Our verdict on OpenEMM

OpenEMM fits an adult publisher with a Linux admin on staff who wants to send from their own mail server, with automated journeys and no third-party relay setting the rules. It is a complete platform backed by a company that still ships releases.

For a single newsletter it is overkill: the stack is enterprise Java, and you are on your own for IP reputation unless you pay AGNITAS.

OpenEMM page on the AGNITAS website presenting free email marketing and automation, with a preview of the interface — OpenEMM

OpenEMM system requirements

OpenEMM 26.05 runs on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 or 9, AlmaLinux 8 or 9, or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15. On top you need MariaDB 10.6.10 or later, Postfix 3.5, OpenJDK 21, Node.js 22, Python 3.11 and Apache Tomcat 11. Ubuntu and Debian are not on the list. A console tool called OST handles install, updates and backups.

The AGNITAS product page still lists an older stack with Java 11 or 17 and Tomcat 10.1. Follow the GitHub README, which matches the current release.

Sending from your own Postfix server

OpenEMM ships a multiqueue mail backend on Postfix, so it needs no outside SMTP relay and no relay's acceptable use policy applies. The trade-off is that warming the IP, setting up SPF and DKIM and watching blocklists is your job. Bounces are processed automatically.

OpenEMM features

Newsletters, multi-stage campaigns, transactional emails and autoresponders.
A drag-and-drop graphical workflow manager.
Target groups built on profile, status and behavior, visually or in SQL-like syntax.
A visual web form builder.
Open and click tracking, personal or anonymous.
User roles, an audit log, REST and SOAP APIs, webhooks, and Make and n8n connectors.

What AGNITAS charges around OpenEMM

The software is free and the help is not. Support starts at €450 for 2.5 hours. Installation and configuration each start at €760, project management at €380, a subscriber import at €700 and template design at €2,800. A dedicated sending server costs €2,100 to set up plus a monthly fee. OpenEMM Plus modules cost €500 to €2,500 each as a one-time license, and moving to the commercial E-Marketing Manager starts at €4,200. Every price is in euros.

Is there an OpenEMM demo?

Yes. AGNITAS gives three days of demo access if you sign up for its newsletter. Mailings are capped at 20 test recipients and imports at 10,000 records, and the data is wiped afterwards. Interactive tours in English and German also show the interface.