Mailchimp alternatives: published plans compared (Oct 2026)
Pricing last verified: — may be outdated; check the vendor page
Small businesses look at alternatives for many reasons. The one we can document from public pages is plan limits and price.
Mailchimp vs its alternatives: published plans
| Tool | Plan | Price | Billing basis | Contacts | Sends | Source / confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | Free | $0 | n/a | 250 contacts | 500 emails/month (max 250/day) | source · Vendor-published |
| Mailchimp | Essentials | $13/mo | monthly, starting price at 0-500 contacts | 500 contacts | 10x contacts (5,000/month) | source · Vendor-published |
| MailerLite | Free | $0 | n/a | 250 subscribers | 2,500 emails/month | source · Vendor-published |
| MailerLite | Comfort | $12/mo | monthly ($10.80/mo billed yearly) | 500 subscribers | 5,000 emails/month | source · Vendor-published |
| Brevo | Free | $0 | n/a | not captured | 300 emails/day | source · Vendor page via search excerpt |
| Brevo | Starter | $9/mo | monthly ($97 yearly) | 500 contacts | 5,000 emails/month | source · Vendor-published |
| Kit | Newsletter (Free) | $0 | n/a | 10000 subscribers | unlimited broadcasts; no automations/sequences | source · Vendor-published |
| Kit | Creator | $39/mo | monthly ($390/yr billed yearly, about $32.50/mo) | 1,000 subscribers | no send cap stated by vendor | source · Vendor-published |
| Sender | Free Forever | $0 | n/a | 2500 subscribers | 15,000 emails/month | source · Vendor-published |
| Sender | Standard | $10/mo | monthly (about $8.25/mo billed yearly); sources conflict, see notes | 1,000 subscribers (entry tier per vendor help center) | 12,000 emails/month (12x) | source · Sources conflict |
| EmailOctopus | Free | $0 | n/a | 2500 subscribers | 10,000 emails/month | source · Vendor-published |
| EmailOctopus | Pro | $10/mo | monthly ($9/mo billed yearly) | 500 subscribers | 10,000 emails/month | source · Vendor-published |
| GetResponse | Free | $0 | n/a | 500 contacts | 2,500 emails/month | source · Vendor-published |
| GetResponse | Email Marketing | $19/mo | monthly (18% off 12-month) | 1000 contacts | unlimited emails | source · Vendor-published |
What the published numbers say
- Mailchimp's free plan lists 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. Kit (10,000 subscribers), Sender and EmailOctopus (2,500 each), GetResponse (500) and MailerLite (250 with 2,500 emails) list larger free allowances in at least one dimension.
- Mailchimp Essentials is $13/mo at 500 contacts; Brevo Starter lists $9/mo at 500 contacts.
- Any plan's value depends on features we did not test; use a free plan or trial to check.
Alternatives in brief
MailerLite
Free plan: 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month and 2 user seats. At 500 subscribers, Comfort is $12/month monthly ($10.80/month billed yearly) with 5,000 emails, and Power is $25/month ($22.50 billed yearly) with unlimited emails (from the plan data on MailerLite's own pricing page). At 1,000 subscribers Comfort is $19 and Power $39 monthly.
Brevo
Free plan is capped by sends per day (300 emails a day) rather than by a small contact count. Starter is listed at $9/mo for 500 contacts and 5,000 emails; Standard at $18/mo. Brevo prices on email volume, which is a different model from contact-based pricing.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
Free plan: up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, but no automations or sequences (Kit help center, Sep 2026). The paid Creator plan is $39/month for up to 1,000 subscribers, or $390 a year (two months free) if billed yearly, with a 14-day trial (Kit help center, read Oct 28, 2026). Kit's own pricing page blocked our fetch, so we did not see its calculator for bigger lists.
Sender
Free Forever plan: 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month. Standard starts at the 1,000-subscriber tier with 12,000 emails a month (12x subscribers, Sender help center). Sender's own pages disagree on the entry price (a $7 "starting at" marketing line, about $10 in structured data), and independent trackers list about $15 at 1,000 subscribers, so check the live slider before relying on any of them.
EmailOctopus
Free plan: 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month. Pro is $10/month ($9/month billed yearly) for up to 500 subscribers with 10,000 emails a month; 501-1,000 subscribers is $13.50 monthly (EmailOctopus pricing page data).
GetResponse
Free plan: 500 contacts and 2,500 sends a month. Email Marketing is listed from $19/month for unlimited messages to 1,000 subscribers, with 18% off for a 12-month commitment.
Before you switch
- Export your contacts and confirm the new vendor accepts your list (permission and consent).
- Rebuild automations by hand; we have not verified any import tools.
- Check your sending-domain authentication (SPF/DKIM) with the new vendor.
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
- Mailchimp: https://mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/ (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- MailerLite: https://www.mailerlite.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)
- 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)
- 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)
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.