Mautic Marketing Automation: The Open Source Alternative to HubSpot

Mautic Marketing Automation: The Open Source Alternative to HubSpot

Mautic is the world's leading open source platform for marketing automation. With over 250,000 active installations, Mautic offers a full-fledged alternative to commercial solutions like HubSpot, Marketo, or ActiveCampaign – without monthly license costs.

In this comprehensive guide, you'll learn everything you need to know about Mautic: from core features to hosting options to GDPR-compliant implementation.

Table of Contents

1. What is Mautic?
2. Overview of Key Features
3. Mautic Architecture: Cloud vs Self-hosted
4. Mautic Benefits
5. Mautic Drawbacks
6. Mautic GDPR & Data Protection
7. Typical Use Cases
8. Mautic Integrations
9. When Is Mautic the Right Choice?
10. Conclusion & Next Steps

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What is Mautic?

Mautic (pronounced "Maw-tick") was founded in 2014 and is a complete marketing automation platform under the GPL v3 license. This means: The entire source code is freely available, customizable, and can be used for free.

The History

• 2014: Founded by David Hurley
• 2016: Acquia acquires the commercial branch
• 2019: Mautic Community takes over open source development
• 2021: Mautic 4.0 with modernized architecture
• 2024: Mautic 5.0 with improved performance and new features
• Today: 250,000+ active installations, 1,000+ community contributors

What Sets Mautic Apart

1. True Open Source No freemium model with hidden restrictions. The community version offers the full feature set.

2. Self-Hosting Possible Full control over your data. You decide where your customer data is stored.

3. No Contact Limits Unlike cloud providers, you don't pay per contact. Unlimited contacts, emails, and campaigns.

4. Active Community Regular updates, extensive documentation, and a helpful community.

For a general overview of marketing automation, read our Marketing Automation Guide.

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Overview of Key Features

Campaign Builder

The heart of Mautic. A visual drag-and-drop editor for creating complex marketing automations.

Capabilities:

• Trigger-based workflows (form submission, website visit, email click)
• Time-based actions (wait times, schedules)
• Conditional branching (if/then logic)
• Multi-channel actions (email, SMS, webhook, CRM update)

Example Workflow:

1. Form submitted →
2. Add tag →
3. Wait 2 days →
4. Send email →
5. If opened: Lead Score +10 →
6. If not opened: Move to "Inactive" segment

Email Marketing

Complete email marketing functionality:

• Email Editor: WYSIWYG editor or HTML
• Templates: Pre-built and custom templates
• Personalization: Dynamic content based on contact data
• A/B Testing: Subject lines, content, send times
• Broadcasts: One-time mass emails
• Campaign Emails: Automated sequences

More on this topic: Email Marketing Automation

Landing Pages

Create landing pages directly in Mautic:

• Page Builder: Visual editor with templates
• A/B Testing: Test different variants
• Tracking: Automatic visitor attribution
• Progressive Profiling: Step-by-step data collection

Forms

Powerful form functionality:

• Form Types: Standalone and embedded
• Progressive Profiling: Hide known fields
• Kiosk Mode: For trade shows and events
• Actions: Automatic actions on submission
• Integration: Embed code for any website

Lead Scoring

Automatic contact evaluation:

Scoring Type	Examples
Behavioral	Email opened (+5), link clicked (+10), page visited (+3)
Demographic	Decision-maker position (+20), target industry (+15), company size (+10)
Negative	No activity 30 days (-10), unsubscribe (-50), bounce (-30)

Handoff to Sales:

• Score > 80 → Automatic notification
• Score > 100 → Create CRM opportunity

Tracking

Track website visitors and email engagement:

• Website Tracking: JavaScript snippet for anonymous and known visitors
• Email Tracking: Opens, clicks, bounces
• UTM Parameters: Campaign attribution
• Custom Events: Track your own events

Segmentation

Dynamic and static contact lists:

• Dynamic Segments: Automatic updating based on criteria
• Static Segments: Manually curated lists
• Combinations: Complex filters with AND/OR logic

Example Segment "Purchase-Ready Leads":

• Lead Score > 60 AND
• Pricing page visited in last 7 days AND
• NOT in segment "Existing Customers"

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Mautic Architecture: Cloud vs Self-hosted

Option 1: Mautic Self-Hosted

You install and operate Mautic on your own servers.

Advantages:

• Full data sovereignty
• No ongoing license costs
• Unlimited customizability
• GDPR-compliant on EU servers

Disadvantages:

• Technical effort for setup and maintenance
• Own email infrastructure needed
• No guaranteed support

Requirements:

Component	Minimum	Recommended
PHP	8.0+	8.1+
MySQL/MariaDB	5.7+	8.0+
RAM	2 GB	4-8 GB
Storage	10 GB	50 GB+
Webserver	Apache/Nginx	Nginx

Option 2: Mautic Cloud (Managed Hosting)

Mautic is hosted and maintained by a provider.

