# Broadcast vs Mautic (2026): A Simpler Mautic Alternative > Broadcast vs Mautic compared. Mautic is the most powerful open-source marketing automation suite, but it's heavy to run. Broadcast is focused email marketing with low ops burden and support. Source: https://sendbroadcast.net/compare/broadcast-vs-mautic 1. [Compare](https://sendbroadcast.net/compare) 2. / 3. Broadcast vs Mautic Both self-hosted: power vs. focus # Broadcast vs Mautic Both run on your own server, but they aim at different teams. Mautic is the most powerful open-source marketing automation suite, with the depth (and the operational weight) to match. Broadcast is focused email marketing that one person can set up, run, and maintain, with support included. [Buy Broadcast for $250](https://sendbroadcast.net/pricing) [See all self-hosted options](https://sendbroadcast.net/self-hosted/email-marketing-software) ## At a Glance License Mautic: Free (GPL) Broadcast: $250 one-time Scope Mautic: Automation suite Broadcast: Focused email Ops burden Mautic: High (LAMP + queue) Broadcast: Low (installer) Support Mautic: Community Broadcast: Email support **Straight answer:** if you need deep automation graphs, lead scoring, landing pages, and multi-channel campaigns, and you have a PHP-comfortable ops person, Mautic is more powerful, and it's free. Choose Broadcast when you want focused email marketing that's quick to stand up, easy to keep running, and backed by support, without dedicating an engineer to it. This page is an honest look at that trade. ## Feature Comparison Where Broadcast and Mautic each pull ahead | Feature | Broadcast | Mautic | | --- | --- | --- | | Software cost | $250 one-time | Free (GPL) | | Subscribers | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Drip / welcome sequences | Built-in | Built-in | | Visual automation graphs | Sequences + conditions | Advanced | | Lead / contact scoring | No | Yes | | Landing pages | No | Yes | | Multi-channel (SMS, social) | Email-focused | Yes (plugins) | | Segmentation | Tags, lists, custom fields | Advanced | | Transactional email API | Yes | Via API/plugins | | ESP choice | SES, Postmark, Mailgun, any SMTP | SMTP / providers | | Data ownership | Your server | Your server | | Hosting requirements | App + Postgres | PHP, MySQL, cron, queue | | Setup & learning curve | Installer, <1 hour | Steep; days to tune | | Support | Email and Discord, included | Community / paid partners | | Release speed | 139 since Nov 2025 | 15 since Nov 2025 | | Updates | Every 2.x release included. One-click upgrade in the dashboard. | Composer, from the command line | | AI assistant | Ask AI, included (bring your own key) | Not in core | | Two-factor sign-in | Authenticator app, can be required for all users | Third-party plugin | | Scheduled offsite backups | Built in: S3, R2, B2 or any S3-compatible storage | No, back up MySQL yourself | | SPF / DKIM / DMARC monitoring | Built in, with alerts | No | Mautic genuinely out-features Broadcast on automation depth: scoring, landing pages, and multi-channel are real advantages if you'll use them. The trade is operational weight: Mautic is a multi-service PHP application that rewards a dedicated ops owner. Broadcast deliberately covers the email automation most senders actually use, and stays simple to run. ## How often each product ships Releases since November 2025 Broadcast 139 Mautic 15 Last release: Broadcast yesterday · Mautic 29 days ago. ### Shipped in the last 90 days - v2.51.0 Sequences now list the subscribers that stopped with an error. You can retry the failed step for one subscriber, or retry or dismiss all of them at once. - v2.51.0 Sequence webhooks report retried and dismissed subscribers (sequence.subscriber_resumed with reason "retry", sequence.subscriber_removed with reason "dismissed"). - v2.50.0 Sequences have a Reply-To address in their settings, so replies to sequence emails go to the inbox you choose instead of the sender address. - v2.50.0 Each Send Email step in a sequence can set its own Reply-To address, which overrides the sequence's. - v2.50.0 Each Send Email step on the sequence canvas shows how many emails it sent, opened and clicked, with open and click rates and bounces. [See the full release chart →](https://sendbroadcast.net/compare/release-speed) | [Read the changelog](https://sendbroadcast.net/changelog) ## What each one actually costs Mautic's software is free; Broadcast's is paid. But the bigger line item with a powerful self-hosted suite is the time to run it. Here's the honest version. ### Mautic - **Software:** $0 (open source) - **Hosting:** larger server, needing PHP-FPM, MySQL, cron, Redis/queue - **Sending:** your SMTP/SES (~$0.10 / 1,000 emails) - **Your time:** initial tuning (often days), queue/deliverability config, and rougher major-version upgrades Best value when you'll use the automation depth and have ops capacity to keep it healthy. ### Broadcast - **Software:** $250 one-time (then yours) - **Hosting:** ~$5–20/mo VPS, app + Postgres - **Sending:** your SMTP/SES (~$0.10 / 1,000 emails) - **Your time:** automated installer, sequences