Lumail vs EmailOctopus
Lumail
EmailOctopus
Simple email marketing platform
Lumail and EmailOctopus pricing and feature comparison
Free emails / month
Lumail
3,000
EmailOctopus
10,000
Unlimited subscribers · $0
2,500 subscribers · $0
Paid entry
$20/month, 40,000 included, then $0.60/1,000
Pro from $9/month billed yearly for 500 subscribers
Pricing basis
Unlimited subscribers; pricing follows email volume
Subscriber count, with a send cap of about 10× your tier
Automation
Graph workflows with triggers, branches, goals, exits, and A/B paths
Automations with templates, triggered by signups, tags, fields, or the API
AI and developer access
ChatGPT OAuth, MCP, skills, CLI, SDK, REST API, and visual editor
REST API and webhooks; no MCP, CLI, or AI writer
Transactional email
Included through API, SMTP, SDK, CLI, and agent tools
None on the hosted product; no SMTP or API sending
Publishing surface
Capture pages and custom web domains; not a general website builder
Hosted landing pages and embeddable forms
Choose Lumail if…
- You store a large list but send selectively
- You need transactional email via API or SMTP
- You want agents with write access through MCP, CLI, and SDK
Choose EmailOctopus if…
- You want one of the cheapest simple email tools
- You prefer subscriber pricing that upgrades as your list grows
- You already run Amazon SES and want EmailOctopus Connect
Where EmailOctopus is strong
A real alternative, not a straw man.
EmailOctopus is a UK email-only marketing tool with campaigns, automations, and forms, priced by subscribers with a monthly send cap. People pick EmailOctopus when they need small teams and newsletters that want cheap email marketing with a generous free plan.
- A free plan with 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month
- Email only: campaigns, automations, segments, forms, and landing pages
- REST API, webhooks, WordPress plugin, and 1,000+ integrations
Don't trust the table. Run one journey.
Checklists lie by flattening the work. Build one real path: a trigger, a wait, a branch, a goal, an exit. Then open one subscriber and see what actually happened. That tells you more than any feature row.
- 1. Import a small, consented sample. Not the whole list.
- 2. Recreate one campaign and the audience it actually hits.
- 3. Publish one automation with a goal you can measure.
- 4. Fire a test and read every event on one person.
- 5. Compare the weekly work, not the setup afternoon.
Try it on a real send
Keep the whole list. Pay when you send.
3,000 emails free, no card. Rebuild one campaign, one workflow, and one transactional message before you move anyone. If it feels worse than EmailOctopus, stay.
The questions people actually ask
Is Lumail cheaper than EmailOctopus?
Sometimes. Lumail is $0 for 3,000 emails, then $20 for 40,000. EmailOctopus's number only makes sense after you know what they cap: contacts, seats, a daily send limit, or a feature they hide behind a paid plan. Read the honest take above, then price a normal month and a launch month on both pages.
What is the main difference between Lumail and EmailOctopus?
Choose EmailOctopus for cheap, simple campaigns, forms, and automations priced by list size. Choose Lumail for unlimited subscribers billed by emails sent, workflows and transactional email in one place, and agents that can run the account.
Can I migrate from EmailOctopus to Lumail?
Yes. Don't move the whole list on day one. Export a small consented sample, rebuild one campaign and one automation, authenticate your domain, then watch one subscriber go through the run. If that feels right, move the rest.