Shortlists: what each tool really costs

Every shortlist below is built from prices read on the vendors' own pricing pages, stamped with the date we read them. Last checked 2026-11-10.

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Free preview first. Every shortlist and price on this page stays free. The 12-month cost calculator shows the numbers free; the full breakdown — per-plan limits and the annual vs monthly math — unlocks with your email (also free). We email a pricing note when we publish one. Unsubscribe anytime.

Cheapest email marketing

Entry paid plans, cheapest first

Best email marketing for a small business

At 1,000 names, Kit and beehiiv are $0

Best funnel builder

Entry price, free tiers, and who each one is for

Best AI writing tool

Copy.ai Chat includes 5 seats

Cheapest funnel builder

The floor price, and what it leaves out

Best AI writing tool for a small business

Useful tiers start at $1,000/mo

Cheapest way to start a newsletter

Free to 10,000 subscribers, and after

Best all-in-one CRM for an agency

Pipeline, funnels and client sub-accounts in one bill

Cheapest funnel builder for course creators

Hosting the course and the funnel in one bill

Best CRM for a solo consultant

The cheapest pipeline that still does the job

Best free email marketing for a small list

What each free tier really allows

Cheapest way to sell an online course

The all-in-one price vs buying the parts

Best newsletter platform to make money

Ads, boosts and paid subs, priced

Best CRM for a local marketing agency

What a 5-client shop pays per month

Best email marketing for a course creator

The list and the course in one bill

Best newsletter platform for a paid newsletter

Who takes a cut of your subscription revenue

Best CRM for a two-person agency

Two seats, client accounts, real monthly cost

Cheapest way to run a membership site

Contacts, courses and checkout in one bill

Cheapest email marketing at 10,000 subscribers

Where the free tiers run out

Cheapest way to sell digital products

Page, checkout and delivery for under $20/mo

Best newsletter platform for a free newsletter

Free to 10,000 subscribers, and what it costs after

Cheapest way to resell marketing software

Entry price, free tiers, and who each one is for

Best email marketing for a coach

Free to 10,000 subscribers, and the paid step after

Cheapest newsletter platform for a large list

What 10,000 names really costs

Best CRM for a marketing agency

Client sub-accounts vs per-seat pricing

Cheapest way to sell a course and email

Checkout, hosting and sending in one bill

Cheapest way to sell digital products

Systeme.io $17 vs ClickFunnels $97 vs Kajabi $179

Cheapest CRM for a small sales team

Zoho $14 a seat, HubSpot free, and what GoHighLevel is really for

Cheapest appointment scheduling for a team

Cal.com vs Calendly vs Acuity, free tiers first

Cheapest AI writing tool for one person

Copy.ai $29 vs Jasper $69 vs Writesonic $79

Cheapest project management for a small team

Trello $5 a seat, ClickUp $9, monday $9, Asana $10.99

Cheapest project management for a solo consultant

Three of the four are free at one seat

Cheapest email marketing for a new list

Free tiers from 250 to 10,000 subscribers

Cheapest way to sell a course with email

Systeme.io vs Kajabi vs ClickFunnels vs Kit

Cheapest newsletter platform for a paid newsletter

Who takes a cut when readers pay

What it costs to resell marketing software

Sub-accounts, rebilling and who lets you bill clients

Cheapest way to sell digital products with email

Systeme.io $17 vs Kit Creator $39 vs ClickFunnels $97 vs Kajabi $179

Cheapest way to get clients for an agency

Who can host a client account, and what it costs

Cheapest email marketing for a local service business

A few hundred customers, not a few thousand

Cheapest way to make money from a newsletter

Reader payments, ads, or your own product

Best free CRM

What the free plans really cover

Best CRM for real estate agents

Free starts and per-seat prices

Cheapest AI writing tool

Chat is $29 for 5 seats

Email marketing at 10,000 subscribers

The size where the spread gets expensive

Email marketing at 5,000 subscribers

What every platform costs at 5,000 names

Free email plans, compared

What each free tier really allows

Funnel builders under $50/mo

Entry plans, cheapest first

Best free email marketing

Kit free to 10,000 subs vs Systeme.io, MailerLite, beehiiv

Best free project management tools

Trello, ClickUp, Asana and monday.com, all free to start

Best funnel builder for beginners

Free to $179/mo: Systeme.io, ClickFunnels, GoHighLevel, Kajabi

Best CRM for freelancers

HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Pipedrive and monday.com, priced per seat

