Best email marketing software for small business in 2026: the shortlist
SendPulse is the default pick here for a small business that sends every week: of the five tools priced by list size, its Standard plan is the cheapest at 1,000 and 10,000 subscribers and has no monthly send cap. MailerLite costs less at 2,500 and 5,000. Mailchimp, Constant Contact and Kit cost more at both table sizes. Brevo charges by emails sent, and HubSpot is a CRM that sells email per seat.
Searches for this question tend to return the same six names: Mailchimp, Kit, Brevo, MailerLite, HubSpot and Constant Contact. SendPulse is added to that set here and judged on the same data. Every price, limit and plan detail below comes from the vendors’ own pricing and help pages, with the check date shown under each table. The cards follow the price order at 10,000 subscribers; Brevo comes after them because it charges by emails sent, and HubSpot last because its pricing page does not publish the price of contact tiers above the included 1,000.
SendPulse
Our pick: lowest at 1,000 and 10,000, no send cap- At 1,000 subscribers
- $18/moStandard
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $78/moStandard
- Emails on Standard
- unlimited emails
- Free plan
- 500 contacts, 15,000 emails/month
SendPulse Standard is the lowest of the five list-priced tools at 1,000 and at 10,000 subscribers, and it does not meter emails. For a shop that sends a newsletter plus a promotion or two each week, that removes one variable from the bill: the price moves with the list and nothing else.
It is not the cheapest at every size. At 2,500 and 5,000 subscribers MailerLite Comfort costs less: $33 and $49, against $38 and $52 on SendPulse. Two plan limits are worth knowing before you sign up. Standard includes static segmentation; dynamic segmentation with saved segments starts on Pro. Standard allows 3 users per account, Pro 10 and Enterprise an unlimited number.
SendPulse is also a wide product. SMS, messenger chatbots, a CRM and a course builder sit in the same account as email, each with its own plan or allowance, so there is more to find your way around than in an email-only tool. The email pricing page lists 24/7 live chat and email support; Enterprise adds dedicated support.
Strong points
- Email, SMS and chatbots for WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and Messenger run from one account
- Standard plan includes unlimited emails at every list size
- Separate free tiers for SMTP, chatbots and the course builder
Limits
- Free plan stops at 500 subscribers and keeps SendPulse branding in emails
- Pay-as-you-go email credits expire after 12 months
- SMS is billed per message on top of the plan; none is bundled
- Chatbots beyond the free allowance are a separate paid plan
- A dedicated IP is listed only for the SMTP Pro and Enterprise plans
MailerLite
Lowest at 2,500 and 5,000- At 1,000 subscribers
- $19/moComfort
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $89/moComfort
- Emails on Comfort
- 10× contacts per month
- Free plan
- 250 contacts, 2,500 emails/month
MailerLite Comfort comes second here at 1,000 and 10,000 subscribers and first at 2,500 and 5,000. The catch is the send allowance, 10× contacts per month: enough for about two campaigns a week to the whole list, not for daily mail. Unlimited emails need the Power plan: $39 at 1,000 subscribers and $129 at 10,000.
For a small team the automation room on Comfort is generous. Active automations by plan: 3 with up to 5 steps on Free, 50 with up to 100 steps on Comfort, unlimited on Power, which also adds multiple automation triggers.
Strong points
- Email-only product with a free plan
- Low entry price at small list sizes
Limits
- Free plan is limited to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month
- No marketing SMS or messenger chatbots listed
- Comfort plan caps sends at 10× contacts; unlimited sending needs the Power plan
Mailchimp
Large integration directory- At 1,000 subscribers
- $26.50/moEssentials
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $110/moEssentials
- Emails on Essentials
- 10× contacts per month
- Free plan
- 250 contacts, 500 emails/month
Mailchimp Essentials sits third of the five at 1,000 and at 10,000 subscribers. The main reason to choose it is the ecosystem: Mailchimp’s pricing table lists 300+ integrations on every plan.
