EngageBay vs Listmonk
EngageBay is a all-in-one marketing platform while Listmonk is a newsletter platform. Listmonk starts at free versus $14.99/mo for EngageBay. Both offer free plans to get started. EngageBay has the edge with marketing automation, A/B testing, landing pages.
Quick Verdict
EngageBay wins on rating, integrations.
Listmonk wins on price, deliverability.
Best for most users: Listmonk (developers).
EngageBay
All-in-one CRM for marketing, sales & support
EngageBay is a bootstrapped all-in-one CRM platform that bundles marketing automation, sales pipeline management, helpdesk ticketing, and live chat into a single affordable package. Founded in 2018 as a cost-effective alternative to HubSpot, it serves over 150,000 businesses with a free plan supporting up to 15 users. Its strongest differentiator is delivering the full marketing-sales-support stack at a fraction of enterprise CRM pricing, making it particularly attractive to budget-conscious SMBs.
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 | EngageBay | Listmonk |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.7/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Starting Price | $14.99/mo | Free |
| Free Plan | 250 contacts, 1,000 branded emails, up to 15 users | Unlimited (self-hosted, open source) |
| Founded | 2018 | 2018 |
| Email Templates | 100 | 5 |
| Integrations | 30 | 10 |
| Deliverability Rate | 95% | 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 | ✓ | ✓ |
EngageBay: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Exceptionally affordable all-in-one platform combining CRM, marketing, sales, and support — Pro plan at $119.99/mo vs HubSpot at $900+/mo
- +Generous free plan supports up to 15 team members with email marketing, CRM, helpdesk, and live chat included
- +Highly rated customer support (4.8/5 on Capterra) with live chat and real human agents available 24/5
- +Built-in landing page builder with 87 templates, web forms, pop-ups, and SMS marketing included from Basic plan
- +Strong marketing automation with visual workflow builder, lead scoring, and A/B testing on Growth plan and above
Cons
- −Limited email editor widgets and somewhat outdated email template designs compared to modern competitors
- −Reporting module offers only basic analytics — lacks advanced custom reporting depth for data-driven teams
- −Per-user pricing model becomes expensive as teams scale beyond 5-10 users, especially on Growth and Pro plans
- −Occasional performance issues including slow page loads and intermittent bugs reported by users
- −Steep learning curve for advanced features — the breadth of the all-in-one platform can overwhelm new users
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
EngageBay edges ahead with a 4.7/5 rating compared to Listmonk's 4.2/5. The gap comes mainly from ease of use (4.8 vs 3.5) and support (4.8 vs 3.7). On deliverability, Listmonk reports 97% compared to 95% for EngageBay — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | EngageBay | Listmonk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $14.99/mo | Free |
| Deliverability | 25% | 95% | 97% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.7/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 30 | 10 |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose EngageBay if…
- + You need SMS marketing
- + You need marketing automation
- + You need ecommerce integrations
- + You need built-in landing pages
Choose Listmonk if…
- + You want lower starting costs (Free)
- + You're a developers
- + You're a self hosters