Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Mailchimp

listmonk is a self-hosted mailing list manager and newsletter platform designed for high performance and simple operations. It provides a web UI and APIs to manage subscribers, lists, and campaigns, backed by PostgreSQL for scalable storage and querying.

Key Features

• Subscriber management with custom attributes/fields and import/export (e.g., CSV)
• List and segment-based targeting using PostgreSQL queries for flexible filtering
• Campaign creation with HTML templates, previews, and personalization variables
• Transactional email and newsletter sending via SMTP and third-party email gateways
• Bounce handling and basic list hygiene workflows (depending on mail setup)
• Built-in admin web UI plus REST-style APIs for automation and integrations
• Metrics/reporting for campaigns (opens/clicks) via tracking mechanisms

Use Cases

• Send periodic newsletters to product users, communities, or customers
• Run segmented email campaigns (e.g., onboarding, announcements) from internal data
• Operate a privacy-controlled mailing system for organizations that can’t use SaaS

Limitations and Considerations

• Deliverability, bounce processing, and reputation management depend heavily on your SMTP/provider configuration
• Email template building is developer-oriented compared to drag-and-drop marketing suites

listmonk is a solid fit for teams that want a fast, PostgreSQL-driven newsletter system with a clean UI and automatable APIs. It focuses on dependable list and campaign operations rather than heavyweight marketing-automation features.

Postal is an open-source mail delivery platform designed for sending transactional email from applications using your own infrastructure. It provides SMTP and an HTTP API, plus a web interface to manage organizations, servers, credentials, and to inspect message activity.

Key Features

• SMTP server for application email delivery with per-server credentials
• HTTP API for sending messages programmatically
• Web-based administrative UI for managing organizations/servers/users
• Message tracking/logs for sent mail, including delivery attempts and status
• Support for multiple “mail servers” and separation by organization/team
• Domain and routing configuration tooling oriented around transactional mail

Use Cases

• Replace third-party transactional email providers for product emails (signups, password resets, receipts)
• Centralize outbound mail delivery for multiple apps/services with separate credentials
• Operate an internal email relay with auditing/visibility into outbound messages

Limitations and Considerations

• Primarily focused on outbound/transactional delivery (not a groupware mailbox server)
• Requires correct DNS and deliverability configuration (SPF/DKIM/DMARC) and ongoing reputation management

Postal is suitable when you need control over outbound email delivery, want an API/SMTP interface for applications, and need a UI for operational visibility. It provides the core primitives for delivering and tracking mail without relying on hosted email-sending services.

Stalwart is a modern, self-contained email server designed to run a complete mail stack (sending, receiving, and mailbox access) with strong security controls and built-in filtering. It aims to simplify operating mail infrastructure by bundling protocols, authentication, policy, and anti-abuse features into a single service with an administrative UI.

Key Features:

• Supports core mail access and transport protocols including SMTP and IMAP, with JMAP support for modern clients
• Built-in anti-spam and policy enforcement with rules, reputation controls, and content filtering
• Email authentication features such as DKIM signing and DMARC/SPF evaluation to improve deliverability and prevent spoofing
• Flexible message routing, domain/user management, and multi-domain support for organizations
• Web-based administration interface for configuration and operational management
• TLS support and modern security defaults oriented toward safer deployments

Use Cases:

• Run a private email service for a personal domain or small organization
• Replace a hosted mailbox provider while keeping control of deliverability and anti-spam
• Operate multi-tenant email for multiple domains with centralized management

Stalwart provides a cohesive, security-focused approach to running email by combining protocols, filtering, and administration in one package. It is well-suited for operators who want a modern mail stack with fewer external components to integrate and maintain.

Mautic is a self-hosted marketing automation platform for creating, delivering, and measuring multi-channel campaigns across email and other customer touchpoints. It combines contact management, segmentation, and campaign orchestration to help teams run personalized journeys and track engagement over time.

Key Features

• Visual Campaign Builder to design automated customer journeys with decisions/actions
• Email marketing with template/asset management, scheduling, and performance reporting
• Segmentation and dynamic contact lists based on behavior and attributes
• Forms and Landing Pages for lead capture (including progressive profiling)
• Lead scoring and lead nurturing tools to qualify and route contacts
• Multi-channel messaging support via plugins/integrations (e.g., SMS, webhooks)
• REST API and webhooks for integrations with CRMs, e-commerce, and data pipelines
• Role-based access control and multi-user administration

Use Cases

• Automate onboarding/drip sequences for product trials and SaaS signups
• Run segmented newsletters and targeted lifecycle campaigns based on behavior
• Capture leads via forms/landing pages and sync them to a CRM for sales follow-up

Limitations and Considerations

• Some channels/connectors are provided via plugins and may require additional configuration/maintenance
• Deliverability depends heavily on correct SMTP setup, DNS (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), and reputation management

Mautic is well-suited for teams that need full control over marketing automation infrastructure while keeping strong campaign capabilities. Its combination of segmentation, journey automation, and integration options makes it a flexible alternative to many hosted marketing automation suites.

Dittofeed is a self-hostable customer engagement and marketing automation platform for building data-driven messaging and lifecycle campaigns. It focuses on segmentation, event-based automation, and multi-step journeys so teams can orchestrate customer communications from their own infrastructure.

Key Features

• Visual journey/workflow builder for multi-step, event-driven messaging
• Audience segmentation based on user traits and events
• Campaign creation and sending (email-focused; other channels depend on integrations)
• Triggered messages and scheduled/batch campaigns
• Templates and content management for message composition
• Analytics/reporting for campaign and journey performance
• Integrations via API/webhooks for ingesting events and syncing user data

Use Cases

• Onboarding and activation sequences triggered by product events
• Retention and re-engagement campaigns based on behavioral segments
• Transactional and lifecycle email automation for SaaS products

Limitations and Considerations

• Channel breadth and deliverability features can be less extensive than mature commercial CEP tools; production setups typically rely on external email providers for sending and reputation management.

Dittofeed is a good fit for teams that want an auditable, customizable engagement stack and prefer to keep customer data and automation logic in-house. It provides core building blocks for segmentation and journeys while remaining adaptable through integrations and self-managed infrastructure.

Keila is an open-source, self-hosted email newsletter and marketing email platform. It helps teams and creators build mailing lists, design email campaigns, schedule/automate sending, and track engagement.

Key Features

• Audience management with lists and subscriber attributes (including imports)
• Campaign editor with reusable templates and drag-and-drop style blocks (email builder)
• Segmentation to target subsets of subscribers based on attributes/filters
• Automations for triggered or scheduled sends (e.g., onboarding/drip sequences)
• Email delivery via SMTP and support for transactional sending flows
• Analytics for campaign performance (e.g., opens/clicks) and delivery status
• Multi-user/team oriented workflows (accounts/projects) suitable for organizations

Use Cases

• Publish recurring newsletters for communities, products, or internal updates
• Run lifecycle email sequences (welcome/onboarding/drip campaigns)
• Replace hosted email marketing tools where data/control must remain in-house

Limitations and Considerations

• Email analytics accuracy depends on client-side tracking behavior (e.g., image blocking/privacy features)
• Deliverability depends heavily on correct DNS (SPF/DKIM/DMARC) and SMTP provider configuration

Keila is a practical alternative to hosted newsletter tools for organizations that need list management, campaign creation, and automation in one place. It focuses on the core newsletter workflow—create, segment, send, and measure—while keeping operations under your control.