For most small businesses, MailerLite is the best email marketing platform: it is easy to use, affordable and has a free plan that includes automations. Creators and newsletter writers should look at Kit, which is free up to 10,000 subscribers. Mailchimp is the familiar all-rounder, Brevo suits large lists, Klaviyo is built for online stores and ActiveCampaign is the automation powerhouse.
Email remains one of the most reliable ways to reach customers you already have, because you own the list rather than renting an audience from a social network. The right platform depends on three things: how big your list is, whether you sell products, and how much automation you need.
Email pricing depends heavily on list size and region, so confirm figures before you commit.
Our picks at a glance
| Product | Best for | Free plan | Paid from (October 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | Small businesses | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails | Comfort from $12 per month |
| Kit | Creators | Up to 10,000 subscribers | Creator $33 per month (1,000 subscribers) |
| Mailchimp | Familiarity | 250 contacts, 500 sends | Tiered by contacts; see Mailchimp |
| Brevo | Large lists | Yes, with daily send limit | Tiered by volume; see Brevo |
| Klaviyo | Online stores | 250 profiles, 500 emails | Quoted by usage |
| ActiveCampaign | Automation | 14-day trial | Tiered by contacts |
MailerLite: Best for small businesses
MailerLite is the platform reviewers most often recommend to people starting out. The editor is clean, the learning curve is gentle and the pricing is modest. The Free plan allows up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails, with two user seats, three active forms, one website and one landing page, and automations included.
Comfort starts from $12 per month and adds unlimited templates, unlimited integrations, full API access and removal of the MailerLite logo. Power, from $25 per month, adds unlimited automations, forms, sites and user seats. Annual billing saves 10% and nonprofits get 30% off paid plans. Segmentation is less advanced than on ActiveCampaign, but most small senders will not notice.
MailerLite
Easy, affordable email marketing tool with a free plan and clean editor.
Free up to 250 subscribers; Comfort from $12 and Power from $25 per month (October 2026)
Kit: Best for creators
Kit is built for writers, course creators and podcasters. The Free plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers, with unlimited landing pages, forms and broadcasts, tagging and segmentation, and the ability to sell digital products and subscriptions. Creator is $33 per month, or $390 billed yearly, for 1,000 subscribers, and adds unlimited visual automations and sequences, SMS marketing, integrations, and removal of Kit branding. Pro is listed at a promotional $50 per month for 1,000 subscribers.
Costs rise with the size of your audience, so check the price at your list size, and its templates are basic by design. For creators who care about content rather than layout, that is a feature.
Kit
Email platform built for creators, with free plan up to 10,000 subscribers.
Free up to 10,000 subscribers; Creator $33 per month and Pro $50 per month for 1,000 subscribers (October 2026)
Mailchimp: Best known
Mailchimp is the household name, and it remains a capable platform with broad integrations and good templates. Its Free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 sends per month with one user and one audience. Paid Essentials, Standard and Premium plans scale with your contacts, with sends allowed at 10 times, 12 times and 15 times contacts respectively. Premium includes unlimited contacts, SSO and phone support.
The price climbs as your list grows, and overage charges apply on paid plans, so it often costs more than MailerLite or Kit at the same size. If you value its integrations and familiarity, that may be acceptable. Compare regular prices as well as any introductory offers.
Mailchimp
Long-running email marketing platform with a limited free plan and wide integrations.
Free plan for 250 contacts and 500 sends per month; paid Essentials, Standard and Premium tiers scale with contacts (October 2026)
Brevo: Best for large lists
Brevo combines email, SMS and a CRM. Its pricing leans on emails sent rather than list size, which can suit businesses with large lists who email occasionally. The free plan has a daily sending limit, and paid tiers are called Starter, Standard and Professional, with figures that vary by source and region, so see Brevo’s own page for current prices.
The interface can feel busy, and the free plan adds Brevo branding. It is good value if your sending pattern matches its pricing model.
Brevo
Email, SMS and CRM platform that prices by send volume rather than contacts.
Free plan plus Starter, Standard and Professional tiers (October 2026)
Klaviyo: Best for online stores
Klaviyo connects deeply to ecommerce platforms and uses purchase data to segment and automate messages, such as abandoned-cart and win-back flows. The free plan includes up to 250 active profiles, 500 email sends per month, $5 of mobile messages per month and built-in reporting. Paid pricing is built around your usage through a plan builder.
It is overkill if you do not sell products, and costs can scale quickly with list size, but for shops it tends to repay the cost through better targeting.
Klaviyo
Email and SMS marketing platform built for ecommerce stores.
