How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Mailchimp is the best-known option with the widest integration library, but its free plan now covers only 250 contacts and paid prices climb fast as your list grows.
- Kit has the most generous free plan in this list at up to 10,000 subscribers, which makes it the cheapest way to validate a newsletter before paying.
- ActiveCampaign has the strongest automation builder, but the Starter plan caps each automation at five actions, so most growing startups need the Plus plan at $49 per month.
- MailerLite and Moosend are the best value paid options for small lists, starting at $12 and $9 per month.
- Constant Contact costs the most as lists grow past 1,000 contacts, so price it at your real list size before committing.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Mailchimp | Widest integrations | $13 per month | Yes |
 Kit | Creators growing a newsletter | $39 per month | Yes |
 ActiveCampaign | Advanced automation | $15 per month (billed annually) | Free trial (14 days) |
 MailerLite | Simple, low-cost campaigns | $12 per month | Yes |
 Constant Contact | Non-technical small teams | $12 per month | Free trial |
 GetResponse | Funnels, webinars, and courses | $19 per month | Yes |
 AWeber | Small business simplicity | $15 per month | Yes |
 Moosend | Low-cost automation | $9 per month | Free trial (30 days) |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
#1Mailchimp
Best for: Widest integrations4.4/5 on
G2 (5,436 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit mailchimp.com
Starting price$13 per month
Free planYes
Mailchimp, owned by Intuit, remains the default first email tool for many startups, and the integration library is the reason. Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Salesforce, and most CRMs connect directly, so a startup rarely needs custom work to sync contacts and purchases. The drag-and-drop builder and template library are deep, and Standard adds automation flows, A/B testing, and send-time optimization.
The catch is price growth. The free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 sends per month, with Mailchimp branding and no automation. Essentials starts at $13 per month for 500 contacts and Standard at $20, but at 5,000 contacts those rise to $75 and $100. Mailchimp bills per stored contact, including unsubscribed ones, so cleaning your list matters. Startups that need its integrations will accept that. Startups that only send newsletters will not.
What we like- More than 300 integrations
- Strong template library
- Send-time optimization on Standard
Watch out for- Free plan covers only 250 contacts
- Price rises steeply with list size
- Unsubscribed contacts count toward billing
Starting price$39 per month
Free planYes
Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is built for creators, coaches, writers, and newsletter operators. The free Newsletter plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited emails, forms, and landing pages, which no other tool here matches. Paid plans add visual automations, integrations, and commerce features, and Kit migrates your list from another tool at no extra cost on paid plans.
The trade-off is the paid price. Creator starts at $39 per month for 1,000 subscribers, or $33 per month billed annually, after a steep increase in September 2025. The free plan allows only one automation, so a welcome sequence plus anything else requires paying. For a startup validating a newsletter audience, Kit's free tier is unmatched. For a store that needs cart recovery and product flows, look at ActiveCampaign or GetResponse instead.
What we like- Free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers
- Unlimited sends on all plans
- Free migration on paid plans
Watch out for- Paid plans jumped in price in 2025
- Free plan allows only one automation
- Creator-focused, not ecommerce-first
Starting price$15 per month (billed annually)
Free planFree trial (14 days)
ActiveCampaign is an automation platform that also sends email, rather than a newsletter tool with automation added on. The visual builder supports branching, goals, split tests, wait steps, and CRM actions, and the Plus and Pro tiers add lead scoring, predictive sending, and attribution. A 14-day trial lets a team test it before paying.
The pricing trap is Starter. At $15 per month billed annually for 1,000 contacts it looks cheap, but each automation is limited to five actions, which a welcome series alone can exceed. Most growing startups need Plus at $49 per month billed annually for unlimited actions. There is no free plan. If your growth depends on behavior-based journeys, ActiveCampaign earns its price. If you send a weekly newsletter, it does not.
What we like- Best-in-class visual automation builder
- Lead scoring and CRM tools
- Strong deliverability
Watch out for- No permanent free plan
- Starter caps automations at five actions
- Price scales fast with contacts
#4MailerLite
Best for: Simple, low-cost campaigns4.6/5 on
G2 (1,114 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit mailerlite.com
Starting price$12 per month
Free planYes
MailerLite is the simplest tool in this list to learn in an afternoon. The editor is clean, templates are modern, and paid plans include automation, landing pages, signup forms, and a website builder. Support is a genuine strength, with 24/7 email support on paid plans and live chat on Power.
