Mailcoach vs Mailster (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Mailcoach grades higher than Mailster: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Mailcoach grades higher on the free plan and ease of use. Mailster grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mailcoach
Email campaigns priced by emails sent, hosted or self-hosted
Which one is for you
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
Pick Mailster if
- Fits if you already run WordPress and want your subscriber list kept in your own database
- Works for sites that send their latest posts or products to a list
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if your site isn't on WordPress, because the plugin only runs there
- Tight if you want to send for free: there's no free edition and no trial
- Watch out: it renews at full price after the first year, and each licence covers one site
- Not for you if you don't want to set up a separate sending provider, since Mailster doesn't send the mail itself
- Tight if you need more than 3 automations, which is the Starter limit
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAMailcoachFair | 1.8GPAMailsterWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | B$79 a year for 1 site is about $6.60 a month, inside the cheaper quarter of email tools ($9.99). The first-year price is $39, then it renews at full price, and you pay your sending provider on top. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | FNo free edition and no trial. There's a demo and a 14-day money-back guarantee, which isn't the same thing. |
| Features | 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. | CNewsletters, drip emails, post-triggered sends, a template editor and segmentation. But Starter has 3 automations, and it doesn't send mail itself, so delivery depends on the provider you connect. |
| Ease of use | 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. | DYou need a WordPress site that you host and keep updated, plus an SMTP or email-service connection. No rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb only, inside WordPress, but it connects to Mailgun, SendGrid, SparkPost, Mailjet, Gmail and Gravity Forms, among others. |
| Best for | big lists you only email now and then | newsletters sent from inside your own WordPress site |
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: Mailcoach and Mailster. How we grade
Price against what you get
Mailcoach starts at $9.99 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Mailster starts at $6.58 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0.
Mailcoach scores higher, and starts $3.41 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, 8 score higher than Mailcoach for less, and 3 score higher than Mailster 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
- Mailcoach is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Mailster also covers templates, forms and rSS reader.
At a glance
| Mailcoach | Mailster | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $9.99 per month with 2,000 emails, plus $0.002 per extra email | $79 per year for 1 site, renewing at full price after a first-year price of $39 |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Spatie | Mailster |
| Price read from | mailcoach.app | mailster.co |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Mailster
- It runs only inside WordPress, and every licence covers one site or domain.
- There is no free edition; the site offers a demo and a 14-day money-back guarantee.
- Updates and support need an active licence. The plugin keeps working after expiry, but renewals are at full price.
- Mailster does not send mail itself. Deliverability depends on the email provider or server you connect, and the vendor recommends a dedicated provider.
Key features
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.
Mailster
- Newsletters and automation
- Send newsletters, welcome emails, birthday emails, drip campaigns and autoresponders. The number of automations depends on the tier.
- Send your latest posts
- Send new posts, products, events or other custom post types, and use them to trigger automations.
- Editor and templates
- A drag-and-drop editor with more than 400 free and premium templates.
- Any sending provider
- Mail can go out through SMTP or an email service provider; integrations are available for services such as Mailgun, SendGrid, SparkPost, Mailjet and Gmail.
- Segmentation and tracking
- Segment subscribers and track opens, clicks, email providers and locations from within WordPress.
- Precheck
- A pre-send check that flags issues in a campaign, capped at 10, 100 or 1,000 runs a month by tier.
Plans
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.
Mailster
Starter$79
per year for 1 site
Unlimited subscribers, 3 automations, 10 prechecks a month, 10 free templates. $39 for the first year in a Black Friday listing; renewals at full price.
Professional$99
per year for 1 site
Adds 10 automations, 100 prechecks a month and 7 premium templates. Shown at $49 for the first year in a Black Friday listing, with renewals at the full price.
Agency$199
per year for 1 site
Unlimited automations and 1,000 prechecks a month. Shown at $99 for the first year in a Black Friday listing, with renewals at the full price.
Ways to pay less
Mailcoach
No public discounts listed.
Mailster
- Other savings
First-year price in a Black Friday listing
The pricing page currently shows $39, $49 and $99 for Starter, Professional and Agency, against $79, $99 and $199 regular prices, and states that renewals are at full price. It gives no end date.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Mailcoach or Mailster?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Mailster is cheaper to start with: $6.58 a month when paid by the year, against $9.99 a month for Mailcoach. Mailcoach starts at $9.99 per month with 2,000 emails, plus $0.002 per extra email, and Mailster starts at $79 per year for 1 site, renewing at full price after a first-year price of $39.
Which has a free plan, Mailcoach or Mailster?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Mailcoach nor Mailster has a free plan. Mailcoach 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.