listmonk vs Mailcheap vs Plunk

Side by side, as alternatives to beehiiv. Rows that differ are highlighted; the strongest value in a row is marked. Unknown means no source yet.

listmonkknadh/listmonk

Mailcheapmarclou/mailcheap

Plunkuseplunk/plunk

beehiivpaid product

Cost and coverage

Price

$0 software; you run it

See pricing page source ↗

Subscriber lists and segments

Partly

Yes

Campaign editor and templates

Partly

Yes

Automations and drip sequences

Partly

Yes

Signup forms and landing pages

Yes

Open and click analytics

Partly

Yes

Paid subscriptions and newsletter website

Yes

Jobs covered

3 of 6 jobs

1 of 6 jobs

3 of 6 jobs

All 6

Popularity and activity (from GitHub)

Stars

23,886Top

1,275

5,535

—

Gain this week

Unknown

—

Signal

Building history

—

Commits / 4 wk

129Top

—

Latest release

v7.0.0-beta.1 · 2026-10-20Top

Unknown

v0.16.0 · 2026-10-08

—

Commits / 12 wk

195

139

—

People committing / 12 mo

32+

—

Issues opened / closed, 30 days

29 / 68

0 / 0

5 / 4

—

Facts, with sources on each project page

Runs on my machine?Differs

Self-hosted binary or Docker Compose with PostgreSQL

Self-hosted on Vercel or any Node.js 22+ host

Self-hosted with Docker Compose, or hosted Plunk

Hosted by the vendor

Code licenceDiffers

AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)

AGPL-3.0

AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)

—

Model weights licenceDiffers

No separate model weights

No bundled weights; AI agents connect through its MCP server

No separate model weights

—

Commercial useDiffers

Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms; no paid edition or feature gating

Yes, AGPL-3.0; you must share your source if you offer a modified version over a network

Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms

—

Paid services needed?Differs

App is free; you need an SMTP server or sending service such as Amazon SES to deliver mail

Needs Amazon SES or PostShiba for sending, both paid; MongoDB, QStash and hosting have free tiers

Self-hosting requires an AWS SES account for sending

Subscription

HardwareDiffers

Light; a production instance sent 7M+ emails using a fraction of one core and 57 MB peak RAM

Not checked yet

Not documented

—

Operating systemsDiffers

Binaries for Linux, macOS (Darwin), Windows and the BSDs; Docker image

Deployment requires Node.js 22+ hosting. No explicit Windows/macOS/Linux server support matrix was verified.

Any host with Docker and Docker Compose; host OS not listed

—

Setup effortDiffers

Easy; download binary or docker compose up, plus a PostgreSQL database

Medium; deploy to Vercel or a Node.js host, then set up MongoDB, SES or PostShiba, QStash and DNS

Medium; Docker Compose plus AWS SES setup and DNS for app, api and other subdomains

—

Stars over time

Switch to Growth % to compare projects of different sizes fairly.

listmonk
Mailcheap
Plunk

Focus a point, use arrow keys, or tap for its value.

Tracked daily since 16 Oct 2026. Dashed history: estimated from public records of when people starred the repo. Lines connect observations only; gaps contain no measured points.

Growth % starts at each project's first observed point in the shown range. Zero-star starts are unavailable.

Notes for a video or post

A plain summary with today's date and a link to the sources. Check each project page before you publish.

listmonk vs Mailcheap vs Plunk (as alternatives to beehiiv)
Figures from RepoQuarry, 21 Oct 2026. Sources: https://repoquarry.dev/compare?ids=listmonk,mailcheap,plunk&product=beehiiv

beehiiv: See pricing page
listmonk: free software; does 3 of 6 beehiiv jobs
Mailcheap: free software; does 1 of 6 beehiiv jobs
Plunk: free software; does 3 of 6 beehiiv jobs

- listmonk: 23,886 GitHub stars, 195 commits in 12 weeks, licence AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)
- Mailcheap: 1,275 GitHub stars, 75 commits in 12 weeks, licence AGPL-3.0
- Plunk: 5,535 GitHub stars, 139 commits in 12 weeks, licence AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)

Where they differ:
- Runs on my machine?: listmonk Self-hosted binary or Docker Compose with PostgreSQL; Mailcheap Self-hosted on Vercel or any Node.js 22+ host; Plunk Self-hosted with Docker Compose, or hosted Plunk
- Code licence: listmonk AGPL-3.0 (copyleft); Mailcheap AGPL-3.0; Plunk AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)
- Model weights licence: listmonk No separate model weights; Mailcheap No bundled weights; AI agents connect through its MCP server; Plunk No separate model weights
- Commercial use: listmonk Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms; no paid edition or feature gating; Mailcheap Yes, AGPL-3.0; you must share your source if you offer a modified version over a network; Plunk Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms
- Paid services needed?: listmonk App is free; you need an SMTP server or sending service such as Amazon SES to deliver mail; Mailcheap Needs Amazon SES or PostShiba for sending, both paid; MongoDB, QStash and hosting have free tiers; Plunk Self-hosting requires an AWS SES account for sending
- Hardware: listmonk Light; a production instance sent 7M+ emails using a fraction of one core and 57 MB peak RAM; Mailcheap Not checked yet; Plunk Not documented
- Operating systems: listmonk Binaries for Linux, macOS (Darwin), Windows and the BSDs; Docker image; Mailcheap Deployment requires Node.js 22+ hosting. No explicit Windows/macOS/Linux server support matrix was verified.; Plunk Any host with Docker and Docker Compose; host OS not listed
- Setup effort: listmonk Easy; download binary or docker compose up, plus a PostgreSQL database; Mailcheap Medium; deploy to Vercel or a Node.js host, then set up MongoDB, SES or PostShiba, QStash and DNS; Plunk Medium; Docker Compose plus AWS SES setup and DNS for app, api and other subdomains

Stars show popularity, not quality. Check each project page before publishing.

Want share images and a ready video description? Open a project's creator kit.

Numbers: GitHub, fetched nightly. Facts: read from each project's own documentation, with the source on its page. How we check. knadh/listmonk ↗marclou/mailcheap ↗useplunk/plunk ↗

listmonk vs Mailcheap vs Plunk

Stars over time

Notes for a video or post

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