listmonk vs MailerSend: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of listmonk and MailerSend to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
listmonk
6.6/10
listmonk is a free, open-source, self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager. Technical teams use it to send high-volume email campaigns and transactional email through their own SMTP providers.
MailerSend
6.9/10
MailerSend is a transactional email and SMS API with SMTP relay and a template builder, aimed at developers and businesses sending app-triggered messages.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.6/10 | 6.9/10 |
| Scalability | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4/10 | 8/10 |
| Customization | 9/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 3/10 | 8/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | $7/mo Hobby |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Self-hosted (open source) | $110/mo Professional |
| Features | ||
| Email Marketing | ||
| Segmentation | Not listed | |
| SMS Marketing | Not listed | |
| Webinars | Not listed | |
listmonk vs MailerSend cost by team size
listmonk and MailerSend cost the same at 1 user; listmonk costs less from 5 users.
| Team size | listmonk | MailerSend |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | FreeFree |
| 5 users | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | $7/moHobby |
| 10 users | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | $110/moProfessional |
| 25 users | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | $110/moProfessional |
| 50 users | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | $110/moProfessional |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose listmonk
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $110/mo
- Higher Customization score (9/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Cost score (10/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose MailerSend
- Higher Support score (8/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for e-commerce (6/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for freelancers (6/10 vs 3/10)
Pros & Cons
listmonk
Pros
- The software has no licence or per-subscriber fees. A reviewer estimates 100,000 subscribers on weekly sends costs about 45 USD a month in hosting and SES fees.
- Reviewers report it handles hundreds of thousands to millions of subscribers on modest hardware.
- Multi-SMTP queues with rate limiting let you mix providers such as SES, Postmark or Mailgun.
- SQL-based segmentation and Go templating give developers very fine control.
- It includes a transactional API, OIDC SSO, role-based permissions and scoped API tokens.
Cons
- You must set up and run Docker or the binary, PostgreSQL, a reverse proxy and SMTP yourself.
- Support comes only from the community on GitHub, with no SLA.
- It has no behavioural automation or drip sequences.
- Deliverability and list cleaning depend on your own DNS and provider configuration.
- Reviewers say it has fewer integrations, templates and tutorials than commercial platforms.
MailerSend
Pros
- Developers can send through a REST API or an SMTP relay, with SDKs and connectors for Laravel, Django, Rails, Symfony, Supabase and Firebase.
- A free tier of 500 emails and a $7 Hobby plan make it cheap to start.
- Capterra reviewers repeatedly praise its responsive support and clear documentation.
- Built-in blocklist and DMARC monitoring help teams protect deliverability.
- Starter and higher plans add an SMS API, and a WhatsApp add-on is available.
Cons
- It is built for transactional email, not full marketing campaign management.
- Reviewers report sudden throttling or account suspensions after bounce or complaint thresholds are crossed.
- Free and Hobby plans keep only one day of activity history.
- SMS is limited to the USA and Canada.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
MailerSend scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.9/10 against 6.6/10 for listmonk. The largest gap is in Support: 3/10 for listmonk and 8/10 for MailerSend.
Listmonk costs less for 10 users: free on its Self-hosted (open source) plan, against about $110/mo on its Professional plan for MailerSend, billed monthly.
Yes, both listmonk and MailerSend have a free plan.
MailerSend is the better fit for e-commerce: we rate it 6/10 for them, against 3/10 for listmonk.
