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Marketing · head to head

Mautic vs VWO

Mautic logo

Mautic

Marketing

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
VWO logo

VWO

Marketing

Experience Optimization Platform

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.; VWO growth plan restricted to 1 workspace and 0 custom attributes
  • They diverge on capability: Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, VWO 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 VWO actually diverge.

Attributes where Mautic and VWO differ
AttributeMauticVWO
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeusage-based
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, DockerWeb, iOS, Android, Server-side
FoundedUnknown2007

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 VWO

  • A/B testing
  • Multivariate testing
  • Heatmaps
  • Session recordings
  • Analytics
  • Google Analytics
  • Slack
  • SSL encryption

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

VWO

  • A/B testing and multivariate testingnot Mautic
  • Conversion rate optimisationnot Mautic
  • Behavioural analytics and session recordingsnot Mautic
  • Feature experimentation and progressive rolloutsnot 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.

VWO

  • Growth plan restricted to 1 workspace and 0 custom attributes
  • Single Sign-On (SSO) and API access limited to Enterprise tier only
  • Growth plan offers only 8-hour first response time for support

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

VWO

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the VWO review.

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 VWO if

  • You need a/b testing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Server-side.
  • You also want multivariate testing.
VWO review

Questions people ask

Is Mautic or VWO better?
Neither clearly leads. Mautic starts at Free and VWO at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mautic or VWO?
Mautic starts at Free and VWO at Free.
Does Mautic or VWO run on more platforms?
Mautic runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker. VWO runs on Web, iOS, Android, Server-side.
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 VWO is typically brought in for.
What can Mautic do that VWO cannot?
Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, Contact management and segmentation, Landing pages and forms, Lead scoring. VWO covers A/B testing, Multivariate testing, Heatmaps, Session recordings.

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.

VWO: Is there a free trial available?

Free for 30 days. No credit card required to start the trial.

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.

VWO: Are there limits on users or metrics?

Run unlimited optimization at scale with no limit on variations, account users, metrics, session recordings, or integrations.

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.

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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