Benchmark Email vs Listmonk
Benchmark Email is a email marketing platform while Listmonk is a newsletter platform. Benchmark Email has been around since 2004, giving it a 14-year head start over Listmonk (founded 2018). Listmonk is the more affordable option at $0/mo — that's $37 less per month than Benchmark Email's $37/mo entry point. Both offer free plans to get started. Benchmark Email has the edge with marketing automation, A/B testing, landing pages. Both tools work well for nonprofits.
Quick Verdict
Benchmark Email wins on rating, integrations.
Listmonk wins on price, deliverability.
Best for most users: Listmonk (developers).
Benchmark Email
Straightforward email marketing with all features on every plan
Benchmark Email is a multilingual email marketing platform founded in 2004 that takes an all-features-included approach, giving every user access to automation, A/B testing, and analytics regardless of plan tier. Available in 9 languages with global support, it appeals to international teams and nonprofits, though its significantly below-average deliverability rate (47.1% in third-party testing) is a serious concern that undermines its otherwise user-friendly design.
Listmonk
Self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager
Listmonk is a free, open-source, self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager written in Go. It handles millions of emails with minimal resources and is best for developers and technical users who want full control over their email infrastructure.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Benchmark Email | Listmonk |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.3/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Starting Price | $37/mo | Free |
| Free Plan | 500 contacts, 2,500 emails/month, 1 user | Unlimited (self-hosted, open source) |
| Founded | 2004 | 2018 |
| Email Templates | 200 | 5 |
| Integrations | 1,500 | 10 |
| Deliverability Rate | 47.1% | 97% |
| Marketing Automation | ✓ | ✕ |
| A/B Testing | ✓ | ✕ |
| Landing Pages | ✓ | ✕ |
| Segmentation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Drag & Drop Editor | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMS Marketing | ✕ | ✕ |
| Ecommerce Features | ✕ | ✕ |
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-Language | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web Push Notifications | ✕ | ✕ |
| Live Chat | ✓ | ✕ |
| Advanced Analytics | ✓ | ✓ |
Benchmark Email: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +All features included on every plan including free -- no feature gating between tiers
- +Available in 9 languages with live customer support in each, making it ideal for international teams
- +Intuitive drag-and-drop editor with mobile-optimized templates and device previews
- +Generous free plan with 500 contacts and 2,500 emails per month including AI content generation
- +Simple contact-based pricing that scales predictably without hidden charges for features
Cons
- −Extremely poor deliverability rate of 47.1% in EmailToolTester's January 2024 independent test, consistently ranking near the bottom
- −Segmentation is limited to within individual lists only -- cannot create cross-list segments for flexible targeting
- −Fewer than 30 pre-designed email templates despite marketing claims of 200+, limiting design variety
- −Slow product development cycle with features lagging behind competitors in automation and ecommerce capabilities
- −No migration support for non-enterprise customers when switching from another email platform
Listmonk: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Completely free and open source with no usage limits
- +Handles 7+ million emails with minimal CPU and 57 MB RAM
- +Single binary deployment with Docker support
- +SQL-based subscriber segmentation for advanced querying
- +Zero recurring costs — self-hosted with no per-subscriber fees
Cons
- −Requires technical knowledge to set up and maintain
- −No built-in SMTP, must configure an external provider like Amazon SES
- −Lacks automation workflows, A/B testing, and landing pages
- −Community support only via GitHub
- −No managed hosting option — you handle server maintenance yourself
The Verdict
Benchmark Email and Listmonk are closely matched — both score within 0.1 points of each other in our overall rating. Your decision should come down to specific needs rather than overall quality. On deliverability, Listmonk reports 97% compared to 47.1% for Benchmark Email — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | Benchmark Email | Listmonk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $37/mo | Free |
| Deliverability | 25% | 47.1% | 97% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.3/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 1500 | 10 |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose Benchmark Email if…
- + You need marketing automation
- + You need built-in landing pages
- + You need A/B testing
- + You're a beginners
Choose Listmonk if…
- + You want lower starting costs (Free)
- + You're a developers
- + You're a self hosters