Why do teams look for a listmonk alternative?
Teams look for a listmonk alternative when a newsletter is only part of the job. The listmonk docs describe it as a one-way mailing list and newsletter manager. It does that job well, and it keeps to it.
A B2B team doing outreach needs a few more things around the send:
- New contacts. A way to search for companies and people to reach.
- Checked emails. Addresses verified before the first send.
- Follow-ups. A short run of emails that stops when someone replies.
- Deals. A pipeline to track what the replies turn into.
MagpieCRM is built around that job. It is not a faster or simpler newsletter tool than listmonk. We checked every listmonk fact on this page on 12 October 2026, using listmonk's own website, docs and code repository.
How much do listmonk and MagpieCRM cost?
listmonk is free. It is open source under AGPL-3.0, according to its code repository, and we found no paid plans or hosted service from the project itself. You pay for a server, a Postgres database and the SMTP service you send through.
If you would rather not install it by hand, the listmonk installation docs list one-click deployments on third-party platforms. Those platforms set their own prices.
Self-hosted MagpieCRM is free too, and you pay your data and email providers directly. Magpie Cloud is the hosted option. You pay £0.15 per 1,000$0.25 per 1,000 emails sent, plus £0.004 per prospect credit (1 for each prospect a search shows you)$0.006 per prospect credit (1 for each prospect a search shows you) if you use prospect search. You choose a monthly allowance, paid up front, from £10/month$15/month:
- 40,000 emails sent a month comes to £6.00 on Magpie Cloud, within the £10 monthly minimum40,000 emails sent a month comes to $10.00 on Magpie Cloud, within the $15 monthly minimum.
- 1,000 prospects found, 600 verified email reveals and 25,000 emails sent a month comes to £10.15 on Magpie Cloud (1,600 prospect credits and the emails)1,000 prospects found, 600 verified email reveals and 25,000 emails sent a month comes to $15.85 on Magpie Cloud (1,600 prospect credits and the emails).
Unused allowance does not roll over. On Cloud there is no sending account to set up: email is sent for you, and you add a few DNS records to your domain.
MagpieCRM vs listmonk: feature comparison
listmonk goes deeper on mailing lists and sending. MagpieCRM goes wider, into prospecting and deals. The table puts them side by side. listmonk details come from its website and docs. "Not listed" means we found no such feature in the listmonk docs.
| MagpieCRM | listmonk | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Prospecting and email, with a light CRM | Newsletters and mailing lists |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Hosted version | From £10/monthFrom $15/month | None from the project |
| Self-hosting | One container, data in a JSON file | A single binary or Docker, with Postgres |
| Email editor | Drag-and-drop builder and templates | Drag-and-drop, WYSIWYG, Markdown, raw HTML or plain text |
| Who a campaign goes to | One list | One or more lists |
| Opens and clicks | Yes | Yes |
| Bounces | Provider webhooks; handled for you on Cloud | A POP3 mailbox or provider webhooks |
| SMS and other channels | No | Through messenger webhooks |
| Roles and permissions | No roles yet | Granular roles, with OIDC single sign-on |
| Prospect search | Yes, through SocialFetch | Not listed |
| Email sequences | Email only, stops on reply | Not listed |
| Deals and pipelines | Yes, drag-and-drop | Not listed |
The main difference is who you are emailing. listmonk is built for subscribers: people who joined a list. MagpieCRM is built for prospects as well: people you found, whose work email you checked first.
Where is listmonk stronger than MagpieCRM?
listmonk is stronger at performance and simplicity. The listmonk website shows a production instance sending a campaign of more than 7 million emails, with peak RAM use of 57 MB. Its performance docs say it can handle millions of subscribers with minimal system resources.
- One binary. listmonk ships as a standalone binary. Its only dependency is a Postgres database.
- Sending controls. It has multi-threaded queues across several SMTP servers, with rate limits.
- Opt-in lists. Lists can be single or double opt-in.
- SQL segments. You can query and segment subscribers with Postgres SQL expressions.
- Templating. Templates use the Go templating language, with logic and over 100 functions in subject lines and content.
- Transactional email. An API sends one-off messages to subscribers from saved templates.
- Other channels. Messengers push a campaign to a web service you run, which can send it as SMS or a push notification.
- Bounces. Bounce processing reads a POP3 mailbox, or takes webhooks from services such as Amazon SES, SendGrid and Postmark.
listmonk is the better fit if:
- Your job is a newsletter, and nothing else.
- Your list is very large, or you want to run on a very small server.
- You want double opt-in lists, SQL segments or transactional email.
- You need roles and permissions for a team.
MagpieCRM is early access software, at version 0.9.41. A campaign goes to one list. It has no automated flows, SMS or A/B tests, and self-hosted users have no roles yet.
What do you get with MagpieCRM?
MagpieCRM gives small B2B teams, founders and agencies one open source tool to find verified contacts and email them. Here is what the app includes today, at version 0.9.41:
- Prospect search. Search companies by keyword, industry, headcount and country, and people by title, seniority, country and keyword.
- Verified emails. Each email is checked with the company's mail server. Only verified emails are saved by default.
- Campaigns and sequences. Build campaigns with drag and drop or a template, and track opens and clicks. Send plain-text sequences that stop when a person replies, unsubscribes or bounces.
- Deals and pipelines. Track deals on a drag-and-drop board, with a value, owner and close date.
- Forms and surveys. Collect sign-ups through forms or an API, and run surveys with branching.
- AI. A copilot on your own Anthropic or OpenAI key, and an MCP server for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor and the OpenAI Codex CLI.
How does self-hosting compare?
Both are small to run. The listmonk installation docs offer a binary or a Docker image, and ask for Postgres 12 or newer. You generate a config file, run the install step to set up the database, then start it. The back end is written in Go and the front end in Vue.
MagpieCRM runs as one Docker container, with its data in a single JSON file on a volume. There is no separate database. listmonk sends through SMTP servers you add. MagpieCRM sends through SMTP or an email provider you connect.
MagpieCRM's extra features need extra setup. Prospect search needs your own SocialFetch key. Email verification needs a verification server with outbound port 25, which most cloud providers block. The self-hosting guide has the steps. If you only want to send a newsletter from your own server, listmonk has less to set up.
How do you use MagpieCRM with listmonk?
You use MagpieCRM with listmonk by keeping the newsletter in listmonk and doing outbound in MagpieCRM. There is no built-in sync. MagpieCRM exports contacts and lists as CSV, and listmonk imports subscribers from CSV.
- Keep your newsletter lists and templates in listmonk.
- Search for companies and people in MagpieCRM, and reveal their verified work emails.
- Send a campaign or a short sequence, and track the deals that follow on the pipeline board.
- When a contact asks for your newsletter, export them from MagpieCRM to CSV and import the file into listmonk.
- Use a double opt-in list in listmonk, so each person confirms before the first issue.
Comparing more tools? Read our open source email marketing guide, or see how to self-host MagpieCRM for free.
