AcyMailing vs listmonk
| Tagline | Joomla and WordPress newsletter plugin with automation | High-performance self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager |
| Category | Email & Newsletters | Email & Newsletters |
| Replaces | Mailchimp, ConvertKit (Kit) | Mailchimp, ConvertKit (Kit), SendGrid |
| GitHub stars | 200 | 22k |
| Language | PHP | Go |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 2/5 Easy | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Manual | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 1 month ago | 5 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
AcyMailing
- Tightly coupled to Joomla/WordPress ecosystem
- Advanced automation features gated behind paid plans
- No standalone deployment outside a CMS
listmonk
- No built-in marketing automation/journey builder like Mailchimp
- No bundled deliverability/IP reputation management — you supply your own SMTP/SES
- No native landing page or e-commerce/CRM integrations
- Reporting and analytics are basic compared to commercial suites
Bottom line
Choose AcyMailing if you want the lower-effort setup; choose listmonk for the larger community and ecosystem. listmonk has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.