7 best Mailchimp alternatives
This page compares seven email marketing tools people use in place of Mailchimp, from paid automation platforms to free plans and a self-hosted open source option. Every price below comes from the vendor's official pricing page, checked on October 12, 2026. All research for this page was done with Firecrawl Alexandria.
Mailchimp alternatives compared
Starting prices as each vendor lists them on its pricing page, checked October 12, 2026.
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Open source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | Small businesses on a budget | Yes (free plan) | $12/month for up to 500 subscribers (Comfort, billed monthly) | No (open source) |
| Brevo | Teams that send email, SMS and transactional messages | Yes (free plan) | $9/month for 5,000 emails/month and 500 contacts (Starter, billed monthly) | No (open source) |
| Kit | Creators and newsletter writers | Yes (free plan) | $33/month billed yearly ($390/year) for 1,000 subscribers (Creator plan) | No (open source) |
| Klaviyo | Ecommerce brands | Yes (free plan) | Not published (paid plans are priced in an on-page calculator) | No (open source) |
| ActiveCampaign | Marketing automation and CRM | No (free plan) | $15/month billed annually for 1,000 contacts (Starter) | No (open source) |
| Constant Contact | Beginners who want phone support | No (free plan) | Starting at $12/month (Lite, price rises with contact count) | No (open source) |
| listmonk | Developers who want to self-host | Yes (free plan) | Free (self-hosted, AGPLv3) | Yes (open source) |
| Mailchimp(for reference) | Email marketing | Yes (free plan) | $13/month for 500 contacts (Essentials plan, after a 14-day trial)Mailchimp pricing | See vendor |
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This page compares 8 vendors' pricing, read from their own pricing pages with Firecrawl. Do the same for your market and see what changed whenever a competitor updates a plan.
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Why people look for Mailchimp alternatives
The free plan is small
Mailchimp's Free plan stops at 250 contacts and 500 sends per month, with a daily cap of 250 sends. Lists that grow past that need a paid plan, which starts at $13/month for 500 contacts on Essentials.
Source: Mailchimp pricing page
Unsubscribed contacts still count toward billing
Mailchimp counts subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts toward the monthly contact limit. Only archived and cleaned contacts are excluded, so accounts have to archive old contacts by hand to stay in a lower tier.
Overage charges and peak-based billing
If an account goes over its contact or send limit, Mailchimp adds paid contact blocks instead of pausing sends. The monthly bill is based on the peak contact total in the billing period, so deleting contacts late in the month does not lower that month's charge.
Support complaints in public reviews
Mailchimp holds a 2.5 out of 5 TrustScore on Trustpilot across more than 1,500 reviews. Recurring complaints cover slow or unhelpful support, login problems, account suspensions and unexpected billing.
The 7 best Mailchimp alternatives in detail
1. MailerLite
Visit siteBest for Small businesses on a budget
MailerLite covers newsletters, automations, landing pages, signup forms and digital product sales. Its Comfort plan costs $12/month for up to 500 subscribers and includes 5,000 monthly emails and 3 user seats.
Strengths
- Low entry price for paid plans
- Sells digital products and bookings from the same account
- 14-day free trial with no credit card
Watch out for
The Free plan is capped at 250 subscribers, the same limit as Mailchimp's.
- Starting price
- $12/month for up to 500 subscribers (Comfort, billed monthly)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Note
- $10.80/month when billed yearly. The Free plan covers up to 250 subscribers. The Power plan ($25/month for 500 subscribers) adds unlimited emails and seats.
- Source
- MailerLite pricing
2. Brevo
Visit siteBest for Teams that send email, SMS and transactional messages
Brevo combines email campaigns, transactional email, SMS and WhatsApp, plus an optional sales CRM. Paid plans are priced mainly by monthly email volume, with the Starter plan at $9/month for 5,000 emails and 500 contacts.
Strengths
- Free plan with no credit card required
- Email, SMS, WhatsApp and transactional messages in one account
- Pricing tied to email volume
Watch out for
The Starter plan keeps the Brevo sticker on emails unless you pay for the branding add-on.
- Starting price
- $9/month for 5,000 emails/month and 500 contacts (Starter, billed monthly)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Note
- $8.08/month when billed yearly. SMS credits are sold separately, and removing Brevo branding is a $10.80/month add-on.
- Source
- Brevo pricing
3. Kit
Visit siteBest for Creators and newsletter writers
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is built for creators who sell digital products, paid newsletters and subscriptions alongside their email list. Its Free plan includes unlimited landing pages, forms and broadcasts for up to 10,000 subscribers.
Strengths
- Free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers
- Paid newsletters and digital product sales built in
- Tagging and segmentation on the Free plan
Watch out for
At 1,000 subscribers, the Creator plan costs more than the entry paid tiers of MailerLite or Brevo.
