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Email Marketing · head to head

Keila vs Omnisend

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
Omnisend logo

Omnisend

Email Marketing

Email, SMS and push marketing automation for ecommerce

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.; Omnisend free plan caps at 250 contacts and 500 emails per month
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Keila and Omnisend actually diverge.

Attributes where Keila and Omnisend differ
AttributeKeilaOmnisend
Pricing modelPer month by emails sentfreemium
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 Omnisend

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

Omnisend

  • Sending cart abandonment recovery emails with product recommendationsnot Keila
  • Segmenting customers by purchase history for targeted SMS campaignsnot Keila
  • Creating browse abandonment sequences triggered by browsing behaviornot Keila
  • Generating personalized product recommendations in email messagesnot 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.

Omnisend

  • Free plan caps at 250 contacts and 500 emails per month
  • Standard plan is limited to 500 contacts and 6,000 emails per month before an upgrade is required
  • SMS is billed separately starting at $0.007 per message and varies by country and volume
  • Custom pricing only begins above 150,001 contacts, requiring a sales conversation at that scale

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

Omnisend

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 250 contacts
    • 500 emails/month
    • 500 web push/month
  • Standard$11.2/month
    • Up to 500 contacts
    • 6,000 emails/month (12x list size)
    • Unlimited web push
  • Pro$41.3/month
    • Up to 2,500 contacts
    • Unlimited emails
    • Unlimited web push
  • Custom$undefined/mo
    • 150,001+ contacts
    • Custom pricing with dedicated account expert

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 Omnisend if

  • You want to start without paying.
Omnisend review

Questions people ask

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

Omnisend: What is Omnisend's pricing model?

Omnisend uses contact-based tiered pricing. Free plan includes 250 contacts, Standard tier covers 500 contacts at $11.20/month, Pro tier covers 2,500 contacts at $41.30/month. Monthly or 3-month subscriptions available with 30% discount on quarterly billing.

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.

Omnisend: Does Omnisend charge for SMS?

Yes, SMS is an add-on with volume-based pricing starting at $0.007 per message for orders of 10,000+ messages, up to $0.009 per message for smaller volumes.

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.

Omnisend: Is there a free version of Omnisend?

Omnisend offers a free tier for up to 250 contacts with 500 emails/month, 500 web push/month, and basic automation features.

Source
Keila: Are there discounts?

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

Omnisend: What is included in the Pro plan?

The Pro plan at $41.30/month covers up to 2,500 contacts with unlimited emails, unlimited web push, AI personalization, and SMS starting at $0.007 per message.

Source
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