Both self-hosted, different bets

Broadcast vs Keila

Both run on your own server, and both take data ownership seriously. Keila is a free, open-source newsletter platform built in Germany, with the most polished UI in open-source email. Broadcast is a paid platform ($250 one-time) that ships the automations Keila still has on its roadmap, with support included.

Buy Broadcast for $250 See all self-hosted options

At a Glance

License
Keila: Free (AGPLv3)
Broadcast: $250 one-time
Automations
Keila: One welcome email per form
Broadcast: Drip + branching
Support
Keila: Community / GitHub
Broadcast: Email support
Best at
Keila: Open-source newsletters
Broadcast: Full marketing

Straight answer: if open source is a requirement and a newsletter is the whole job, Keila is the best-designed open-source option and we’d point you to it without hesitation. Choose Broadcast when you need welcome sequences and triggered drips this quarter, not on a roadmap, and someone to email when a send goes sideways. We sell Broadcast, so discount our take accordingly. But we’d rather you pick the right tool than refund the wrong one, and this page is an honest look at where that line falls.

Feature Comparison

Where Broadcast and Keila each pull ahead

Feature Broadcast Keila
Software cost $250 one-time Free (AGPLv3)
Managed cloud option No, self-hosted only Keila Cloud, €8–256/mo, EU-hosted
Subscribers (self-hosted) Unlimited Unlimited
Drip / welcome sequences Built-in One welcome email per form; sequences planned
Triggered / conditional automations Yes Planned
Segmentation Tags, lists, custom fields Visual editor, custom logic
Signup form builder Yes Yes, with double opt-in
Email editors Rich text, HTML & blocks Blocks, Markdown, MJML
Transactional email API Yes Yes
ESP choice SES, Postmark, Mailgun, any SMTP SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, any SMTP
AI agent / MCP integration API + MCP server REST API only
Data ownership (self-hosted) Your server Your server
Support Email and Discord, included Community / GitHub
Runtime Rails app + Postgres Elixir app + Postgres (Docker)
Release speed 141 since Dec 2025 12 since Dec 2025
Updates Every 2.x release included. One-click upgrade in the dashboard. Pull a new Docker image
AI assistant Ask AI, included (bring your own key) No
Two-factor sign-in Authenticator app, can be required for all users Planned
Scheduled offsite backups Built in: S3, R2, B2 or any S3-compatible storage No, back up Postgres yourself
SPF / DKIM / DMARC monitoring Built in, with alerts No

The “planned” rows deserve context. Keila has shipped over 50 releases, and marketing automations and A/B testing are on its public roadmap. They may well arrive. But a roadmap can’t send your welcome series this quarter, and that timing question is most of this comparison. Worth saying plainly, too: Keila’s editing experience is good. Between the block editor, Markdown, and MJML support, it’s the closest thing open source has to a modern SaaS composer.

How often each product ships

Releases since December 2025

Broadcast
141
Keila
12

Last release: Broadcast today ยท Keila 6 days ago.

Shipped in the last 90 days

  • v3.1.0 Insert from a plugin: plugins can add content such as a poll to an email from the block, HTML and rich text editors, in broadcasts, sequence emails and templates.
  • v3.1.0 The broadcast CLI keeps profiles, one saved login per server or channel, with login –profile, use, profiles and –profile.
  • v3.1.0 The broadcast CLI works with admin API tokens across channels: broadcast channels lists them, and –channel picks one.
  • v3.1.0 broadcast plugin runs the plugin kit from the CLI, downloaded from your own server, so you can build, test and push plugins without npm.
  • v3.1.0 GET /api/v1/channels lists the channels an API token can reach.

See the full release chart → | Read the changelog

What each one actually costs

Keila’s software is free, and there’s a paid cloud if you’d rather not run a server. Broadcast is a one-time $250. Neither number is the whole story: the real difference is whose job it is to build what’s missing. Here’s the full bill for each.

Keila

  • Software: $0 (AGPLv3 open source)
  • Hosting: ~$6–20/mo VPS, official Docker image
  • Sending: your SMTP/SES (~$0.10 / 1,000 emails)
  • Managed option: Keila Cloud from €8/mo for 2,000 emails, hosted in the EU. No free tier
  • Your time: scripting any automation against the API; self-supporting via GitHub and community

Best value when a newsletter is the whole job and open source is a requirement, not a preference.

Broadcast

  • Software: $250 one-time, every feature in every license
  • Hosting: ~$6–20/mo VPS, automated installer on Ubuntu
  • Sending: your SMTP/SES (~$0.10 / 1,000 emails)
  • Your time: sequences, segmentation, and forms ship in the product; email support included
  • Risk: 30-day money-back guarantee

Best value when the automations you need would otherwise mean roadmap-watching or custom scripts you maintain.

