Mautic is a free, open-source marketing automation platform for building email campaigns, landing pages, lead scoring and automated journeys from your own hosting. It suits businesses that want more control over marketing data and automation without paying per-contact SaaS fees. It is best for owners prepared to manage, or arrange help with, hosting and setup.
What is Mautic?
Mautic is a marketing automation application that helps businesses attract, organise and nurture contacts. You can create email campaigns, build landing pages, capture leads through forms, divide contacts into segments and trigger follow-up actions based on behaviour.
The platform is open source, self-hostable and designed to give organisations more control over their data. You can learn more about its current features, community and deployment options on the official Mautic website.
Unlike many subscription marketing platforms, the self-hosted community edition does not charge a licence fee based on the number of contacts in your database. Your practical costs are likely to come from hosting, email delivery, maintenance and any technical support you need.
Mautic pricing in 2026
As of 2026, there is no single universal price for running the self-hosted edition. The software itself is free, but the total cost depends on your hosting plan, email sending volume, database size and support requirements.
| Cost area | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Software licence | Free for the open-source community edition |
| Hosting | Depends on your provider and server resources |
| Email delivery | Usually charged by your chosen SMTP or email delivery provider |
| Technical support | Optional, depending on your skills and requirements |
| Managed hosting | Varies by provider, contact volume and support level |
For a small business, this model can be attractive because costs do not automatically increase every time your contact list grows. However, “free” does not mean that the entire system has no running costs.
5 Best Features of Mautic
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Visual campaign builder
The drag-and-drop campaign builder lets you create automated journeys using decisions, conditions, delays and actions. For example, a new contact could receive a welcome email, wait several days, and then receive different content depending on whether they opened the first message.
This makes it easier to turn a rough follow-up idea into a repeatable process without manually sending every email.
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Email and landing-page creation
Mautic includes tools for creating emails and landing pages from within the application. Templates and content blocks can help a small team build campaign assets without switching between several separate tools.
The real benefit is continuity. A form, landing page and follow-up campaign can be planned as one journey rather than disconnected activities.
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Lead scoring and segmentation
You can assign points to actions such as visiting a page, opening an email or completing a form. Contacts can then be placed into segments according to their details or behaviour.
This gives a sales or marketing team a clearer way to prioritise follow-up. Someone who repeatedly visits a service page may need a different message from someone who has only downloaded an introductory guide.
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Data control and privacy options
Self-hosting gives you greater control over where contact data is stored and how the application is configured. This can be useful for businesses that need to assess data processing, retention and access carefully.
It does not remove your legal responsibilities. You still need a lawful basis for marketing, appropriate consent processes, clear privacy information and sensible data retention practices.
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Integrations and extensibility
Mautic can connect with other systems through integrations, plugins and its API. This allows you to link marketing activity with a website, CRM or other business tools when the standard features are not enough.
That flexibility is valuable for agencies and growing businesses with unusual workflows. It also means that the quality of the final setup depends on planning and technical implementation.
Mautic in Action: 3 Examples
1. Nurturing enquiries from a service page
Example scenario: A consultancy receives enquiries through a website form. Each new contact receives a helpful introductory email, followed by a case study and an invitation to arrange a call.
If a contact clicks through to the pricing page, the campaign can add points or move them into a more relevant segment. The team can then focus personal follow-up on contacts showing stronger buying signals.
2. Promoting a webinar to different audiences
Example scenario: An organisation is promoting a professional webinar to people in the UK, Europe and North America. The registration form collects role and location, while the campaign sends reminders and follow-up material.
Different segments can receive suitable times, regional wording or follow-up resources. After the event, attendees and non-attendees can be placed into separate journeys rather than receiving identical messages.
3. Re-engaging inactive subscribers
Example scenario: A business has a large mailing list but many contacts have not opened recent emails. It creates a re-engagement sequence with a simple preference update, a useful piece of content and a final confirmation message.
Contacts who engage can remain on the active list. Contacts who do not respond can be reviewed against the organisation’s retention policy, helping to keep the database more relevant.
