Email marketing with a free plan: what each one really includes (2026)
Free plans ranked by what they actually allow, read from each vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-26.
Short answer: Kit (formerly ConvertKit) publishes the most generous free plan in this category, and 3 of the 4 email platforms we track publish a free plan at all. The rest start at a paid tier, so if you have no budget yet the shortlist is shorter than the market makes it look.
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What each free plan actually includes
| Platform | Free plan ceiling | What you get | First paid tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv | Up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, 3 publications, 1 team seat | Up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, 3 publications, 1 team seat | $49/mo |
| Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited landing pages and forms, unlimited broadcasts, tagging and segmentation, sell digital products | Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited landing pages and forms, unlimited broadcasts, tagging and segmentation, sell digital products | $33/mo |
| MailerLite | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo, 2 user seats, 1 website, 1 landing page, 3 signup forms | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo, 2 user seats, 1 website, 1 landing page, 3 signup forms | $12/mo |
Free-plan ceilings and first paid tiers read from each vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-26.
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.
See Systeme.io pricing →The free plans, ranked by ceiling
| # | Tool | Cost | Best for | Where the number came from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | beehiiv | Free | Newsletter operators who want an ad network and paid subscriptions built in. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| 2 | Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | Free | Creators who want the most generous free tier in email. | first-party |
| 3 | MailerLite | Free | Small lists that want a real free plan and cheap paid tiers. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
All of these are $0. The difference is the ceiling, not the price.
What the free plans leave out
Automation, mostly. Free tiers here cover sending a newsletter to a small list; they do not cover the sequences that turn a subscriber into a customer. That is the feature you are actually buying when you upgrade, and it is why the first paid tier is the real decision.
Platforms with no free plan
How we picked
We read each vendor's own pricing page and recorded whether a $0 tier exists and what it caps. No scores.
Frequently asked questions
Which email marketing platform has the best free plan?
Kit (formerly ConvertKit), on the published ceiling. Read from its own pricing page on 2026-09-26.
Is a free email plan good enough to start a business?
To collect addresses and send a newsletter, yes. To run automated sequences, no -- that is the feature every free tier here holds back.
What happens when I hit the free ceiling?
You get asked to upgrade, and your list keeps working. None of these platforms deletes your subscribers, but sending stops until you pay.
How current are these numbers?
Read from the vendors' own pages on 2026-09-26 and re-checked weekly.