Home / Shortlists / Best Email Marketing for Restaurants (2026)
Best Email Marketing for Restaurants (2026)
We compared the best email marketing for restaurants in 2026 - 4 tools that turn slow Tuesdays into booked tables and keep regulars coming back. Every price below comes from each vendor's official pricing page, checked in October 2026.
Prices last re-checked 2026-10-04. Numbers are read from each vendor's own pricing page; any exception is flagged under "What to watch".
Which one should you pick?
- Pick Mailchimp if you need the best first mailer for a restaurant. Visit Mailchimp
- Pick Constant Contact if you need the best value paid plan. Visit Constant Contact
- Pick Systeme.io if you need the best free all-in-one. Visit Systeme.io
- Pick Flodesk if you need unlimited sends. Visit Flodesk
Some buttons are affiliate links — how this works.
The short answer
Short answer: Best first mailer for a restaurant: Mailchimp is the best first mailer for a restaurant: Free is $0/mo for under 250 contacts with core features, and Essentials at $13/mo starts at 0-500 contacts and adds testing and scheduling tools for promos.
| Tool | Entry price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo (no annual discount published) | Under 250 contacts, core features. Sending pauses if the contact or email-send l |
| Essentials | $13/mo | Starts at 0-500 contacts ('starts at' rate). Testing and scheduling features, 14 |
| Standard | $20/mo | Starts at 0-500 contacts ('starts at' rate), send up to 6,000 emails each month |
| Premium | $350/mo | Unlimited contacts, advanced tools, priority support. Promo on the page: 15% off |
Prices checked 2026-10-04.
Best first mailer for a restaurant: Mailchimp
Mailchimp is the best first mailer for a restaurant: Free is $0/mo for under 250 contacts with core features, and Essentials at $13/mo starts at 0-500 contacts and adds testing and scheduling tools for promos.
See Mailchimp pricingBest value paid plan: Constant Contact
Constant Contact Lite is $12/mo, or $10.20/mo billed annually - 1 user, email and social tools, and sends up to 10x the contact count each month, with SMS as an add-on from $10 a month for 1-500 messages.
See Constant Contact pricingBest free all-in-one: Systeme.io
Systeme.io turns on free funnels and email in one account: Free is $0/mo up to 2,000 contacts with 3 funnels, 1 course and unlimited emails, and Startup at $17/mo adds 5,000 contacts, 10 funnels and 5 courses.
See Systeme.io pricingBest for unlimited sends: Flodesk
Flodesk Lite is $25/mo at 1,000 active subscribers with 1 seat and unlimited email sends - one flat tier for a restaurant that mails its whole list every week.
See Flodesk pricingThe prices, plan by plan
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is free under 250 contacts. The free-plan column prints a max of 500 emails a month or 250 a day. Paid plans start at $13/mo for Essentials, $20/mo for Standard and $350/mo for Premium at the 0-500 contacts tier, and every price climbs as the contact count grows.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo (no annual discount published) | Under 250 contacts, core features. Sending pauses if the contact or email-send limit is exceeded. On 2026-10-14 the comparison table's Free column printed Max of 500/mo or 250/day. |
| Essentials | $13/mo | Starts at 0-500 contacts ('starts at' rate). Testing and scheduling features, 14-day free trial. Price rises with contacts. |
| Standard | $20/mo | Starts at 0-500 contacts ('starts at' rate), send up to 6,000 emails each month at that tier. Automations, personalization, optimization tools. 14-day free trial. |
| Premium | $350/mo | Unlimited contacts, advanced tools, priority support. Promo on the page: 15% off the first 12 months for 10,000+ contacts ($297.50/mo for 12 months). |
What to watch: Mailchimp prices are per contact tier and the page quotes 'starts at' rates: move the contacts slider and every number changes. On 2026-10-14 the comparison table's Free column printed Max of 500/mo or 250/day. The page prints no annual-billing rates - only a 15%-off-for-12-months promo for 10,000+ contacts.