ready to use, email support when you're stuck Best value when you want a working email program this week, not a project to maintain. ## Where They Differ Most ### Automation Depth This is Mautic's home turf. Its campaign builder rivals ActiveCampaign's, with lead scoring, dynamic content, and multi-channel branches. Broadcast offers drip sequences with conditions (enough for welcome series, onboarding, and nurtures) but not scoring or landing pages. If your program lives or dies on scoring graphs, Mautic wins. ### Setup & Maintenance Mautic is a multi-service PHP stack (web server, PHP-FPM, MySQL, cron, and a queue) and it expects tuning before it runs well, with major upgrades that need care. Broadcast installs on Ubuntu with an automated installer and runs as one app plus Postgres. For a small team, that difference is weeks of saved effort. ### Support Mautic's support is its community, forums, and third-party paid partners: capable, but it's on you to assemble. Every Broadcast license includes direct email support and updates, so deliverability and upgrade questions have an owner who isn't only you. ### Focus vs. Feature Sprawl Mautic's breadth is a strength if you need it and a tax if you don't: more surface area to learn, configure, and keep secure. Broadcast does email marketing and does it well, so a non-specialist can be productive on day one instead of climbing a learning curve. ## Who Should Choose What An honest take on when each tool makes sense ### Choose Broadcast if you… - Want focused email marketing, not a multi-channel suite - Don't have a dedicated ops person for a PHP/LAMP stack - Want it running this week, not after a tuning project - Prefer included support over assembling community help - Need drips and segmentation, but not lead scoring or landing pages ### Mautic might be better if you… - Need lead scoring, landing pages, and dynamic content - Run multi-channel campaigns (email + SMS + social) - Have a PHP-comfortable ops person to run and upgrade it - Want the deepest open-source automation and will invest the setup time ## Frequently Asked Questions Yes. Mautic is open source under the GPL, so the software is free to self-host. The real cost is operational: a larger multi-service server and the time to configure, tune, and upgrade it. Broadcast is a one-time $250 license with an automated installer and support included. Mautic is powerful but heavyweight. It needs a web server, PHP-FPM, MySQL, cron, and a queue, and it typically takes real configuration before it runs reliably: deliverability in particular depends on how you wire the queue. Major-version upgrades have historically needed care. Broadcast runs as one app plus Postgres and installs in under an hour. No. Broadcast focuses on email marketing: campaigns, drip sequences with conditions, segmentation, and transactional sending. It doesn't include lead scoring, landing-page building, or multi-channel (SMS/social) campaigns. If those are core to your program, Mautic is the better fit. Yes, for your contacts. Export your Mautic contacts and segments to CSV and import them into Broadcast, including tags and custom fields. Complex automation graphs don't transfer one-to-one: you'd rebuild the sequences you actually use, which is often a chance to simplify. Both run on your own infrastructure, so your data stays yours throughout. For a small team without dedicated ops, Broadcast is usually the better fit: it's quick to stand up, simple to run, and supported. Mautic shines when you have the automation needs to justify it and someone to own the stack. Choose by what you'll actually use, not by feature-count. Mautic, Broadcast, Listmonk, Sendy, phpList, and Keila each suit different needs. See our [honest 2026 comparison of self-hosted email marketing software](https://sendbroadcast.net/self-hosted/email-marketing-software), or the focused [Broadcast vs Listmonk](https://sendbroadcast.net/compare/broadcast-vs-listmonk) comparison. ## Powerful enough, without the upkeep Keep the ownership of self-hosting, and skip the LAMP stack, the tuning, and the maintenance project. Every 2.x update is included. Version 2.0 shipped on March 16, 2026. A license bought that day has received all [97 releases of version 2](https://sendbroadcast.net/changelog) at no extra cost. [Try the live sandbox](https://demo.sendbroadcast.net) [Buy Broadcast for $250](https://sendbroadcast.net/pricing) ### Related Comparisons [Self-Hosted Email Marketing The hub: guides and cost math](https://sendbroadcast.net/self-hosted) [Self-Hosted Email Software 7 platforms compared, by use case](https://sendbroadcast.net/self-hosted/email-marketing-software) [Broadcast vs Listmonk Free no-frills tool vs. full platform](https://sendbroadcast.net/compare/broadcast-vs-listmonk) [Broadcast vs Sendy SES wrapper vs. full platform](https://sendbroadcast.net/compare/broadcast-vs-sendy) [Listmonk vs Mautic Newsletter tool or automation suite](https://sendbroadcast.net/compare/listmonk-vs-mautic) [Mautic alternatives Six lighter self-hosted options](https://sendbroadcast.net/compare/mautic-alternatives)