---
title: "Reloop vs Customer.io"
description: "Reloop vs Customer.io compared honestly: per-email vs per-profile pricing at 10k to 100k profiles, journeys vs automations, transactional API and SMTP, inbound inboxes, self-hosting, plus how to switch."
canonical: "https://reloop.sh/compare/customer-io"
---

# Reloop vs Customer.io

> For the site documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). Docs index: [llms-docs.txt](/llms-docs.txt). Marketing corpus: [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt). Docs corpus: [llms-full-docs.txt](/llms-full-docs.txt). Product skill: [skill.md](/skill.md). Prefer markdown URLs (append `.md`) when available.

> Reloop vs Customer.io compared honestly: per-email vs per-profile pricing at 10k to 100k profiles, journeys vs automations, transactional API and SMTP, inbound inboxes, self-hosting, plus how to switch.

HTML: https://reloop.sh/compare/customer-io
Markdown: https://reloop.sh/compare/customer-io.md
Canonical pricing: https://reloop.sh/pricing.md

Reloop vs Customer.io compared honestly: per-email vs per-profile pricing at 10k to 100k profiles, journeys vs automations, transactional API and SMTP, inbound inboxes, self-hosting, plus how to switch.

Reloop is the email service / infrastructure (ESP + MTA). It is not a multi-ESP connector that sits on SendGrid, Mailgun, Resend, or SES.

## Reloop vs Customer.io

| Feature | Reloop | Customer.io |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing basis | Emails sent | Profiles stored (people and objects) |
| Free tier | 6,000 emails / mo, 200 / day | No free plan on the pricing page |
| Entry paid plan | $10 / mo (50,000 emails) | $100 / mo (5,000 profiles, 1M emails) |
| Extra volume | $0.50 per 1,000 emails | $0.009 per extra profile, $0.12 per 1,000 extra emails |
| Next plan | $20 / mo (100,000 emails, dedicated IP) | Premium, from $1,000 / mo billed annually |
| Channels | Email | Email, push, in-app, SMS (SMS priced separately) |
| Event-triggered automations | Yes | Yes (Journeys) |
| Transactional API | Yes | Yes |
| SMTP relay | Yes | No |
| Inbound email / agent inbox | Yes | No |
| Template language | {{{variables}}} | Liquid |
| Open source / self-host | Yes (Apache 2.0) | No |

## FAQ

### Why is Customer.io more expensive than Reloop?

Customer.io is priced by profiles stored, starting at $100 a month for 5,000 profiles, plus $0.009 for each extra profile. Reloop is priced by emails sent: $10 for 50,000 and $20 for 100,000, whatever the size of your list.

### Can Reloop replace Customer.io?

For email, yes: event-triggered automations, broadcasts, transactional sends and SMTP. If your journeys also use push, in-app messages or SMS, Reloop doesn't cover those channels.

### Does Customer.io have a free plan?

No free plan is listed on its pricing page; paid plans start at $100 a month. Reloop's free tier sends 6,000 emails a month with no limit on contacts.

### Do Liquid templates work in Reloop?

Not directly. Reloop substitutes {{{variable}}} placeholders. Simple Liquid variables convert one-to-one; loops and filters should be rendered in your code, or with React Email, before you send.

### Can I self-host Customer.io?

No. Customer.io is a hosted service. Reloop is Apache 2.0 and can run on your own server with the same API.

## Related

- Pricing: https://reloop.sh/pricing.md
- Compare index: https://reloop.sh/compare.md
- License (Apache 2.0): https://reloop.sh/license