Pricing changed in 2026. The free plan now covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails per month. Comfort starts at $12 per month for 500 subscribers with sends capped at 10 times the tier, and Power starts at $25 per month with unlimited sends and unlimited users. Annual billing saves 10 percent. For a startup that wants a calm, affordable tool and does not need deep automation, MailerLite is hard to fault.
What we like- Clean editor and interface
- 24/7 email support on paid plans
- Low prices at small list sizes
Watch out for- Free plan covers only 250 subscribers
- Comfort caps sends at 10 times your tier
- Advanced features sit on Power
Starting price$12 per month
Free planFree trial
Constant Contact has served small businesses for decades, and its pitch is simplicity: templates that are hard to make ugly, a drag-and-drop editor with almost no learning curve, and event registration tools that few rivals match. Social posting, SMS on Premium, and landing pages sit in the same account, which suits a local business or nonprofit running events.
The price curve is the problem. Lite starts at $12 per month for 500 contacts, Standard at $35, and Premium at $80, but at 1,000 contacts Lite roughly doubles, and at 10,000 contacts Standard reaches $160 per month. Annual billing saves up to 15 percent. There is no free plan, only a trial. Nonprofits get discounts of up to 30 percent with annual prepayment. Price it at your real list size, not the headline rate.
What we like- Very easy to use
- Event management built in
- Strong phone and chat support
Watch out for- No permanent free plan
- Prices jump sharply past 1,000 contacts
- Advanced automation needs Premium
#6GetResponse
Best for: Funnels, webinars, and courses4.3/5 on
G2 (1,143 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit getresponse.com
Starting price$19 per month
Free planYes
GetResponse bundles more than email: landing pages, sales funnels, webinars, SMS, web push, and a course builder all live in one account. Paid plans include unlimited monthly sends, which is generous, and the Creator tier at $69 per month adds webinars for up to 100 attendees and premium newsletters. That breadth suits a startup selling courses or running launch funnels.
Watch the automation gate. Starter at $19 per month for 1,000 contacts includes exactly one custom automation workflow, so a welcome series plus a cart recovery flow requires Marketer at $59 per month. The free plan covers 500 contacts and 2,500 sends per month but loses automation after the first 14 days. For funnel-driven startups, GetResponse replaces two or three tools. For simple newsletters, it is more than needed.
What we like- Unlimited sends on paid plans
- Built-in webinars and funnels
- Course builder on Creator
Watch out for- Starter allows only one automation workflow
- Free plan is heavily limited
- Duplicate contacts can count twice
#7AWeber
Best for: Small business simplicity4.2/5 on
G2 (650 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit aweber.com
Starting price$15 per month
Free planYes
AWeber is a long-running small business email tool with a free plan covering 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails per month, plus one landing page and one automation. Paid plans start at $15 per month for Lite and $30 per month for Plus, with an online store, payment plans, web push notifications, and an AI writing assistant. Support is available around the clock by phone, chat, and email, and migration from another platform is free.
AWeber will not match ActiveCampaign on automation depth or Mailchimp on integrations, and its interface shows its age next to MailerLite. What it offers is a gentle learning curve and human support at every step, which matters for a founder doing marketing alone. Startups that want simple, dependable email with a real free tier should keep it on the shortlist.
What we like- Free plan covers 500 subscribers
- 24/7 phone, chat, and email support
- Free migration service
Watch out for- Fewer advanced automation features
- Paid prices rise with list size
- Interface feels older than rivals
#8Moosend
Best for: Low-cost automation4.7/5 on
G2 (745 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit moosend.com
Starting price$9 per month
Free planFree trial (30 days)
Moosend is the cheapest paid option in this list, with Pro starting at $9 per month for 500 subscribers and unlimited emails. The drag-and-drop editor includes ecommerce blocks, countdown timers, and an AI writing assistant, and the visual automation builder ships with ready-made recipes for welcome series, abandoned carts, and loyalty campaigns. Segmentation includes an Audience Discovery feature that builds segments from subscriber behavior.
There is no free plan, only a 30-day trial that does not require a card. Moosend also has fewer native connectors than Mailchimp, so check that your store platform and CRM connect before signing up. At 10,000 contacts, Pro costs $88 per month on monthly billing or $70 per month billed annually. For a startup that wants real automation at the lowest price, Moosend is the value pick.