Best newsletter platform for beginners

Free ceilings from 250 to 10,000 subscribers

Best CRM with email marketing

One bill for the contact record and the sends

Best email marketing for authors

Free ceilings and the first paid month

Best CRM for coaches

From a free pipeline to an all-in-one

Best all-in-one platform for coaches

Where the list, bookings and selling live

Best project management software for freelancers

Free plans and the first paid seat

Best Mailchimp alternative for small business

Free ceilings and the first paid month

Best scheduling software for coaches

Where payments, intake and packages live

Best marketing automation for small business

From a free funnel suite to a real automation engine

Best HubSpot alternative for small business

Free CRM to agency suites, priced side by side

Best email marketing for bloggers

Free ceilings and the first paid month

Best Kajabi alternative

From $0/mo funnels and courses to agency suites

Best Substack alternative

Free ceilings and who takes a cut when readers pay

Best ClickFunnels alternative

Free funnels to one-bill agency stacks, priced

Best CRM for insurance agents

Free starts and per-seat prices

Best CRM for contractors

Free starts, flat rates and per-seat prices

Best scheduling software for salons

Per-seat vs per-location pricing, payment at booking

Best CRM for gyms

Flat-rate front desk vs per-seat pipelines

Best CRM for agencies

Client sub-accounts vs workspaces, priced

Best project management tool

Entry price per user, cheapest first

Best scheduling app

Free tiers, then the cheapest paid seat

Best project management software with flat-rate pricing

One flat price vs per-seat: the break-even team size

Best email marketing for real estate agents

Pay-per-contact vs pay-per-send on a big agent list

Best email marketing for podcasters

Episode drops and sponsor reads for a show's own list

Best scheduling software for tutors

Recurring lessons and parent-friendly rescheduling

Best project management with time tracking

Hours per task without buying a second time tool

Best CRM for nonprofits

Donor pipelines and grant follow-up on a nonprofit budget

Best scheduling software for personal trainers

Session bookings and packages without a front desk

Best email marketing for gyms

Class schedules, freezes and win-back emails for members

Best CRM for mortgage brokers

Lead-to-lock pipeline when rates and pre-approvals move fast

Best email marketing for insurance agents

Renewal and cross-sell emails without per-contact pricing surprises

Best project management software for real estate teams

Listings, closings and team handoffs in one board

Best CRM for recruiters

Client and candidate pipeline in one board per open role

Best email marketing for hotels

Direct-booking emails that fight the OTA commission

Best project management software for churches

Volunteer-run services, events and admin on a church budget

Best CRM for car dealers

A pipeline built for units, trade-ins and a sales floor of reps

Best email marketing for wedding photographers

Booking-season emails priced for a one-person studio

Best project management software for healthcare teams

Clinic admin workflows and task handoffs between departments

Best CRM for photographers

Turns DMs and contact-form blurbs into booked shoots

Best email marketing for salons

Fills quiet weekdays and brings colour clients back on schedule

Best project management software for law firms

Matters as boards, filing deadlines and closing checklists

CRM for salons

Free to $97/mo flat, four CRMs priced

Scheduling for contractors

Free to $69/mo, four booking tools priced

Best AI writing tool for an agency

Per-seat price when the whole team needs a login

Best funnel builder for a local business

One page, one checkout, the cheapest way

Cheapest CRM for real estate

Pipeline on a per-seat budget

Cheapest email marketing for ecommerce

Sends, automations and the real monthly bill

Best CRM for fitness studios

Free for 3 users to $97/mo flat, four CRMs priced

Best email marketing for lawyers

Free plans to $13/mo, pay-per-contact vs pay-per-send

Best scheduling software for medical spas

$0 per location to $49/mo, four booking tools priced

Best CRM for accountants

Client pipeline for bookkeeping and tax firms

Best project management for nonprofits

Volunteer-friendly boards and timelines

