Customer.io vs Userlist (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Customer.io grades higher than Userlist: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Customer.io grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Customer.io
Data-driven email, SMS, push and in-app messaging for product teams
Userlist
Lifecycle email and in-app messages for SaaS user and company accounts
Which one is for you
Pick Customer.io if
- Fits if you run a software or app company and want messages triggered by what users do
- Works for startups that raised under $10 million, who can get up to a year of Essentials free
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you just want a newsletter, at $100 a month before you've sent anything
- Skip it if nobody on your team can send data through an API or SDK
- Tight if you need chat support or onboarding help, which start on Premium at $1,000 a month billed yearly
- Watch out: extra emails cost $0.12 per 1,000, extra profiles $0.009 each, and SMS is priced on request
- Watch out: every account is reviewed by hand before it can send
Pick Userlist if
- Fits if you run a SaaS product and want mail triggered by what users and companies do
- Works for teams with developers who can send events from the app
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you just want to send a newsletter to a list
- Pricey if you need A/B tests or goals, which are on Professional at $279 a month
- Tight if you store lots of dormant users, since every user counts, active or not
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there is only a 14-day trial
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACustomer.ioFair | 2.0GPAUserlistFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$100 a month for 5,000 profiles, many times what email tools start at and well into the dearest tenth. It does include 1 million emails, unlimited users and unlimited push and in-app messages. Premium jumps to $1,000 a month billed yearly. | DBasic is $119 a month for up to 10,000 users billed yearly, which is in the dearer end of this category. A/B tests, goals and webhooks need Professional at $279, and each extra 1,000 users is $10 to $12 a month. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but there's a 14-day trial with up to 5,000 messages across every channel. Startups that raised under $10 million can get up to a year of Essentials free. | CA 14-day free trial, and no free plan. The page we read doesn't say if the trial needs a card. |
| Features | BVisual journeys across email, SMS, push, in-app, WhatsApp, LINE and webhooks, custom objects, an AI segment builder, warehouse syncs, transactional email and a design studio with version history. It covers the job across all those channels, built around product data. | CUsers and companies, visual workflows, in-app messages, transactional email and an API. A/B tests, goals and outbound webhooks are Professional only. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. Before the first message your product has to send people and events through the API, SDKs or a warehouse sync, and every account is checked by hand before it can send. | CNo store rating on record. You have to send data from your product through the API or integrations first. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Segment, Snowflake, Salesforce, Mixpanel, Amplitude, Twilio, Google Ads and Facebook Lead Ads, an API, mobile SDKs and an MCP server. There's no desktop app, so B is the top. | BWeb only, with an API and integrations like ActiveCampaign, Airtable and Amplitude. |
| Best for | product teams messaging users from app data | email and in-app messages for SaaS products |
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: Customer.io and Userlist. How we grade
Price against what you get
Customer.io starts at $100 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Userlist starts at $119 a month and scores 2.3.
Customer.io scores higher and starts $19 a month lower. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, 3 score higher than Customer.io for less, and 33 score higher than Userlist for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Customer.io also covers business texting.
- Userlist also covers workflow automation, transactional email and a/B testing.
At a glance
| Customer.io | Userlist | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $100 per month for up to 5,000 profiles, billed monthly | $119 per month for up to 10,000 users, billed annually ($149 monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial with up to 5,000 messages across all channels | 14-day free trial |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Peaberry Software, Inc. | Userlist, Inc. |
| Price read from | customer.io | userlist.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Customer.io
- Usage beyond the plan costs extra: $0.12 per 1,000 emails on every plan, and AI credits at $10 per 100,000 on Essentials and Premium.
- Every account is reviewed by hand before it can send messages.
- SMS volume is priced on request on every plan.
- Chat support, onboarding help and custom roles start with Premium, which is billed yearly from $1,000 a month.
Userlist
- Priced by the number of users stored, counted at the highest level in the previous 30 days, and all users count whether active or not.
- A/B testing, conversion goals and outbound webhooks are Professional features.
- There is no free plan; new accounts start on a 14-day trial.
- Built around data sent from a SaaS product, so it suits a product with an API or integration more than a simple newsletter list.
Key features
Customer.io
- Journeys and workflow builder
- Cross-channel campaigns built in a visual workflow builder, with send-time optimization, LLM actions and API-triggered broadcasts.
- Many channels
- Email, transactional email, SMS, push, in-app messages, WhatsApp, LINE and webhooks from one account; push and in-app are unlimited.
- Profiles and custom objects
- Store people and objects such as accounts or courses with unlimited attributes, then segment on them, including an AI segment builder.
- Data in and out
- Unlimited API calls, mobile SDKs, reverse ETL from a data warehouse and an MCP server; warehouse destinations need Premium.
- Design Studio
- Drag-and-drop and code editors with reusable components, version history, AI translation and 25 inbox previews.
- AI Agent
- A beta agent that carries out tasks in the account, with scheduled routines: one weekly task on Essentials and five daily on Premium.
Userlist
- Users and companies
- Stores many-to-many relationships between users and company accounts, with profiles, activity feeds and segments for each.
- Visual workflows
- A visual builder for onboarding and lifecycle campaigns, triggered by user or company events.
- In-app messages
- Sends messages inside the product as well as by email, plus internal notifications to your own team.
- Transactional email
- Receipts and notifications can be sent from the same tool as marketing and lifecycle email.
- Developer API
- Data comes in through an HTTP API and client libraries, or through customer data platform integrations.
- Conversion goals and A/B tests
- Measure whether a workflow reached its goal and split-test messages. Both need the Professional plan.
Plans
Customer.io
Essentials$100
per month for up to 5,000 profiles, billed monthly
1 million emails a month, unlimited users, 2 object types, visual workflows and the AI Agent. Extra profiles cost $0.009 each and extra emails $0.12 per 1,000.
Premium$1,000
per month and up, billed yearly
Custom profile and email volume, 10 object types, chat support, 90-day onboarding, managed deliverability and HIPAA compliance at extra cost.
EnterpriseCustom
Dedicated hardware, audit logging, a customer success manager, priority technical support and a shared Slack channel.
Userlist
Basic$119
per month for up to 10,000 users, billed annually ($149 monthly)
Marketing, lifecycle and transactional email, broadcasts, visual workflows, in-app messages and company accounts, with 5 team seats. Each additional 1,000 users costs $10 a month.
Professional$279
per month for up to 10,000 users, billed annually ($349 monthly)
Everything in Basic plus A/B split testing, conversion goals, advanced workflow logic, outbound webhooks and 10 team seats. Each additional 1,000 users costs $12 a month.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom message limits, a dedicated account manager and monthly review calls, sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
Customer.io
- Startups
Up to 12 months free for startups
Startups new to Customer.io that have raised less than $10 million can get up to 12 months of Essentials features free, with up to 30,000 profiles.
Userlist
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
Userlist's pricing page shows annual billing at a 20% saving over monthly billing.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Customer.io or Userlist?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Customer.io is cheaper to start with: $100 a month, against $119 a month for Userlist. Customer.io starts at $100 per month for up to 5,000 profiles, billed monthly, and Userlist starts at $119 per month for up to 10,000 users, billed annually ($149 monthly).
Which has a free plan, Customer.io or Userlist?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Customer.io nor Userlist has a free plan. Both have 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.