Reviewed by the SEOPointz team · Last reviewed June 2026. Pricing for email tools changes often and varies by region and billing term, so we checked each provider’s current public plans before publishing and flag where the numbers move. SEOPointz may earn a commission from some links; it never changes what we recommend.
Almost every “best email marketing software” list ranks the same handful of tools in a slightly different order, which is useless if you’re the one who has to sign the credit-card form. The honest answer is that there is no single best platform — there is the one that fits how big your list is, how often you send, and whether you live inside an online store or a content business. This guide walks through the trade-offs that actually decide it, with current pricing for the tools most small businesses end up comparing.
The two ways platforms charge you — and why it matters
Before comparing logos, understand the billing model, because it quietly dictates your bill in year two. Some tools charge by the number of contacts you store (Mailchimp, MailerLite, Kit, Constant Contact). Others charge by the number of emails you send (Brevo). If you have a large list you email rarely — say a 40,000-person newsletter you write to once a month — a send-based model is dramatically cheaper. If you have a small list you email daily, a contact-based plan with unlimited sends wins. Pick the wrong model and you can pay several times more for identical volume.
What the free plans really give you
Free tiers are where marketing copy is most misleading, so here is the practical version. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) has the most generous headline number: its free Newsletter plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, but it strips out the visual automations that make the tool worth using, so it’s really a trial dressed as a free plan. Brevo stores a very large number of contacts free but caps you at roughly 300 emails a day (about 9,000 a month) — fine for a small store, frustrating for a real campaign. MailerLite is the most usable free plan for most people: up to 1,000 subscribers and around 12,000 emails a month, with automation included. Mailchimp’s free tier still exists but has been steadily narrowed and is best treated as a short test.
Paid pricing at the sizes most businesses actually hit
The free plan rarely lasts. Here is roughly what each tool costs once you’re paying, at the time of writing. Treat these as starting points — every vendor changes prices and runs annual discounts.
| Tool | Billing model | Free plan | Entry paid price | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | Per contact | Up to 1,000 subscribers | From around $10–$15/mo | Small businesses wanting the best value |
| Brevo | Per email sent | ~9,000 emails/mo | From around $9/mo | Large lists emailed infrequently; stores using SMS |
| Mailchimp | Per contact | Limited | From around $13/mo (500 contacts) | Teams wanting the most integrations |
| Kit (ConvertKit) | Per contact | Up to 10,000 (limited features) | Creator from around $39/mo (1,000 contacts) | Creators, newsletters, course sellers |
| Constant Contact | Per contact | None | Lite from around $12/mo (500 contacts) | Event-driven and local businesses |
The pattern worth noticing: Kit is the priciest entry point of this group, and at 1,000 contacts it costs roughly three to four times what MailerLite does. That premium buys creator-focused features — tip jars, paid newsletters, and a clean tagging model — so it’s justified if you sell to an audience, and hard to justify if you just need newsletters. Mailchimp, meanwhile, climbs sharply as your list grows, which is the most common reason people migrate away from it.
Match the tool to your business model, not the feature list
Feature checklists all look identical because every platform now does drag-and-drop builders, automation, and segmentation. The real fork is your business type. Running an online store? Choose a tool with deep ecommerce hooks and abandoned-cart automation — Brevo and Mailchimp are strong here, and many merchants on Shopify lean on a store-native tool instead. Publishing content or selling courses? Kit’s subscriber-tagging and monetization features are built for you. A local service or event business? Constant Contact’s event and survey tools earn their keep. Just want clean newsletters at a fair price? MailerLite is hard to beat.
Deliverability and the cost of switching later
Two things rarely make the comparison tables but cause the most regret. First, deliverability: a cheap tool that lands in spam is the most expensive option there is, so test send rates before you commit your whole list. Second, migration friction: automations, forms, and tags do not transfer cleanly between platforms, so switching after a year of setup costs real hours. That’s an argument for picking a tool you can grow into rather than the absolute cheapest one today. It’s also worth budgeting the true total before you commit — our breakdown of what email marketing actually costs goes deeper on the hidden line items.
Frequently asked questions
Is a free email marketing plan enough to start?
For most new businesses, yes. MailerLite’s and Brevo’s free tiers let you build a list and run real automations before paying anything. The point you outgrow them is usually list size (over ~1,000) or send volume, not features.
Which is cheapest for a large list?
If you email a big list infrequently, a send-based tool like Brevo is usually far cheaper than per-contact tools, because you pay for the few thousand emails you actually send rather than for storing tens of thousands of contacts.
How hard is it to switch platforms later?
Moving contacts is easy; rebuilding automations, forms, and segmentation is not. Expect to redo that setup manually, which is why choosing a tool you can scale into matters more than saving a few dollars now.
Once you’ve picked a platform, the next lever is getting more from each send — see our guides on automating your campaigns and controlling your email marketing budget.
