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Surveys · head to head

Formstack vs Mautic

Formstack logo

Formstack

Surveys

Form builder with document generation and e-signature

From
On request
Free plan
No
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

  • Only Mautic has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Formstack more expensive than form builders that only collect, which is the fair comparison for simple use; 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: Formstack covers Form builder, Mautic covers Visual campaign builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Formstack and Mautic actually diverge.

Attributes where Formstack and Mautic differ
AttributeFormstackMautic
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelTiered monthly subscription published on the vendor site; HIPAA-capable plans priced separatelyOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, CloudWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker
CategorySurveysMarketing

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 Formstack

  • Form builder
  • Document generation
  • E-signature
  • Workflow routing
  • Salesforce integration
  • Compliance features

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.

Formstack

  • Processes where a submitted form must become a signed documentnot Mautic
  • Regulated intake needing HIPAA-capable handlingnot Mautic
  • Salesforce shops wanting forms and documents inside the CRMnot Mautic

Mautic

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

Where each one falls short

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

Formstack

  • More expensive than form builders that only collect, which is the fair comparison for simple use
  • Document generation and signature sit in higher tiers, so the headline price is not the working price
  • The interface has accumulated features over a long life and shows it
  • Overkill where a form only needs to collect an answer

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

Formstack

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Formstack review.

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 Formstack if

  • You need form builder.
  • You work on Web, Cloud.
  • You also want document generation.
Formstack 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 Formstack or Mautic better?
Neither clearly leads. Formstack starts at On request and Mautic at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Formstack or Mautic?
Mautic has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Formstack and Free for Mautic.
Does Formstack or Mautic run on more platforms?
Formstack runs on Web, Cloud. Mautic runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker.
Can I use Mautic for free?
Yes. Mautic has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Formstack starts at On request.
What is Formstack best used for?
Formstack is most often used for processes where a submitted form must become a signed document, regulated intake needing hipaa-capable handling, salesforce shops wanting forms and documents inside the crm. Of those, processes where a submitted form must become a signed document and regulated intake needing hipaa-capable handling are not what Mautic is typically brought in for.
What can Formstack do that Mautic cannot?
Formstack covers Form builder, Document generation, E-signature, Workflow routing. Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, Contact management and segmentation, Landing pages and forms, Lead scoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Formstack: What does Formstack cost?

It publishes tiered monthly pricing; document generation and e-signature sit in higher tiers, and HIPAA-capable plans are priced separately.

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.

Formstack: What makes it different from a plain form builder?

It generates documents from submissions and collects signatures on them, which is the step that otherwise involves retyping form data into a template.

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.

Formstack: Is it HIPAA compliant?

It offers HIPAA-capable plans for regulated data. That is a plan-level feature, not the default.

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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