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Marketing · head to head

Mautic vs Optimizely

Mautic logo

Mautic

Marketing

The main open source marketing automation platform, self-hosted and GPL licensed

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Optimizely logo

Optimizely

Marketing

Digital experience optimization

From
$10000/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Mautic has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Optimizely no pricing is published and no minimum is stated
  • They diverge on capability: Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, Optimizely covers A/B testing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mautic and Optimizely actually diverge.

Attributes where Mautic and Optimizely differ
AttributeMauticOptimizely
Starting priceFree$10000/year
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, DockerWeb, Mobile
FoundedUnknown2010

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (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 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

Only in Optimizely

  • A/B testing
  • Multivariate testing
  • Personalization
  • Feature management
  • Analytics
  • Google Analytics
  • Adobe Analytics
  • SOC2

What people use each for

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

Mautic

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

Optimizely

  • A/B testing and experimentation across web and product experiencesnot Mautic
  • Feature flagging and personalisation for digital productsnot Mautic

Where each one falls short

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

Optimizely

  • No pricing is published and no minimum is stated
  • Every plan is individually packaged, so no two quotes are necessarily comparable
  • Reaching a figure requires a demo or sales conversation

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Optimizely

$10000/year
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • A/B testing
    • Personalization
    • Feature management

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Optimizely if

  • You need a/b testing.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want multivariate testing.
Optimizely review

Questions people ask

Is Mautic or Optimizely better?
Neither clearly leads. Mautic starts at Free and Optimizely at $10000/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mautic or Optimizely?
Mautic has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mautic and $10000/year for Optimizely.
Does Mautic or Optimizely run on more platforms?
Mautic runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker. Optimizely runs on Web, Mobile.
Can I use Mautic for free?
Yes. Mautic has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Optimizely starts at $10000/year.
What is Mautic best used for?
Mautic is most often used for a marketing agency running automation for many clients that cannot pass on per-contact saas pricing at scale, a european university or public body whose data protection position requires contact data to stay on infrastructure it controls, a company with a list of several hundred thousand contacts where saas per-contact pricing has become the largest line in the marketing budget, a team that needs to modify the automation logic itself, not just configure it, and wants source access to do so. Of those, a marketing agency running automation for many clients that cannot pass on per-contact saas pricing at scale and a european university or public body whose data protection position requires contact data to stay on infrastructure it controls are not what Optimizely is typically brought in for.
What can Mautic do that Optimizely cannot?
Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, Contact management and segmentation, Landing pages and forms, Lead scoring. Optimizely covers A/B testing, Multivariate testing, Personalization, Feature management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Optimizely: How much does Optimizely cost?

Optimizely does not publish pricing rates. The company states that every plan is individually packaged based on specific customer needs. Interested customers must request a demo or contact the sales team to receive customized pricing.

Source
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.

Optimizely: What is the pricing model for Optimizely?

Optimizely uses a custom enterprise pricing model rather than published rate cards. Pricing is determined through direct consultation with the sales team based on the customer's digital needs and feature requirements.

Source
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.

Optimizely: Is there a free trial of Optimizely?

Optimizely does not specify free trial availability on its website. Customers interested in exploring the platform are directed to request a demo through the company's website to discuss trial options.

Source
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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