Listmonk vs Mailchimp
Listmonk is a newsletter platform while Mailchimp is a all-in-one marketing platform. Mailchimp has been around since 2001, giving it a 17-year head start over Listmonk (founded 2018). Listmonk is free, while Mailchimp starts at $13/mo. Their pricing is not measured the same way, so we don't rank them on price. Both offer free plans to get started. Mailchimp has the edge with marketing automation, A/B testing, landing pages. Both tools work well for nonprofits.
Quick Verdict
Listmonk wins on deliverability.
Mailchimp wins on rating, integrations.
Best for most users: Mailchimp (small businesses).
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.
Mailchimp
Turn emails into revenue
Mailchimp is the most widely recognized email marketing platform, used by millions of businesses worldwide. Acquired by Intuit in 2021, it offers a full suite of marketing tools but has become increasingly expensive compared to alternatives.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Listmonk | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.1/5 | 4.3/5 |
| Starting Price | Free | $13/mo |
| Free Plan | Unlimited (self-hosted, open source) | 250 contacts, 500 emails/month |
| Founded | 2018 | 2001 |
| Email Templates | 5 | 100 |
| Integrations | 10 | 300 |
| Deliverability Rate | 97% | 96% |
| Marketing Automation | No | Yes |
| A/B Testing | No | Yes |
| Landing Pages | No | Yes |
| Segmentation | Yes | Yes |
| Drag & Drop Editor | Yes | Yes |
| SMS Marketing | No | Yes |
| Ecommerce Features | No | Yes |
| API Access | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-Language | Yes | Yes |
| Web Push Notifications | No | No |
| Live Chat | No | No |
| Advanced Analytics | Yes | Yes |
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
Mailchimp: Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Most recognized brand in email marketing
- + Excellent drag-and-drop editor
- + 300+ integrations with third-party tools
- + Strong analytics and reporting
- + Good for beginners with guided setup
Cons
- − Free plan severely limited (500 contacts, 1,000 sends)
- − Premium plan is expensive ($350/mo)
- − Charges for unsubscribed contacts
- − Affiliate marketing restricted
- − Deliverability has declined in recent years
The Verdict
Mailchimp edges ahead with a 4.3/5 rating compared to Listmonk's 4.1/5. The gap comes mainly from ease of use (4.6 vs 3.5) and feature depth (4.4 vs 3.8). On deliverability, Listmonk reports 97% compared to 96% for Mailchimp — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | Listmonk | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | Free | $13/mo |
| Deliverability | 25% | 97% Winner | 96% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.1/5 | 4.3/5 Winner |
| Integrations | 10% | 10 | 300 Winner |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose Listmonk if…
- + You're a developers
- + You're a self hosters
- + Completely free and open source with no usage limits
Choose Mailchimp if…
- + You need SMS marketing
- + You need marketing automation
- + You need ecommerce integrations
- + You need built-in landing pages