Marketing · head to head
Mautic vs SugarCRM
Mautic
Marketing
The main open source marketing automation platform, self-hosted and GPL licensed
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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.; SugarCRM every plan carries a 15 user minimum, so the entry cost is 15 seats regardless of team size
- They diverge on capability: Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, SugarCRM covers Contact management.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Mautic and SugarCRM actually diverge.
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 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 SugarCRM
- Contact management
- Sales pipeline
- Lead management
- Marketing automation
- Customer service
- Reporting
- Mobile app
- Salesforce
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 SugarCRM
- A European university or public body whose data protection position requires contact data to stay on infrastructure it controlsnot SugarCRM
- A company with a list of several hundred thousand contacts where SaaS per-contact pricing has become the largest line in the marketing budgetnot SugarCRM
- A team that needs to modify the automation logic itself, not just configure it, and wants source access to do sonot SugarCRM
SugarCRM
- CRM for sales, marketing and service teamsnot Mautic
- Managing accounts, opportunities and customer history at mid market scalenot 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.
SugarCRM
- Every plan carries a 15 user minimum, so the entry cost is 15 seats regardless of team size
- At $59 per user on Standard that minimum makes the real floor $885 a month
- All three tiers are billed annually with no monthly option
- The vendor still directs buyers to sales for a package rather than treating the published rate as final
Pricing, plan by plan
Mautic
Free- Self-hosted communityFree
- GPL licensed, no licence fee and no contact limits
- All features included, no paid edition
- You provide hosting, database, cron scheduling and email sending
- Managed Mautic hosting$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
SugarCRM
$59/month- Standard$59/month
- Accounts management
- Lead tracking
- Quotes
- Advanced$85/month
- Mail and calendar integration
- Case management
- Sugar Intelligence
- Premier$135/month
- Geo mapping
- Enhanced storage 2x
- LinkedIn connector
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.
Choose SugarCRM if
- You need contact management.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want sales pipeline.
Questions people ask
- Is Mautic or SugarCRM better?
- Neither clearly leads. Mautic starts at Free and SugarCRM at $59/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Mautic or SugarCRM?
- Mautic has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mautic and $59/month for SugarCRM.
- Does Mautic or SugarCRM run on more platforms?
- Mautic runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker. SugarCRM runs on Web, Ios, Android.
- Can I use Mautic for free?
- Yes. Mautic has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SugarCRM starts at $59/month.
- 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 SugarCRM is typically brought in for.
- What can Mautic do that SugarCRM cannot?
- Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, Contact management and segmentation, Landing pages and forms, Lead scoring. SugarCRM covers Contact management, Sales pipeline, Lead management, Marketing automation.
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.
SugarCRM: How much does SugarCRM cost?
SugarCRM costs $59 per user per month for the Standard plan, $85 per month for Advanced, and $135 per month for Premier. All plans require annual billing and a 15-user minimum.
SourceMautic: 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.
SugarCRM: What is included in the Advanced plan?
The Advanced plan at $85 per user per month includes everything in Standard plus mail and calendar integration, case management, Sugar Intelligence, and Sugar Predict features.
SourceMautic: What breaks most often?
Cron scheduling. If segment rebuilding and campaign triggers are not running on schedule, campaigns quietly stop sending with no alert.
SugarCRM: What distinguishes the Premier plan?
The Premier plan costs $135 per user per month and adds geo mapping, 2x enhanced storage, LinkedIn connector integration, and enhanced support compared to the Advanced plan.
SourceMautic: 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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