Keila vs Mautic: newsletter tool or marketing automation suite?

Keila and Mautic both show up when you search for open-source email marketing, but they solve different problems. Keila is a newsletter tool with the most polished interface in open source. Mautic is a marketing automation suite with campaign graphs, lead scoring and landing pages. The real question is how much automation you need, and who will run the server.

Quick answer

Pick Keila if you send a newsletter, a welcome email is all the automation you need, and a non-developer will use it. Pick Mautic if you need branching campaigns, lead scoring and landing pages, and someone can own a PHP stack. If you want sequences with branching but not Mautic’s upkeep, Broadcast is a $250 one-time license that sits between the two.

Conflict of interest

We make Broadcast, a paid self-hosted alternative to both. We have run Keila and Mautic ourselves and this page tries to be fair to each. If something reads as unfair, tell us and we will fix it.

At a glance

Keila Mautic
What it is Newsletter tool with a polished UI Marketing automation suite
Language Elixir on Phoenix PHP on Symfony
License AGPL, free GPL, free
Runs as Official Docker image plus Postgres Web server, PHP, MySQL, cron and a queue
Automation One welcome email per form Campaign graphs with branching
Lead scoring No Yes
Landing pages No Yes
Email editors Blocks, Markdown, MJML, HTML Drag-and-drop builder, HTML
Transactional API Yes, since 0.30 (June 2026) Through the API and plugins
Two-factor sign-in Planned Third-party plugin
Updates Pull a new Docker image Composer, from the command line
Managed option Keila Cloud, 8 to 256 euros a month Hosting partners
Best for Writers and small teams Marketing teams with an ops person

What each one is for

Keila is built in Germany in Elixir on Phoenix. You import contacts, write a campaign in the block editor, and send it. Segments can filter on what people opened or clicked. Since version 0.19 each signup form can send a welcome email, and since 0.30 there is an API for transactional email. Multi-step automations are on the roadmap.

Mautic is the open-source answer to HubSpot and Marketo. It tracks contacts across your site, scores them, and moves them through campaign graphs with conditions and branches. It also builds landing pages and forms. It can do far more than Keila, and it asks far more of whoever hosts it.

Setup and operations

This is the biggest practical difference.

Keila ships an official Docker image. Point it at Postgres and an SMTP relay and you are sending the same day. Elixir hosting is less common than PHP, so runtime problems have fewer people who have seen them before, but most teams never get that far.

Mautic needs a web server, PHP, MySQL, cron jobs for segments and campaigns, and a queue for sending. First installs commonly take days to tune, and many deliverability problems trace back to cron or queue settings. Since Mautic 5, updates run through Composer on the command line.

Automation

Keila has one automated email: a welcome message per signup form. There are no delays, no second step and no branches yet.

Mautic has the deepest automation in open source. Campaigns can wait, check a condition, branch on behaviour, change a score and send the next email. If your plan includes lead nurturing, Keila does not cover it today.

Release speed

Both projects ship regularly. Since November 2025, Mautic has published 15 releases on GitHub, some of them security fixes for older versions, and Keila has published 9. For comparison, Broadcast has published 125. The release speed page has the chart.

Cost

Both are free to license. What you pay for is the server and your time.

  • Keila: a $5 to $20 a month VPS, or Keila Cloud at 8 to 256 euros a month if you want it managed.
  • Mautic: a larger VPS, often $20 to $40 a month, plus the hours to install, tune and update it. Paid partners can host it for you.
  • Either way you pay your relay. Amazon SES is about $0.10 per 1,000 emails.
  • Broadcast, for comparison: $250 once, a small VPS, the same relay cost.

Who should pick what

Choose Keila if: - You send newsletters and a welcome email is enough automation. - Someone who is not a developer writes and sends the email. - You want a managed EU-hosted option for later.

Choose Mautic if: - You need branching campaigns, lead scoring or landing pages. - Someone on the team can own a PHP, MySQL and cron stack. - You are replacing a marketing automation suite, not a newsletter tool.

Consider Broadcast if: - You need drip sequences with branching, but not lead scoring or landing pages. - You want one Docker image, one-click upgrades, and support by email and Discord. - A one-time $250 license costs less than the hours Mautic takes. Details on Broadcast vs Keila and Broadcast vs Mautic.

Frequently asked

Is Keila easier to run than Mautic?

Yes. Keila is one Docker image and a Postgres database. Mautic needs a web server, PHP, MySQL, cron jobs and a queue, and it usually takes days to tune.

Does Keila have automation like Mautic?

No. Keila sends one welcome email per signup form, added in version 0.19. Mautic has full campaign graphs with delays, conditions, branches and lead scoring.

Which one has the better interface?

Keila. It has the most polished interface of any open-source email tool. Mautic’s interface is capable but dense, because it does much more.

Which is better for GDPR or DSGVO?

Both can keep data on your own EU server. Keila is built in Germany and Keila Cloud is hosted in the EU. Mautic has more tracking features, so it needs more care with consent.

Can I move from Mautic to Keila, or the other way?

Contacts move as CSV in either direction. Mautic campaigns do not carry over to Keila, because Keila has no campaign graphs. Moving to Broadcast works the same way, with CSV import that keeps tags and custom fields.

Sequences without the upkeep

Broadcast has drip sequences with branching like Mautic, and a dashboard a writer can use like Keila. One Docker image, your own email provider, a $250 one-time license, and support by email and Discord.

How Broadcast works Try the live demo

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