Best free email marketing plans compared (Oct 2026)
Pricing last verified: — may be outdated; check the vendor page
Free plans are the cheapest way to start, but their limits differ a lot. This page lists what each vendor publishes. We rank by published limits only, not by quality, because we have not tested the tools.
Free plans, largest contact cap first
| Tool | Plan | Price | Billing basis | Contacts | Sends | Source / confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | Newsletter (Free) | $0 | n/a | 10000 subscribers | unlimited broadcasts; no automations/sequences | source · Vendor-published |
| beehiiv | Free (formerly Launch) | $0 | n/a | 2500 subscribers | unlimited sends | source · Vendor-published |
| Sender | Free Forever | $0 | n/a | 2500 subscribers | 15,000 emails/month | source · Vendor-published |
| EmailOctopus | Free | $0 | n/a | 2500 subscribers | 10,000 emails/month | source · Vendor-published |
| GetResponse | Free | $0 | n/a | 500 contacts | 2,500 emails/month | source · Vendor-published |
| AWeber | Free | $0 | n/a | 500 subscribers | 3,000 emails/month | source · Vendor page via search excerpt |
| Mailchimp | Free | $0 | n/a | 250 contacts | 500 emails/month (max 250/day) | source · Vendor-published |
| MailerLite | Free | $0 | n/a | 250 subscribers | 2,500 emails/month | source · Vendor-published |
| Omnisend | Free | $0 | n/a | 250 contacts | 500 emails/month | source · Vendor-published |
| Klaviyo | Free | $0 | n/a | 250 active profiles | 500 email sends/month | source · Vendor-published |
| Brevo | Free | $0 | n/a | not captured | 300 emails/day | source · Vendor page via search excerpt |
No permanent free plan: ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact, Moosend offer free trials instead (14, 30 and 30 days respectively per vendor pages).
What the published numbers say
- Biggest list on a free plan: Kit (up to 10,000 subscribers), then beehiiv, Sender and EmailOctopus (2,500 each). Kit's free plan has no automations or sequences.
- Most sends on a free plan: Sender lists 15,000 emails a month and EmailOctopus 10,000. AWeber lists 3,000, MailerLite and GetResponse 2,500, Mailchimp, Omnisend and Klaviyo 500. beehiiv lists unlimited sends; Kit lists unlimited broadcasts; Brevo caps at 300 emails a day.
- Smallest contact caps: Mailchimp, MailerLite, Omnisend and Klaviyo all list roughly 250 contacts/profiles on free.
- Sending caps interact with list size: a 250-person list on a 500-send plan is two emails a month; on 2,500 sends it is ten.
Questions to ask before choosing
- Do you need automations (welcome series, abandoned-cart)? Check that the free plan includes them: Kit's does not.
- What happens at the cap: you may be blocked from sending or auto-upgraded. Read the vendor's limits page.
- Does the free plan add vendor branding to your emails? We did not capture this for every tool.
Where to look next
Paid entry plans: pricing compared. Try a vendor: Kit (formerly ConvertKit) · Sender · EmailOctopus · GetResponse.
What we could not verify
- Feature depth, ease of use, deliverability and support quality. We did not test these products, so we make no claims about them.
- Prices for larger lists: we captured the entry paid tier and the free plan only. Use each vendor's calculator for your list size.
Sources
- Kit: https://kit.com/pricing (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- Kit: https://help.kit.com/en/articles/4494683-creator-plan-vs-creator-pro-plan (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- beehiiv: https://www.beehiiv.com/pricing (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- Sender: https://www.sender.net/pricing/ (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- Sender: https://www.sender.net/help/account-settings-and-billing/how-sender-pricing-works/ (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- EmailOctopus: https://emailoctopus.com/pricing (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- GetResponse: https://www.getresponse.com/pricing/free (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- GetResponse: https://www.getresponse.com/pricing (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- AWeber: https://www.aweber.com/pricing.htm (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- Mailchimp: https://mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/ (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- MailerLite: https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- Omnisend: https://support.omnisend.com/en/articles/3533018-omnisend-pricing-plans-2026 (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- Klaviyo: https://www.klaviyo.com/pricing (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- Brevo: https://help.brevo.com/hc/en-us/articles/208580669-FAQs-What-are-the-limits-of-the-Free-plan (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- Brevo: https://www.brevo.com/pricing.md (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- ActiveCampaign: https://www.activecampaign.com/pricing (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- Constant Contact: https://www.constantcontact.com/pricing (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- Moosend: https://moosend.com/pricing/ (checked Oct 28, 2026)
Sources marked "third-party" are pricing guides, not vendor pages; the confidence label in each table explains which figures need re-checking. Full data: pricing-data.json.
Questions or corrections: gb1@mail.grokbot.com. Prices change often; always confirm on the vendor's own page before you buy.