Email Marketing · head to head
Keila vs Loops
Keila
Email Marketing
AGPL newsletter tool from Germany, self-hostable or hosted in the EU with no free plan
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Keila there is no free hosted plan at all, stated as deliberate policy, so unlike almost every competitor there is no way to run a small list at zero cost without self-hosting it yourself.; Loops free plan limited to 1000 subscribed contacts
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Keila and Loops actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Keila
- Priced by emails sent
- Bring your own sender
- Self-hosting
- EU hosting
- Sign-up forms
- Segmentation
- Markdown and block editor
- Multiple projects
Only in Loops
Nothing recorded that Keila does not also cover.
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Keila
- A membership organisation holding forty thousand contacts but sending only one newsletter a month, where contact-metered pricing would cost many times morenot Loops
- A European publisher or public body that needs subscriber data held in the EU under a GDPR-friendly arrangementnot Loops
- A technical team that wants to self-host its newsletter tool and route sending through its existing AWS SES accountnot Loops
- An agency running several separate client lists that does not want to pay per project or per additional listnot Loops
Loops
- Setting up lifecycle email from onboarding to winbacknot Keila
- Consolidating product, marketing, and transactional emailsnot Keila
- Designing email themes picked up automaticallynot Keila
- Tracking revenue attribution to specific emailsnot Keila
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Keila
- There is no free hosted plan at all, stated as deliberate policy, so unlike almost every competitor there is no way to run a small list at zero cost without self-hosting it yourself.
- Marketing automation is minimal, with none of the behavioural triggers, journey builders or e-commerce revenue attribution that Klaviyo, Brevo and Mailchimp treat as table stakes.
- The self-hosted route puts deliverability entirely on you: reputation, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, warm-up and bounce handling are your problem, and a badly configured instance will land in spam folders.
- It is a small project from a small company, so the integration ecosystem is thin and there is no partner network, template marketplace or large body of community expertise to draw on.
- Email volume tiers step in fixed blocks, so an organisation whose sending is uneven across the year either overbuys at the annual peak or has to change plan repeatedly.
Loops
- Free plan limited to 1000 subscribed contacts
- Free plan limited to 4000 sends per month
- Free plan includes Powered by Loops branding footer
- Paid plan pricing not publicly specified, requires using pricing calculator
Pricing, plan by plan
Keila
Free- Self-hostedFree
- AGPL-3.0-or-later licence with no fee
- Official Docker image and sample compose file
- You supply hosting and a sending backend
- Keila XS$8/month
- Two thousand emails per month
- Unlimited contacts and projects
- Send with Keila or bring your own email server
- Keila M$32/month
- Fifteen thousand emails per month
- Unlimited contacts and projects
- Sign-up forms and segmentation
- Keila XXL$256/month
- Two hundred and fifty thousand emails per month
- Unlimited contacts and projects
- Intermediate tiers at 16, 64 and 128 EUR for 5,000, 50,000 and 100,000 emails
Loops
Free- FreeFree
- Up to 1000 subscribed contacts
- Up to 4000 sends per month
- Up to 10 emails per second
Which should you pick?
Choose Keila if
- You need priced by emails sent.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted.
- You also want bring your own sender.
Questions people ask
- Is Keila or Loops better?
- Neither clearly leads. Keila starts at Free and Loops at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Keila or Loops?
- Keila starts at Free and Loops at Free.
- Does Keila or Loops run on more platforms?
- Keila runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted. Loops runs on Web.
- Can I use Keila for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Keila best used for?
- Keila is most often used for a membership organisation holding forty thousand contacts but sending only one newsletter a month, where contact-metered pricing would cost many times more, a european publisher or public body that needs subscriber data held in the eu under a gdpr-friendly arrangement, a technical team that wants to self-host its newsletter tool and route sending through its existing aws ses account, an agency running several separate client lists that does not want to pay per project or per additional list. Of those, a membership organisation holding forty thousand contacts but sending only one newsletter a month, where contact-metered pricing would cost many times more and a european publisher or public body that needs subscriber data held in the eu under a gdpr-friendly arrangement are not what Loops is typically brought in for.
- What can Keila do that Loops cannot?
- Keila covers Priced by emails sent, Bring your own sender, Self-hosting, EU hosting.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Keila: Is Keila free?
The software is, under AGPL-3.0-or-later, if you self-host. The hosted service has no free plan by deliberate policy and starts at 8 EUR a month.
Loops: Does Loops have a free plan?
Yes, Loops is free to start with no credit card required. The free plan supports up to 1000 subscribed contacts and up to 4000 sends per month, with up to 10 emails per second.
SourceKeila: How is the hosted service priced?
By emails sent, from 8 EUR for two thousand up to 256 EUR for two hundred and fifty thousand a month. Contacts and projects are unlimited on every tier.
Loops: What are the limitations of Loops' free plan?
The free plan includes all features but is limited to 1000 subscribed contacts and 4000 sends per month. The free plan displays a Powered by Loops footer in emails.
SourceKeila: Can I use my own email provider?
Yes. AWS SES, Sendgrid, Mailgun, Postmark, generic SMTP or a personal inbox are all supported as sending backends.
Loops: How much do Loops paid plans cost?
Loops paid plans use contact-based pricing, meaning costs scale with the number of subscribed contacts synced to Loops. Exact pricing requires using Loops' pricing calculator based on your subscriber count.
SourceKeila: Are there discounts?
Pentacent offers reduced rates to nonprofits and open source projects on request.
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