Alternatives / Mailchimp
Looking for an open source Mailchimp alternative? We compared 11 open source email marketing, newsletter, and automation platforms by license, self-hosting, sending, and features. They range from high-volume newsletter servers to marketing automation and journey tools, and several use licenses that are not standard open source.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Listmonk | Newsletters and mailing lists at high volume | AGPL-3.0 |
| Billion Mail | Email marketing with a built-in mail server | AGPL-3.0 |
| Mautic | Full marketing automation | GPL-3.0+ |
| Plunk | Transactional and marketing email together | AGPL-3.0 |
| useSend | Email on Amazon SES with per-email pricing | AGPL-3.0 |
| Dittofeed | Journeys and omni-channel messaging (some closed source) | MIT (some features are closed source) |
| Notifuse | MJML email builder (BSL-1.1 from v40) | BSL-1.1 (v40+) / AGPL-3.0 (earlier) |
| Sendportal | Laravel email marketing (revived in October 2026) | MIT |
| Sendune | AWS SES platform (full source not verified) | MIT for public email-designer repository |
| Keila | Privacy-first newsletters | AGPL-3.0 |
| Hyvor Post | No-tracking newsletters (very young) | AGPL-3.0 |
We looked for open-source tools that overlap with Mailchimp's core: building and sending email campaigns and newsletters, managing subscribers, and automating messages. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and self-hosting in its repository. Mailchimp is a hosted all-in-one marketing platform, so we flag which alternatives are only email senders, and which licenses are source available or open core. See our methodology for the full criteria.
Self-hosting a mailing tool does not give you inbox delivery. You must configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, warm up sending domains, handle bounces and complaints, and comply with consent rules such as GDPR. Most of these tools send through an external provider such as Amazon SES or SMTP, and Billion Mail also includes a mail server you operate.
Listmonk, Keila, and Notifuse are the closest for newsletters and campaigns, with subscriber lists, templates, and analytics. Mautic and Dittofeed go further with marketing automation, segmentation, and journeys. Plunk and useSend combine transactional and marketing email.
Notifuse uses the Business Source License 1.1 from version 40 onward, with earlier versions under AGPL-3.0. Dittofeed is MIT, but multi-tenancy, embedding, and white-labeling are in a closed-source codebase. Sendune's public repository is only an MIT email designer, so the full platform is not verified as open source.
Listmonk, Billion Mail, Plunk, useSend, Keila, and Hyvor Post are AGPL-3.0. Mautic is GPL-3.0 or later, and Sendportal and Dittofeed's core are MIT.
Listmonk, Mautic, Plunk, Dittofeed, Notifuse, Keila, and Sendportal had commits within days of this update. Sendportal was inactive from April 2024 until it was revived with version 4.0.0 on Laravel 13 in October 2026, so check its maturity. Billion Mail's last commit was in June 2026, useSend's in September 2026, and Hyvor Post is very young with 33 stars.
Mailchimp is a proprietary hosted platform priced by contact count, with features such as automation, templates, and reporting gated by plan, and subscriber data stored on its servers. Open-source alternatives let you self-host, send through your own provider such as Amazon SES, own your subscriber list, and avoid contact-based pricing, at the cost of managing deliverability, sender reputation, and consent yourself.
AGPL-3.0 self-hosted newsletter and mailing-list manager built around PostgreSQL. It supports campaigns, subscribers, segmentation, templates, analytics, bounce handling, multiple SMTP providers, OIDC, S3-compatible media, and a transactional email API; it does not provide delivery infrastructure itself.
Pricing: Free self-hosted software; connect an SMTP provider or mail server.
AGPL-3.0 self-hosted email platform combining SMTP infrastructure with newsletters, marketing campaigns, analytics, domain configuration, and campaign management. It uses components such as Postfix, Dovecot, and Rspamd, so it operates more of the delivery stack than a provider-backed email API.
Pricing: Open-source self-hosted platform.
Mautic is an open-source marketing automation platform for managing leads and running campaigns, with lead management, email marketing, campaign automation, landing pages and forms, analytics and reporting, many integrations, and translations in 35+ languages. It is licensed under GPL-3.0 or later and can be self-hosted for free, with hosted and trial options from Mautic's partners.
