Keila vs Mailcoach (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Keila and Mailcoach share a 2.2 GPA, and only Keila has a free plan.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Keila grades higher on value for money. Mailcoach grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Keila
Open-source newsletter tool, self-hosted or EU-hosted cloud
Mailcoach
Email campaigns priced by emails sent, hosted or self-hosted
Which one is for you
Pick Keila if
- Fits if you want a small newsletter tool priced by emails sent, with unlimited contacts
- Makes sense if you want open-source software you can move to your own server later
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan or a trial: the vendor says it won't offer one
- Not for you if you need automated email sequences, as workflows aren't listed
- Pricey if you grow: the price doubles with each step, reaching €256 a month at 250,000 emails
- Watch out: self-hosting means running your own server and your own email sending
- Watch out: prices are in euros
Pick Mailcoach if
- Fits if you have a big list but only email it a few times a month
- Works for teams that want data kept in the EU, or Laravel developers who want email inside their own app
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need sign-up forms or landing pages built in, as none are named
- Pricey if you email a large list every day, since every email past 2,000 is billed
- Not for you if you like paying yearly, as usage is billed monthly with VAT on top and there's no annual plan
- Watch out: each team picks Mailcoach's sending or its own provider, not both
- Watch out: the self-hosted version is a separate license whose dollar price couldn't be read
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAKeilaFair | 2.2GPAMailcoachFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B€8 a month for 2,000 emails, with unlimited contacts and projects. That's inside the cheapest quarter of email marketing tools, which start at $10. | 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 list size doesn't change the bill, and sending through your own provider halves the per-email fee. |
| Free plan and trial | DNo free cloud plan or trial. The open-source edition costs nothing but needs your own server and your own email sending. | CNo free plan, but there's a 14-day trial with no card needed. That's time to import a list and send a first campaign. |
| Features | CVisual, Markdown and plain-text editors, segments, forms, analytics and an API. Automation workflows aren't listed on its pages. | CCampaigns with segments, split tests and analytics, no-code automations, transactional email, pre-send checklists and a newsletter archive. That covers the basics, but no sign-up forms or landing page builder are named among its features. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. The cloud version is a web app, though you'll connect a sending domain; self-hosting means Docker. | 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, with an API and connections to Zapier, AWS SES, Mailgun, Postmark and Sendgrid. | 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 | a newsletter tool you can host yourself | 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: Keila and Mailcoach. How we grade
Price against what you get
Keila starts at about $8.94 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Mailcoach starts at $9.99 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Keila starts $1.05 a month lower. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, 5 score higher than Keila for less, and 10 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
- Keila is open source, according to its own site.
- Keila also covers Markdown and forms.
- Mailcoach also covers marketing automation.
At a glance
| Keila | Mailcoach | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | €8 per month for 2,000 emails a month | $9.99 per month with 2,000 emails, plus $0.002 per extra email |
| Free plan | No free cloud plan; the open-source edition is free to run on your own server. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Keila | Spatie |
| Price read from | keila.io | mailcoach.app |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Keila
- There is no free cloud plan or trial; the vendor says it will not offer one.
- Cloud prices are in euros and rise with monthly email volume, from €8 at 2,000 to €256 at 250,000 emails.
- Automation workflows are not listed among the features; the pages describe campaigns, segments and forms.
- Self-hosting means running your own server and email sending.
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
Keila
- Several ways to write emails
- A visual block editor, Markdown (with or without a WYSIWYG view), MJML for custom layouts, or plain text.
- Segments and custom data
- Segments from contact data and tags, and Liquid templates to personalize emails from custom JSON data.
- Forms
- A form builder with custom fields, double opt-in and captcha protection through hCaptcha or Friendly Captcha.
- Analytics and privacy options
- Open and click tracking, which can be turned off entirely.
- Sending options
- Send with Keila's own delivery or bring your own SMTP, AWS SES, Mailgun, Postmark or Sendgrid.
- API
- An API to manage contacts and campaigns; a Zapier integration is described as being in private beta.
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
Keila
Keila XS€8
per month for up to 2,000 emails a month
Unlimited contacts and projects; send with Keila or bring your own email server.
Keila S€16
per month for up to 5,000 emails a month
Unlimited contacts and projects; send with Keila or bring your own email server.
Keila M€32
per month for up to 15,000 emails a month
Unlimited contacts and projects; send with Keila or bring your own email server.
Keila L€64
per month for up to 50,000 emails a month
Unlimited contacts and projects. Larger steps: €128 for 100,000 emails (XL) and €256 for 250,000 (XXL).
Self-hosted$0
AGPLv3-licensed; you host it yourself with the official Docker image. The vendor says there are no proprietary premium features.
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
Keila
- Other savings
Discounts for open source and nonprofits
The pricing page says discounts may be possible for open-source projects, nonprofits and small businesses that have trouble affording a plan; you contact the vendor.
Mailcoach
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Keila or Mailcoach?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Keila is cheaper to start with: about $8.94 a month, against $9.99 a month for Mailcoach. Keila starts at €8 per month for 2,000 emails a month, and Mailcoach starts at $9.99 per month with 2,000 emails, plus $0.002 per extra email.
Which has a free plan, Keila or Mailcoach?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Keila has a free plan. Mailcoach does not, though it 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.