phpList vs Campaigner

Compare phpList and Campaigner on pricing, features, platforms, and ratings — both Email Marketing tools, Freemium vs Subscription, tiered by…

At a Glance

	phpList	Campaigner
Primary category	Email Marketing	Email Marketing
Rating	Not documented	Not documented
Pricing model	Freemium	Subscription, tiered by contact/subscriber count, billed monthly or annually
Starting price	Free (self-hosted) or from $1/month (hosted service)	From around 59 dollars per month for up to 5,000 contacts (Starter plan, billed monthly)
Free plan	Not documented	Not documented
Free trial	Not documented	Not documented
Platforms	Web	Not documented
Team collaboration	Not documented	Not documented
AI features	Not documented	Not documented
Public API	Yes	Not documented

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Self-Hosted — Free N/A

Hosted (phpList.com) — From $1/month Monthly, pay per subscriber or per message

Starter — 59 dollars per month monthly (annual billing available at a discount)

Essential — 179 dollars per month monthly (annual billing available at a discount)

Advanced — 649 dollars per month monthly (annual billing available at a discount)

eCommerce add-on — 79.95 dollars per month monthly, added on top of a core plan

SMS bundle add-on — 45 dollars per month monthly, added on top of a core plan

Pros

Core software is free and open source, avoiding per-contact SaaS pricing at scale
Self-hosting gives full control and ownership of subscriber data
Hosted plans are inexpensive compared to many mainstream email marketing SaaS tools
Long track record with roughly 75,000 organizations reported using the platform
API and plugin system support custom integrations
Available in multiple languages for international teams

Cons

Self-hosted setup requires technical skill to configure a reliable mail server
Interface and campaign editor feel less polished than modern SaaS competitors like Mailchimp
Deliverability depends heavily on the user's own server reputation when self-hosted
Fewer built-in marketing automation and design templates than larger commercial platforms
Support for the free self-hosted edition relies mainly on community resources

Pros

Long operating history and stable corporate ownership under Ziff Davis reduce the risk of sudden shutdown or platform migration
Combines email and SMS marketing in one platform rather than requiring a separate tool for text messaging
Includes both a visual editor and full HTML code editor, appealing to both marketers and developers
Automation and purchase-behavior features on higher tiers rival more expensive dedicated marketing automation platforms
Dedicated sales engineering support is available on the top-tier Advanced plan for complex sending needs

Cons

No free plan, and the free trial requires a credit card upfront
Pricing rises quickly with contact list size, making it more expensive than budget competitors for larger lists
eCommerce and SMS capabilities are priced as separate add-ons rather than being included in core plans
Entry-level Starter plan lacks the automation and behavioral reporting features that are the platform's biggest differentiators
Being part of a large portfolio company (Ziff Davis) means Campaigner competes internally for investment against sibling brands

Nonprofit and NGO email campaigns — Nonprofits with tight budgets self-host phpList to send donor and community newsletters without per-contact SaaS fees.
Developer-managed newsletter infrastructure — Development teams that already manage their own servers use phpList's API to integrate newsletter sending directly into their applications.
Cost-conscious large-list publishers — Publishers and community sites with large subscriber lists use phpList's hosted per-message pricing to avoid the high per-contact costs of mainstream SaaS email tools.

Mid-market email and SMS marketing — Established small and mid-sized businesses that have outgrown basic email tools use Campaigner's higher tiers to combine automated email journeys with native SMS campaigns in one platform.
eCommerce lifecycle marketing — Online retailers use Campaigner's Shopify and Magento integrations, paired with purchase-behavior reporting, to trigger cart-abandonment, post-purchase, and win-back campaigns.
Agency and developer-built email campaigns — Agencies and developers use Campaigner's full HTML code editor and API access to build and manage highly customized campaigns for multiple clients.

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