Self-hosting your email marketing gives you your own subscriber data, no per-contact pricing and full control over how mail leaves your server. The software you pick decides how much work that is. This guide compares the six tools people most often run on a VPS — MailWizz, Mautic, listmonk, Sendy, Postal and PowerMTA — on licence cost, what they actually do, and the server each one needs.
The One Distinction That Matters First
Most of these tools are campaign managers: they store your lists, build campaigns and track opens and clicks, then hand each message to a mail server to deliver. Only two are mail servers that deliver to the recipient themselves. Mixing those up is the most common reason a self-hosted setup does not work.
- Campaign managers (need a sending server or relay behind them): MailWizz, Mautic, listmonk, Sendy.
- Mail servers / delivery engines (deliver mail directly): Postal, PowerMTA.
If a campaign manager sends through your own server rather than a relay such as Amazon SES, that server needs outbound Port 25 open. Many cloud providers block it by default. The trade-off between sending yourself and using a relay is covered in email marketing VPS vs SMTP relay.
Quick Comparison
| Software | Type | Licence & cost | Stack | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MailWizz | Campaign manager | Commercial, $89 one-time (Regular) | PHP | Agencies, many lists and sending servers |
| Mautic | Campaign manager + automation | Open source (GPL v3), free | PHP, MySQL/MariaDB | Lead scoring and multi-step journeys |
| listmonk | Campaign manager | Open source (AGPL v3), free | Go, PostgreSQL | Fast, simple newsletters on a small server |
| Sendy | Campaign manager | Commercial, $69 one-time | PHP, MySQL/MariaDB | Cheapest interface on top of Amazon SES |
| Postal | Mail server | Open source (MIT), free | Docker, MariaDB | Your own delivery infrastructure, no per-message fee |
| PowerMTA | Delivery engine | Commercial, quote only | Native MTA | High-volume senders who need IP pools and throttling |
Licence prices as published by each vendor, checked August 2026.
MailWizz
A mature, heavily documented campaign platform built for many lists, many delivery servers and multiple customers — the reason agencies choose it. It connects to delivery servers you configure: your own SMTP server, Postal or PowerMTA, or a relay such as SES or SendGrid.
Cost: the $89 Regular licence covers your own lists; charging customers for access needs the $275 Extended licence. Both are one-time purchases with one month of support included.
Server: segmentation and reporting are database work, so plan for 2 cores and 4 GB of RAM once your lists are real. More detail: VPS for MailWizz.
Mautic
The leading open-source marketing automation platform: multi-step campaigns, lead scoring, forms, landing pages and CRM integrations, well beyond newsletters. It is not a mail server — it hands messages to an SMTP server or relay.
Cost: free. You pay for the server and your time.
Server: the heaviest of the campaign managers to run and to learn. Contact and event tables grow quickly and automation runs constantly in the background, and the Mautic project itself advises against shared hosting. Start at 2 cores and 4 GB and expect to grow. See VPS for Mautic, or MailWizz vs Mautic if you are choosing between the two.
listmonk
A single self-contained Go binary backed by PostgreSQL. It is by far the simplest to deploy and keep running, very fast and genuinely open source. The trade-off is that it is deliberately lean: there is no visual automation builder.
Cost: free.
Server: comfortable on 1 core and 2 GB, with fast storage for subscriber queries. See VPS for listmonk.
Sendy
A lightweight front end built around Amazon SES, which also works with SendGrid, Mailjet and Elastic Email. It is the cheapest way to get a decent campaign interface on top of relay pricing.
Cost: $69 one-time.
Server: the relay does the sending, so the VPS only serves the interface and database — 1 core and 2 GB is plenty. Note that Sendy ties you to a relay: if your reason for self-hosting is to control delivery yourself, it is the wrong tool. See VPS for Sendy.
Postal
A full mail server that delivers outbound mail directly and receives inbound mail too, with message tracking, its own queues and an HTTP API. It is the realistic open-source alternative to a commercial MTA and is often paired with MailWizz or Mautic for the campaign side.
Cost: free.
Server: the documented minimum is 2 CPU cores, 4 GB of RAM and 25 GB of disk, with MariaDB 10.6 or newer (MySQL is not supported). You now operate a mail server, with everything that implies. See VPS for Postal.
PowerMTA
A commercial delivery engine, now owned by Bird, known for per-domain throttling, IP pool management and detailed delivery accounting. It has no campaign interface, so it is paired with something like MailWizz.
Cost: quote only, with no free edition. It only makes sense at genuine volume.
Server: anyone paying for a PowerMTA licence is past sharing a host node — use dedicated cores and dedicated RAM. See VPS for PowerMTA and Postal vs PowerMTA.
Decision Guide
- Need automation, lead scoring and landing pages? — Mautic.
- Running campaigns for clients, or many lists across several sending servers? — MailWizz.
- Want simple, fast newsletters on the smallest server? — listmonk.
- Happy to send through Amazon SES and want the lowest cost? — Sendy.
- Want to deliver mail yourself, from your own IP, without paying per message? — Postal, with MailWizz or Mautic in front.
- Sending at a volume where throttling and IP pools decide inbox placement? — PowerMTA.
What Your VPS Needs for Any of Them
The software manages campaigns; the server decides whether mail is accepted. Whichever tool you choose, check the VPS has:
- Outbound Port 25 open if you deliver mail yourself rather than through a relay.
- A dedicated IPv4 address, so no other customer’s sending affects your reputation.
- Custom reverse DNS (PTR) that matches the hostname your mail server announces.
- Full root access, because most of these tools need packages, services and cron jobs a shared host will not allow.
Every VPS For Life plan includes all four, with Port 25 open by default and no approval form.
Deliverability Still Comes First
None of these tools replace correct DNS authentication or a gradual start on a new IP. Set these up before your first campaign:
- How to Configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC
- How to Set Up Reverse DNS (PTR/rDNS) for Email Deliverability
- IP Warm-Up: A Safe 30-Day Schedule for New Sending IPs
- How to Check and Remove Your IP from Email Blacklists
FAQ
Which is easiest to self-host for a beginner?
listmonk: one binary and a PostgreSQL database. MailWizz is also straightforward to install. Mautic has the steepest learning curve because of its automation features, and Postal means running a full mail server.
Can I use MailWizz or Mautic without a separate mail server?
They need something to deliver the mail: either an SMTP server on the same VPS (Postfix, or Postal), or a relay such as Amazon SES or SendGrid. Neither delivers mail by itself.
Is open source cheaper overall?
The licence is free, but you spend more time on setup and maintenance. For a single business sending its own campaigns, a one-time MailWizz or Sendy licence is small next to the cost of a SaaS platform that charges per contact every month.
Do I need a separate VPS for the campaign software and the mail server?
Not at the start. Running both on one server is fine for modest volume. Splitting them later lets you scale delivery and keep the campaign interface responsive while large sends are going out.
Continue Reading
- How to Set Up a VPS for Email Marketing (Complete Guide)
- How to Install and Configure Postfix as a Mail Transfer Agent
- Email Marketing Best Practices & Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Best VPS for Email Marketing
Browse more articles in Email Hosting & Deliverability.
