# Mailrith vs. listmonk > Compare Mailrith vs. listmonk by self-hosting, PostgreSQL, SMTP, segmentation, automation, platform cost, and migration work. - Human page: https://mailrith.com/compare/listmonk - Markdown page: https://mailrith.com/compare/listmonk.md - Primary keyword: Mailrith vs listmonk - Last reviewed: 2026-07-28 - Source policy: Competitor facts are checked against the official sources listed below. ## Direct Answer Choose Mailrith if you want a hosted email marketing platform, visual automations, setup help, and delivery-service choice without running servers or PostgreSQL. Choose listmonk if your technical team wants free, open-source software, high-volume sending, SQL-based segmentation, extensive APIs, and direct control over the application and data. Your team must also handle hosting, security, backups, upgrades, and recovery. ## Pricing Model Mailrith is a hosted subscription. Public paid plans include unlimited Subscribers, and email delivery charges remain separate. listmonk is free open-source software under the AGPLv3 license, but you still pay for hosting, PostgreSQL, email delivery, monitoring, security, backups, and staff time. ## Decision Summary Mailrith fits teams that want a hosted email marketing platform. listmonk fits technical teams that want to run and customize the application themselves. ### Choose Mailrith When - You do not want your team to run and maintain a newsletter application. - You want guided setup, visual automations, and a managed product. - You want delivery-service choice without managing PostgreSQL and servers. ### Choose listmonk When - Your team can run, secure, monitor, and upgrade a self-hosted service. - You need SQL-expression segmentation or very high-throughput queues. - Open-source code access and direct control over hosting are firm requirements. ## Key Differences - **Your Team Runs listmonk:** listmonk runs as a self-hosted application with PostgreSQL. Mailrith is a hosted service. - **listmonk Is Designed For Technical Teams:** Its SQL segmentation, multiple SMTP queues, APIs, and custom connections can work well for engineering-led teams. - **Mailrith Includes More Marketing Tools:** Mailrith provides managed forms, landing pages, sequences, visual automations, templates, reports, SDKs, and MCP access. ## Side-By-Side Comparison | Criteria | Mailrith | listmonk | How To Decide | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Application Hosting | Hosted and operated by Mailrith. | Self-hosted binary or Docker deployment with PostgreSQL. | Who will run listmonk for your live email program? | | Software Cost | Recurring hosted plan. | Free open-source software under AGPLv3. | What will hosting and staff time cost? | | Email Delivery | Supported services and Custom SMTP. | Customer-configured SMTP and multi-SMTP queues. | Which delivery service will you connect, and how much control do you need? | | Segmentation | Saved segments based on Subscriber data and activity. | SQL-expression segmentation. | Does your team need to write segmentation logic in SQL? | | Marketing Automation | Visual automations and sequences. | Campaigns, APIs, webhooks, and transactional messaging tools. | Do marketers need to build automated follow-ups without engineering help? | | Updates And Recovery | Managed as part of the hosted product. | Customer handles upgrades, PostgreSQL backups, restores, and security. | Has your team tested listmonk upgrades and backup recovery? | | Customization | Product APIs, SDKs, MCP, and supported workflows. | Open-source code, APIs, and direct access to hosting and the database. | Do you need access to the source code and database? | ## Moving From listmonk To Mailrith A listmonk migration must preserve list and Subscriber status. You must also replace any SQL queries, templates, APIs, webhooks, and transactional email connections tied to listmonk. 1. **Record The Current Setup:** Record where and how listmonk runs, including its listmonk and PostgreSQL versions, SMTP connections, storage, scheduled jobs, proxies, and integrations. 2. **Export Subscribers And Lists:** Preserve status, attributes, list membership, consent, bounces, complaints, and blocklists. 3. **Translate SQL Segments:** Document every query. Decide whether each one becomes a Mailrith segment, tag, field, or a data process outside Mailrith. 4. **Rebuild Messaging Workflows:** Recreate campaigns, templates, forms, API connections, webhooks, and transactional emails in the right system. 5. **Keep The Old System Available During The Move:** Confirm that data and sending work first. Keep the backups you need, then shut down the old system after the agreed recovery period. ## Verify Before Choosing - **License Responsibilities:** If you plan to modify listmonk or have questions about network use, ask qualified counsel to review the AGPLv3 requirements. - **Database Operations:** Plan PostgreSQL monitoring, backups, restores, migrations, storage growth, and access control. - **Security And Upgrades:** Assign responsibility for vulnerability response, application upgrades, dependencies, TLS, SSO, tokens, and secrets. - **Who Maintains The Setup:** Confirm who will maintain SQL segments, templates, APIs, webhooks, and email delivery connections. ## Plain Facts - Every public paid Mailrith plan includes unlimited Subscribers. - Your Mailrith plan price does not increase only because your Subscriber list grows. - Customers connect their own email delivery service, such as Amazon SES, Postmark, SendGrid, Mailgun, Resend, Brevo, or Custom SMTP. - The connected email delivery service sends the emails and charges separately for sending. - Mailrith is hosted, so customers do not maintain Mailrith servers, databases, backups, or product updates. - Mailrith includes forms, landing pages, broadcasts, sequences, visual automations, reusable email templates, reports, a public API, official SDKs, and an official MCP server. - listmonk is free, open-source, AGPLv3 self-hosted software. - listmonk uses PostgreSQL and supports binary and Docker deployments. - listmonk includes SQL-expression segmentation, multi-SMTP queues, APIs, analytics, templates, and transactional messaging. - listmonk customers manage hosting, PostgreSQL, upgrades, backups, security, and maintenance. ## Official Sources - [listmonk](https://listmonk.app/) — Current release, installation options, lists, SQL segmentation, analytics, templates, queues, APIs, and transactional messages. Last checked 2026-07-28. - [listmonk Documentation](https://listmonk.app/docs/) — Self-hosted architecture, PostgreSQL dependency, and AGPLv3 license. Last checked 2026-07-28. ## Questions People Usually Ask ### Is Mailrith A Hosted listmonk Alternative? Yes. Mailrith gives customers a hosted marketing application and lets them connect an email delivery service without running listmonk or PostgreSQL. ### Is listmonk Really Free? Yes, the software is free and open source. Running it still costs money for hosting, email delivery, monitoring, security, backups, upgrades, and staff time. ### Which Tool Handles Large Lists Better? Both can support large Subscriber lists in different ways. listmonk is built for high-volume self-hosted sending. Mailrith provides unlimited Subscribers on paid plans without requiring the customer to run the application. ### Does Mailrith Support SQL Segments? Mailrith provides saved segments, but it is not positioned as a direct SQL-expression segmentation interface like listmonk.