listmonk vs Zapier Comparison
Compare listmonk vs Zapier features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
listmonk
6.6/10
listmonk is a free, open-source, self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager. Technical teams use it to send high-volume email campaigns and transactional email through their own SMTP providers.
Zapier
7.3/10
Zapier is a no-code automation platform that connects thousands of business apps and adds AI steps, agents, and chatbots to workflows for teams of any size.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.6/10 | 7.3/10 |
| Scalability | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4/10 | 9/10 |
| Customization | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 3/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 4/10 |
| Integration | 5/10 | 10/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | $30/mo Professional |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Self-hosted (open source) | $104/mo Team |
| Features | ||
| Email Marketing | Not listed | |
| Segmentation | Not listed | |
| SMS Marketing | Not listed | |
| Webinars | Not listed | |
| More features | ||
| AI Agents | Not listed | |
| Chatbots | Not listed | |
| Private Deployment | Not listed | |
| API Access | Not listed | |
| Workflow Automation | Not listed | |
| Text Generation | Not listed | |
| Enterprise Controls | Not listed | |
listmonk vs Zapier cost by team size
listmonk and Zapier cost the same at 1 user; listmonk costs less from 5 to 25 users.
| Team size | listmonk | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | FreeFree |
| 5 users | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | $104/moTeam |
| 10 users | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | $104/moTeam |
| 25 users | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | $104/moTeam |
| 50 users | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | Contact for pricing |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose listmonk
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $104/mo
- Higher Cost score (10/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Scalability score (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for developers (9/10 vs 5/10)
Why choose Zapier
- Higher Ease of Use score (9/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Integration score (10/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for freelancers (7/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for marketing teams (8/10 vs 4/10)
Pros & Cons
listmonk
Pros
- The software has no licence or per-subscriber fees. A reviewer estimates 100,000 subscribers on weekly sends costs about 45 USD a month in hosting and SES fees.
- Reviewers report it handles hundreds of thousands to millions of subscribers on modest hardware.
- Multi-SMTP queues with rate limiting let you mix providers such as SES, Postmark or Mailgun.
- SQL-based segmentation and Go templating give developers very fine control.
- It includes a transactional API, OIDC SSO, role-based permissions and scoped API tokens.
Cons
- You must set up and run Docker or the binary, PostgreSQL, a reverse proxy and SMTP yourself.
- Support comes only from the community on GitHub, with no SLA.
- It has no behavioural automation or drip sequences.
- Deliverability and list cleaning depend on your own DNS and provider configuration.
- Reviewers say it has fewer integrations, templates and tutorials than commercial platforms.
Zapier
Pros
- Its app catalog is the largest among automation tools, which reviewers single out as unmatched.
- Non-technical users can build simple two- or three-step workflows quickly from templates or Copilot prompts.
- Agents, chatbots, and AI steps sit alongside existing workflows, so you do not need a second platform for AI.
- Holds a SOC 2 Type II attestation and SOC 3 report, with SAML SSO and audit logs from the Team plan.
Cons
- Every action step uses a task, so multi-step and high-volume workflows get expensive quickly.
- Overage on monthly plans is charged at 2.5 times the base task rate.
- The free plan allows only two-step Zaps and lacks filters and AI by Zapier.
- There is no self-hosted or private deployment option, unlike n8n or Activepieces.
- Users report complaints about billing, refunds, and an all-day outage in October 2025.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Zapier scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 7.3/10 against 6.6/10 for listmonk. The largest gap is in Cost: 10/10 for listmonk and 4/10 for Zapier.
Listmonk costs less for 10 users: free on its Self-hosted (open source) plan, against about $104/mo on its Team plan for Zapier, billed monthly.
Yes, both listmonk and Zapier have a free plan.
Listmonk is the better fit for developers: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 5/10 for Zapier.
