Comparison guide ยท Prices checked October 11, 2026
Mailchimp alternatives: free-plan comparison
Mailchimp cut its free plan to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month in February 2026, and removed automation flows from it. If you only need to email a small list for free, four alternatives now offer more room. Their limits are counted in different ways, so the table below puts them side by side.
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Quick answer
- Biggest free list: Kit allows up to 10,000 subscribers free, but its visual automations are on the paid Creator plan.
- Most free sending: Sender gives 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, with email automation included.
- Free plan with automations and a website builder: MailerLite includes 3 automations, a website and a landing page, for 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails.
- Send-limit based: Brevo caps free sending at 300 emails a day rather than by list size.
Free-plan comparison
| Tool | Free plan: contacts | Free plan: sending | Automation on free | Branding on free | Paid plans from | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | 250 | 500 a month, max 250 a day | No marketing automation flows | Mailchimp branding stays | Essentials $13, Standard $20 a month (entry contact tier) | Vendor page |
| Brevo | Not stated on the page we read | 300 emails a day | Automation is listed from the Standard plan | Brevo logo removed on Starter | Starter covers 5,000 emails a month; our earlier listing shows about $9, but the price was not visible on the page we read | Vendor page |
| MailerLite | 250 subscribers | 2,500 emails a month | 3 automations included | MailerLite logo stays | From $12 a month; annual billing saves 10% | Vendor page |
| Kit | Up to 10,000 subscribers | Unlimited broadcasts | Visual automations and sequences need the Creator plan | Kit branding stays | Creator $33 a month at 1,000 subscribers ($390 a year) | Vendor page |
| Sender | 2,500 subscribers | 15,000 emails a month | Email automation included | Sender branding stays | Standard from $6.30 a month with a 30% first-year annual discount | Vendor page |
Source tags: Vendor page means we read the figure on the vendor's pricing page on October 11, 2026. Third-party, verify means it comes from an independent pricing tracker and we could not confirm it on the vendor page; check it before you buy. Prices are in US dollars, exclude tax, and change often.
Mailchimp’s free plan also has one seat, one audience, no scheduling, limited templates, and email support for only the first 30 days.
Notes on each tool
Mailchimp
Still the reference point, but the free tier is now the smallest of the five. Note that the free plan pauses sending when you hit the limit.
Brevo
Pricing is built around emails sent, not contacts, which suits large lists that you email rarely. Marketing automation is shown from the Standard plan, and the Brevo logo comes off at Starter.
MailerLite
Free plan excludes pop-ups, embedded forms, custom domains, and removing the MailerLite logo. Sending through the API is also not allowed on free.
Kit
Built for creators: free includes unlimited landing pages, forms and broadcasts, and lets you sell digital products. The cost arrives with automations and branding removal on the Creator plan.
Sender
Generous limits on free, but Sender branding appears in emails, forms, popups and landing pages. SMS automation and auto-resend to non-openers are not in the free plan.
How to choose
- Newsletter under 250 people: any of the five works; pick on templates and branding.
- List between 250 and 2,500: Sender or Brevo (if your sends are infrequent) is the cheapest to stay on free.
- List above 2,500: only Kit’s free plan goes that far, up to 10,000 subscribers, without automations.
- Automation is the point: compare paid tiers, because free-plan automation is limited or missing on most of these.
How this page was made. It compares published pricing and plan limits. We have not run hands-on tests of these products yet, so nothing here is a performance or usability verdict. See our methodology.
Common questions
What changed on Mailchimp’s free plan?
From 17 February 2026 it allows 250 contacts and 500 sends a month (maximum 250 a day), and automations need a paid plan.
Which Mailchimp alternative has the best free plan?
It depends on the limit that matters to you: Kit for list size (10,000), Sender for monthly sends (15,000), MailerLite for built-in website and landing page.
Will I need to pay as my list grows?
Usually yes. Paid prices rise with contacts or emails, and the entry prices in the table apply to the smallest tier only.
How current is this?
Checked October 11, 2026 on each vendor’s pricing page. Brevo’s paid prices were not visible on the page we could read, so the $9 figure is from our earlier listing; confirm it.