listmonk vs Mautic
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted mail servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
listmonk
Self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager
VS
Mautic
Open-source marketing automation platform
| Feature | listmonk | Mautic |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 97 · Excellent | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 23,552 | ★ 10,550 |
| First released | 2020 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Mailchimp, Sendinblue | HubSpot, Marketo, Mailchimp |
What are listmonk and Mautic?
listmonk
listmonk is a high-performance, self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager written in Go. It supports millions of subscribers, rich campaign analytics, and a built-in admin dashboard.
- Handles millions of subscribers
- Campaign analytics dashboard
- Single binary deployment
- REST API and SMTP support
Mautic
Mautic is a powerful marketing automation platform that includes email campaigns, contact management, landing pages, and lead scoring. It is the leading open-source alternative to commercial marketing suites.
- Email and campaign automation
- Landing pages and forms
- Contact scoring and segmentation
- Extensive plugin ecosystem
listmonk vs Mautic: key differences
Listmonk is written in Go, while Mautic is built with PHP. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for listmonk versus GPL-3.0 for Mautic. Listmonk is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Mautic. Mautic is the more established project (first released 2014), while listmonk arrived in 2020. Listmonk has the considerably larger community, at 23,552 GitHub stars versus 10,550.
Why pick each one
Choose listmonk if…
- Fast and scalable
- Modern admin UI
Watch out for
- Newsletter-focused, not a mail server
- Requires Postgres
Choose Mautic if…
- Full marketing automation suite
- Large community
Watch out for
- Heavy and complex
- Steep learning curve
Frequently asked questions
Is listmonk or Mautic better?
listmonk is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Mautic if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are listmonk and Mautic free and open-source?
Yes. listmonk is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Mautic under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run listmonk and Mautic with Docker?
listmonk: yes. Mautic: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, listmonk or Mautic?
listmonk has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Mautic. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.