Read the billing rules before comparing it on price. Subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts all count toward the contact limit; archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not. From the 10,000-contact tier up, the pricing page leads with a 15% discount for the first 12 months: $93.50 on Essentials and $114.75 on Standard at 10,000 contacts. The Mailchimp pricing page walks through every tier.
Strong points
- Large directory of third-party integrations
- Pay-as-you-go email credits are available
Limits
- Free plan is capped at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month
- Essentials limits sends to 10× your contact count
Constant Contact
Nonprofit discount, no free plan- At 1,000 subscribers
- $30/moLite
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $120/moLite
- Emails on Lite
- 10× contacts per month
- Free plan
- No free plan
Constant Contact Lite is fourth of the five at both table sizes and caps sends at 10× contacts per month. There is no free plan, only a trial, and its pricing page opens on annual prices; the figures here are the month-to-month ones. Constant Contact’s pricing page offers nonprofits up to 30% off when they prepay.
Strong points
- Publishes a nonprofit discount for prepaid plans
- SMS bundled in the Premium plan
Limits
- No free plan
- Sends capped at 10× contacts on Lite
Kit
Large free list for creators- At 1,000 subscribers
- $39/moCreator
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $139/moCreator
- Emails on Creator
- unlimited emails
- Free plan
- 10,000 contacts, unlimited emails
Kit Creator has the highest price of the five at 1,000 and 10,000 subscribers, and its smallest paid tier starts at 1,000. It earns its place through the free plan, 10,000 contacts and unlimited emails: the second-largest subscriber allowance here after Brevo, and the email count is not capped. Kit’s free plan leaves out the visual automation builder, automated email sequences, RSS campaigns, app integrations and removal of Kit branding; those start on Creator.
Strong points
- Free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers
- Built for creators selling digital products and subscriptions
Limits
- Highest entry price here: the smallest paid tier covers 1,000 subscribers
- No messenger chatbots or pay-as-you-go option listed
Brevo
For lists mailed rarely- Priced by
- Emails sentnot by list size
- 5,000 emails a month
- $18/moStandard
- 20,000 emails a month
- $69/moStandard
- Free plan
- 100,000 contacts, 300 emails/day
Brevo has no row in the price table because its bill follows emails sent, not list size. This page compares its Standard plan and gives the cheaper Starter plan beside it. A list of 10,000 mailed twice a month is 20,000 emails: $69 on Standard ($32 on Starter), which is less than SendPulse’s $78. Mailed weekly, which most months means four or five sends, the same list needs the 50,000-email tier: $97 on Standard, above SendPulse, or $56 on Starter, below it.
Over Starter, Brevo’s Standard plan adds automation for unlimited contacts, A/B testing, send-time optimization, one landing page and removal of the Brevo logo.
Strong points
- Priced by emails sent, which suits lists that are mailed rarely
- Prepaid email credits never expire
- Transactional email and SMTP included on every plan
Limits
- The 100,000-contact storage belongs to the free plan; the smallest paid tiers store far fewer contacts
- Free plan sends only 300 emails a day
- The bill rises with every extra send, so it cannot be compared with per-subscriber plans without knowing how often you mail
- Telegram is not listed; WhatsApp sits on the Professional plan
HubSpot
HubSpot sells email as part of Marketing Hub, which runs on top of its CRM, and it charges per seat with contacts sold in steps. Its pricing page gives a starting figure for extra contacts but not the price of each tier above the included 1,000, so HubSpot is left out of the price table, the bars and every ranking on this page. What its pages do state:
- Starting price. Marketing Hub Starter is $20 a month per seat with monthly billing and includes 1,000 marketing contacts; the pricing page also advertises a lower introductory price for new customers.
- More contacts. Marketing contacts beyond the included 1,000 are sold in increments of 1,000, starting from $50 a month. Only contacts marked as marketing contacts count toward the paid tier and can receive marketing email; non-marketing contacts are stored in the CRM free of charge.
