Best email marketing software (2026 prices)
No star ratings. Every email platform we track, its published entry price, and who the vendor itself says it is for.
Short answer: 7 of the 10 tools in the table publish a free plan, so the cheapest way to start is $0. The cheapest paid plan in the table is Brevo at $9/mo. No free plan: ActiveCampaign at custom quote, Constant Contact at $12/mo, AWeber at $15/mo.
Which one should you pick?
- Pick beehiiv if this describes you: Newsletter operators who want an ad network and paid subscriptions built in. Visit beehiiv
- Pick Kit (formerly ConvertKit) if this describes you: Creators who want the most generous free tier in email. Visit Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
- Pick MailerLite if this describes you: Small lists that want a real free plan and cheap paid tiers. Visit MailerLite
- Pick ActiveCampaign if this describes you: Businesses that want serious automation and a CRM in one place. Visit ActiveCampaign
- Pick Mailchimp if this describes you: Small lists that want the brand-name tool, on a plan ladder that grows with contacts. Visit Mailchimp
- Pick Brevo if this describes you: Businesses that think in sends, not contacts - unlimited contacts on every plan, transactional email included. Visit Brevo
- Pick Constant Contact if this describes you: Shops, nonprofits and local orgs that want email, events and social in one place with real phone support. Visit Constant Contact
- Pick AWeber if this describes you: Freelancers and small lists that want phone support and a US-based team. Visit AWeber
- Pick Klaviyo if this describes you: Online stores that want email, SMS and storefront data in one place and are happy to pay by active profiles. Visit Klaviyo
- Pick Flodesk if this describes you: Senders who want designer templates and a simple subscriber-priced bill - Flodesk Lite is 1 seat with unlimited email sends and no send limit to watch. Visit Flodesk
Some buttons are affiliate links — how this works.
| Tool | Entry price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|
| beehiiv | $59/mo | Yes |
| Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | $39/mo | Yes |
| MailerLite | $12/mo | Yes |
| ActiveCampaign | custom quote | No |
| Mailchimp | $13/mo | Yes |
| Brevo | $9/mo | Yes |
| Constant Contact | $12/mo | No |
| AWeber | $15/mo | No |
| Klaviyo | $20/mo | Yes |
| Flodesk | $25/mo | Yes |
Prices checked 2026-10-23.
Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. How this works. How we check prices.
Every email platforms we track, by entry price
| Platform | Entry paid plan | Free plan | Best for | Not for | Where the number came from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv | $59/mo | Yes | Newsletter operators who want an ad network and paid subscriptions built in. | Plain email marketing — you are paying for newsletter monetization you may never use. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | $39/mo | Yes | Creators who want the most generous free tier in email. | Anyone who needs advanced automation on the free plan — it is one basic automation. | first-party prices and tier ladder |
| MailerLite | $12/mo | Yes | Small lists that want a real free plan and cheap paid tiers. | Big lists — the free plan shrank to 250 subscribers and the ladder climbs fast. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| ActiveCampaign | custom quote | No | Businesses that want serious automation and a CRM in one place. | Anyone who needs the price at a list size other than 1,000 email contacts, or a month-to-month dollar. The page we read prints only the annual starting rate at 1,000 contacts. | first-party prices |
| Mailchimp | $13/mo | Yes | Small lists that want the brand-name tool, on a plan ladder that grows with contacts. | Anyone watching cost as the list grows - every price steps up at each contact tier and the free plan stops at 250 contacts. | first-party prices |
| Brevo | $9/mo | Yes | Businesses that think in sends, not contacts - unlimited contacts on every plan, transactional email included. | Teams wanting a cheap all-you-can-eat seat count - Professional jumps to $499/mo just to get 10 seats and phone support. | first-party prices |
| Constant Contact | $12/mo | No | Shops, nonprofits and local orgs that want email, events and social in one place with real phone support. | Anyone who wants a permanent free plan or a big list at the starting price. A no-card trial is offered, and the price still climbs with the contact count. | first-party prices |
| AWeber | $15/mo | No | Freelancers and small lists that want phone support and a US-based team. | Senders who need a permanent free plan or more than one email list on the entry tier. | first-party prices |
| Klaviyo | $20/mo | Yes | Online stores that want email, SMS and storefront data in one place and are happy to pay by active profiles. | Anyone list-building on a budget - free stops at 250 active profiles and the paid steps get steep fast. | first-party prices and tier ladder |
| Flodesk | $25/mo | Yes | Senders who want designer templates and a simple subscriber-priced bill - Flodesk Lite is 1 seat with unlimited email sends and no send limit to watch. | Teams that want deep automation cheap - Flodesk puts unlimited workflows on Pro ($28/mo at 1,000 subscribers) and e-commerce on Everything ($54/mo at 1,000). | first-party prices and tier ladder |
Entry paid plan, monthly billing, read from each vendor's own pricing page on 2026-08-24. Where a vendor renders its prices with JavaScript, the figure comes from the named third-party tracker in the last column.
