listmonk vs Plunk vs Mailcheap

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

Plunkuseplunk/plunk

Mailcheapmarclou/mailcheap

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

All 6

Popularity and activity (from GitHub)

Stars

23,886Top

5,535

1,275

—

Gain this week

Unknown

—

Signal

Building history

—

Commits / 4 wk

129Top

—

Latest release

v7.0.0-beta.1 · 2026-10-20Top

v0.16.0 · 2026-10-08

Unknown

—

Commits / 12 wk

195

139

—

People committing / 12 mo

32+

—

Issues opened / closed, 30 days

29 / 68

5 / 4

0 / 0

—

Facts, with sources on each project page

Runs on my machine?Differs

Self-hosted binary or Docker Compose with PostgreSQL

Self-hosted with Docker Compose, or hosted Plunk

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

Hosted by the vendor

Code licenceDiffers

AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)

AGPL-3.0

—

Model weights licenceDiffers

No separate model weights

No bundled weights; AI agents connect through its MCP server

—

Commercial useDiffers

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

Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms

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

—

Paid services needed?Differs

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

Self-hosting requires an AWS SES account for sending

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

Subscription

HardwareDiffers

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

Not documented

Not checked yet

—

Operating systemsDiffers

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

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

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

—

Setup effortDiffers

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

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

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

—

Stars over time

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

listmonk
Plunk
Mailcheap

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

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

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

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

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 ↗useplunk/plunk ↗marclou/mailcheap ↗

listmonk vs Plunk vs Mailcheap

Stars over time

Notes for a video or post

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