- Starting price
- $33/month billed yearly ($390/year) for 1,000 subscribers (Creator plan)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Note
- The Free plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers. Paid plans include a 14-day free trial and free migration.
- Source
- Kit pricing
4. Klaviyo
Visit siteBest for Ecommerce brands
Klaviyo is a B2C marketing platform that syncs customer and order data from ecommerce stores such as Shopify, WooCommerce and Wix for email and SMS campaigns. Its Free plan covers up to 250 active profiles, 500 email sends per month and $5 of mobile messages.
Strengths
- Email and SMS from one account
- Ecommerce data sync for segmentation and revenue reporting
- Free plan includes automations and reporting
Watch out for
Paid prices are not listed as fixed rates, so you have to build a plan in the calculator to see a number.
- Starting price
- Not published (paid plans are priced in an on-page calculator)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Note
- The Free plan covers up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends per month. Free accounts get email support for the first 60 days only.
- Source
- Klaviyo pricing
5. ActiveCampaign
Visit siteBest for Marketing automation and CRM
ActiveCampaign pairs email marketing with marketing automation and CRM integrations, with plans priced by contact count. The Starter plan costs $15/month billed annually for 1,000 contacts, and higher tiers add more segmentation, automation and users.
Strengths
- Marketing automation on every plan, including Starter
- CRM and ecommerce integrations on every plan
- Plans for email, WhatsApp, or both
Watch out for
Starter caps each automation at 5 actions and includes one user.
- Starting price
- $15/month billed annually for 1,000 contacts (Starter)
- Free plan
- No
- Note
- Plus starts at $49/month, Pro at $79/month and Enterprise at $145/month at the same contact level.
- Source
- ActiveCampaign pricing
6. Constant Contact
Visit siteBest for Beginners who want phone support
Constant Contact offers email marketing and social media tools, with live phone and chat support on every plan. Pricing is set by plan and contact count, starting with the Lite plan at $12/month.
Strengths
- Live phone and chat support on all plans
- 300+ integrations
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Watch out for
There is no free plan, only a free trial, and Lite limits monthly sends to 10 times your contact count.
- Starting price
- Starting at $12/month (Lite, price rises with contact count)
- Free plan
- No
- Note
- $10.20/month when prepaid for 12 months. Standard starts at $35/month and Premium at $80/month. A free trial is available.
- Source
- Constant Contact pricing
7. listmonk
Visit siteBest for Developers who want to self-host
listmonk is a free, open source newsletter and mailing list manager that runs as a single binary with a Postgres database. It supports multiple SMTP servers, SQL-based segmentation, campaign analytics and a transactional email API.
Strengths
- No per-contact fees
- Handles large lists on modest hardware
- API and webhook support
Watch out for
You have to install, update and secure the server and set up your own sending provider.
- Starting price
- Free (self-hosted, AGPLv3)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Note
- Server hosting and email delivery through an SMTP provider are separate costs.
- Source
- listmonk
How this page is built
Every price on this page comes from the vendor's own pricing page, read with Firecrawl and checked on October 12, 2026. Each figure links to the page it came from.
To run the same research yourself, connect Firecrawl to ChatGPT and ask it to compare any tool's alternatives. It reads live pricing pages and pulls data from Firecrawl Alexandria providers such as AlternativeTo. Developers can make the same calls through the API.
Try these prompts in ChatGPT
“Compare the current starting prices of Mailchimp, MailerLite and Brevo from their official pricing pages.”
“Which Mailchimp alternatives have a free plan, and what are the limits?”
“Find open source or self-hosted alternatives to Mailchimp and list their licenses.”
“Read Mailchimp's pricing page and explain what each plan includes.”
Mailchimp alternatives FAQ
- What is the best free alternative to Mailchimp?
- Kit has the largest free plan in this list, covering up to 10,000 subscribers. Brevo also has a free plan, and listmonk is free open source software if you can host it yourself.
- Which Mailchimp alternative is the cheapest?
- Among the paid plans checked on October 12, 2026, Brevo Starter costs $9/month for 5,000 emails and 500 contacts, and MailerLite Comfort costs $12/month for up to 500 subscribers. Both are cheaper than Mailchimp Essentials at $13/month for 500 contacts.
- Does Mailchimp charge for unsubscribed contacts?
- Yes. Mailchimp counts unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts toward the monthly contact limit. Archived and cleaned contacts do not count, so archiving inactive contacts lowers the billable total.
- Which Mailchimp alternative is best for ecommerce?
- Klaviyo is built for ecommerce and syncs customer and order data from stores such as Shopify, WooCommerce and Wix. It offers email and SMS in one account and has a free plan for up to 250 active profiles.
- Can I move my list from Mailchimp to another tool?
- Yes. You can export your audience from Mailchimp as a CSV file and import it into most email platforms. Kit also offers free migrations on its paid plans.