Email marketing at 5,000 subscribers: what it costs (2026)
Monthly prices at 5,000 subscribers, read from each vendor's own page on 2026-08-24.
Short answer: At 5,000 subscribers the cheapest paid option we can price is Brevo at $9/mo. The free tiers are all behind you at this size: every free plan in this category caps out below 5,000, so this is the first list size where you are comparing real invoices rather than free plans.
| Tool | Entry price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|
| beehiiv | $59 | Yes |
| Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | $89 | Yes |
| MailerLite | $49 | Yes |
| ActiveCampaign | custom quote | No |
| Mailchimp | $13 | Yes |
| Brevo | $9 | Yes |
| Constant Contact | $12 | No |
| AWeber | $15 | No |
| Klaviyo | $20 | Yes |
| Flodesk | $25 | Yes |
Prices checked 2026-10-23.
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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.
Every email platform we track, priced at 5,000 subscribers
| Platform | Cost at 5,000 subscribers | Free plan | Best for | Where the number came from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv | $59 | Yes | Newsletter operators who want an ad network and paid subscriptions built in. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | $89 | Yes | Creators who want the most generous free tier in email. | first-party prices and tier ladder |
| MailerLite | $49 | Yes | Small lists that want a real free plan and cheap paid tiers. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| ActiveCampaign | custom quote | No | Businesses that want serious automation and a CRM in one place. | first-party prices |
| Mailchimp | $13 | Yes | Small lists that want the brand-name tool, on a plan ladder that grows with contacts. | first-party prices |
| Brevo | $9 | Yes | Businesses that think in sends, not contacts - unlimited contacts on every plan, transactional email included. | first-party prices |
| Constant Contact | $12 | No | Shops, nonprofits and local orgs that want email, events and social in one place with real phone support. | first-party prices |
| AWeber | $15 | No | Freelancers and small lists that want phone support and a US-based team. | first-party prices |
| Klaviyo | $20 | Yes | 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 |
| Flodesk | $25 | 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. | first-party prices and tier ladder |
Monthly billing, read from each vendor's own pricing page on 2026-08-24. Where a vendor renders its list-size ladder with JavaScript, the figure comes from the named third-party tracker in the last column.
Try Systeme.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.
See Systeme.io pricing →The ranking at 5,000 subscribers
| # | Tool | Cost at 5,000 subs | 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 | Constant Contact | $12 | Shops, nonprofits and local orgs that want email, events and social in one place with real phone support. | first-party prices |
| 3 | Mailchimp | $13 | Small lists that want the brand-name tool, on a plan ladder that grows with contacts. | first-party prices |
| 4 | AWeber | $15 | Freelancers and small lists that want phone support and a US-based team. | first-party prices |
| 5 | 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 |
| 6 | 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 |
| 7 | MailerLite | $49 | Small lists that want a real free plan and cheap paid tiers. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| 8 | beehiiv | $59 | Newsletter operators who want an ad network and paid subscriptions built in. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| 9 | Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | $89 | Creators who want the most generous free tier in email. | first-party prices and tier ladder |
| 10 | ActiveCampaign | not published at this size | Businesses that want serious automation and a CRM in one place. | first-party prices |
Prices checked 2026-10-23.
Why 5,000 is the awkward number
It is past every free tier and below the size where vendors start offering volume discounts. You are paying list-price retail, and the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive platform here is $-9 a month for the same 5,000 names. That gap is the whole reason this page exists.
What to check before you switch
Price is the easy part. Before you move a 5,000-name list, check three things on the platform you are moving to: whether the price is per subscriber or per send, whether the automation you rely on exists on the cheaper tier, and whether you can export your list again without paying. All three are on each tool's page on this site.
How we picked
We took every email platform we track, read its published price at 5,000 subscribers, and sorted by that number. No deliverability score, because we have not measured deliverability and we will not invent one.
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 at 5,000 subscribers?
Brevo at $9/mo in our 2026-08-24 check, read from its own pricing page.
Is there a free plan for 5,000 subscribers?
Not in this category. The most generous free tier here caps well below 5,000 subscribers, so at this size you are on a paid plan whichever platform you pick.
Does the price go up again after 5,000?
Yes, on every platform here. Most price in bands, so the next jump is usually at 10,000. The per-tool pages show the next band up.
How current are these prices?
Read from the vendors' own pages on 2026-08-24 and re-checked weekly. Changes are logged on the price changes page.