EmailOctopus vs Mailcoach
We give EmailOctopus a 2.8 GPA and Mailcoach a 2.2, out of 4.0. EmailOctopus grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
EmailOctopus
Simple, low-cost email marketing with a free plan for 2,500
Mailcoach
Email campaigns priced by emails sent, hosted or self-hosted
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAEmailOctopusGood | 2.2GPAMailcoachFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPro is $9 a month for 500 subscribers on yearly billing, or $10 monthly, inside the cheaper quarter of email tools. It stays cheap as you grow, at $44.50 a month billed monthly for 10,000 subscribers, and nonprofits get 20% off for life. | C$9.99 a month with 2,000 emails, then $0.002 an email, a few cents above the cheaper quarter of email tools. Contacts are unlimited, so a big list costs far less than with per-contact tools, and sending through your own provider halves the per-email fee. |
| Free plan and trial | BStarter is free for 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, with no card and no time limit. One person could really run a club newsletter on it. You get 1 user, 1 form and 1 landing page, branding on emails and 30 days of reports. | CNo free plan, but there's a 14-day trial with no card needed. Long enough to import a list and send a first campaign. |
| Features | BA drag-and-drop editor with over 100 templates, your own HTML, automated sequences, fields, tags and segments, pop-up forms, landing pages and live reports. That covers the email marketing job, kept plain, with no SMS or store flows on record. | CCampaigns with segments, split tests and analytics, no-code automations, transactional email, pre-send checklists and a newsletter archive. The basics are well covered, but no sign-up forms or landing page builder are named among its features. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record and no phone app. It's a simple web app, but you'll still import a list and set up a form and templates before the first send. | CNo App Store rating on record and no phone app. The hosted version is a normal web app, though you first choose its sending or your own provider, and the self-hosted one needs a Laravel developer. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with WordPress, Shopify and Zapier and an API. It's a short list, and with no desktop or phone app, a B is the ceiling. | BWeb, with an API and sending through Postmark, Mailgun, Amazon SES, Brevo or any SMTP server, and developers can run it inside a Laravel app. No desktop or phone app, so B is the ceiling. |
| Best for | cheap, plain newsletters for small groups | big lists you only email now and then |
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: EmailOctopus and Mailcoach. How we grade
Price against what you get
EmailOctopus starts at $9 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Mailcoach starts at $9.99 a month and scores 2.3.
EmailOctopus scores higher and starts $0.99 a month lower. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, none scores higher than EmailOctopus for less, and 6 score higher than Mailcoach 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
- EmailOctopus starts at $9 per month for up to 500 subscribers, billed yearly. Mailcoach starts at $9.99 per month with 2,000 emails, plus $0.002 per extra email.
- EmailOctopus has a free plan. Mailcoach does not, though it has a free trial.
- Mailcoach is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- EmailOctopus also covers forms.
At a glance
| EmailOctopus | Mailcoach | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $9 per month for up to 500 subscribers, billed yearly | $9.99 per month with 2,000 emails, plus $0.002 per extra email |
| Free plan | Starter plan: up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, 1 user, 1 landing page and 1 form, reports kept 30 days and EmailOctopus branding on emails. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Three Hearts Digital Ltd | Spatie |
| Price read from | emailoctopus.com | mailcoach.app |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
EmailOctopus
- Small organizations and clubs that need a free list of up to 2,500
- Authors and bloggers who want plain, cheap newsletters
- Nonprofits, which get 20% off for life
Mailcoach
- Senders with a large list who email it only occasionally
- Laravel developers who want email marketing inside their own app
- European businesses that want their data hosted in the EU
Worth knowing
EmailOctopus
- There is no free trial of Pro; EmailOctopus suggests starting on the free Starter plan.
- Starter emails carry EmailOctopus branding and reports disappear after 30 days.
- Lists above 500,000 subscribers need a quoted plan.
- EmailOctopus Connect, its Amazon SES product, is a separate service with its own pricing.
Mailcoach
- There is no annual plan: usage is invoiced monthly, and prices exclude VAT.
- Each team must choose either Mailcoach's sending or its own provider, not both.
- The self-hosted Laravel version is a separate license bought through spatie.be, with a year of updates per purchase; its dollar price could not be read.
- The pricing page names no sign-up forms or landing page builder among its features.
Key features
EmailOctopus
- Drag-and-drop editor and templates
- Over 100 mobile-friendly templates that adapt to your brand's colors, a drag-and-drop editor, and the option to write or import your own HTML.
- Automated sequences
- Build sequences that send emails to subscribers automatically after they join or take an action.
- Fields, tags and segments
- Collect custom fields, tag subscribers and target emails by data and behavior, then schedule sends for later.
- Forms and landing pages
- Pop-up forms and landing pages to collect subscribers. Starter allows one of each; Pro has no limit.
- Reports
- Opens, clicks and other campaign stats in real time. Starter keeps reports for 30 days; Pro keeps them indefinitely.
Mailcoach
- Campaigns
- Newsletters with segmentation, split testing, open and click analytics, pre-send checklists and a searchable archive of past issues.
- Automations
- Workflows for onboarding, lead nurturing and other sequences, built without code.
- Transactional email
- Edit, send and track transactional emails in the same app, sent from your product through Mailcoach's API.
- Unlimited contacts
- Contacts, lists and audiences cost nothing extra; the bill depends only on how many emails go out each month.
- Bring your own provider
- Send through Postmark, Mailgun, Brevo, Amazon SES or any SMTP server instead of Mailcoach's own sending, at half the per-email fee.
- EU hosting and GDPR
- Data is stored encrypted in the EU, and open and click tracking can be switched off.
Plans
EmailOctopus
Starter$0
2,500 subscribers, 10,000 emails a month, 1 user, 1 landing page and 1 form, with EmailOctopus branding and 30-day reports.
Pro$9
per month for up to 500 subscribers, billed yearly ($10 monthly)
10,000 emails a month, unlimited users, forms and landing pages, no branding, reports kept for good. $44.50 a month billed monthly at 10,000 subscribers.
CustomCustom
Quoted plans for lists of more than 500,000 subscribers.
Mailcoach
Pay as you go$9.99
per month with 2,000 emails, plus $0.002 per extra email
Unlimited contacts, lists and automations, campaigns, transactional email and the API. Extra emails cost $0.001 each when sent through your own provider.
Ways to pay less
EmailOctopus
- Annual discount
Save 10% with yearly billing
EmailOctopus's pricing page shows Pro at 500 subscribers for $9 a month billed yearly instead of $10 billed monthly, a $12 saving.
- Nonprofit
20% lifetime discount for nonprofits
All nonprofits using EmailOctopus get a 20% lifetime discount.
Mailcoach
No public discounts listed.
