns Campaign Monitor, Emma, Selligent, Liveclicker and Cheetah Digital.

SAP Emarsys: What is actually included in the base licence?

Contacts, channels and the tactics library. Smart Insight, Predict and Loyalty are commonly assumed to be included and are not.

Sailthru: Does that affect the roadmap?

It can. Overlapping products in one portfolio compete for investment, so ask which platform is the strategic one for your segment before signing multi-year.

SAP Emarsys: Is it suited to B2B?

Not really. The data model and the tactic library assume retail orders, products and repeat purchase behaviour.

Sailthru: Is it worth it just for newsletters?

For personalised daily newsletters at publisher scale it remains one of the strongest options. For simple broadcast sending it is heavily over-specified.

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