Mailtrain keeps it simple. Punchmail keeps it simple too — but adds the block editor, automation, and analytics you actually need.
Punchmail isn't a hobby project with a queue bolted on. It's a multi-layered sending engine designed from day one to handle millions of emails without breaking a sweat.
7 priority queues — tracking, sending, campaigns, automations, bounces, imports, default. Each with dedicated workers via Laravel Horizon.
Campaigns split into 500-subscriber batches. Multiple workers process batches simultaneously. Template compiled once, cached in Redis, reused across all batches.
Every open, click, bounce, and unsubscribe stored in ClickHouse with 6 materialized views for instant aggregation. No more slow MySQL GROUP BY on millions of rows.
Redis SETNX locks → MySQL unique index with INSERT IGNORE → job idempotency. Three layers guarantee zero duplicate sends, even during crashes and restarts.
Enterprise email marketing features without the enterprise price tag. Built by someone who's been sending email since before Gmail existed.
Drag-and-drop email builder with 10 block types. Compiles to bulletproof HTML via MJML. Looks perfect in every client — yes, even Outlook.
Nested AND/OR conditions across subscriber fields, tags, engagement history, and campaign activity. "Opened campaign X but didn't click in 90 days" — milliseconds.
Trigger-based workflows with conditions, delays, and actions. Welcome series, re-engagement, cart abandonment. Set it and forget it.
Connect any SMTP provider. Create pools with weighted distribution for IP warmup. Automatic failover. Per-campaign throttling. This is what enterprise ESPs charge thousands for.
Event tracking powered by ClickHouse. Millions of events, instant queries. Full per-campaign reports and per-subscriber activity timeline.
Test subject lines and content with 2-3 variants. Auto-send the winner based on opens or clicks. Data-driven sending.
IMAP/POP3 mailbox polling plus webhook receivers for SES, Postmark, and SendGrid. Automatic hard/soft classification with configurable thresholds.
Multiple suppression lists with email AND domain blocking. Platform-wide suppression for spamtraps and global unsubscribes. Three-layer dedup prevents duplicate sends.
RFC 8058 one-click unsubscribe (Gmail/Yahoo required), in-body unsubscribe, and full preference center. List-Unsubscribe headers automatic on every send.
Mailtrain is a self-hosted newsletter app built on Node.js. It does the basics: manage subscriber lists, create campaigns with a simple editor, and send emails via your SMTP server. For a free, open-source tool, it fills a niche. But development has slowed significantly, and the feature set remains basic.
There's no visual block editor in Mailtrain — you get a basic HTML editor or use templates. There's no automation engine for welcome series or drip campaigns. A/B testing doesn't exist. Segmentation is limited to basic list and field filters. If you need anything beyond simple newsletter blasts, Mailtrain can't help.
The Node.js stack means Mailtrain doesn't benefit from the rich ecosystem of PHP email marketing tools and libraries. There's no ClickHouse integration for analytics, no Redis-backed queue system for parallel sending, and no SMTP pool management. Everything runs on a single process, which limits throughput.
Punchmail respects Mailtrain's self-hosted ethos while delivering a complete email marketing platform. Block editor, automation, A/B testing, ClickHouse analytics, SMTP pools, bounce intelligence — all deployed with Docker Compose for the same operational simplicity Mailtrain users appreciate.
Drag-and-drop builder with 10 block types and MJML. No more raw HTML editing in Mailtrain's basic editor.
Welcome series, re-engagement flows, trigger-based campaigns. Mailtrain has no automation at all.
Test subject lines and content, auto-send the winner. A feature Mailtrain never built.
ClickHouse-powered event tracking with per-campaign reports and subscriber timelines. Far beyond Mailtrain's basic stats.
We're not competing with Mailchimp's marketing budget. We're competing with their feature set.
| Punchmail | Mailtrain | Listmonk | Sendy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Block email editor | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Automation workflows | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| A/B testing | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | Basic |
| Advanced segmentation | ✓ | Basic | Basic | Basic |
| SMTP pools + warmup | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| ClickHouse analytics | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Bounce processing | ✓ | Basic | Basic | Basic |
| Active development | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | Slow |
| One-time pricing | ✓ | Free | Free | ✓ |
No PhD required. If you can copy-paste three commands, you can run Punchmail.
Clone the repo, copy the environment file, set your admin credentials.
git clone https://github.com/punchmail/punchmail && cp .env.example .env
One command spins up all 7 containers — app, database, analytics, queue, cache, email renderer. Done.
docker compose up -d
Add your SMTP provider in settings — Amazon SES, Postmark, your own Postfix, whatever. Create pools, set weights, configure failover.
Import subscribers, build your first campaign with the block editor, hit send. Welcome to email freedom.
No subscriber tiers. No send limits. No "contact sales." Just a price that makes sense.
🚀 Launch price for the first 100 customers. Then €99.
Mailtrain was my first self-hosted email tool. It taught me the value of owning my infrastructure. But I outgrew it fast — I needed automation, A/B testing, and real analytics. Punchmail is where I landed.
Your subscribers. Your data. Your server. One price, forever.