Where They Differ Most

Automations & Sequences

The biggest gap, and it’s about timing. Keila added one welcome email per signup form in version 0.19 (February 2026), and lists multi-step automations and A/B testing as planned. Today, a series of emails on Keila means external scripts against its API, and that’s work you own. A typical onboarding sequence (four emails over two weeks, skipping anyone who already upgraded) is an afternoon of configuration in Broadcast. On Keila right now, it’s a small application you write, host, and debug yourself.

Open Source & the AGPL

Keila wins this outright. AGPLv3 means you can read the code, patch it, and fork it if the maintainers ever stop. For ordinary self-hosting the AGPL costs you nothing; it only bites if you modify Keila and offer it as a service, which obliges you to publish your changes. Broadcast is commercial: no copyleft obligations, but not open source. If OSS is a hard requirement, this comparison ends here. Use Keila.

EU, DSGVO & Data Residency

Self-hosted, both land in the same strong position: subscriber data on a server you control, in the jurisdiction you choose. That’s the setup we walk through in E-Mail-Marketing selbst hosten, and it avoids the US-transfer problems covered in our ActiveCampaign & DSGVO assessment. Keila adds one thing Broadcast doesn’t offer: a managed cloud, made in Germany and hosted in the EU, for teams that want the DSGVO story without operating a server. If your DPO wants an EU vendor and you don’t want a VPS, that’s a real point for Keila. If you’re willing to run a server on Hetzner or a German host, both tools give you the same residency; Broadcast gives you more product on top of it.

Support & Agent Integrations

Every Broadcast license includes email support and updates, and the API plus MCP server lets AI agents manage campaigns for you. If you already automate parts of your business with agents, a platform they can operate changes day-to-day work. Keila has a capable REST API and a public GitHub, but self-hosted Keila is self-supported: when something breaks an hour before a send, you’re reading issues, not emailing a vendor who answers.

Who Should Choose What

An honest take on when each tool makes sense

Choose Broadcast if you…

  • Need welcome series and triggered drips today, not on a roadmap
  • Want email support included when something breaks before a send
  • Want AI agents driving campaigns over the API and MCP
  • Run a full marketing program, not only a newsletter
  • Value the scripting and maintenance you’d otherwise do at more than $250

Keila might be better if you…

  • Require open source (AGPL) as policy, not preference
  • Send a newsletter now and can wait for automations to ship
  • Want a modern UI without paying for software
  • Like having an EU-hosted cloud from the same maintainers as a fallback

Frequently Asked Questions

Self-hosted, yes. Keila is open source under AGPLv3, deployed with an official Docker image, and costs nothing beyond your server and your SMTP/SES sending. Keila Cloud, the managed version, starts at €8/mo for 2,000 emails, hosted in the EU, and has no free tier. Broadcast is a one-time $250 license.
Only one welcome email. Since version 0.19 (February 2026) each Keila signup form can send a welcome email, and multi-step automations and A/B testing are listed as planned. You can approximate a series with external scripts against its API, but that’s code you write and maintain. Broadcast includes drip campaigns, triggers, and conditional logic in every license. If Keila ships automations, this comparison changes, so check its changelog before you decide.
Yes. It’s built by a German company, and Keila Cloud is hosted in the EU. Self-hosting either Keila or Broadcast on your own EU server gives you the same strong position: subscriber data never leaves infrastructure you control. Our German self-hosting guide covers the full stack.
For ordinary self-hosting, no. The AGPL only obliges you to publish changes if you modify Keila and offer it to others as a network service. Agencies building client offerings on top of it should read the license first. Broadcast’s commercial license has no copyleft; the $1,000 Extended License covers up to 25 servers for agency and multi-client use.
Yes. Export your contacts from Keila as CSV and import them into Broadcast with tags and custom fields intact. Both platforms run on your own infrastructure, so your data stays in your control through the whole move. Broadcast comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee if it doesn’t fit.
Keila, Listmonk, Mautic, Sendy, phpList, and Broadcast each suit different teams. See our honest 2026 comparison of self-hosted email marketing software for the full picture.

Own your email stack, with automations already built

Keep the ownership Keila gets right. Add the sequences and support a full email program needs, today rather than on a roadmap.

Try the live sandbox Buy Broadcast for $250

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Still deciding?

Comparisons cover the tradeoffs. How To covers whether Broadcast does the specific thing you need, organized by what you are trying to accomplish rather than by feature name. If the answer is no, it says no.

Browse How To Segment subscribers Branch a sequence Bring an existing list