Self-hosted alternatives to Customer.io
Want behavior-triggered messaging without handing your data to Customer.io? These 7 self-hosted apps run on your own server (most are open source; licenses are listed below). Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $3.5/month.
About Customer.io: Messaging automation platform for behavior-triggered email, push and SMS.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dittofeed direct | Active | 3k | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Listmonk | Active | 24.1k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Mautic | Active | 10.9k | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Keila | Active | 2.3k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| phpList | Active | 881 | AGPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Mailman | Unknown | – | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Sendy | Unknown | – | ⊘ Proprietary | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
The options in detail
1. Dittofeed
Omni-channel customer engagement and messaging automation platform (alternative to Braze, Customer.io, Iterable).
Active Last commit 2026-10-12. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v0.24.0-alpha.21 (2026-10-04). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. Listmonk
High performance newsletter and mailing list manager with a modern dashboard.
Active Last commit 2026-11-03. Latest release nightly (2026-11-04). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
3. Mautic
Marketing automation software (email, social and more).
Active Last commit 2026-11-03. Latest release 7.2.2 (2026-10-26). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
4. Keila
Reliable and easy-to-use newsletter tool (alternative to Mailchimp and Sendinblue).
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release 0.40.2 (2026-11-04). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
5. phpList
Newsletter and email marketing with advanced management of subscribers, bounces, and plugins.
Active Last commit 2026-10-19. Latest release v3.7.0-RC5 (2026-08-09). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. Mailman
Manage electronic mail discussion and e-newsletter lists.
Unknown Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. Sendy
Email newsletter application that lets you send bulk emails via Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) or other SMTP services.
Unknown Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Customer.io?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Active (a commit in the last 90 days) and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
Browse related categories
Other alternatives guides
Customer.io is a trademark of its owner; this site is not affiliated with it. Listings come from the community-maintained awesome-selfhosted list.