I just migrated my first newsletter from MailerLite to Listmonk. 1,923 subscribers from my personal list. Next week I'm migrating the second one: ~8,000 subscribers from El Ecosistema Startup (my startup media outlet).
Total: ~10,000 subscribers. Two MailerLite accounts. One single Listmonk.
Zero complex workflows. Zero fancy automations. And I'm happier than ever.
Context: Why I'm Rebuilding My Entire Stack
For 2 years, I ran a full team building El Ecosistema Startup, a media outlet for founders. I was funding it out of pocket. The problem: I was losing a lot of money.
I couldn't close the corporate partnerships I needed. I got tired of financing everything alone. So in 2025, I made a decision: disband the team, migrate the community from Circle to Skool, and turn the media outlet into something 100% automated.
Result: No team means faster decisions. I can automate everything. And I can cut costs dramatically.
MailerLite → Listmonk is part of that optimization. But it's not just about money. It's because now I can.
No team to train, no processes to document, no stakeholders to convince. Just me, my VPS, and decisions I make and implement the same day.
Why am I telling you this? Because I learned something I've been telling founders for years but struggled to apply to myself: the tool with the most features isn't always the best tool.
MailerLite Did Everything (And I Used Almost None of It)
MailerLite is objectively better software than Listmonk:
- ✅ Drag-and-drop editor with 70+ blocks
- ✅ Behavioral trigger automations
- ✅ Integrated landing pages and pop-ups
- ✅ Native A/B testing
- ✅ Stripe, Facebook, Shopify integrations
- ✅ 24/7 support
- ✅ Polished, user-friendly UI
Listmonk, by contrast, is leaner:
- ❌ No complex automations
- ❌ No landing pages
- ❌ No A/B testing
- ❌ No support (just you + documentation)
- ❌ Functional UI that won't win design awards
So why did I switch?
Because when I looked at my actual MailerLite usage, the answer was brutal:
- Send weekly newsletter ✅
- Basic list segmentation ✅
- Simple HTML or Markdown ✅
Everything else (the other 80% of features) — I never used.
The Numbers Don't Lie
MailerLite (what I was paying across 2 accounts)
Account 1 — Ecosistema Startup (8,000 subscribers):
- Growing Business: $65/mo
- $780/year
Account 2 — Personal (1,923 subscribers):
- Growing Business: $22/mo
- $264/year
MailerLite total: $1,044/year
Listmonk (what I pay now)
Hosting:
- VPS on Hostinger: $12/mo (shared with n8n, OpenClaw, WordPress, etc.)
- $144/year (prorated shared usage)
SMTP:
- Postmark: $0 (already had it for other projects)
Listmonk total: $144/year
Annual savings: $900/year (~86% less)
And since I already had the VPS and Postmark, the marginal cost of Listmonk is literally $0.
Migration Lessons Learned
1. Double opt-in can kill your timing
Mistake I made: I imported 1,230 subscribers to new lists with double opt-in enabled. The confirmation email landed right before a time-sensitive sequence (Circle membership closing, migration to Skool).
Problem: Many didn't confirm in time → missed the window.
Solution: Switched everything to single opt-in. Why? These subscribers already confirmed when they originally signed up in Circle/Skool. Asking them to confirm again is unnecessary friction.
Lesson: For migrations, single opt-in is your friend. Double opt-in is for new sign-ups.
2. Self-hosted teaches you not to depend
With MailerLite:
- Price change → pay or leave
- Feature deprecation → adapt or migrate
- Downtime → wait for them to fix it
With Listmonk:
- Price change → doesn't exist (it's yours)
- Features → what you need, period
- Downtime → you fix it (or your devops)
Real trade-off: You trade convenience for control. Worth it? Depends on your situation.
3. Features you don't use are noise
MailerLite has 50+ integrations. I used 0 of them.
Every time I opened the dashboard:
- "Have you tried A/B testing?"
- "Set up your Facebook Ads integration?"
- "Create your landing page?"
This isn't MailerLite's fault — it's excellent software for people who need all that. But I didn't, and every unused feature was cognitive noise.
Listmonk shows me:
- Lists
- Campaigns
- Subscribers
Done. And it's perfect.
When NOT to Migrate to Self-Hosted
Self-hosted isn't for everyone.
Stay on MailerLite (or similar) if:
You don't have devops skills and don't want to learn them. Configuring SMTP, DNS, SSL, monitoring deliverability — that's real work. If you'd rather focus on your business, pay for SaaS.
You actually use the advanced automations. If you have complex behavioral workflows (e.g., "send email 3 days after purchase if they didn't open the previous one"), MailerLite is 10x easier.
You need support NOW. Self-hosted = you are the support. If something breaks at 3 AM and you need to send at 9 AM, you want a 24/7 team behind you.
Your volume is low and the free tier covers you. If you have 300 subscribers and MailerLite's free tier works, stay there. Don't optimize for $0 when your time is worth more.
The Real Comparison Table
| Aspect | MailerLite (2 accounts) | Listmonk |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost (10K subs total) | $1,044 | ~$144 (shared VPS) |
| Initial setup | 5 minutes | 2-3 hours |
| Automations | Advanced (triggers, delays) | Basic (scheduled) |
| Send limit | Based on plan | Unlimited |
| Data control | Third-party | 100% yours |
| Support | 24/7 chat/email | Docs + community |
| Deliverability | Managed by them | You configure SMTP |
| Learning curve | 1 day | 1 week (if you know devops) |
Bottom line: If you're a non-technical founder focused on growth, MailerLite wins. If you're a technical founder with your own infrastructure, Listmonk wins.
My Practical Recommendation
Start with SaaS, migrate to self-hosted when:
- Your volume crosses the threshold where SaaS gets expensive (for me: >8,000 subs)
- You already have self-hosted infrastructure for other services (VPS, Docker, etc.)
- Your needs are simple and unlikely to change soon
Concrete example: If your stack already includes n8n for automations, self-hosted WordPress, your own databases, and configured SMTP (Postmark, SES, etc.) — then adding Listmonk is marginal. Everything runs on the same server.
If your stack is Webflow + Zapier + everything managed cloud — self-hosting email is over-engineering. Stay on MailerLite.
What Actually Matters
The best tool isn't the one with the most features. It's the one that:
- Solves your actual problem (send emails, measure opens, segment)
- Fits your budget (time + money)
- Doesn't distract you from the real work
I almost built my own mailing system from scratch — because I could. That's the developer mindset trap: seeing every problem as something to build rather than something to use. Listmonk already exists, works, and does exactly what I need. Why invest 40-60 hours building something that already exists and is free?
The lesson is about self-awareness: knowing which tools are right for your current situation, not which ones are technically superior in a vacuum.
📝 Originally published in Spanish at cristiantala.com
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