L-Soft
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1986
- HeadquartersBethesda, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
L-Soft firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- L-Soft
- Legal name
- L-Soft international, Inc.
- Website
- https://lsoft.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1986
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
L-Soft industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Email List Management Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)
- akta.pro industry
- Software/SaaS Subscriptions (Consumer & Prosumer)
Keywords
Where L-Soft is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bethesda
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
L-Soft business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Software Licensing: Perpetual and subscription-based software licenses for LISTSERV and LISTSERV Maestro, with different editions for Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Mac OS X. Pricing varies by number of lists, subscribers per list, and operating system platform. Maintenance and support contracts required for updates and technical assistance.
- Cloud Hosting Services (ListPlex): Hosted email list management services including ListPlex (LISTSERV in the cloud) and ListPlex Maestro (LISTSERV Maestro in the cloud), with tiered pricing based on number of lists and delivery volumes. Includes disaster recovery options for dedicated plans.
- Training Services: Remote instructor-led training courses for LISTSERV and LISTSERV Maestro. Pricing at $1,000 per 4-hour course or two 2-hour sessions. Customized training programs tailored to organizational needs.
- Consulting Services: Professional consulting for implementation, migration, integration, and optimization. Remote consulting at $350/hour (minimum 4 hours) or $525/hour after business hours. Installation services at $700/license.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Remote Training - LISTSERV and LISTSERV Maestro Courses |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Remote Consulting Services |
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | LISTSERV Software Licensing |
| Subscription | Monthly | ListPlex Cloud Hosting |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
L-Soft product offering
Product offeringCore offering
L-Soft develops and sells LISTSERV, the original email list management software invented in 1986, enabling organizations to run discussion groups, newsletters, announcement lists, forums, and blogs. The company offers both on-premises licensed software (LISTSERV and LISTSERV Maestro) and cloud-hosted equivalents (ListPlex and ListPlex Maestro), plus professional training and consulting services.
Product overview
L-Soft offers a unified email communication platform consisting of on-premises software (LISTSERV) paired with an email marketing companion (LISTSERV Maestro), alongside fully managed cloud hosting services (ListPlex, ListPlex Maestro, and ListPlex Dedicated). The core platform is LISTSERV, invented in 1986 as the original email list management software. LISTSERV Maestro adds email marketing capabilities including tracking, analytics, segmentation, and automated campaigns. Cloud offerings provide hosted alternatives for organizations preferring not to manage infrastructure on-premises. The product line spans email list management, email marketing, and cloud hosting, with versions available for Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Mac OS X.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- LISTSERV: Email list management software - the original and flagship product invented in 1986, providing email list management, discussion groups, and newsletter capabilities.
- LISTSERV Maestro
- ListPlex
- ListPlex Maestro
- LISTSERV Lite
- LISTSERV Lite Free
- ListPlex Dedicated
- EASE
Products and services
- LISTSERV Flagship email list management software for organizations needing to run discussion groups, newsletters, announcement lists, forums, and blogs at scale. Available for Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Mac OS X with on-premises installation.
- LISTSERV Maestro Email marketing companion platform to LISTSERV providing open, click, and conversion tracking, analytics, targeting and segmentation, A/B-split testing, and automated drip marketing campaigns. Current version 12.0.
- ListPlex
Quantifiable outcome
- 30 million messages delivered per day
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use L-Soft
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
L-Soft technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration8 records
Feature6 records
L-Soft partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- F-SecurecoreStrategic partnership for integrated anti-virus protection bundled with LISTSERV software. The partnership was established in 2001 to protect millions of email list subscribers from computer viruses. L-Soft expanded anti-virus protection to safeguard 130 million LISTSERV subscriptions through this partnership.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
L-Soft competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- SendGrid (Twilio): Cloud email delivery platform for transactional and marketing email at scale, owned by Twilio. SendGrid competes with ListPlex and LISTSERV Maestro for high-volume email delivery and marketing automation workloads.
- Campaign Monitor: Email marketing platform for designers and agencies with templates and analytics. Campaign Monitor competes in the marketing-email space where LISTSERV Maestro operates, especially for newsletter-driven organizations.
- GetResponse: Email marketing platform with autoresponders, landing pages, and webinar tools. GetResponse targets the same newsletter and marketing automation use cases as LISTSERV Maestro.
- HubSpot Marketing Hub: Broad marketing automation platform with email marketing, CRM, and analytics. HubSpot competes for enterprise marketing email and automation budgets that L-Soft serves via LISTSERV Maestro, especially where customers want integrated CRM.
- Constant Contact: Established email marketing platform oriented to small businesses and nonprofits. Constant Contact overlaps with LISTSERV in the nonprofit/association segment and competes for newsletter-distribution budgets.
- ActiveCampaign: Email marketing and automation platform with CRM and sales engagement features. ActiveCampaign is comparable to LISTSERV Maestro on automation, segmentation, and drip-campaign capabilities for SMB and mid-market customers.
- Mailchimp: Largest consumer/SMB email marketing platform with automation, segmentation, and analytics comparable to LISTSERV Maestro. Mailchimp is the dominant broad incumbent competing for the same marketing-email budgets, particularly in mid-market and SMB segments where L-Soft is less focused.
Direct peers
- GNU Mailman: Open-source email list management software (GNU Mailman 3) serving discussion groups and mailing lists. It is the closest functional peer to LISTSERV as both target email-list administration for communities and institutions, and Mailman's open-source positioning makes it the primary alternative for organizations considering LISTSERV.
- Sympa: Open-source mailing list manager widely deployed in European universities and research networks (e.g., RENATER in France). Sympa overlaps with LISTSERV in higher education and research list-management use cases and is a direct substitute in those segments.
Emerging players
- Majordomo: Early mailing list manager with a long history. While Majordomo has a smaller footprint than LISTSERV or GNU Mailman, it serves as a direct alternative for organizations seeking simpler list-management functionality.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
L-Soft social profiles
Digital presenceL-Soft compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
L-Soft financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
L-Soft leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
L-Soft funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
L-Soft M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about L-Soft
What does L-Soft do?
L-Soft develops and sells LISTSERV, the original email list management software invented in 1986, enabling organizations to run discussion groups, newsletters, announcement lists, forums, and blogs. The company offers both on-premises licensed software (LISTSERV and LISTSERV Maestro) and cloud-hosted equivalents (ListPlex and ListPlex Maestro), plus professional training and consulting services.
Is L-Soft a public or private company?
L-Soft is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was L-Soft founded?
L-Soft was founded in 1986. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is L-Soft based?
L-Soft is headquartered in Bethesda, United States, in the North America region.
How does L-Soft make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Software Licensing is the primary driver. The others are cloud Hosting Services (ListPlex), training Services and consulting Services.
Who are L-Soft's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are SendGrid (Twilio), Campaign Monitor, GetResponse, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp. Direct peers are GNU Mailman and Sympa. Majordomo is listed as an emerging player.
Does L-Soft have an API?
Yes. LISTSERV Maestro has an API for external application integration. The API allows external applications to interact directly with LISTSERV Maestro for data synchronization, subscriber management, and job delivery operations. Also mentioned is the ability to retrieve list subscribers from a web services API in LISTSERV.
What industry is L-Soft in?
L-Soft's product category is Email List Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAFAIAB, Software/SaaS Subscriptions (Consumer & Prosumer). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.