2 Best Free Alternatives to MailerLite in 2026
By Noahlast updated pricing verified
Compared: free alternatives to MailerLite
| Alternative | Best for | Standout | Biggest weakness | Learning curve | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLitereference | creators and small businesses that want an easy-to-use email marketing platform with a genuinely usable free tier before paying for more subscribers or automations | A permanently free plan for up to 250 subscribers that includes automation, landing pages, and a website builder, not just a stripped-down trial of the paid product. | Advanced deliverability and account-support features (dedicated IP, account audits, deliverability support) are reserved for the custom-quoted Enterprise tier, and the Free and Comfort plans' subscriber-based pricing means costs climb as a list grows, even for a small business that doesn't need Power's unlimited automations. | Low | Free tier · paid from $12/mo |
| Mailchimp | small businesses and e-commerce brands that want to run email and SMS campaigns with built-in automation and AI content tools without a separate marketing stack | A drag-and-drop email builder combined with e-commerce automation triggers (abandoned cart, order follow-up) and AI content tools, backed by 300+ third-party integrations. | Pricing scales with contact-list size and jumps sharply between tiers ($13 to $20 to $350/month), so growing lists get expensive fast, and reviewers describe the cost as disproportionate to list growth on the higher tiers; the Free plan's support is email-only and expires after 30 days. | Low | Free tier · paid from $13/mo |
| Brevo | small businesses and marketers with large but mostly-inactive contact lists who want to be billed by emails sent rather than penalized for contacts stored | Prices every plan by monthly email volume rather than contact-list size, so accounts with large stored contact lists don't pay the premium that contact-based competitors like Mailchimp charge for the same sending activity. | The Free plan caps out at just 300 emails/day (roughly 9,000/month), and features like marketing automation and landing pages require jumping past Starter to the Business tier, a bigger price step than some competitors' mid-tier plans. | Low | Free tier · paid from $9/mo |
MailerLite
Mailchimp
Brevo1.Mailchimp — best MailerLite alternative for small businesses and e-commerce brands that want to run email and SMS campaigns with built-in automation and AI content tools without a separate marketing stack
Mailchimp is the best MailerLite alternative for small businesses and e-commerce brands that want deep e-commerce automation triggers (abandoned cart, order follow-up) built directly into the platform, going beyond MailerLite's simpler automation set. Mailchimp's Free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, close to MailerLite's own Free plan (250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month), and Essentials starts at $13/month, slightly above MailerLite's Comfort tier at $12/month. Mailchimp holds a 4.5/5 rating from 17,674 Capterra reviews, more than 7x MailerLite's own 2,322-review sample, and it integrates with more than 300 third-party tools including Shopify and WooCommerce for automated e-commerce triggers. AI-assisted content tools are included starting at the Standard tier. MailerLite is still the better choice for anyone who wants gentler pricing growth and longer free support: Mailchimp's pricing climbs steeply as contact-list size grows, jumping from $13 to $20 to $350/month across tiers, and Free-plan support ends after the first 30 days, while MailerLite's paid tiers start lower at $12/month and its Free plan includes real automation and a website builder, not just a stripped-down trial.
Compared to MailerLite: more than 7x the Capterra review volume (17,674 vs 2,322), deep e-commerce automation triggers (Shopify, WooCommerce) built in, 300+ third-party integrations
Wins:4.5/5 rating from 17,674 Capterra reviews, more than 7x MailerLite's 2,322-review sample · Deep e-commerce automation triggers (abandoned cart, order follow-up) via Shopify and WooCommerce integrations · 300+ third-party integrations, a broader ecosystem than MailerLite's 100+
Loses:Pricing climbs steeply as contact-list size grows, jumping from $13 to $20 to $350/month across tiers, versus MailerLite's gentler $12 to $25/month structure · Free-plan support ends after the first 30 days, while MailerLite's Free plan includes ongoing automation and a website builder · Advanced automation flows and predictive segmentation are gated behind the Standard and Premium tiers
Pros
- Free tier is genuinely usable for small lists up to 250 contacts.
- Drag-and-drop builder and template library make campaign creation fast for beginners.
- Deep e-commerce integrations (Shopify, WooCommerce) enable automated triggers like abandoned-cart emails.
- AI content and automation tools are included starting at the Standard tier.
Cons
- Pricing climbs steeply as contact count grows, with users calling the cost disproportionate at scale.
- Advanced automation flows and predictive segmentation are gated behind Standard and Premium tiers.
- Free plan email support ends after the first 30 days.
- Premium tier jumps to $350/month, a large gap from Standard's $20/month.
Pricing: Free tier · paid from $13/mo — $13/month (Mailchimp Essentials) vs MailerLite's $12/month (Comfort) (verified undefined NaN, NaN)
2.Brevo — best MailerLite alternative for small businesses and marketers with large but mostly-inactive contact lists who want to be billed by emails sent rather than penalized for contacts stored
Brevo is the best MailerLite alternative for marketers with large but mostly-inactive contact lists who want every plan to include unlimited stored contacts, priced by monthly email volume instead. Brevo's Free plan sends up to 300 emails/day with unlimited contacts, a different structure than MailerLite's Free plan, which caps at 250 subscribers regardless of send volume; Brevo's Starter tier runs from roughly $9/month for 5,000 emails, close to MailerLite's Comfort tier at $12/month. Brevo holds a 4.6/5 rating from 3,512 Capterra reviews, more than MailerLite's own 2,322-review sample. Every paid Brevo plan includes unlimited stored contacts, SMS, live chat, and a lightweight CRM bundled alongside email, and Enterprise pricing starts around $499/month for high-volume senders needing dedicated support. MailerLite is still the better choice for anyone who wants automation and a website builder included from the entry paid tier: Brevo's marketing automation and landing pages require jumping to the $18/month Business tier, a bigger step than MailerLite's Comfort tier, which already includes 50 automations and a website builder at $12/month.
Compared to MailerLite: every plan includes unlimited stored contacts billed by email volume instead of subscriber count, bundled SMS and live chat, larger Capterra review sample (3,512 vs 2,322)
Wins:Every paid plan includes unlimited stored contacts, billed by email volume rather than subscriber count the way MailerLite is · Bundles SMS, live chat, and a lightweight CRM alongside email in one platform · 3,512 Capterra reviews at 4.6/5, a larger sample than MailerLite's 2,322 reviews
Loses:Marketing automation and landing pages require the $18/month Business tier, a bigger step than MailerLite's $12/month Comfort tier, which already includes both · Free plan's 300 emails/day cap (roughly 9,000/month) is more restrictive for a large but active list than MailerLite's 2,500 emails/month at 250 subscribers · Some users report unclear account policy and compliance enforcement that can affect sending reliability
Pros
- Every paid plan includes unlimited stored contacts, since pricing is based on email volume instead.
- Free plan requires no credit card and includes core email marketing functionality.
- Bundles SMS, live chat, and a lightweight CRM alongside email in one platform.
- Transactional email and SMS APIs are available on the same account as marketing campaigns.
Cons
- Free plan's 300 emails/day cap is restrictive for anything beyond very small lists.
- Marketing automation and landing pages require the Business tier, a larger jump than Starter alone provides.
- Some users report unclear account policy and compliance enforcement that can affect sending reliability.
- Higher-volume Starter pricing (up to ~$69/month for 100,000 emails) scales quickly compared to flat-rate competitors.
Pricing: Free tier · paid from $9/mo — $9/month (Brevo Starter, from 5,000 emails) vs MailerLite's $12/month (Comfort)