Email marketing

Email marketing software compared

Six email platforms, from free newsletters to automation-heavy plans. Each counts contacts, subscribers or sends differently; we show it all.

Prices checked October 14, 2026 By Credence Intel Research

Photo: Mariia Berezovsky / Unsplash

ActiveCampaign

Automation-focused email marketing, priced by contacts

Paid plans from$15/mo

Starter, billed annually

14-day trial, no card

Good fit: Businesses that want deeper automation (unlimited automation actions from Plus) and are willing to pay from $15/month annually for 1,000 contacts.

See all 4 plans and prices

Prices per month in US dollars, excluding tax, read on ActiveCampaign's pricing page on October 14, 2026. "–" means the vendor does not show that billing option. Vendor pricing page
Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Starter per month at 1,000 contacts	$15	$19
Plus per month at 1,000 contacts	$49	$59
Pro per month at 1,000 contacts	$79	$99
Enterprise per month at 1,000 contacts	$145	$179

Brevo

Email marketing priced by emails sent; free plan sends up to 300 a day

Paid plans from$8.08/mo

Starter, billed annually

Free planYearly billing: 10% off

Free plan: Free forever, up to 300 emails a day once the account is approved for sending

Good fit: Senders with large contact lists who email infrequently, since the free plan is capped by daily sends (300/day) rather than a small list size.

See all 4 plans and prices

Prices per month in US dollars, excluding tax, read on Brevo's pricing page on October 14, 2026. "–" means the vendor does not show that billing option. Vendor pricing page
Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Free per month	$0	$0
Starter per month from 5,000 emails/month	$8.08	$9
Standard per month from 5,000 emails/month	$16.17	$18
Enterprise custom	Custom	–

600,000+ customers (vendor)

Kit

Creator email platform, free up to 10,000 subscribers

Paid plans from$33/mo

Creator, billed annually

Free plan14-day trial, no cardSave 17% paying yearly

Free plan: Free up to 10,000 subscribers: unlimited landing pages & forms, unlimited email broadcasts, tagging & segmentation, sell digital products & subscriptions. No visual automations or sequences; Kit branding stays.

Good fit: Creators with large lists (up to 10,000) who mainly send broadcasts and sell digital products, moving to Creator when they need automations.

See all 3 plans and prices

Prices per month in US dollars, excluding tax, read on Kit's pricing page on October 14, 2026. "–" means the vendor does not show that billing option. Vendor pricing page
Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Free per month	$0	$0
Creator per month at 1,000 subscribers	$33	–
Pro per month at 1,000 subscribers	$66	–

Free migrations (vendor)

Mailchimp

Email marketing priced by contacts, with a 250-contact free plan

Paid plans from$13/mo

Essentials, billed monthly

Free plan14-day trial

Free plan: Limit of 250 contacts; max 500 sends/month or 250/day; 1 seat; 1 audience; marketing automation flows 'Not included' in Key Plan Features (detailed table says 'Free preview'); email scheduling not included; Mailchimp branding cannot be removed; pre-built templates 'Limited'; email support for first 30 days; sending pauses if limits exceeded.

Good fit: Very small lists (under 250 contacts) on the Free plan, or businesses wanting automation flows from the Standard plan at $20/month for 500 contacts.

See all 4 plans and prices

Prices per month in US dollars, excluding tax, read on Mailchimp's pricing page on October 14, 2026. "–" means the vendor does not show that billing option. Vendor pricing page
Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Free per month	$0	$0
Essentials per month for the first 12 months (offer price; regular price not shown), starting tier	–	$13
Standard per month, starting tier (base price includes 500 contacts per help centre)	–	$20
Premium per month for the first 12 months (offer price; regular price not shown), starting tier	–	$350

300+ integrations on every plan (vendor)

MailerLite

Email marketing with automations, a website and landing page on the free plan

Paid plans from$10.80/mo

Comfort, billed annually

Free plan14-day trial, no cardSave 10% billed annually

Free plan: Up to 250 active subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, 2 user seats, 3 automations, 1 website and 1 landing page, 1 digital product or booking, 3 signup forms; MailerLite logo stays; no sending via API or MCP; sending locks above 250 subscribers.

Good fit: Small senders who want automations, a website and a landing page on a free plan, then low-cost paid plans from $12/month for 500 subscribers.

See all 4 plans and prices

Prices per month in US dollars, excluding tax, read on MailerLite's pricing page on October 14, 2026. "–" means the vendor does not show that billing option. Vendor pricing page
Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Free per month	$0	$0
Comfort per month at 500 subscribers	$10.80	$12
Power per month at 500 subscribers	$22.50	$25
Enterprise custom, above 200,000 subscribers	Custom	–

More than 100 integrations (vendor)
Nonprofit discount available (vendor)
Data stored in the EU in an ISO 27001 certified data centre (vendor)

Sender

Email and SMS marketing with a free plan of 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails

Paid plans from$9/mo

Standard, billed annually

Free plan14-day trial, no card30% off annual billing for first-time users

Free plan: Free Forever: up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails/month; email automation, newsletters, landing pages, signup forms & popups, transactional emails included; contains Sender branding; no auto-resend to non-openers; no credit card; includes 14-day trial of paid features.

Good fit: Small senders who want the largest free sending allowance (15,000 emails/month to 2,500 subscribers) and accept Sender branding.

See all 4 plans and prices

Prices per month in US dollars, excluding tax, read on Sender's pricing page on October 14, 2026. "–" means the vendor does not show that billing option. Vendor pricing page
Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Free per month	$0	$0
Standard per month at 500 subscribers, 6,000 emails/month	$9	–
Professional per month at 500 subscribers, 12,000 emails/month	$15	–
Enterprise custom	Custom	–

Listed A–Z by default. We do not rank tools we have not tested, and no vendor can pay for position. Starting price is the cheapest paid plan per month, using annual billing where the vendor offers it.

Quick comparison

Prices read on each vendor's pricing page on October 14, 2026. Excludes tax.
Tool	Paid from (per month)	Free plan	Free trial	Link
ActiveCampaign	$15 Starter, annual	No	14 days, no card	Visit
Brevo	$8.08 Starter, annual	Yes	–	Visit
Kit	$33 Creator, annual	Yes	14 days, no card	Visit
Mailchimp	$13 Essentials, monthly	Yes	14 days	Visit
MailerLite	$10.80 Comfort, annual	Yes	14 days, no card	Visit
Sender	$9 Standard, annual	Yes	14 days, no card	Visit

Free plans at a glance

Tool	Free plan limit	Counted by
Kit	Up to 10,000 subscribers	Subscribers
Sender	2,500 subscribers, 15,000 emails a month	Subscribers and emails
MailerLite	250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month	Subscribers and emails
Brevo	Up to 300 emails a day	Daily sends
Mailchimp	250 contacts, 500 sends a month (max 250 a day)	Contacts and sends
ActiveCampaign	No free plan (14-day trial, no card)	–

Read the full free-plan comparison →

Common questions

Which email tool has the largest free plan?

By list size, Kit: free up to 10,000 subscribers, though visual automations and sequences need the paid Creator plan. By sending volume, Sender’s free plan allows 15,000 emails a month to 2,500 subscribers.

Which free plans include automation?

MailerLite’s free plan includes 3 automations and Sender’s includes email automation. Kit’s free plan does not include visual automations, and Mailchimp’s plan table lists marketing automation flows as not included on Free.

Do Mailchimp’s prices go up after the first year?

Mailchimp shows Essentials from $13 and Premium from $350 “for 12 months” next to an offer badge, without the regular price. Standard is shown as “then starts at $20/month”. Check the price at checkout.