Pricing: Free to self-host; paid hosting and services are offered by Mautic and its partners.
AGPL-3.0 email platform combining transactional API delivery, SMTP relay, campaigns, automations, contacts, segments, inbound email, analytics, custom domains, and SPF/DKIM setup. Can be self-hosted or used through a managed service.
Pricing: Self-hosted open-source platform with hosted service available.
AGPL-3.0 self-hosted email platform built around Amazon SES, with transactional API, SMTP relay, marketing campaigns, contacts, visual editor, delivery logs, open/click tracking, bounce tracking, suppressions, analytics, and TypeScript, Python, Go, and PHP SDKs.
Pricing: Self-hosted open-source layer; Amazon SES usage and AWS infrastructure are billed separately.
Dittofeed is an MIT-licensed customer engagement platform with low-code journey automation, audience segmentation, and omni-channel messaging by email, SMS, and push. It can be self-hosted for free or used in its managed cloud, while multi-tenancy, embedding, and white-labeling are in a separate licensed closed-source codebase.
Pricing: Free to self-host; the managed cloud is paid.
Platform described around Amazon SES and AWS SNS for email, SMS, contacts, OTPs, campaigns, and automation. The public repository associated with the product is an MIT-licensed drag-and-drop email designer, not the complete Sendune application; do not treat the entire platform as open source based on that repository.
Pricing: Product terms and source availability vary; verify the full platform before adoption.
Self-hosted platform (Business Source License 1.1 from v40, AGPL-3.0 for earlier versions) for transactional email and marketing, including newsletters, visual MJML editing, A/B testing, segmentation, contact timelines, multiple workspaces, analytics, REST API, S3 integration, and multiple sending providers.
Pricing: Open-source self-hosted platform; configure a supported sending provider.
Keila is an open-source email marketing and newsletter tool with full data ownership, advanced segmentation, customizable templates, automation workflows, analytics, an API, and GDPR compliance. It is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and can be self-hosted.
Pricing: Free self-hosted; hosted plans available.
MIT self-hosted email marketing application built with Laravel, providing subscriber management, lists, segments, campaigns, tracking, workspaces, templates, and an API. It requires an external sending provider and has low recent development activity.
Pricing: MIT self-hosted software; connect an email sending provider.
AGPL-3.0 newsletter platform built on Hyvor Relay, focused on sending without open, click, location, or behavioral tracking. It includes subscriber lists, signup forms, templates, archive websites, team collaboration, and a management API.
Pricing: Open-source self-hosted newsletter platform built on Hyvor Relay.
| Alternative | Type | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listmonk | Newsletter server | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | High volume |
| Billion Mail | Email marketing and mail server | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | All-in-one email |
| Mautic | Marketing automation | GPL-3.0+ | Yes | Campaigns and leads |
| Plunk | Email platform | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Transactional and marketing |
| useSend | Email platform on SES | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | SES users |
| Dittofeed | Customer engagement | MIT (some closed) | Yes | Journeys |
| Notifuse | Email platform | BSL-1.1 (v40+) | Yes | MJML builder |
| Sendportal | Email marketing (Laravel) | MIT | Yes | Laravel stacks |
| Sendune | AWS SES platform | MIT (designer repo only) | Unverified | AWS users |
| Keila | Newsletter tool | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Privacy |
| Hyvor Post | Newsletter platform | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | No tracking |
Send newsletters to a very large list
Listmonk is a single Go binary backed by Postgres that handles high-volume campaigns and transactional messages.
Want full marketing automation
Mautic manages leads, campaigns, forms, landing pages, and analytics, free to self-host under GPL-3.0 or later.
Want journeys and omni-channel messaging
Dittofeed offers low-code journeys and segmentation under MIT, though multi-tenancy and white-labeling are closed source.
Want privacy-first newsletters
Keila is an AGPL-3.0 newsletter tool with segmentation and GDPR-focused data ownership.
Want a visual email builder
Notifuse offers an MJML builder and A/B testing, but its license is BSL-1.1 from version 40.
Want a mail server plus marketing tool
Billion Mail bundles email marketing with a mail server under AGPL-3.0, but you must manage deliverability.