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Marketing · head to head

Mautic vs Postscript

Mautic logo

Mautic

Marketing

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Postscript logo

Postscript

Marketing

SMS marketing built for Shopify merchants, with carrier fees billed on top of message rates

From
$49/month
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.; Postscript carrier pass-through fees are billed on top of the per-message rate, roughly $0.00418 per SMS and $0.00841 per MMS in the United States, and are routinely missing from the cost comparisons buyers build.
  • They diverge on capability: Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, Postscript covers Shopify segmentation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mautic and Postscript actually diverge.

Attributes where Mautic and Postscript differ
AttributeMauticPostscript
Starting priceFree$49/month
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer month plus per message sent
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, DockerWeb, iOS

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 Postscript

  • Shopify segmentation
  • Automated flows
  • Subscriber acquisition
  • Two-way conversations
  • MMS campaigns
  • Revenue attribution
  • Headless SDK
  • Usage-based tiers

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

Postscript

  • A Shopify direct-to-consumer brand that wants abandoned cart recovery by text rather than another email in an ignored inboxnot Mautic
  • A brand running a product drop where a timed broadcast to an opted-in list is the whole launch mechanismnot Mautic
  • A merchant segmenting by past purchase and variant to send replenishment reminders at the right intervalnot Mautic
  • A store on headless Shopify or a custom stack that still wants SMS built on order data through the SDKnot 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.

Postscript

  • Carrier pass-through fees are billed on top of the per-message rate, roughly $0.00418 per SMS and $0.00841 per MMS in the United States, and are routinely missing from the cost comparisons buyers build.
  • The cheapest per-message rates require the $500 a month plan, so a small sender pays more than double the headline low rate per text.
  • The $0 Starter plan carries a $49 minimum monthly spend, so it is not a free tier and quiet months still generate a bill.
  • US SMS marketing carries real legal exposure under consent, quiet hours and carrier registration rules, and the compliance obligation sits with the merchant, not the platform.
  • It is SMS and MMS only, so email, push and on-site messaging live in a separate tool and audience suppression between the two has to be managed across systems.

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

Postscript

$49/month
  • Starter$49/month
    • $0 base fee but a $49 minimum monthly spend
    • SMS at $0.015 and MMS at $0.045 per message
    • Campaigns, automations, acquisition tools and analytics
  • Growth$100/month
    • Lower per-message rates than Starter
    • Full campaign and automation feature set
    • No contract required
  • Professional$500/month
    • Rates falling towards $0.007 SMS and $0.024 MMS
    • Suited to high-volume senders
    • Upgrade or downgrade at any time
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Custom pricing on a contract
    • Negotiated message rates and support terms

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 Postscript if

  • You need shopify segmentation.
  • You work on Web, iOS.
  • You also want automated flows.
Postscript review

Questions people ask

Is Mautic or Postscript better?
Neither clearly leads. Mautic starts at Free and Postscript at $49/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mautic or Postscript?
Mautic has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mautic and $49/month for Postscript.
Does Mautic or Postscript run on more platforms?
Mautic runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker. Postscript runs on Web, iOS.
Can I use Mautic for free?
Yes. Mautic has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Postscript starts at $49/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 Postscript is typically brought in for.
What can Mautic do that Postscript cannot?
Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, Contact management and segmentation, Landing pages and forms, Lead scoring. Postscript covers Shopify segmentation, Automated flows, Subscriber acquisition, Two-way conversations.

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.

Postscript: Is Postscript only for Shopify?

It is built for Shopify and that is where its segmentation advantage lies, but headless and non-Shopify stores are supported through an SDK with more setup work.

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.

Postscript: What is the real cost per text?

The plan rate plus carrier fees. On Starter that is about $0.015 plus roughly $0.00418 in US carrier fees per SMS, so budget close to two cents a message before discounts.

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.

Postscript: Is the Starter plan free?

No. The base fee is $0 but there is a $49 minimum monthly spend, so it functions as a $49 floor.

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.

Postscript: Do I need a contract?

No. Contracts are offered but not required, and plans can be moved up or down at any time under usage-based billing.

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