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Email Marketing · head to head

Keila vs MailerLite

Keila logo

Keila

Email Marketing

AGPL newsletter tool from Germany, self-hostable or hosted in the EU with no free plan

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
MailerLite logo

MailerLite

Email Marketing

Email marketing tools priced by subscriber count

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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.; MailerLite free plan caps at 250 subscribers, 2,500 monthly emails and 2 user seats
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Keila and MailerLite actually diverge.

Attributes where Keila and MailerLite differ
AttributeKeilaMailerLite
Pricing modelPer month by emails sentsubscription
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Self-hostedWeb

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 MailerLite

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 MailerLite
  • A European publisher or public body that needs subscriber data held in the EU under a GDPR-friendly arrangementnot MailerLite
  • A technical team that wants to self-host its newsletter tool and route sending through its existing AWS SES accountnot MailerLite
  • An agency running several separate client lists that does not want to pay per project or per additional listnot MailerLite

MailerLite

  • Email marketing automation for small to mid-sized businessesnot Keila
  • Newsletter campaigns with subscriber managementnot 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.

MailerLite

  • Free plan caps at 250 subscribers, 2,500 monthly emails and 2 user seats
  • Comfort plan is limited to 3 user seats; unlimited seats require the Power plan
  • Pricing scales with subscriber count and email volume rather than a flat seat rate, and resets to the plan's subscriber ceiling each billing anniversary
  • Annual billing earns only a 10% discount versus monthly, smaller than many competitors' annual discounts

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

MailerLite

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 250 subscribers
    • 2,500 monthly emails
    • Email campaigns
  • Comfort$12/monthly
    • Monthly emails equal to 10x subscriber tier ceiling
    • Subscriber-dependent pricing tiers
    • Full feature set
  • Power$25/monthly
    • Unlimited monthly emails
    • Unlimited seats
    • Unlimited automations
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • Custom pricing for 200K+ subscribers
    • Dedicated success manager
    • Priority support

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.
Keila review

Choose MailerLite if

  • You want to start without paying.
MailerLite review

Questions people ask

Is Keila or MailerLite better?
Neither clearly leads. Keila starts at Free and MailerLite at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Keila or MailerLite?
Keila starts at Free and MailerLite at Free.
Does Keila or MailerLite run on more platforms?
Keila runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted. MailerLite 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 MailerLite is typically brought in for.
What can Keila do that MailerLite 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.

MailerLite: Can I switch between annual and monthly billing?

MailerLite offers both monthly and annual billing options. Annual billing provides a 10% discount compared to monthly billing. Both USD and EUR currency options are available for payment.

Source
Keila: 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.

MailerLite: What happens when I exceed the monthly email limit on my plan?

On the Comfort plan, monthly emails are determined by your subscriber tier ceiling. The Power plan includes unlimited monthly emails. For precise overage details, contact MailerLite support.

Source
Keila: 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.

MailerLite: Is there a free plan and what are its limitations?

The Free plan supports up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails, with access to email campaigns, 3 automations, website and landing page builder, and signup forms. No payment required to use the free plan.

Source
Keila: Are there discounts?

Pentacent offers reduced rates to nonprofits and open source projects on request.

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