Source: https://mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/, read 2026-10-04.
See Mailchimp pricingConstant Contact
Constant Contact starts at $12/mo on Lite, $35/mo on Standard and $80/mo on Premium billed monthly, or $10.20 / $29.75 / $68 per month billed annually. There is no permanent free plan. Constant Contact's own landing page says the trial is 30 days and no credit card is required. A paid plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | $12/mo, or $10.2/mo billed annually | Starting price. 1 user. Email and social tools, monthly send limit 10x your contacts. SMS is an add-on from $10 a month for 1-500 messages. |
| Standard | $35/mo, or $29.75/mo billed annually | Starting price. 3 users. Automation and personalization, monthly send limit 12x your contacts. SMS is an add-on from $10 a month for 1-500 messages. |
| Premium | $80/mo, or $68/mo billed annually | Starting price. Unlimited users. Advanced automation and segmentation, monthly send limit 24x your contacts, 500 SMS messages included. |
Prices checked 2026-10-04.
What to watch: Starting prices climb with the contact count, and the pricing page does not print a full contact-tier ladder, so prices above the starting tier are not on this page. Extra sends are $0.002 each. The pricing FAQ says a free trial with no credit card and does not print the number of days. Constant Contact's own landing page, read the same morning, says the trial is 30 days and no credit card is required. A paid plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee. The pricing FAQ calls Standard its most popular plan. This page does not treat that as a count of customers.
Source: https://www.constantcontact.com/pricing, read 2026-10-13.
See Constant Contact pricingSysteme.io
Systeme.io is free up to 2,000 contacts, then $17/mo Startup, $47/mo Webinar and $97/mo Unlimited on monthly billing. Annual billing gives you two months free. Every plan includes unlimited email sends, unlimited sub-accounts, and 0% transaction fees. The free plan never expires and does not require a credit card.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo (no annual discount published) | 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 1 course, unlimited emails. Never expires, no credit card. |
| Startup | $17/mo, or $14/mo billed annually | 5,000 contacts, 10 funnels, 5 courses |
| Webinar | $47/mo, or $39/mo billed annually | 10,000 contacts, 50 funnels, 20 courses, evergreen webinars |
| Unlimited | $97/mo, or $80/mo billed annually | Unlimited contacts, funnels, courses, and automation rules |
What to watch: Monthly rates $17, $47, and $97 were read on systeme.io/pricing on 2026-10-13, in the page's own FAQ. That FAQ prints Webinar as 50 funnels and 20 courses, Unlimited as unlimited courses and automation rules, and every plan as unlimited email sends, unlimited sub-accounts, and 0% transaction fees. The free plan never expires and does not require a credit card. The same FAQ lists extra free-plan caps of 1 blog, 1 affiliate program, 1 custom domain, 1 automation rule, 1 email campaign, and 500 students. The pricing page prints Annual billing and 2 months free. The page HTML does not print the annual dollar amounts. Those dollars stay the 2026-10-05 reading from systeme.io's own affiliate page.
Source: https://systeme.io/pricing, read 2026-10-05.
See Systeme.io pricingFlodesk
Flodesk prices by active subscribers, not by seats. On monthly billing, Lite is $25/mo at 1,000 subscribers and $162/mo at Lite's 25,000-subscriber ceiling; Pro is $28/mo at 1,000 and runs to 255,000 subscribers; Everything is $54/mo at 1,000. Annual billing is one month free. A Free plan ($0) covers forms, landing pages and email sending.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo (no annual discount published) | $0/mo. Forms and landing pages, designer templates, audience segmentation, email sending. |
| Lite | $25/mo, or $19/mo billed annually | At 1,000 active subscribers. 1 seat; unlimited email sends; forms and landing pages. The plan card lists 1 workflow as a limited-time bonus. The price climbs with subscribers to $162/mo month-to-month at Lite's 25,000-subscriber ceiling. |
| Pro | $28/mo, or $25/mo billed annually | At 1,000 active subscribers. 2 seats; unlimited workflows; advanced analytics and reporting; show/hide the Flodesk footer. Runs to 255,000 active subscribers. |
| Everything | $54/mo, or $49/mo billed annually | At 1,000 active subscribers. 3 seats; e-commerce: checkouts, sales pages, upsells and bonus offers, subscriptions, discount codes, online payments, payment plans, buy now pay later, sales tax processing. Runs to 255,000 active subscribers. |
What to watch: Flodesk's old flat-rate unlimited plan is gone: as of the 2026-10-21 read, flodesk.com/pricing is a subscriber-count calculator - Lite caps at 25,000 active subscribers, Pro and Everything run to 255,000, and the Lite card's 1 workflow is labelled a limited-time bonus. The prices above are monthly billing; the annual toggle prints lower per-month rates.
