listmonk vs Mailu
| Tagline | High-performance self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager | Simple yet full-featured mail server as a set of Docker images |
| Category | Email & Newsletters | Email & Newsletters |
| Replaces | Mailchimp, ConvertKit (Kit), SendGrid | Gmail / Google Workspace |
| GitHub stars | 23k | 7.5k |
| Language | Go | Python |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Manual | Docker Compose Kubernetes Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 2 days ago | 3 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.
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
Mailu
- No calendar/contacts groupware bundled by default
- Requires correct DNS, PTR, and IP reputation to deliver reliably
- Focused on mailboxes, not newsletters or marketing campaigns
- Upgrades occasionally require manual migration steps
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; 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.