listmonk vs SimpleLogin
| Tagline | High-performance self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager | Self-hostable email alias service to protect your real address from spam and tracking |
| Category | Email & Newsletters | Email & Newsletters |
| Replaces | Mailchimp, ConvertKit (Kit), SendGrid | Gmail / Google Workspace, Mailchimp, ConvertKit (Kit) |
| GitHub stars | 22k | 6.7k |
| Language | Go | Docker |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Manual | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 14 days ago | today |
| 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
SimpleLogin
- Self-hosted instance requires managing its own MX record and email reputation
- No bulk sending or newsletter features; purely an alias/forwarding tool
- Mobile apps connect to SimpleLogin's cloud by default; redirecting to self-hosted requires manual app configuration
- Spam filtering is inherited from the destination mailbox, not provided independently
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; choose listmonk for the larger community and ecosystem. SimpleLogin has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
SimpleLogin
Self-hostable email alias service to protect your real address from spam and tracking