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: MailerLite is the cheapest entry point in this category at $12/mo, and 3 of the 4 platforms here publish a free plan. The spread between the cheapest and the dearest entry plan we can read is $37 a month, for products that all do the same core job -- so the price is the first thing to sort on, not the last. Every platform here publishes a self-serve price.
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Every email platforms we track, by entry price
| Platform | Entry paid plan | Free plan | Best for | Not for | Where the number came from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv | $49/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) | $33/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, second-party 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 | $19/mo | No | Businesses that want serious automation and a CRM in one place. | Anyone on a tight budget — the price climbs steeply with contacts. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
Entry paid plan, monthly billing, read from each vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-27. 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 | MailerLite | $12 | Small lists that want a real free plan and cheap paid tiers. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| 2 | ActiveCampaign | $19 | Businesses that want serious automation and a CRM in one place. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| 3 | Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | $33 | Creators who want the most generous free tier in email. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| 4 | beehiiv | $49 | Newsletter operators who want an ad network and paid subscriptions built in. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
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.
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.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest email marketing software?
The cheapest published entry plan in our 2026-09-27 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 2026-09-27 and re-checked weekly.