- Sending. HubSpot: On Starter the monthly email send limit is 5 times the marketing contact tier.
- Support. HubSpot: Starter includes email support; phone support starts on Professional.
- The next plan up. Marketing Hub Professional starts at $890 a month with monthly billing, includes 3 seats and 2,000 marketing contacts, and requires a one-time onboarding fee.
- Connections. HubSpot’s pricing page lists over 2,000 apps and web services that integrate.
HubSpot makes sense when sales already work out of its CRM and email is one more tool for the same contact records. As a standalone newsletter tool for a small list, the per-seat price and the jump to Professional weigh against it.
Not compared here: Klaviyo, beehiiv and ActiveCampaign also come up in these searches; this page sticks to the tools a small business most often weighs against each other.
Pricing compared at 1,000 and 10,000 subscribers
At 1,000 subscribers the five list-priced tools range from $18 to $39 a month; at 10,000, from $78 to $139. The order is the same at both sizes: SendPulse, MailerLite, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Kit. MailerLite, Mailchimp and Constant Contact cap monthly sends; SendPulse and Kit do not.
| Tool | Plan | Price at 1,000 subscribers | Price at 10,000 subscribers | Emails included | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SendPulseOur pick | Standard | $18 | $78 | unlimited emails | 500 contacts, 15,000 emails/month |
| MailerLite | Comfort | $19 | $89 | 10× contacts per month | 250 contacts, 2,500 emails/month |
| Mailchimp | Essentials | $26.50 | $110 | 10× contacts per month | 250 contacts, 500 emails/month |
| Constant Contact | Lite | $30 | $120 | 10× contacts per month | No free plan |
| Kit | Creator | $39 | $139 | unlimited emails | 10,000 contacts, unlimited emails |
Brevo is priced by emails sent, so it has no single price at a list size and is not ranked above. We compare its Standard plan. Starter costs less at the same volume but stops at 100,000 emails a month, limits automation to 2,000 contacts and keeps the Brevo logo unless you pay to remove it. The tier is set by emails sent and by stored contacts: the three smallest tiers hold 500, 1,500 and 2,500 contacts, and every tier from 20,000 emails up holds 500,000. Standard stops at 500,000 emails a month. Your tier is the first one that covers both the emails you send in a month and the size of your list.
| Emails per month | Standard | Starter | Contacts included |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | $18 | $9 | 500 |
| 10,000 | $35 | $17 | 1,500 |
| 15,000 | $49 | $25 | 2,500 |
| 20,000 | $69 | $32 | 500,000 |
| 30,000 | $79 | $39 | 500,000 |
| 40,000 | $89 | $46 | 500,000 |
| 50,000 | $97 | $56 | 500,000 |
| 60,000 | $104 | $65 | 500,000 |
| 80,000 | $119 | $74 | 500,000 |
| 100,000 | $139 | $82 | 500,000 |
| 150,000 | $179 | — | 500,000 |
| 250,000 | $249 | — | 500,000 |
| 350,000 | $309 | — | 500,000 |
| 500,000 | $429 | — | 500,000 |
Most “best of” lists quote a “from” price with no list size attached. This table gives the regular monthly price at two list sizes a small business actually has, and the “Emails included” column sits in the same row, because a capped plan can cost more in practice once you send more than it allows. Vendor pages often open on annual or first-year prices; the table uses month-to-month billing.
Notes on these prices (4)
- Constant Contact. These are month-to-month prices; the pricing page opens on annual prices, which are lower.
- Kit. The smallest tier is 1,000 subscribers; the pricing page opens on yearly billing, which is lower.
- Mailchimp. These are regular prices. The 1,000 row uses the 501–1,500 tier, so a list of up to 1,500 pays that price.
- MailerLite. Unlimited emails need the Power plan: $39 at 1,000 subscribers and $129 at 10,000.