3 Things That Could Be Better
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Self-hosting requires technical responsibility
Installing an application is only the beginning. Updates, backups, server resources, database performance, security settings and email delivery all need attention.
A one-click installer can reduce the initial setup work, but it cannot replace ongoing maintenance. Non-technical owners may still need a hosting provider or specialist to manage the application.
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The learning curve is steeper than many SaaS tools
Mautic offers a wide range of settings, which can feel overwhelming when you first open the dashboard. Building a reliable campaign requires more than choosing a template. You need to understand triggers, conditions, segments, scoring and delivery settings.
The interface is capable, but it may not feel as immediately streamlined as simpler email marketing platforms.
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Email deliverability is not automatic
The application can create and send campaigns, but your results also depend on your domain configuration, sender reputation, authentication records and email delivery provider.
SPF, DKIM and DMARC should be configured correctly before sending at scale. You also need clear consent records, unsubscribe handling and a process for dealing with bounces and complaints.
Top 2 Alternatives to Mautic
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Sendportal: Sendportal is another self-hosted email marketing application in Zest City’s 79-app library and Email Marketing category. It is more focused on sending newsletters and campaigns, whereas Mautic is built around broader automation, lead scoring and behavioural journeys.
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phpList: phpList is a long-established open-source email marketing application also available in the library’s Email Marketing category. It is a strong option for list management and bulk communications, while Mautic is better suited to businesses that want more advanced automation logic.
The right choice depends on your workflow. If you mainly need reliable newsletter distribution, a simpler application may be easier to manage. If you want behaviour-based journeys and scoring, Mautic offers more depth.
3 Tips to Get More From Mautic
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Start with one complete customer journey
Do not try to automate every marketing process at once. Choose one clear journey, such as a new enquiry or webinar registration. Map the trigger, the messages, the waiting periods and the desired outcome before building it.
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Create scoring rules based on genuine intent
Give more weight to meaningful actions, such as requesting information or visiting a key service page. Do not treat every page view as a strong buying signal. Review your scores after a few weeks and adjust them using real campaign behaviour.
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Plan hosting and deliverability before launch
Confirm that your hosting plan has suitable resources for the size of your database and campaign activity. Set up domain authentication, test emails across common inboxes and create backups before importing a large contact list.
If you need help connecting your marketing application to a broader digital strategy, Zest City’s website marketing services can support planning, visibility and ongoing improvement.
Free with Zest City Web Hosting
Mautic is one of 79 apps available free with Zest City Web Hosting : included on every shared hosting programme and platform we offer, with genuine 1-click installation (no server admin, no manual setup, live in minutes). No extra licence fees, no separate app-store account.
With Zest City Web Hosting, the Zest City Web Hosting one-click installer can make the first stage of deployment much simpler. You still need to configure your campaign settings, sending service, domain authentication and data processes, but you avoid starting with a completely manual installation.
Zest City Web Hosting is therefore most useful for owners who want a managed starting point rather than a blank server environment. It also gives you a route to ask about hosting, website management and wider digital support as your requirements develop.
FAQs
Is Mautic free?
Yes. The self-hosted open-source edition is free to use and does not apply a software licence charge based on contacts. You still need to account for hosting, email delivery, maintenance and any technical support.
Is Mautic good for email marketing?
Yes, particularly for businesses that want automated sequences, segmentation, lead scoring and behaviour-based follow-up. It may be more complex than necessary if you only need to send occasional newsletters.
Can Mautic score and segment leads?
Yes. You can create scoring rules based on contact details and actions, then use segments to send more relevant campaigns. Scoring works best when the rules reflect genuine buying intent and are reviewed regularly.
Is Mautic good for beginners?
It can be suitable for beginners who have access to reliable hosting guidance and are willing to learn the basics of campaigns, email delivery and data management. It is less suitable for someone looking for a completely hands-off tool with no setup or maintenance responsibilities.
Not sure Mautic is the right fit : or want to see the other 78 apps you get free? Talk to Zest City about your web hosting and we'll help you pick the right app, the right hosting plan, and show you what else we can do for your site, from design to ongoing support.
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