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Cheapest email marketing under 1,000 subscribers
Under 1,000 subscribers most platforms are still free, so the real question is which free tier lasts longest and what the first paid step costs when you outgrow it. These are the vendor prices we track, re-checked this week.
Prices last re-checked 2026-09-27. Every number below is read from the vendor's own pricing page.
The short answer
Cheapest at 1,000 subscribers: MailerLite
Free to 250 subscribers, then Comfort from $12 per month ($10.80 billed annually). It is the lowest paid entry price of the four.
See MailerLite pricingBest free tier at 1,000 subscribers: Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
Kit's Newsletter plan is free up to 10,000 subscribers, so at 1,000 you pay nothing at all - the trade-off is one basic automation.
See Kit (formerly ConvertKit) pricingCheapest if you need real automation: ActiveCampaign
Starter is $19 per month ($15 billed annually) at 1,000 contacts, but it is one user and five actions per automation.
See ActiveCampaign pricingOne-minute chooser
- Cheapest at 1,000 subscribers → MailerLite
- Best free tier at 1,000 subscribers → Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
- Cheapest if you need real automation → ActiveCampaign
The prices, plan by plan
Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
Kit is free up to 10,000 subscribers on the Newsletter plan. Creator is $33/mo ($390/yr) and Pro is $66/mo ($790/yr) at 1,000 subscribers, and both scale with list size.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free (Newsletter) | $0/mo | Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited landing pages and forms, unlimited broadcasts, tagging and segmentation, sell digital products |
| Creator | $33/mo | Everything in Free plus unlimited visual automations, unlimited sequences, A/B subject lines, SMS, remove Kit branding |
| Pro | $66/mo | Everything in Creator plus Subscriber Signals, engagement analytics, unlimited users, deliverability reporting, newsletter referral system |
What to watch: Free / Creator / Pro and the annual totals were read from kit.com/pricing itself, at 1,000 email subscribers. Kit's paid plans scale with list size, so the price shown is the price at 1,000 subscribers, not a flat rate.
Source: https://kit.com/pricing, read 2026-09-27.
See Kit (formerly ConvertKit) pricingMailerLite
MailerLite is free up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Comfort starts at $12/mo and Power at $25/mo at 250 subscribers, and both rise with list size.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo, 2 user seats, 1 website, 1 landing page, 3 signup forms |
| Comfort | $12/mo, or $10.8/mo billed annually | Starts at 250 subscribers, 3 user seats, 50 automations, 10 websites and landing pages, 5 digital products |
| Power | $25/mo, or $22.5/mo billed annually | Starts at 250 subscribers, unlimited monthly emails, unlimited user seats, unlimited automations and landing pages |
| Enterprise | custom quote | Custom pricing above 200,000 subscribers |
What to watch: The entry prices and free-plan caps are first-party, read from mailerlite.com/pricing. The annual rates and the subscriber-tier ladder are third-party (EmailToolTester, updated 5 Aug 2026) because MailerLite computes those numbers in JavaScript.
Source: https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing, read 2026-09-27.
See MailerLite pricingbeehiiv
beehiiv is free up to 2,500 subscribers. Scale is $49/mo ($43/mo billed annually) and Max is $109/mo ($96/mo annually) at up to 1,000 subscribers, and both climb with your list size.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | $0/mo (no annual discount published) | Up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, 3 publications, 1 team seat |
| Scale | $49/mo, or $43/mo billed annually | Up to 100,000 subscribers, ad network, boosts, 0% take on paid subscriptions, automations, 3 seats |
| Max | $109/mo, or $96/mo billed annually | Everything in Scale plus remove branding, sponsorship storefront, audio newsletters, up to 10 publications, unlimited seats |
| Enterprise | custom quote | Custom pricing, 100K+ subscribers |
What to watch: The annual rates and the monthly Scale rate are first-party, read from beehiiv.com/pricing. The monthly Max rate and the subscriber-tier ladder are third-party (PassiveKit, verified July 2026) because beehiiv renders them with JavaScript.
Source: https://www.beehiiv.com/pricing, read 2026-09-27.
See beehiiv pricingActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign starts at $19/mo Starter, $59/mo Plus, $99/mo Pro and $179/mo Enterprise at 1,000 contacts on monthly billing, or $15 / $49 / $79 / $145 per month billed annually.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $19/mo, or $15/mo billed annually | 1 user, limited segmentation, 5 actions per automation |
| Plus | $59/mo, or $49/mo billed annually | 1 user, standard segmentation, unlimited automation actions, landing pages |
| Pro | $99/mo, or $79/mo billed annually | 3 users, advanced segmentation, predictive and conditional content, attribution |
| Enterprise | $179/mo, or $145/mo billed annually | 5 users, premium segmentation, custom objects, SSO, dedicated account team |
What to watch: ActiveCampaign hides its prices behind a JavaScript widget and a 'request pricing' form, so nothing on this page came off the vendor's own page. Verify in the widget before you buy.
Source: https://www.activecampaign.com/pricing, read 2026-09-26.
See ActiveCampaign pricingQuestions people ask
What is the cheapest option here?
MailerLite - Free to 250 subscribers, then Comfort from $12 per month ($10.80 billed annually). It is the lowest paid entry price of the four.
Are these prices first-party?
Every number on this page is read from the vendor's own pricing page or from the source named under each tool. Where a vendor renders prices in JavaScript, the caveat under that tool says so and names the source we used instead.
How often are these prices re-checked?
The dataset behind this page was last re-checked on 2026-09-27. Prices change without notice, so confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.
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.