Overview

MailWizz and Listmonk are both self-hosted email marketing tools, but they sit at different ends of the spectrum. MailWizz is a commercial PHP application with a $86 one-time license. Listmonk is a free, open-source tool written in Go.

Features vs Simplicity

MailWizz has been around since 2013 and it shows in the feature set. Automation workflows, A/B testing, landing pages, multiple delivery servers, bounce management, and white-label support. If you need a full-featured self-hosted email platform, MailWizz delivers.

Listmonk takes the opposite approach. It does one thing well: send newsletters to subscriber lists. The Go codebase makes it remarkably fast and lightweight. No bloat, no extras, just reliable sending.

The Server Management Question

Both tools require you to host and maintain your own infrastructure. MailWizz needs a PHP server with MySQL. Listmonk needs PostgreSQL and runs nicely in Docker. Neither handles email delivery, so you also need SES, SendGrid, or another delivery service.

If managing servers isn't your thing, a managed platform like Sequenzy eliminates that overhead entirely while adding SaaS-specific features like Stripe integration and AI sequences.

Making the Choice

Choose MailWizz for a feature-rich self-hosted platform with automation and white-label support. Choose Listmonk for a free, lightweight tool that handles basic newsletters with excellent performance. For managed SaaS email with Stripe, consider Sequenzy.