Source: https://flodesk.com/pricing, read 2026-10-21.
See Flodesk pricingMailchimp, Brevo and Constant Contact: what they cost
Every email-marketing comparison starts with these three names, so here is what each one actually charges. Every price below was read on the vendor's own pricing page and is re-checked weekly - the link goes to the full plan tables and the fine print:
- Mailchimp is free under 250 contacts. The free-plan column prints a max of 500 emails a month or 250 a day. Paid plans start at $13/mo for Essentials, $20/mo for Standard and $350/mo for Premium at the 0-500 contacts tier, and every price climbs as the contact count grows.
- Brevo is free at 300 emails a day, then Starter is $9/mo, Standard $18/mo and Professional $499/mo billed monthly, with yearly billing taking 10% off. Brevo prices by monthly email volume, not by contact count.
- Constant Contact starts at $12/mo on Lite, $35/mo on Standard and $80/mo on Premium billed monthly, or $10.20 / $29.75 / $68 per month billed annually. There is no permanent free plan. Constant Contact's own landing page says the trial is 30 days and no credit card is required. A paid plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Cheaper first paid month: Mailchimp Essentials at $13/mo, Brevo Starter at $9/mo and Constant Contact Lite at $12/mo are below the cheapest paid step among the picks above (Systeme.io Startup at $17/mo). Those entry prices are for the smallest list or send volume each vendor sells, so price them at your own size before you switch.
Compare these numbers against the picks above at your own list size: the cheapest tool for a 500-contact shop is rarely the cheapest at 10,000 subscribers, and the free tiers stop at very different places.
Questions people ask
What is the best email marketing for a restaurant?
Mailchimp is the best first mailer for most restaurants: Free is $0/mo for under 250 contacts with core features, and Essentials at $13/mo starts at 0-500 contacts and adds testing and scheduling tools for promos.
What is the cheapest option here?
Mailchimp Free is $0/mo for under 250 contacts - the cheapest way to send menu drops and slow-night offers while the list is small.
When does Constant Contact beat Mailchimp for a restaurant?
Constant Contact Lite is $12/mo for 1 user and sends up to 10x the contact count each month, and SMS is an add-on from $10 a month for 1-500 messages - a better fit than Mailchimp for a dining room that texts about same-night tables.
Can a restaurant send email and run pages from one tool?
Systeme.io Free is $0/mo up to 2,000 contacts with 3 funnels, 1 course and unlimited emails - one account can hold the sign-up funnel and the promo emails, and Startup at $17/mo adds 5,000 contacts and 10 funnels.
When is Flodesk worth it for a restaurant?
Flodesk Lite is $25/mo at 1,000 active subscribers with 1 seat and unlimited email sends - worth it when the restaurant mails its whole list every week, though the price climbs with the subscriber count.
Do these prices rise with the mailing list?
Mailchimp Essentials starts at $13/mo for 0-500 contacts and the price rises with contacts, and Constant Contact tiers start at $12/mo with sends capped at 10x the contact count - a bigger list costs more on both.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We do not accept payment for placement, and the price tables are generated from the same dataset we re-check weekly. Full disclosure. How we check prices.