Plunk vs listmonk vs Keila

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.

Plunkuseplunk/plunk

listmonkknadh/listmonk

Keilapentacent/keila

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

Partly

Yes

Open and click analytics

Partly

Yes

Paid subscriptions and newsletter website

Yes

Jobs covered

3 of 6 jobs

4 of 6 jobs

All 6

Popularity and activity (from GitHub)

Stars

5,535

23,886Top

2,239

—

Gain this week

Unknown

—

Signal

Building history

—

Commits / 4 wk

129Top

—

Latest release

v0.16.0 · 2026-10-08

v7.0.0-beta.1 · 2026-10-20Top

0.30.3 · 2026-09-06

—

Commits / 12 wk

139

195

—

People committing / 12 mo

32+

—

Issues opened / closed, 30 days

5 / 4

29 / 68

3 / 2

—

Facts, with sources on each project page

Runs on my machine?Differs

Self-hosted with Docker Compose, or hosted Plunk

Self-hosted binary or Docker Compose with PostgreSQL

Self-hosted Docker image, or hosted Keila Cloud

Hosted by the vendor

Code licenceDiffers

AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)

AGPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft); logo and extra/ directory excluded

—

Model weights licence

No separate model weights

—

Commercial useDiffers

Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms

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

Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms; self-hosted version is not feature-gated in the README

—

Paid services needed?Differs

Self-hosting requires an AWS SES account for sending

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

Your own inbox over SMTP works for small lists; larger lists need a sending service

Subscription

HardwareDiffers

Not documented

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

Not documented; needs a container engine and PostgreSQL

—

Operating systemsDiffers

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

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

Any host running a container engine; host OS support not listed

—

Setup effortDiffers

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

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

Medium; Docker image or sample Docker Compose file, plus PostgreSQL

—

Stars over time

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

Plunk
listmonk
Keila

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.

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

beehiiv: See pricing page
Plunk: free software; does 3 of 6 beehiiv jobs
listmonk: free software; does 3 of 6 beehiiv jobs
Keila: free software; does 4 of 6 beehiiv jobs

- Plunk: 5,535 GitHub stars, 139 commits in 12 weeks, licence AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)
- listmonk: 23,886 GitHub stars, 195 commits in 12 weeks, licence AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)
- Keila: 2,239 GitHub stars, 25 commits in 12 weeks, licence AGPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft); logo and extra/ directory excluded

Where they differ:
- Runs on my machine?: Plunk Self-hosted with Docker Compose, or hosted Plunk; listmonk Self-hosted binary or Docker Compose with PostgreSQL; Keila Self-hosted Docker image, or hosted Keila Cloud
- Code licence: Plunk AGPL-3.0 (copyleft); listmonk AGPL-3.0 (copyleft); Keila AGPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft); logo and extra/ directory excluded
- Commercial use: Plunk Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms; listmonk Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms; no paid edition or feature gating; Keila Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms; self-hosted version is not feature-gated in the README
- Paid services needed?: Plunk Self-hosting requires an AWS SES account for sending; listmonk App is free; you need an SMTP server or sending service such as Amazon SES to deliver mail; Keila Your own inbox over SMTP works for small lists; larger lists need a sending service
- Hardware: Plunk Not documented; listmonk Light; a production instance sent 7M+ emails using a fraction of one core and 57 MB peak RAM; Keila Not documented; needs a container engine and PostgreSQL
- Operating systems: Plunk Any host with Docker and Docker Compose; host OS not listed; listmonk Binaries for Linux, macOS (Darwin), Windows and the BSDs; Docker image; Keila Any host running a container engine; host OS support not listed
- Setup effort: Plunk Medium; Docker Compose plus AWS SES setup and DNS for app, api and other subdomains; listmonk Easy; download binary or docker compose up, plus a PostgreSQL database; Keila Medium; Docker image or sample Docker Compose file, plus PostgreSQL

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. useplunk/plunk ↗knadh/listmonk ↗pentacent/keila ↗

Plunk vs listmonk vs Keila

Stars over time

Notes for a video or post

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