---
title: "Reloop vs Listmonk"
description: "Reloop vs Listmonk compared honestly: what each one is, sending infrastructure, newsletters vs transactional mail, automations, inboxes, resource use and licensing, plus how to switch or run them together."
canonical: "https://reloop.sh/compare/listmonk"
---

# Reloop vs Listmonk

> 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 Listmonk compared honestly: what each one is, sending infrastructure, newsletters vs transactional mail, automations, inboxes, resource use and licensing, plus how to switch or run them together.

HTML: https://reloop.sh/compare/listmonk
Markdown: https://reloop.sh/compare/listmonk.md
Canonical pricing: https://reloop.sh/pricing.md

Reloop vs Listmonk compared honestly: what each one is, sending infrastructure, newsletters vs transactional mail, automations, inboxes, resource use and licensing, plus how to switch or run them together.

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 Listmonk

| Feature | Reloop | Listmonk |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | Email infrastructure: API, SMTP relay, campaigns, automations, inboxes | Newsletter and mailing list manager |
| License | Apache 2.0 | AGPLv3 |
| Hosted option | Yes (Reloop Cloud) | No, self-host only |
| Sends mail itself | Yes, own MTA (KumoMTA) | No, needs an external SMTP server |
| Stack | Bun services, Postgres, KumoMTA | Single Go binary + Postgres |
| Transactional API | Yes | Yes (POST /api/tx, template-based) |
| Campaigns / newsletters | Yes | Yes, its core strength |
| Event-triggered automations | Yes | No drip sequences |
| Inbound email / inboxes | Yes, with threads, API, MCP and IMAP | No |
| Bounce handling | Built into the MTA | POP3 bounce mailbox or provider webhooks |
| Segmentation | Groups, properties, channels | SQL expressions |

## FAQ

### Is Listmonk an alternative to Reloop?

Partly. Listmonk replaces Reloop's newsletter and campaign features, but not the sending infrastructure, automations or inboxes. It needs an external SMTP server to deliver mail, which can be Reloop.

### Can Listmonk send through Reloop?

Yes. Add smtp.reloop.sh on port 587 (STARTTLS) as an SMTP server in Listmonk's settings, with your Reloop API key as both username and password.

### Does Listmonk support drip campaigns or automations?

Not built in. Listmonk focuses on lists and campaigns; teams that need sequences usually connect its transactional API to an external workflow tool. Reloop has event-triggered automations with delays and conditions.

### Which is lighter to self-host?

Listmonk. It's a single Go binary plus Postgres and runs comfortably on a tiny server. Reloop includes an MTA, inbound mail and spam scoring, so its documented minimum is 2 vCPUs and 4 GB of RAM.

### What licenses do they use?

Listmonk is AGPLv3. Reloop is Apache 2.0. Both are free to self-host.

## Related

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