Best Mailchimp Alternatives for Email Marketing
Compare six Mailchimp alternatives, Brevo, MailerLite, Kit, Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign and Omnisend, by pricing basis, free plans and who each suits.
Mailchimp remains a popular email marketing platform, but it is not the only way to send newsletters, run automations and manage contacts. Teams look elsewhere for different pricing structures, free-plan limits, creator tools or stronger automation. This guide compares six alternatives using published vendor information.
Reasons to consider alternatives
- Free-plan limits: Mailchimp’s Free plan allows 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, and sending pauses if you exceed them.
- Overages: Mailchimp’s paid plans charge extra when contact or send limits are exceeded.
- Pricing model: Mailchimp prices by plan and contact tier. Others price by email volume or subscribers.
- Different focus: creators, ecommerce stores and automation-heavy teams may want a specialized tool.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Pricing basis | Free option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | Volume-based sending, transactional email | Email volume; Starter from $9/mo, Standard from $18/mo | Free: 300 emails/day |
| MailerLite | Budget-conscious small businesses and creators | Subscribers; Comfort from $12/mo, Power from $25/mo | Free: 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo |
| Kit | Creators selling products and newsletters | Subscribers; Creator $33/mo at 1,000 subscribers | Free plan |
| Constant Contact | Small businesses and nonprofits wanting support | Contacts; $12, $35, $80/mo list prices | Free trial, no free plan |
| ActiveCampaign | Automation and CRM-heavy marketing | Contacts; annual billing | 14-day trial, no free plan |
| Omnisend | Ecommerce email and SMS | Contacts; Standard $11.20/mo at 500 contacts | Free: 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo |
The alternatives
1. Brevo
Brevo bills by email volume rather than contacts. Per its help center, Starter begins at $9 a month and Standard at $18, each for 5,000 sends a month, and Professional starts at $499. The free plan allows 300 emails a day and up to 100,000 stored contacts, with a Brevo sticker on emails. Standard adds unlimited automation workflows, A/B testing and landing pages.
- Limitations: the free daily cap, and a large jump to Professional.
2. MailerLite
MailerLite has a free plan with 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Comfort starts at $12 and Power at $25 a month, billed by active subscribers, and unsubscribed contacts are not counted. Past 250 subscribers on Free, campaigns lock until you upgrade.
- Limitations: small free limits; confirm your tier price in the calculator.
3. Kit
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is aimed at creators. It lists Free, Creator at $33 a month for 1,000 subscribers and Pro. Creator adds visual automations, sequences and removal of Kit branding. Free supports landing pages, forms, broadcasts and product sales. The page we checked gave inconsistent free-plan subscriber limits, so confirm the cap.
- Limitations: automations and sequences require a paid plan.
4. Constant Contact
Constant Contact lists Lite, Standard and Premium at $12, $35 and $80 a month, with lower annual rates, billed by contacts. It has no free plan but offers a free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Nonprofits can receive discounts with prepayment.
- Limitations: no free plan; extra sends cost $0.002 each.
5. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign targets automation and CRM-led marketing, with Starter, Plus, Pro and an enterprise tier billed annually by contact band. We could not verify current per-plan prices on the page we checked, so use its calculator. It has a 14-day trial without a card and no free plan.
- Limitations: advanced features sit on higher tiers; prices require checking.
6. Omnisend
Omnisend focuses on ecommerce email and SMS. Free includes 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. Standard is $11.20 a month at 500 contacts and Pro is $41.30 at 2,500 contacts. SMS is sold as credits.
- Limitations: SMS costs extra; plan details on the page were inconsistent in places.
Pricing considerations
Compare at your actual list size and send frequency. Mailchimp bases price on contacts, Brevo on volume, and several others on subscribers. Watch overages and whether unsubscribed contacts count. Mailchimp’s own help page does not map every contact tier to a dollar amount on the page we checked, so use its calculator.
Which alternative fits which user?
- Low-volume starter: MailerLite or Brevo free plans.
- Creator selling digital products: Kit.
- Online store: Omnisend.
- Automation-heavy marketer: ActiveCampaign.
- Nonprofit or small business wanting phone and chat support: Constant Contact.
Migration considerations
- Export contacts and suppression lists, including unsubscribes.
- Rebuild forms and automations rather than expecting an exact import.
- Warm up sending gradually and check your sending domain authentication.
- Keep Mailchimp active until the new setup is tested.
FAQs
Is there a Mailchimp alternative with unlimited free emails?
None of the tools above lists unlimited free sending. Compare each free plan’s contact and send limits.
Will I lose my subscribers if I switch?
Not if you export your list and consents properly. Confirm your new provider’s import and compliance requirements.
Conclusion
Pick the platform whose pricing model matches how you send. Test with a small list on a free plan or trial, then compare real monthly cost at your list size. For more options, browse our Alternatives guides.
