MailCheap vs EmailOctopus
EmailOctopus is free up to 2,500 subscribers and close on price. MailCheap costs $39 a month at 10,000, EmailOctopus $44.50, and your AI agent runs it.
Monthly billing. EmailOctopus's price from its pricing page, October 13, 2026.
01 · Features
Side by side
From EmailOctopus's pricing page and MailCheap's, on October 13, 2026. Where EmailOctopus does more, the table says so.
| Feature | MailCheapMailCheap | EmailOctopus |
|---|---|---|
| Run by your AI agent (MCP) | Every plan, every action, sending included | API only |
| REST API | Every action | Yes |
| Open source | AGPL-3.0, free to self-host | No |
| Free plan | No, free when you self-host | Up to 2,500 subscribers |
| Platform branding in your emails | None | On Starter |
| Automations | Welcome email | Yes |
| Landing pages and forms | Web archive and signup form | Yes |
02 · Price
What it costs a month
The cheapest plan with room for your list, sending one issue a week: about 4.3 emails per subscriber a month. Monthly billing, in US dollars.
Every MailCheap plan has every feature. Paying yearly costs 10 months: 2 months free.
| Subscribers | MailCheap | EmailOctopus |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $19Starter | FreeStarter Free on EmailOctopus. |
| 10,000 | $39Growth | $44.50Pro $5.50 a month less with MailCheap. |
| 50,000 | $149Scale | $178Pro $29 a month less with MailCheap. |
| 100,000 | $149Scale | $345Pro $196 a month less with MailCheap. |
- Starter is free up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, with EmailOctopus branding on emails.
- Pro sends 10 emails a month per subscriber. Paying yearly, Pro is $40 a month at 10,000 subscribers.
- The page shows euros or pounds depending on where you are; these are its US dollar prices.
Source: emailoctopus.com/pricing, checked October 13, 2026. MailCheap: pricing, from $19 a month.
03 · AI agents
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Cursor
- Codex
- Grok Bot
Your AI agent writes, schedules and sends each issue, reads the stats and imports your list
EmailOctopus has an API, and no MCP server of its own.
04 · Open source
Self-host it free, or let us run it
MailCheap is open source under the AGPL-3.0: the code that runs mailcheap.ai is the code you can run. EmailOctopus isn't open source: you can't run it on your own server.
Self-host
FreeRun MailCheap on your own server, at no cost. No support: you keep it up to date yourself.
MailCheap Cloud
From $19 a monthWe run it: sending, your archive, your domain setup and updates, with support by email.
Moving from EmailOctopus?
Export your subscribers, import the file as it is, and send. People who unsubscribed or bounced stay out.
Other comparisons
- MailCheap vs Beehiiv
- MailCheap vs Substack
- MailCheap vs Mailchimp
- MailCheap vs Kit
- MailCheap vs MailerLite
- MailCheap vs Buttondown
- MailCheap vs Ghost
EmailOctopus is a trademark of its owner, shown here to name the product compared. MailCheap isn't affiliated with EmailOctopus. Prices and features come from emailoctopus.com on October 13, 2026 and may have changed since.