A cap of 10× contacts per month works out to about two emails a week to the full list. For a monthly newsletter it never matters; for a store that runs flash sales it can.
Mailchimp: The monthly send limit is 10 times the contact limit on Essentials, 12 times on Standard and 15 times on Premium.
Free plans for a small business
Of the tools here, Brevo’s free plan stores the most contacts, 100,000 contacts, and Kit’s the second most, 10,000 contacts, with no email cap. SendPulse’s covers 500 contacts and 15,000 emails a month, MailerLite’s 250 contacts and 2,500 emails a month and Mailchimp’s 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. Constant Contact has a trial instead. HubSpot’s free plan states a user limit; its pricing page does not state a free send limit.
| Tool | Subscriber limit | Emails | Vendor branding in emails | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | 10,000 | Unlimited | Yes | |
| SendPulse | 500 | 15,000 / month | Yes | 5 automation flows, 3 sender addresses |
| Brevo | 100,000 | 300 / day | Yes | unused daily sends do not roll over |
| MailerLite | 250 | 2,500 / month | Yes | |
| Mailchimp | 250 | 500 / month | Yes | also capped at 250 sends a day |
| Constant Contact | No free plan — free trial only | |||
| Tool | Automation | Forms and landing pages | Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | Not included | Unlimited forms and landing pages | |
| SendPulse | 5 flows | Subscription forms; landing pages are a separate product | 24/7 chat and email |
| Brevo | Included, for up to 2,000 contacts | Signup forms; no landing pages | |
| MailerLite | 3 automations, 5 steps each | 3 forms, 1 landing page, 1 website | Community only |
| Mailchimp | Not included | Forms and landing pages | Email for the first 30 days |
For a business with a few hundred customers, the email allowance usually runs out before the subscriber limit does. Brevo’s daily cap means a list of a few thousand goes out over several days. Kit’s free plan has room for a large list but no automation, so a welcome email will not send itself.
MailerLite: Dynamic segments and interest groups are unlimited on every plan, Free included. Mailchimp: The Free plan has a daily cap of 250 sends, no email scheduling, a limited template selection, one seat and one audience, email support for the first 30 days, and the Mailchimp badge stays on emails. HubSpot: The free Marketing Hub plan is free for up to 2 users.
AI features: what each tool actually includes
Every vendor here that documents AI help limits it or keeps it for higher plans. SendPulse gives a set number of free AI requests and then needs a paid plan or your own model key. Mailchimp includes Intuit Assist only from Standard, the plan above Essentials. MailerLite includes its writing assistant from Comfort, its first paid plan. HubSpot meters AI through monthly credits. This page has no verified AI data for Brevo, Kit or Constant Contact.
- SendPulse. A built-in AI assistant writes, translates and edits email copy and builds automations; the first 200 AI requests are free, after which AI needs a paid plan or the free trial plus your own API key for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or DeepSeek, with token usage billed separately.
- Mailchimp. Intuit Assist, Mailchimp’s AI feature, is included at no extra cost on Standard and Premium and not on Essentials or Free; Mailchimp labels it beta, available to some users in select countries and in English only. Standard costs $45 at 1,000 contacts, against $26.50 for Essentials.
- MailerLite. The AI writing assistant and smart sending are included from Comfort up.
- HubSpot. Paid plans include HubSpot Credits for AI agents and features, 500 a month on Starter; unused credits do not roll over.
AI copy help saves time on subject lines and first drafts. It does not change what a plan costs or how many emails it sends, so treat it as a tiebreaker after price and limits.
Affordable options when the list grows
The price order at the top holds as the list grows. Of the five list-priced tools, SendPulse is the lowest at 25,000 and 50,000 subscribers too, with MailerLite second. On capped plans a second cost appears once you send more than the cap, and for a big list that is mailed rarely, Brevo’s per-email billing can undercut all of them.
