Drip vs Listmonk
Drip is a email marketing platform while Listmonk is a newsletter platform. Drip has been around since 2013, giving it a 5-year head start over Listmonk (founded 2018). Drip starts at $39/mo, while Listmonk is free. Their pricing is not measured the same way, so we don't rank them on price. Listmonk offers a free plan (Unlimited (self-hosted, open source)), while Drip does not. Drip has the edge with marketing automation, A/B testing, SMS marketing.
Quick Verdict
Drip wins on deliverability, rating, integrations.
Listmonk wins on free tier.
Best for most users: Drip (ecommerce).
Drip
Marketing automation for ecommerce
Drip is a focused ecommerce marketing platform known for its powerful visual automation builder and behavior-based segmentation. It's designed specifically for online stores that want sophisticated marketing automation without the complexity of enterprise tools.
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 | Drip | Listmonk |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.4/5 | 4.1/5 |
| Starting Price | $39/mo | Free |
| Free Plan | No free plan | Unlimited (self-hosted, open source) |
| Founded | 2013 | 2018 |
| Email Templates | 50 | 5 |
| Integrations | 150 | 10 |
| Deliverability Rate | 98% | 97% |
| Marketing Automation | Yes | No |
| A/B Testing | Yes | No |
| Landing Pages | No | No |
| Segmentation | Yes | Yes |
| Drag & Drop Editor | Yes | Yes |
| SMS Marketing | Yes | No |
| Ecommerce Features | Yes | No |
| API Access | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-Language | No | Yes |
| Web Push Notifications | No | No |
| Live Chat | No | No |
| Advanced Analytics | Yes | Yes |
Drip: Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Excellent ecommerce automation
- + Visual workflow builder
- + Strong Shopify integration
- + Revenue attribution
- + Behavior-based segmentation
Cons
- − No free plan
- − More expensive starting price ($39)
- − No landing page builder
- − Limited to ecommerce focus
- − Smaller company, less known
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
Drip edges ahead with a 4.4/5 rating compared to Listmonk's 4.1/5. The gap comes mainly from ease of use (4.5 vs 3.5) and feature depth (4.4 vs 3.8). On deliverability, Drip reports 98% compared to 97% for Listmonk — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | Drip | Listmonk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $39/mo | Free |
| Deliverability | 25% | 98% Winner | 97% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.4/5 Winner | 4.1/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 150 Winner | 10 |
| Free Tier | 10% | No | Yes Winner |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose Drip if…
- + You need SMS marketing
- + You need marketing automation
- + You need ecommerce integrations
- + You need A/B testing
Choose Listmonk if…
- + You need a free plan to get started
- + You're a developers
- + You're a self hosters