Best Mailchimp Alternatives in 2026: 6 Cheaper Email Tools Compared

The best Mailchimp alternatives in 2026 can give you a bigger free plan, more emails for the money or stronger automation — depending on what you send and how big your list is. Mailchimp is still a well-known email marketing platform, but its free plan now covers fewer than 250 contacts and its paid plans rise quickly as your list grows.

This research-based guide compares six Mailchimp alternatives — MailerLite, Brevo, Kit, Sender, Moosend and ActiveCampaign — on free plans, starting prices in US dollars and who each one suits. Every price and limit below was read on the official pricing page in October 2026. We have not run campaigns on all six tools, so treat this as a comparison of what each provider offers, not a hands-on test.

The Best Mailchimp Alternatives at a Glance

Prices below are in US dollars as listed on each provider’s pricing page in October 2026. List sizes differ between providers, so the note in brackets tells you what each starting price covers.

Why People Look for Mailchimp Alternatives

Most people searching for Mailchimp alternatives want one of three things: a free plan that lasts longer, a lower price as the list grows, or more automation per dollar. Mailchimp’s own pricing page explains why.

For up to 500 contacts, Mailchimp lists Essentials from $13/month and Standard from $20/month after a 14-day free trial, with Standard capped at 6,000 emails a month. The free plan is for accounts under 250 contacts, and Mailchimp notes that sending is paused if you exceed the contact or send limit on the free plan, while paid plans can incur overage charges.

None of that makes Mailchimp a bad choice. Its templates, integrations and reporting are mature. But if your list is growing past a few hundred contacts, or you mainly send a weekly newsletter, the alternatives below can cost less or include more.

Mailchimp Alternatives: Price Comparison

The chart below puts each tool’s cheapest paid plan side by side. Because providers price by different things — contacts, subscribers or emails sent — we’ve noted what each price covers.

Three tools — Moosend, Brevo and Sender — start below Mailchimp Essentials ($13/month). Kit and ActiveCampaign cost more at the entry level, but their prices are quoted for 1,000 contacts and they focus on creators and automation respectively.

1. MailerLite — Best Mailchimp Alternative for Small Businesses

Best for: small businesses, bloggers and freelancers who want a clean editor, automations and landing pages at a low price.

MailerLite is the closest like-for-like swap for Mailchimp. It covers email campaigns, automations, signup forms, landing pages and websites, and its pricing page says every paid plan gets the full feature set — you only pay more for a bigger list or more sending.

2. Brevo — Best for Email, SMS and Transactional Messages

Best for: online shops and businesses that send marketing emails, order emails and SMS from one platform.

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) prices its plans mainly by the number of emails you send each month rather than by contacts. That suits businesses with a big contact list who email it only occasionally. Its plans cover email, SMS (credits sold separately), transactional messages via SMTP and API, and higher tiers add WhatsApp, web push and more.

3. Kit — Best Mailchimp Alternative for Creators

Best for: newsletter writers, bloggers, YouTubers, podcasters and course creators.

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is built around creators rather than shops. Its free plan is unusually generous on list size, and it includes landing pages, forms, broadcasts, tagging and the ability to sell digital products and subscriptions. Paid plans add visual automations, email sequences and A/B testing.

4. Sender — Best Free Plan for Bigger Lists

Best for: small businesses and nonprofits with a list of a few thousand people and a very small budget.

Sender’s free plan is the most generous on sending volume in this comparison. It includes email newsletters, automation, landing pages, signup forms and transactional emails, with Sender branding on emails. Paid plans remove the branding and add SMS, more seats and A/B testing.

5. Moosend — Best for Unlimited Sending

Best for: businesses that email their list often and want a predictable price.

Moosend, now part of Constant Contact, keeps things simple: its Pro plan includes unlimited email campaigns and sends, marketing automation, landing pages, subscription forms and an SMTP server. There is no permanent free plan, but there is a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.

6. ActiveCampaign — Best for Advanced Automation

Best for: growing businesses that want detailed automation, segmentation and CRM-style workflows.

