Why people look for Keila alternatives

Keila is a thoughtful project. Open source, EU-hosted, privacy-first, with a clean visual editor and MJML support. For newsletters and simple campaigns, it does the job well. But growing businesses often hit its limitations — no marketing automation, no billing integration, no A/B testing, and a smaller ecosystem of integrations compared to established platforms. If you're a SaaS founder or marketer who needs triggered workflows, subscriber lifecycle tracking, or managed infrastructure, Keila's roadmap hasn't caught up yet. For the bigger picture, see our guide to the best email marketing tools for SaaS.

The automation gap

Keila doesn't have marketing automation yet. If you need welcome sequences, drip campaigns, or triggered workflows, you'll either wait for Keila to ship it or switch to a platform that already has it. Sequenzy, Mautic, and ActiveCampaign all have automation today.

The SaaS gap

Keila doesn't integrate with billing systems, doesn't track subscription lifecycle, and doesn't have SaaS-specific triggers. If you're running a subscription business, you need tools that understand subscriptions and billing events.

The maturity gap

Keila is a newer project. Some features (automation, A/B testing) are planned but not built. The ecosystem is smaller with fewer integrations, fewer tutorials, and less community support compared to established tools.

The alternatives, honestly

If you're building SaaS: Sequenzy

Sequenzy combines transactional and marketing emails with AI-generated content and native Stripe integration. At $49/month for 10,000 subscribers (120k emails), it's more expensive than Keila but includes everything a SaaS needs. No servers to manage. See our pricing page.

If you want free self-hosted: Listmonk

Listmonk is the most popular open-source self-hosted email tool. Written in Go, it's faster and lighter than Keila for large lists. The tradeoff: a less polished editor and no cloud option. But it's completely free.

If you want open-source automation: Mautic

Mautic is the open-source marketing automation platform. Email campaigns, landing pages, lead scoring, and complex workflows. More features than Keila but heavier to run. If you need automation and want open source, Mautic fills the gap.

If you want the simplest managed: MailerLite

MailerLite is managed email marketing with no servers, landing pages, a website builder, and a 500-subscriber free tier. At $73/mo for 10k subscribers, it's more expensive than Keila Cloud but includes more features and zero infrastructure concerns.

If you want budget managed: Brevo

Brevo offers unlimited contacts with transactional + marketing + SMS + CRM from free. At $25/mo for 20k emails, it's competitive and fully managed. The interface is dated, but the value is strong.

The pricing comparison

At roughly 10,000 emails per month:

• Keila self-hosted: Free (+ your email provider costs)
• Listmonk: Free (+ your email provider costs)
• Mautic: Free (+ your email provider costs)
• Sendy: $69 one-time (+ SES ~$1/mo)
• Keila Cloud: ~$32/month (Keila M)
• Brevo: $25/month (managed, unlimited contacts)
• Sequenzy: $49/mo (managed, all features)
• MailerLite: $73/month (managed, landing pages)

Check our pricing page for Sequenzy details.

When Keila is still the right choice

Keila wins if:

• Open source is important to your business or values
• EU data hosting is a requirement
• Privacy-first design matters to your brand
• You want to self-host for free
• Unlimited contacts fits your pricing model better
• MJML support is useful for your email designs

Don't switch if Keila covers your needs. It's a well-designed tool with the right priorities. But if you need automation today, SaaS features, or managed infrastructure, alternatives deliver what Keila hasn't built yet.