Free plan for 250 profiles and 500 email sends per month; paid plans quoted by usage (October 2026)
ActiveCampaign: Best for automation
ActiveCampaign is the most powerful tool here for multi-step automation, conditional content and CRM. Its plans are Starter, Plus, Pro and Enterprise, with Starter including 10,000 sends per month at the 1,000-contact tier, and higher tiers adding landing pages, predictive sending, attribution and, at Enterprise, SSO and HIPAA support. There is a 14-day free trial with no credit card. Check ActiveCampaign’s pricing page for current prices at your contact tier, and budget for growth.
It rewards teams who will actually build sophisticated workflows, and is unnecessary for a simple monthly newsletter.
ActiveCampaign
Marketing automation platform with CRM, strong segmentation and multi-step workflows.
Starter, Plus, Pro and Enterprise plans billed by contact tier; 14-day free trial (October 2026)
Tip
Whichever platform you choose, authenticate your sending domain (SPF, DKIM and DMARC) and keep your list clean. Good deliverability matters more than any feature.
Free plans compared
Free plans are the quickest way to find out whether a tool suits you, but the limits differ sharply.
| Platform | Free plan limit | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Kit | Up to 10,000 subscribers | Visual automations and sequences need the paid Creator plan |
| MailerLite | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails per month | Logo is removed on paid plans |
| Mailchimp | 250 contacts, 500 sends per month | Paid tiers scale with contacts |
| Klaviyo | 250 active profiles, 500 email sends per month | Paid pricing follows usage |
| Brevo | Daily sending limit | Free-plan emails carry Brevo branding |
| ActiveCampaign | None; 14-day trial, no card | Plans are priced by contact tier |
How list size changes the best choice
- Under a few hundred subscribers. Almost any free plan works. Pick the one whose editor you enjoy, because you will be using it every week.
- A growing newsletter. Check the price at the list size you expect in a year. Kit is generous at first, then charges by subscriber count, while MailerLite stays modest across tiers.
- A large list that you email rarely. Brevo bills mainly on sends, so it can undercut contact-based pricing.
- A shop with product data. Klaviyo earns its cost when abandoned-cart and win-back flows drive revenue.
- A sales-led business. ActiveCampaign fits teams that want email, automation and a CRM in one place.
Getting deliverability right
Reaching the inbox matters as much as design. Large mailbox providers expect senders of bulk email to authenticate their domain, offer easy unsubscribing and keep complaint rates low.
- Authenticate your domain. Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC records. Every platform here walks you through them.
- Send from your own domain. A business address on your domain looks more trustworthy than a free webmail address.
- Collect consent properly. Use a clear sign-up form, and avoid buying lists. Laws such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM set rules for consent and unsubscribing.
- Make unsubscribing easy. A visible unsubscribe link protects your reputation better than hiding it.
- Prune inactive subscribers. Removing people who never open helps engagement, and it can lower your bill on contact-based plans.
- Warm up gradually. If you are moving a large list, start with your most engaged subscribers rather than sending to everyone at once.
Common mistakes
- Picking on the free plan alone. Compare the price at your future list size, since that is what you will pay for years.
- Over-building automation. A welcome email and a simple follow-up usually deliver most of the value. Add complexity when you have data showing where it helps.
- Ignoring branding rules. Some free plans add the vendor’s logo or branding to your emails. Check whether this suits the image you want.
- Forgetting mobile. Most email is read on phones. Preview every campaign on a small screen.
- Not testing subject lines. Small changes to a subject line can shift open rates, so use the platform’s A/B tools when available.
- Locking in too early. Export your subscribers and tags regularly so that switching platforms later stays practical.
Switching platforms
Moving is manageable. Export your subscribers with their tags or groups, plus unsubscribes and suppressed addresses, and import them into the new tool. Rebuild automations by hand, since few platforms transfer them, and send a small test campaign before cutting over. Keep the old account until your first few campaigns have gone out cleanly.
What to look for
- List size and pricing model. Some tools charge by contacts, others by sends. Estimate your list a year from now, not today.
- Free plan limits. Check subscriber and send caps, branding and which features are locked.
- Automation. Welcome series and abandoned-cart flows pay for themselves. Check how many automations each plan allows.
- Ecommerce integration. If you sell products, deep store integration beats generic features.
- Deliverability and compliance. Look for tools that support consent management and make unsubscribing easy, as required by laws such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM.
- Support. Free plans often have limited support, so factor that in.
How we chose
We looked at established platforms with clear plans and strong reviews. We compared official plans, features and pricing as of October 2026, alongside the consensus of established independent reviews, and weighed ease of use, value, automation depth, free-plan generosity and suitability for different audiences. Nothing here is legal advice on email regulations.
