Campaign Monitor vs Litmus (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Campaign Monitor grades higher than Litmus: 2.4 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Campaign Monitor grades higher on the free plan and features. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Campaign Monitor
Email marketing for small businesses, nonprofits and agencies
Which one is for you
Pick Campaign Monitor if
- Fits if you're an agency sending for several clients under your own brand
- Works for teams where lots of people need to log in, since every plan has unlimited users
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're on Lite and email your list often, as sends stop at 5 times your contacts a month
- Pricey if you want phone support, send-time optimization or section locking, which need Premier from $153.90
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there's only a 30-day trial for 500 contacts
- Watch out: the website builder costs $10 a month more on Lite and Essentials
- Watch out: lists over 50,000 contacts are priced through sales, and Lite is $117 a month at 10,000
Pick Litmus if
- Fits if your team already sends from an email platform and needs to check rendering before every send
- Works for groups that put every email through a review and sign-off step
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want one tool that also sends your campaigns, because Litmus doesn't
- Not for you if you need a price before talking to anyone: the site only offers a sales form
- Watch out: the site now calls it part of Validity Engage, so product names and packaging may differ from older material
- Too light for a one-person newsletter, since it's built around teams checking and approving emails
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACampaign MonitorFair | 1.6GPALitmusWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CLite is $11.70 a month for 500 contacts on yearly billing, or $13 monthly, right around the middle of what email tools charge. It's $117 a month billed monthly at 10,000 contacts, and unlimited sends need Essentials at $27.90. | CNothing is published, so there's no price to set against what email tools charge (middle of the category: $15 a month). That puts it in the ordinary slot until a quote says otherwise. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but there's a 30-day trial for up to 500 contacts and 500 emails. That's time to build and send a couple of campaigns, but it's a trial, not a plan you can stay on. | FNo free plan and no trial on the listing. The Pricing link goes to a contact-sales form. |
| Features | BA drag-and-drop builder with over 100 templates, templates made from your website, journeys, RSS and transactional emails, engagement segments, dynamic content and reports that drop bot clicks. That's the whole job, plus agency sub-accounts. | DPreviews, monitoring, review and approval, but it doesn't send campaigns. It works beside Mailchimp, Klaviyo or HubSpot, so on its own it can't do the email job. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record and no phone app. Marketing Studio can draft a branded email from your site, but there are still lists, journeys and segments to set up. | CNo rating on record. It's a web app that you connect to your email platform, so there's some setting up before the first preview. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with Salesforce, Shopify, WordPress, Unbounce, Intercom, OptinMonster, AdRoll and Zapier, and an API. No desktop or phone app keeps it at a B. | BWeb only, but it ties into Mailchimp, Klaviyo, HubSpot, Campaign Monitor, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Marketo, Eloqua and Responsys. |
| Best for | agencies sending email for several clients | checking how an email looks in 100+ inboxes before it sends |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Campaign Monitor and Litmus. How we grade
Where they differ
- Campaign Monitor also covers marketing automation, forms and email campaigns.
- Litmus also covers templates and reports.
At a glance
| Campaign Monitor | Litmus | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $11.70 per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial for up to 500 contacts and 500 emails | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Marigold | Litmus Software, Inc. |
| Price read from | campaignmonitor.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Campaign Monitor
- Lite caps sends at 5 times the contact tier each month; Essentials and above have no cap.
- Phone support, send time optimization and section locking need Premier, from $153.90 a month billed annually.
- The drag-and-drop website builder costs $10 a month on Lite and Essentials.
- Lists over 50,000 contacts are priced through sales.
Litmus
- Prices are not published: the Pricing link leads to a contact-sales form.
- Litmus does not send campaigns; it works with an email service provider such as Mailchimp, Klaviyo or HubSpot.
- The site now describes Litmus as part of Validity Engage, so product names and packaging may differ from older material.
Key features
Campaign Monitor
- Email builder and templates
- A drag-and-drop builder with over 100 templates, custom-coded HTML imports and branded templates generated from your website's URL.
- Marketing Studio and AI tools
- Marketing Studio drafts a branded email from your site and a goal. AI Writer, AI Email Booster and AI Segment Mapper help with copy, review and segments.
- Automated journeys
- Pre-built journeys, date-based Campaign Series, RSS-triggered emails and transactional emails, with volume tied to the plan's limits.
- Segments and personalization
- Engagement segments, dynamic content, custom fields, a preference center and countdown timers; send time optimization comes with Premier.
- Agency accounts
- Client sub-accounts under one admin account, private labeling, a markup on the base price billed through Campaign Monitor, and shared templates.
- Reporting
- Marketing Monitor benchmarks, campaign scores, real-time world-map reporting and a filter that drops bot clicks from results.
Litmus
- Email previews
- Preview an email in desktop, mobile and web email clients, including dark-mode versions of many of them.
- Email building
- Build on-brand templates so teams can assemble emails quickly, with testing alongside.
- Live monitoring
- Alerts on problems with deployed emails, such as failing links and broken rendering after a client update.
- Review and approval
- A central place for collecting feedback and sign-off on an email before it goes out.
- Personalization
- Add content such as live polls, personalized images and countdown timers to emails.
- Deliverability
- Inbox placement, domain reputation and engagement insights, presented as part of Validity Engage.
Plans
Campaign Monitor
Lite$11.70
per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually ($13 monthly)
Sends 5 times the list a month, unlimited users, AI Writer, automations and transactional email. Price rises with the list: $117 a month billed monthly at 10,000 contacts.
Essentials$27.90
per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually ($31 monthly)
Unlimited sends, automated emails and AI features, priority support, inbox preview and Marketing Studio. $182 a month billed monthly at 10,000 contacts.
Premier$153.90
per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually ($171 monthly)
Phone support, send time optimization, engagement segments, section locking, team templates and the website builder. $300 a month billed monthly at 10,000.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom annual contract, a dedicated account manager, multi-brand accounts, deliverability monitoring and invoice or PO billing.
Litmus
Pricing could not be confirmed. See litmus.com.
Ways to pay less
Campaign Monitor
- Annual discount
10% off with annual billing
Campaign Monitor's pricing page takes 10% off Lite, Essentials and Premier billed yearly: Lite at 500 contacts is $11.70 a month instead of $13.
Litmus
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Campaign Monitor or Litmus?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Campaign Monitor starts at $11.70 per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually, and Litmus has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Campaign Monitor or Litmus?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Campaign Monitor nor Litmus has a free plan. Campaign Monitor has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.