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Marketing · head to head

Mautic vs Unbounce

Mautic logo

Mautic

Marketing

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Unbounce logo

Unbounce

Marketing

Landing page platform with AI-powered conversion optimisation.

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Unbounce starter tier severely limited to 5 pages and 500 monthly visitors; inadequate for most marketing campaigns
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mautic and Unbounce actually diverge.

Attributes where Mautic and Unbounce differ
AttributeMauticUnbounce
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feesubscription
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, DockerWeb, API

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Unbounce

Nothing recorded that Mautic does not also cover.

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

Unbounce

  • Marketing agencies and freelancers running multiple client campaignsnot Mautic
  • SaaS companies optimising landing pages for customer acquisitionnot Mautic
  • E-commerce businesses testing product landing pages and promotional campaignsnot Mautic
  • B2B marketers building dedicated pages for specific customer segmentsnot Mautic
  • Product teams using A/B testing to improve conversion rates without design resourcesnot 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.

Unbounce

  • Starter tier severely limited to 5 pages and 500 monthly visitors; inadequate for most marketing campaigns
  • All tiers have monthly visitor caps; campaigns exceeding thresholds require upgrading to higher-priced plans
  • Optimize tier ($249/mo) capped at 50,000 monthly visitors; campaigns beyond this require custom Concierge pricing
  • AI copywriting and advanced optimisation features not explicitly detailed in lower tiers
  • Full customisation beyond templates requires adding custom JavaScript, CSS and HTML
  • FIPS 140-2 or advanced security features not documented as available

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

Unbounce

Free
  • Starter$29/month ($22 annually)
    • 5 pages
    • 500 monthly visitors
    • 1 user
  • Build$99/month ($74 annually)
    • Unlimited pages
    • 20,000 monthly visitors
    • 1 user
  • Experiment$149/month ($112 annually)
    • Unlimited pages
    • 30,000 monthly visitors
    • 3 users
  • Optimize$249/month ($187 annually)
    • Unlimited pages
    • 50,000 monthly visitors
    • 5 users

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 Unbounce if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
Unbounce review

Questions people ask

Is Mautic or Unbounce better?
Neither clearly leads. Mautic starts at Free and Unbounce at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mautic or Unbounce?
Mautic starts at Free and Unbounce at Free.
Does Mautic or Unbounce run on more platforms?
Mautic runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker. Unbounce runs on Web, API.
Can I use Mautic for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Unbounce is typically brought in for.
What can Mautic do that Unbounce cannot?
Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, Contact management and segmentation, Landing pages and forms, Lead scoring.

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.

Unbounce: Does Unbounce include A/B testing?

Yes. All paid plans include A/B testing capabilities. The one-click testing tool is designed for marketers without requiring technical or design support.

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.

Unbounce: What is Smart Traffic?

Smart Traffic is AI-powered optimisation that automatically routes visitors to their best-matching landing page variant. The feature delivers claimed average conversion improvements of 30%.

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.

Unbounce: Is there a free trial?

Yes. Unbounce offers a free 14-day trial with no credit card required.

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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