What listmonk does
listmonk is a free, open-source newsletter and mailing list manager that you host yourself. It runs as a single binary with a Postgres database and handles campaigns, subscriber lists, templates, analytics, and transactional messages.
listmonk is software for running newsletters and one-way mailing lists on your own server. It ships as a single binary with a web interface and stores data in PostgreSQL. You can download builds for Linux, macOS (Darwin), Windows, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, or run the official Docker image with the sample docker-compose file.
Subscriber management covers single and double opt-in lists with millions of subscribers. You can query and segment subscribers with SQL expressions on their attributes, import and export them, and handle bounces. Campaigns can be written with a visual drag-and-drop builder, a WYSIWYG editor, Markdown, raw HTML with syntax highlighting, or plain text. Templates use the Go templating language, with logic and more than 100 functions in both subject lines and content.
Performance is a focus. listmonk uses multi-threaded, high-throughput queues across several SMTP servers, with throughput and sliding window rate limits. The site shows a production instance sending a campaign of more than 7 million emails with peak memory use of 57 MB. Built-in analytics show campaign views, bounces, and top links across campaigns.
listmonk also works as a messaging backend. A simple API sends transactional messages from predefined templates, and messenger webhooks can deliver SMS, WhatsApp, push notifications, or other message types. The API covers all features, and the app adds OIDC single sign-on, roles and permissions, granular API tokens, subscriber privacy controls, and a media library with S3-compatible storage.
listmonk is created by Kailash Nadh and is free and open source under the AGPLv3 license. The backend is written in Go and the frontend in Vue. There is no paid plan, but some hosting providers offer managed instances.
Best for
Developers, companies, and organizations that want to run their own newsletters and transactional email without per-subscriber fees.
Not for
People who want a fully managed email marketing service with no server, database, or SMTP setup.
Questions and answers
Is listmonk free?
Yes. listmonk is free and open-source software licensed under AGPLv3. You host it yourself.
What do I need to run it?
listmonk is a single binary that needs a PostgreSQL database. You can also run it with Docker using the sample docker-compose file.
Can it send transactional emails?
Yes. A simple API sends transactional messages to subscribers using predefined templates, by email or through messengers such as SMS or WhatsApp.
How do I write emails?
You can use a visual drag-and-drop builder, a WYSIWYG editor, Markdown, raw HTML, or plain text, with Go template expressions for dynamic content.
How well does it scale?
The site shows a production instance sending a campaign of more than 7 million emails with a fraction of one CPU core and 57 MB of peak RAM.