Best scheduling software for dentists

New-patient bookings and hygiene recalls

Best email marketing for musicians

Free lists, tours and releases

Best project management for students

Free boards and group project work

Best scheduling for real estate agents

Showings booked from your link

Best CRM for law firms

Free tiers for solo attorneys and per-user ladders for small firms

Best email marketing for churches

Free plans up to 10,000 subscribers for the congregation newsletter

Best free scheduling app

Free plans from three booking tools, plus the free plan that cannot take bookings

Best free project management software

Four $0 plans up to unlimited members, and the paid step after

Best project management for construction

Free crews and the cheapest first paid seat

Project management for marketing teams

Content calendars, campaign boards and briefs from $9/mo billed annually

Best CRM for architects

Free pipelines for solo principals and per-user ladders for small firms

Email marketing for restaurants

Menu drops, reservation reminders and review asks that a busy kitchen can actually run

Free project management for a nonprofit

$0 plans ranked by how many volunteers they let in before the bill starts

Free project management for client work

Unlimited client projects at $0, and where guest access stops being free

Free project management for property management

Work orders and turnovers with every cleaner and handyman logged in free

Free CRM for a two-person team

Both seats are free on HubSpot and Zoho; the contact cap is what charges you

Free project management for a bookkeeper

$0 plans ranked by how many client folders they hold before you pay

Free project management for a team of five

$0 seats everywhere, so the cap decides: five work streams, ten boards or one project

Email marketing under 300 subscribers

Only Brevo is still free at 300 names. MailerLite, Mailchimp and Klaviyo stop at 250.

Email marketing under 500 subscribers

Brevo and Kit are still free at 500 names. MailerLite, Mailchimp and Klaviyo stop at 250.

Email marketing without unsubscribe limits

Five tools split by billing unit: active subscribers, email volume, or contacts you can no longer mail.

Cheapest project management tool

The floor price per user

Best scheduling app for a team

Round-robin booking, priced per seat

Cheapest email marketing under 1,000 subscribers

The plans that stay free at that size

Best CRM for consultants

Free tiers, entry plans, and where they stop

CRM for a three-person firm

Three seats, one pipeline, and which entry tier really covers all three

Scheduling tool if you bill annually

Which booking tool still books for free when the yearly rate is on

Email platform for a long-form newsletter

Essays over promos: free caps and web versions compared

Email marketing for 500 subscribers

One free plan holds 1,000 subscribers, and the paid blocks for the list size you actually have

CRM for a 2-person sales team

A free tier that seats two, and the per-seat math for the pair priced from the vendor pages

Project tool with unlimited seats

The headcount where a flat company plan beats paying per seat, priced both ways

Email marketing at 2,500 subscribers

The size where the free tiers run out

Email marketing at 1,000 subscribers

What it costs, and when to stay free

CRM for 10 users

Per-seat maths for a ten-person team

Project management for 5 users

What five seats cost per month

Scheduling tool for a team

Round-robin booking without the per-seat surprise

Best CRM for a small business

Entry price per seat, no scores

Best project management software

Free tiers and the first paid step

Best scheduling tool

Per-seat vs per-account billing, compared

Best email marketing software

Every platform we track, entry price first

Best funnel builder for coaches

Systeme.io vs ClickFunnels vs Kajabi

Cheapest funnel builder for agencies

What client workspaces really cost

Best email marketing for creators

Free tiers that survive a growing list

Best project management for agencies

Per-seat cost for a client-facing team

Cheapest CRM for a startup

Free tiers and the first paid seat

Cheapest scheduling app

Free tiers and the cheapest paid seat

149 shortlists, all generated from the same pricing dataset as the rest of the site.

All tools and prices · 12-month cost calculator

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