Listmonk vs Mailjet
Listmonk is a newsletter platform while Mailjet is a email marketing platform. Mailjet has been around since 2010, giving it a 8-year head start over Listmonk (founded 2018). Listmonk starts at free versus $17/mo for Mailjet. Both offer free plans to get started. Mailjet has the edge with marketing automation, A/B testing, SMS marketing.
Quick Verdict
Listmonk wins on price, deliverability, rating.
Mailjet wins on integrations.
Best for most users: Listmonk (developers).
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.
Mailjet
Collaborative email platform for teams with powerful API
Mailjet is a French-founded email platform (now owned by Sinch) that uniquely combines transactional and marketing email under one roof with real-time team collaboration. Its volume-based pricing with unlimited contacts makes it particularly cost-effective for businesses with large subscriber lists but moderate sending frequency. With strong GDPR compliance baked into its European DNA and a flexible API, it bridges the gap between developer-focused tools and marketer-friendly platforms.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Listmonk | Mailjet |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.2/5 | 4/5 |
| Starting Price | Free | $17/mo |
| Free Plan | Unlimited (self-hosted, open source) | 6,000 emails/month (200/day), 1,000 contacts |
| Founded | 2018 | 2010 |
| Email Templates | 5 | 70 |
| Integrations | 10 | 110 |
| Deliverability Rate | 97% | 88% |
| 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 | ✓ | ✓ |
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
Mailjet: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Real-time collaborative email editing lets multiple team members work on the same campaign simultaneously with live comments
- +Volume-based pricing with unlimited contacts means large lists stay affordable — one user grew from 0 to 50,000 subscribers affordably
- +Strong GDPR compliance built into the platform with EU data hosting, as a French-founded company under European regulations
- +RESTful API with SMTP relay supports both transactional and marketing email from a single platform
- +Deliverability rated 88% by EmailToolTester (above 83.1% industry average) with built-in list validation powered by Mailgun
Cons
- −Automation builder covers basics but lacks depth — triggers based on opens/clicks are tricky to configure and abandoned cart requires Zapier
- −No built-in landing page builder, forcing users to rely on third-party tools for lead capture
- −Many of the 110 integrations route through Zapier rather than being native direct connections
- −Migration from other ESPs is largely manual with limited import assistance for contacts, templates, and automations
- −Customer support response times are frequently criticized, with some serious technical issues going unresolved for extended periods
The Verdict
Listmonk edges ahead with a 4.2/5 rating compared to Mailjet's 4/5. The gap comes mainly from value for money (5 vs 4.4) and deliverability (4 vs 3.5). On deliverability, Listmonk reports 97% compared to 88% for Mailjet — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | Listmonk | Mailjet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | Free | $17/mo |
| Deliverability | 25% | 97% | 88% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.2/5 | 4/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 10 | 110 |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose Listmonk if…
- + You want lower starting costs (Free)
- + You're a developers
- + You're a self hosters
Choose Mailjet if…
- + You need SMS marketing
- + You need marketing automation
- + You need A/B testing
- + You're a marketing teams needing real time email collaboration