Campaign Monitor vs Listmonk
Campaign Monitor is a email marketing platform while Listmonk is a newsletter platform. Campaign Monitor has been around since 2004, giving it a 14-year head start over Listmonk (founded 2018). Listmonk starts at free versus $12/mo for Campaign Monitor. Listmonk offers a free plan (Unlimited (self-hosted, open source)), while Campaign Monitor does not. Campaign Monitor has the edge with marketing automation, A/B testing, SMS marketing.
Quick Verdict
Campaign Monitor wins on deliverability, integrations.
Listmonk wins on price, rating, free tier.
Best for most users: Listmonk (developers).
Campaign Monitor
Beautifully crafted email marketing
Campaign Monitor is particularly well-suited for agencies and brands that need polished, branded email campaigns. Its client management features and beautiful template builder make it a popular choice for marketing agencies managing multiple client accounts.
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 | Campaign Monitor | Listmonk |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.1/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Starting Price | $12/mo | Free |
| Free Plan | No free plan | Unlimited (self-hosted, open source) |
| Founded | 2004 | 2018 |
| Email Templates | 120 | 5 |
| Integrations | 250 | 10 |
| Deliverability Rate | 97.5% | 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 | ✓ | ✓ |
Campaign Monitor: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Excellent email template builder
- +Strong agency features and client management
- +Good deliverability
- +Time zone sending optimization
- +Link review feature prevents broken links
Cons
- −No free plan
- −Lite plan caps at 2,500 emails
- −Premier plan expensive ($159/mo)
- −No landing page builder
- −Limited automation on lower tiers
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
Campaign Monitor 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, Campaign Monitor reports 97.5% compared to 97% for Listmonk — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | Campaign Monitor | Listmonk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $12/mo | Free |
| Deliverability | 25% | 97.5% | 97% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.1/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 250 | 10 |
| Free Tier | 10% | No | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose Campaign Monitor if…
- + You need SMS marketing
- + You need marketing automation
- + You need ecommerce integrations
- + You need A/B testing
Choose Listmonk if…
- + You want lower starting costs (Free)
- + You need a free plan to get started
- + You're a developers
- + You're a self hosters