The ranking by entry price
| # | Tool | Entry paid plan | Best for | Where the number came from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brevo | $9 | Businesses that think in sends, not contacts - unlimited contacts on every plan, transactional email included. | first-party prices |
| 2 | MailerLite | $12 | Small lists that want a real free plan and cheap paid tiers. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| 3 | Constant Contact | $12 | Shops, nonprofits and local orgs that want email, events and social in one place with real phone support. | first-party prices |
| 4 | Mailchimp | $13 | Small lists that want the brand-name tool, on a plan ladder that grows with contacts. | first-party prices |
| 5 | AWeber | $15 | Freelancers and small lists that want phone support and a US-based team. | first-party prices |
| 6 | Klaviyo | $20 | Online stores that want email, SMS and storefront data in one place and are happy to pay by active profiles. | first-party prices and tier ladder |
| 7 | Flodesk | $25 | Senders who want designer templates and a simple subscriber-priced bill - Flodesk Lite is 1 seat with unlimited email sends and no send limit to watch. | first-party prices and tier ladder |
| 8 | Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | $39 | Creators who want the most generous free tier in email. | first-party prices and tier ladder |
| 9 | beehiiv | $59 | Newsletter operators who want an ad network and paid subscriptions built in. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| 10 | ActiveCampaign | custom quote | Businesses that want serious automation and a CRM in one place. | first-party prices |
Prices checked 2026-10-23.
A platform that publishes no self-serve price is listed last and cannot win a price ranking.
What you are actually buying
Your list size decides your bill, not the plan name. Every platform here prices on subscriber count, send volume or both, and the first paid tier is where a free plan stops being free. The entry price in the table above is the smallest list that vendor will sell you -- check the ladder on each tool's page for the size you are actually at.
Free plans in this category
beehiiv publishes a free plan. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) publishes a free plan. MailerLite publishes a free plan. Mailchimp publishes a free plan. Brevo publishes a free plan. Klaviyo publishes a free plan. Flodesk publishes a free plan.
How we picked
We took every email platform we track, read its published entry paid plan from the vendor's own pricing page, and sorted ascending. Free plans count as $0 and are listed separately. No scores.
Mailchimp, 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: Brevo Starter at $9/mo is below the cheapest paid step among the picks above (MailerLite Comfort at $12/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.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest email marketing software?
The cheapest published entry plan in our 2026-08-24 check is on the table above, read from the vendor's own pricing page. Two platforms here are $0 up to a real list size, so if you only need to send, start there.
Should I pay for email marketing at all?
Only when you need automation or you want the vendor's branding off your emails. For plain sending, the free tiers here cover a real list.
What actually costs me money later?
List size and send volume. Both ladders are on each tool's page, read from the vendor's own pricing.
How current are these prices?
Read from the vendors' own pages on 2026-08-24 and re-checked weekly.