Providers:

• Mautic Cloud (mautic.org): Official hosted version
• Acquia Campaign Studio: Enterprise version with support
• Partners like Balane Tech: Managed hosting with EU servers

Advantages:

• No technical effort
• Updates automatic
• Support available
• Quick start

Disadvantages:

• Monthly costs
• Less customizability
• Dependency on provider

Cost Comparison

Option	Setup	Monthly (50k contacts)	Prerequisites
Self-Hosted (DIY)	£0	£40-130 (hosting)	Technical know-how
Self-Hosted (Partner)	£2,600-7,000	£180-450	Partner
Managed Hosting	£0-1,800	£260-700	Nothing

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Mautic Benefits

1. Costs

No license costs. Period.

The 5-year comparison at 50,000 contacts:

• HubSpot Professional: £168,000
• ActiveCampaign: £15,600
• Mautic Self-Hosted: £2,600-13,000 + £10,000-26,000 hosting

2. Data Sovereignty

Your customer data belongs to you:

• Storage location freely selectable
• No third-party access
• Export possible anytime
• No vendor lock-in

3. Scalability

• No contact limits
• No email limits
• No campaign limits
• Performance scales with infrastructure

4. Customizability

• Full source code access
• Plugin system for extensions
• Theme customization
• API for integrations

5. Community

• 250,000+ active users
• 1,000+ contributors
• Regular updates
• Active forum and Slack

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Mautic Drawbacks

1. Learning Curve

Mautic is powerful but complex:

• Many features = many options
• Documentation partially incomplete
• Training recommended

2. Technical Effort

Self-hosting requires:

• Server administration
• Security management
• Backup strategy
• Update process

3. Email Deliverability

With self-hosting, you must handle:

• SPF, DKIM, DMARC
• IP reputation
• Bounce management
• Spam complaints

Solution: Integration with Amazon SES, Mailgun, or other ESPs.

4. Integrations

Fewer native integrations than cloud providers:

• No one-click integrations
• API configuration needed
• Possibly custom development

5. Support

No guaranteed 24/7 support:

• Community forum
• GitHub Issues
• Paid partners

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Mautic GDPR & Data Protection

Mautic can be operated fully GDPR-compliant. Here's what you need to consider:

Storage Location

With self-hosting, you determine:

• Server location (Germany, EU)
• Hosting provider under German legal framework
• No third-country transfer

Technical Measures

Mautic offers:

• Database encryption
• HTTPS for all communication
• Access rights management
• Audit logs

You implement:

• Regular backups
• Server hardening
• Access restrictions
• Monitoring

GDPR Features in Mautic

Requirement	Mautic Feature
Consent	Form with consent field, double opt-in
Right to deletion	Contact delete function, batch delete
Right to access	Contact export (CSV/JSON)
Data portability	API export, database access
Objection	Unsubscribe function, do-not-track

Data Processing

With self-hosting, you need DPAs with:

• Hosting provider
• Email service provider (if external)
• Backup services (if external)

Not needed: DPA with Mautic itself (software, not service provider)

GDPR-Compliant Mautic Checklist

• Server in Germany/EU
• Double opt-in implemented
• Consent field in all forms
• Privacy policy linked
• Unsubscribe link in every email
• DPA with hosting provider
• DPA with email provider (if external)
• Regular deletion of inactive contacts
• Documentation of processing activities

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Typical Use Cases

B2B Lead Generation

Goal: Generate leads, qualify them, and hand off to sales.

Mautic Setup:

1. Landing Pages with whitepaper/webinar offers
2. Forms with progressive profiling
3. Lead Scoring by behavior and company data
4. Nurturing campaigns with 5-7 emails
5. CRM handoff when score > 80

Results from our clients:

• Lead costs -40%
• Sales Qualified Leads +60%
• Sales cycle -25%

E-Commerce

Goal: Reduce cart abandonment, increase repeat purchases.

Mautic Setup:

1. WooCommerce integration for transaction data
2. Cart abandonment campaign (3 emails)
3. Post-purchase sequence (onboarding, review request)
4. Reactivation campaign for inactive customers
5. Birthday/anniversary emails

Results:

• Cart abandonment recovery: 12-18%
• Repeat purchase rate: +35%
• Customer Lifetime Value: +45%

Mid-Market Companies

Goal: Automate marketing without a large team.