ActiveCampaign is the most automation-focused tool here. Even its Starter plan includes multi-step marketing automation and AI-powered automation and campaign builders. Higher plans add cross-channel marketing, predictive sending and more user seats.

Free Mailchimp Alternatives Compared

If cost is the main reason you are leaving, the free plan is where Mailchimp alternatives differ the most. Mailchimp’s free plan is for accounts under 250 contacts. Four of the six alternatives offer a free plan, and two of them allow far bigger lists.

• Biggest free list: Kit, free up to 10,000 subscribers.
• Most free emails: Sender, 15,000 emails a month for up to 2,500 subscribers.
• Free plan with a daily cap: Brevo, 300 emails a day.
• No free plan: ActiveCampaign and Moosend, which offer free trials instead.

Watch the price after the first year

Several providers show a first-year discount on their pricing page. That is fine, as long as you budget for the regular price. Sender’s first-year discount drops away in year two, and Kit’s Pro offer applies only to the first year.

How to Choose the Right Mailchimp Alternative

Choosing between Mailchimp alternatives depends on what you send, how often you send it and how big your list will be in a year. Use these questions to narrow it down.

How big is your list?

Under 250 contacts, Mailchimp’s free plan or MailerLite’s free plan both work. Between 250 and 2,500, Sender’s free plan stands out. If you are a creator expecting thousands of subscribers, Kit’s free plan goes up to 10,000.

How often do you send?

If you send several emails a week, check monthly email limits as well as contact limits. Moosend Pro and MailerLite Power include unlimited emails; Brevo prices by the number of emails, which helps if you send rarely.

How much automation do you need?

Welcome series and simple follow-ups are available on most tools. For multi-step journeys based on behaviour, tags and scoring, ActiveCampaign is built for it, while Kit focuses on creator sequences and MailerLite covers the essentials well.

Do you need SMS or transactional email?

Brevo is the strongest fit if you want marketing email, order confirmations and SMS in one place. Sender also lists transactional emails and SMS, with SMS on paid plans.

How to Switch From Mailchimp Without Losing Subscribers

Moving to a Mailchimp alternative is mostly about your contacts and your sending reputation. A careful switch looks like this:

1. Export your audience from Mailchimp, including tags and the unsubscribed and cleaned lists, so you don’t email people who opted out.
2. Check consent. Only import people who agreed to hear from you.
3. Authenticate your sending domain in the new tool (usually SPF, DKIM and DMARC records) before your first campaign.
4. Rebuild signup forms and automations, then update the forms on your website.
5. Start with your most engaged subscribers and send normally, rather than blasting the whole list on day one.
6. Cancel Mailchimp only after your forms and automations are working in the new platform.

Several providers on this list, including Kit and Sender, advertise free migration help or migration guides on their sites, so check before you start.

How We Researched These Mailchimp Alternatives

This comparison is research-based. We did not send campaigns from every tool. We read each provider’s official pricing page in October 2026, recorded US dollar prices, plan limits and included features, and compared them against Mailchimp’s own pricing page for the same period. Our charts use only those published figures. Prices change often and can vary by country, so always confirm on the provider’s site. Read more about how we review.

Final Verdict: The Best Mailchimp Alternatives in 2026

For most small businesses, MailerLite is the best all-round Mailchimp alternative: familiar features, full functionality on paid plans and a low starting price. Sender wins on free-plan value, Kit is the creator’s choice, Brevo suits businesses that need email, SMS and transactional messages together, Moosend is simplest for frequent senders, and ActiveCampaign is the pick when automation matters more than price.

Whichever you choose, compare the regular price after any first-year discount and check the email limits, not just the contact limits. If you are building a site to grow your list, our best website builders guide can help, and our affiliate marketing guide explains another way email lists earn money.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Mailchimp: Marketing pricing
• MailerLite: Pricing
• Brevo: Pricing plans
• Kit: Pricing and plans
• Sender: Pricing plans
• Moosend: Pricing
• ActiveCampaign: Pricing