At 50,000 subscribers the order is SendPulse, MailerLite, Kit, Mailchimp, Constant Contact.
Going over a cap is not always a hard stop. Mailchimp: On paid plans, going over the contact limit or the send limit does not interrupt sending; an additional charge appears on the monthly bill. MailerLite removes its cap on the Power plan.
Brevo works differently. A list of 25,000 mailed twice a month is 50,000 emails: $97 on Brevo Standard ($56 on Starter), against $159 for SendPulse Standard at that list size. Mail the same list every week and Brevo moves up to a higher tier, while the list-priced plans stay where they are. Brevo’s Starter plan stops at 100,000 emails a month and its Standard plan at 500,000.
The email marketing cost guide has every list size from 500 to 50,000.
Which one to choose
Choose by how you send, not by brand. For weekly or more frequent email to a list of 1,000 or 10,000, SendPulse is the lowest of the five list-priced tools and has no send cap. Brevo Starter can cost less still for weekly sends, but it is a smaller plan than the Standard plan this page compares. MailerLite wins at 2,500 and 5,000 if two campaigns a week is enough. Brevo suits large lists mailed rarely, Kit a free start for creators, Constant Contact nonprofits that prepay, and HubSpot teams already in its CRM.
| Tool | SMS | Telegram | Pay-as-you-go email | Course builder | Free SMTP tier | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SendPulse | Yespay per message, no plan; 10 free test SMS | Yeschatbots; official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider | Yeschatbots | Yes$48 per 10,000 emails at Standard features; credits valid 12 months | Yescourse builder; free tier: 1 course, up to 200 students | 12,000 emails/month50 messages/hour, 2 sending domains |
| Mailchimp | Yespaid plans, select markets | Not listed | Not listed | Yesemail credits instead of a plan; credit prices are not on the pricing page | Not listed | —transactional email is a paid add-on to Standard and Premium; up to 500 free sends for new users |
| MailerLite | Not listedSMS appears only in MailerSend, the separate transactional product | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listedplans include selling digital products and bookings | 500 emails/monthvia MailerSend, a separate product |
| Brevo | Yesprepaid SMS credits | Add-onlisted on the Professional plan | Not listed | Yesprepaid email credits with no expiration date; 5,000 emails = $32 | Not listed | Inside the free plantransactional email and SMTP on every plan; on Free it shares the 300 emails/day limit |
| Kit | YesSMS marketing listed on the Creator plan | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listedsells digital products and subscriptions | Not listed |
| Constant Contact | YesPremium includes 500 messages; add-on from $10/month on Lite and Standard | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
Channels beyond email matter mostly to businesses that already talk to customers in messengers. SendPulse lists WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and Messenger chatbots alongside email. Chatbots have a free allowance of 3 chatbots, 500 chatbot subscribers and 10,000 messages a month. Beyond the free allowance, chatbots are a separate Pro plan priced by chatbot subscribers. SendPulse also offers a CRM. CRM is a separate product with a free plan: the account owner plus up to 4 invited users, up to 2 sales pipelines and 5 Automation 360 flows.
- SendPulseYou mail a list of around 1,000 or 10,000 every week or more, want no send cap, or plan to add SMS or messenger chatbots later.
- MailerLiteYour list is between about 2,500 and 5,000, you send no more than twice a week, and you only need email.
- MailchimpAn app your business relies on connects only to Mailchimp, and you accept a higher price for that.
- Constant ContactYou run a nonprofit that can prepay for a discount, and a trial instead of a free plan is fine.
- KitYou are a creator building an audience on a free plan and selling digital products, and automation can wait.
- BrevoYou have a large list that you mail once or twice a month, or you need transactional email on every plan.
- HubSpotYour sales team already works in the HubSpot CRM and you want email on the same contact records.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best email marketing software for a small business in 2026?