Mautic Setup:

1. Newsletter automation with welcome sequence
2. Event marketing for trade shows and webinars
3. Customer onboarding automated
4. Feedback campaigns (NPS, satisfaction)
5. Referral programs

Results:

• Marketing capacity effectively doubled
• Consistent communication
• Measurable ROIs

Agencies

Goal: Offer marketing automation as a service.

Mautic Setup:

1. Multi-tenant installation for multiple clients
2. White-label capability
3. Central management
4. Client dashboards
5. Scalable infrastructure

Benefits for agencies:

• No license costs per client
• Full control
• Custom modifications possible
• Differentiation through expertise

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Mautic Integrations

WordPress

Connect the world's most popular CMS with Mautic:

Plugin: WP-Mautic Functions:

• Automatic tracking script
• Embed forms
• Shortcodes for dynamic content
• Host landing pages

WooCommerce

E-commerce integration for online shops:

Capabilities:

• Purchases as Mautic events
• Cart abandonment tracking
• Product recommendations
• Segmentation by purchase behavior

Implementation: Via plugin or webhook integration

Shopware

German e-commerce platform:

Integration via:

• REST API
• Webhooks
• Zapier/n8n

Salesforce

Enterprise CRM integration:

Plugin: Mautic Salesforce Bundle Synchronization:

• Leads bidirectional
• Contacts and Accounts
• Campaign assignment
• Activity sync

More Integrations

System	Method	Difficulty
Pipedrive	Plugin	Easy
HubSpot CRM	API	Medium
Zapier	Native	Easy
n8n	Native	Medium
Make (Integromat)	Native	Easy
Google Analytics	Tracking Script	Easy
Google Ads	Webhook	Medium
Facebook Ads	Pixel + API	Medium
Slack	Plugin	Easy

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When Is Mautic the Right Choice?

Mautic is ideal when:

1. Data Protection is Priority

• Healthcare, finance, legal consulting
• Companies with high compliance requirements
• EU companies without US data transfer

2. Cost Consciousness Exists

• Startups with limited budget
• Companies with >50,000 contacts
• Long-term planning (5+ years)

3. Individual Requirements Exist

• Complex integration scenarios
• Industry-specific workflows
• Custom extensions planned

4. Technical Know-How is Available

• Own IT team
• Experience with PHP/MySQL
• Or: Partner for implementation

Mautic is NOT ideal when:

1. Immediate Start is Needed You need a solution tomorrow? SaaS is faster.

2. No Technical Resources Exist Without IT or partner, self-hosting becomes difficult.

3. Budget is No Issue If convenience matters more than cost, HubSpot offers more out-of-the-box.

4. Simple Newsletter Tool Suffices For pure newsletter sending, Mautic is oversized.

For a detailed comparison, read: Mautic vs HubSpot

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Conclusion & Next Steps

Mautic is the most powerful open source marketing automation platform on the market. With the right setup, it offers all features of commercial solutions – with full data control and without license costs.

Key Takeaways:

1. Mautic is full-featured. No artificial restrictions, no feature limits.

2. Data sovereignty is real. Your data, your servers, your control.

3. Costs amortize. Initially higher, significantly cheaper long-term.

4. The community supports. Regular updates, active development.

5. Expertise is needed. Self-hosting requires know-how or partner.

Your Path to Mautic

Step 1: Assessment Clarify requirements, define use cases, plan resources.

Step 2: Proof of Concept Set up Mautic in test environment, build first workflows.

Step 3: Production Setup Set up server, migrate data, establish integrations.

Step 4: Go-Live Train team, start campaigns, monitor performance.

Step 5: Optimization Continuously improve, extend, scale.

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Want to use Mautic for your business? Balane Tech offers comprehensive services around Mautic – from consulting through implementation and hosting to ongoing support. Get in touch for a no-obligation conversation.

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FAQ

What does Mautic really cost?

The software is free. You pay for hosting (£40-180/month), possibly email sending (£20-90/month), and optional support. With managed hosting through a partner: £180-450/month all-inclusive.

How hard is the installation?

For experienced server administrators: 2-4 hours. For beginners without experience: Partner recommended. The technical hurdle is real but manageable with guidance.

Can Mautic talk to my CRM?

Yes. Native integrations exist for Salesforce, Pipedrive, SugarCRM. Via APIs or Zapier/n8n, practically all CRMs can be connected.

How many emails can I send?

Unlimited – the limit is your infrastructure. With external ESPs like Amazon SES, you can easily send 100,000+ emails per day.

Is there English-language support?

The community is primarily English-speaking. For additional support, contact partners like Balane Tech.

Can I migrate from HubSpot to Mautic?

Yes. Contacts can be exported/imported via CSV. Email templates must be recreated. Workflows must be rebuilt – but that's often an opportunity for optimization.