Tool profile
Campaign Monitor: cost, fit and limits
Campaign Monitor is an email marketing platform sold under the Marigold name by Campaign Monitor Pty Ltd, offering campaign sending, journeys, signup forms and transactional email to small marketing teams, business owners and agencies on tiered, contact-based plans.
What to know first
Campaign Monitor sells Lite, Essentials and Premier plans by contact tier, plus a custom Enterprise contract. Euro amounts are shown on the pricing page by band, from 0 to 500 contacts up to 50,001 and above, but the numbers were not in the text read, so check the live page. The free offer is a 30-day trial. Several features depend on tier: send caps on Lite, send time optimization only on Premier.
Campaign Monitor at a glance
| Maker | Campaign Monitor Pty Ltd, Not stated on the vendor pages |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Free trial only |
| Entry price | Quote only |
| API access | Yes |
| Category | Best Email Marketing Software in 2026, rank 13 of 14 |
| Website | campaignmonitor.com |
Who Campaign Monitor is best for
Agencies running several client accounts
Premier lists unlimited users and template management for teams, and Enterprise adds multi-brand and multi-team management, which suits an agency sending for more than one client.
Small teams that want journeys without a CRM
Prebuilt journeys, drip campaigns and automated emails start on Lite, so a small team can set up welcome and follow-up sequences before it needs an all-in-one suite.
Senders who value a stated security attestation
The vendor's trust page lists SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR, which gives a procurement reviewer something concrete to check, unlike pages that name no certification.
Campaign Monitor plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial | 30 days at no charge | A trial covering 500 contacts and 500 emails, offered before any paid tier is chosen. It is a time-limited trial, not a lasting free plan. |
| Lite | Euro amount per month by contact tier, not shown in the text read | Sends capped at 2,500 per month, custom coded templates, drip campaigns, unlimited signup forms, AI Writer, automated emails, prebuilt journeys and transactional email. |
| Essentials | Euro amount per month by contact tier; the page labels it best value | Unlimited sends, priority support, inbox preview, unlimited automated emails and AI-powered email features, plus Marketing Studio. |
| Premier | Euro amount per month by contact tier, not shown in the text read | Phone support, send time optimization, advanced engagement segments, section locking, advanced link tracking, team template management, unlimited users and a website builder. |
| Enterprise | Custom annual contract | Dedicated account manager, multi-brand management, deliverability monitoring, quarterly reviews, custom DPAs and invoice or purchase-order billing. |
Checked November 2026.
What Campaign Monitor does
- Journeys and drip campaigns
- Prebuilt journeys and drip sequences are available from Lite, so welcome series and follow-ups do not wait for a higher tier, although the 2,500 monthly send cap limits how far they scale.
- Send time optimization
- Premier adds send time optimization and ready-made engagement segments. Lite and Essentials do not list either one, so timing and segmentation work on those tiers stays manual.
- AI writing help
- The pricing page names an AI Writer on Lite and unlimited AI-powered email features from Essentials, and the homepage mentions an AI Email Booster. No model or data policy for these was found.
- Website builder add-on
- A drag-and-drop website builder costs EUR 9 a month extra on Lite and Essentials and is included in Premier, which suits a team that wants landing pages in the same account.
- Public API
- API version 3.3 covers campaigns, lists, subscribers, journeys, transactional email and webhooks, so subscriber sync and event-driven sends can be wired to other systems in a company's stack.
How Campaign Monitor handles your data
The trust page lists SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR. The Services Privacy Notice says personal data is retained according to the agreement with the customer, with no period given for after account closure. It names the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and Australia as example processing locations and says actual locations depend on the customer's setup. Whether customer data trains any model is not stated on the pages read. The Site Privacy Notice and the transfers section disagree on whether the company is based in Austria or Australia.
Where Campaign Monitor falls short in practice
- Prices hidden behind contact bands. The page shows euro amounts by contact tier but no per-contact rate, and the numbers were absent from the fetched text. Budgeting needs a visit to the live calculator or a sales answer.
- Lite send cap. Lite stops at 2,500 sends a month, and its automated emails count against that volume. A list that mails weekly can outgrow the cap well before the contact band changes.
- Trial instead of free plan. The 30-day trial ends after 500 contacts and 500 emails of use, so a hobby sender with a tiny list has no permanent zero-cost option here.
- Marketing Studio access on Lite. Email Workspace, Creative Lab and Social Suite are on limited trial access for Lite, and full Marketing Studio starts at Essentials, so Lite buyers only sample those tools.
Works with
Alternatives to Campaign Monitor
Campaign Monitor: common questions
Does Campaign Monitor have a free plan?
No lasting free plan was found. The pricing page offers a 30-day free trial covering 500 contacts and 500 emails. After the trial ends, a paid Lite, Essentials or Premier plan is needed, each priced in euros by contact tier.
What is the difference between Lite and Essentials?
Lite caps sends at 2,500 a month and gives only limited trial access to some Marketing Studio tools. Essentials removes the send cap, adds priority support and inbox preview, and includes unlimited AI-powered email features and Marketing Studio. Both tiers are priced in euros by contact band, so the gap depends on list size.
Which Campaign Monitor plan includes send time optimization?
Premier. The pricing page lists send time optimization, advanced engagement segments, advanced link tracking and unlimited users on Premier, while Essentials and Lite do not list them. Premier also includes the website builder at no extra charge. Lite and Essentials buyers who want it must move up a tier.
Is Campaign Monitor SOC 2 certified?
The vendor's trust page lists SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR, and the Enterprise plan also names GDPR and SOC2 security with custom data processing agreements. The audit report itself was not reviewed, so ask the vendor for a copy.
Does Campaign Monitor have an API?
Yes. The vendor documents a public API, version 3.3, covering campaigns, lists, subscribers, journeys, transactional email and webhooks. The pages read did not state rate limits or say which plans are allowed to use the API. Check the API documentation before planning an integration.