Of the tools compared here, SendPulse is the strongest default for a business that mails its list often. Standard costs $18 a month at 1,000 subscribers and $78 at 10,000, the lowest of the five tools priced by list size at both sizes, with no send cap. MailerLite costs less at 2,500 and 5,000. Kit fits creators who want a large free list, Brevo fits lists mailed rarely, and HubSpot fits teams that already sell from its CRM.
Is Mailchimp still worth it for a small business?
It can be, if an app you depend on connects only to Mailchimp. On price it trails: Essentials costs $26.50 at 1,000 subscribers and $110 at 10,000, third of the five tools priced by list size here, and it allows 10× contacts per month. Unsubscribed contacts count toward the bill until you archive them, and from 10,000 contacts the pricing page leads with a first-year discount, so the regular price arrives in year two.
Which email marketing tool is the most affordable for a small business?
It depends on list size. Of the five tools here priced by list size, SendPulse Standard is lowest at 1,000 subscribers ($18) and at 10,000 ($78). MailerLite Comfort is lowest at 2,500 ($33) and 5,000 ($49) but allows 10× contacts per month. Brevo charges by emails sent: a list of 10,000 mailed twice a month fits its 20,000-email Standard tier at $69 (Starter: $32).
Which email marketing tools have a free plan?
6 of the 7 tools here. Kit covers 10,000 contacts and unlimited emails. SendPulse covers 500 contacts and 15,000 emails a month. MailerLite covers 250 contacts and 2,500 emails a month and Mailchimp 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. Brevo stores 100,000 contacts but sends 300 emails a day. HubSpot has a free Marketing Hub plan, but its pricing page does not state a free send limit. Constant Contact offers a trial only. Kit, SendPulse, MailerLite, Mailchimp and Brevo keep their own branding in free-plan emails.
Do small businesses need SMS or chatbots as well as email?
Not to start. Email carries newsletters, offers and welcome series. SMS earns its place for short, urgent messages such as appointment reminders, and chatbots help when customers already message you on WhatsApp or Instagram. SendPulse lists SMS and chatbots for WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and Messenger in one account, with SMS billed per message. Mailchimp, Brevo, Kit and Constant Contact list SMS, Brevo lists WhatsApp on a higher plan, and MailerLite lists neither.
Sources
Every price and limit on this page comes from the vendor’s own public pages. How we choose and check.
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing?country=us — checked September 29, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing/sms?country=us — checked September 29, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing/messengers?country=us — checked September 29, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing/edu?country=us — checked September 29, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing/smtp?country=us — checked September 29, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/features/ai — checked October 2, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing/crm?country=us — checked October 2, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/?currency=USD — checked September 29, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/compare-plans/?currency=USD — checked September 30, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/pricing/transactional-email/ — checked September 29, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/help/about-mailchimp-pricing-plans/ — checked September 30, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/help/about-additional-charges/ — checked September 30, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/help/about-the-pay-as-you-go-plan/ — checked September 30, 2026
- MailerLite: mailerlite.com/pricing — checked September 29, 2026
- MailerLite: mailerlite.com/pricing-mailersend — checked September 29, 2026
- Brevo: brevo.com/pricing/ — checked September 29, 2026
- Brevo: help.brevo.com/hc/en-us/articles/208580669-FAQs-What-are-the-limits-of-the-Free-plan — checked September 30, 2026
- Brevo: brevo.com/pricing/pay-as-you-go/?selected=email — checked September 29, 2026
- Brevo: brevo.com/pricing/see-all-features/ — checked September 30, 2026
- Kit: kit.com/pricing — checked September 29, 2026
- Kit: help.kit.com/en/articles/16627071-the-kit-free-plan — checked September 30, 2026
- Constant Contact: constantcontact.com/pricing — checked September 29, 2026
- HubSpot: hubspot.com/pricing/marketing?term=monthly — checked October 5, 2026
- HubSpot: hubspot.com/pricing/bundle — checked October 5, 2026