What we like- Lowest paid entry price here
- Unlimited emails on paid plans
- Visual automation builder with ready-made recipes
Watch out for- No permanent free plan
- Fewer native integrations than Mailchimp
- Support is email and chat, not phone
How we chose
We compared pricing pages, feature lists, and public reviews on G2, Capterra, and Reddit, and opened each vendor homepage to confirm the product still exists and matches its description. We favored tools with a real free plan or trial, automation that works at the entry price, and pricing that a growing startup can predict. Prices are vendor list prices in US dollars at the time of writing, quoted at the smallest list tier unless stated otherwise, since every tool here scales with contacts or sends.
What a growing startup should check before paying
Email pricing is rarely the headline number. These checks keep the bill predictable as your list grows.
Price the list you will have in six months
Most tools here bill by contacts stored, not emails sent. Mailchimp, Kit, ActiveCampaign, MailerLite, Constant Contact, GetResponse, and AWeber all raise the price as the list crosses thresholds. Send-based pricing is the exception, and none of the tools in this list use it. Model your price at 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 contacts before choosing, because the cheapest tool at 500 contacts is often not the cheapest at 5,000.
Count what counts
Mailchimp bills for unsubscribed contacts still stored in the account, and GetResponse can count the same address twice across lists. Archive or delete cold contacts before importing, and set a quarterly list-cleaning habit. A 20 percent dead segment can push you into a higher tier for no benefit.
Test automation at the entry price
Starter tiers often gate the features that matter. ActiveCampaign Starter caps automations at five actions, GetResponse Starter allows one workflow, and Kit's free plan allows one automation. Build your actual welcome series and one sales flow during the trial. If either hits a limit, you need the next tier, and the real price is that tier's price.
Check deliverability basics
Confirm the tool supports custom domain authentication with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and that your sending domain is verified before your first campaign. Warm up a new domain by starting with your most engaged subscribers. A cheap tool that lands in spam costs more than an expensive tool that reaches the inbox.
Frequently asked questions
Which email tool is best for a startup with no budget?
Kit's free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited emails, which is the most generous free tier here. AWeber's free plan covers 500 subscribers, and Mailchimp's covers 250. If you need automation on a free plan, expect limits: Kit allows one automation, AWeber allows one, and Mailchimp's free plan has none.
How much should a startup expect to pay for email marketing?
At 1,000 contacts, entry prices run from $9 per month on Moosend to $39 per month on Kit, with most tools between $12 and $20. At 5,000 contacts, expect $50 to $145 per month depending on the tool and tier. Always price at your real list size, since the headline rate usually describes the smallest tier.
Is Mailchimp still worth it in 2026?
It depends on what you need. Mailchimp's integration library and template depth remain strong, and Standard adds useful automation and optimization. Its free plan is now very small, and prices climb fast with list growth, so startups that only send newsletters usually get better value from MailerLite, Moosend, or Kit.
Do I need ActiveCampaign as a small startup?
Only if behavior-based automation drives your growth. If you need branching journeys, lead scoring, and CRM actions, ActiveCampaign's Plus plan is worth it. If you send a weekly newsletter and a welcome series, MailerLite, Moosend, or GetResponse will cover you for less.
Can I switch email tools later without losing my list?
Yes. All the tools here import contacts by CSV or direct migration, and Kit and AWeber offer free migration help on paid plans. Export your list, tags, and suppression lists before leaving, and keep your old account active until the first campaigns from the new tool have delivered cleanly.
What is the difference between contact-based and send-based pricing?
Contact-based pricing charges for the size of your stored list, no matter how often you email. Send-based pricing charges for the number of emails you send, no matter how large the list is. Contact-based pricing favors frequent senders with small lists, while send-based pricing favors large lists emailed rarely. Every tool in this list uses contact-based pricing, except that some also sell email credits as an alternative.
Sources we checked (12)
- https://mailchimp.com/
- https://kit.com/
- https://www.activecampaign.com/
- https://www.mailerlite.com/
- https://www.constantcontact.com/
- https://www.getresponse.com/
- https://www.aweber.com/
- https://moosend.com/
- https://www.emailtooltester.com/en/reviews/convertkit/pricing/
- https://www.mailercloud.com/blog/mailchimp-review
- https://prospeo.io/s/activecampaign-pricing-reviews-pros-and-cons
- https://creatormailstack.com/guides/mailerlite-for-creators
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.