Free plans compared: subscribers and emails
Nine of the 14 tools in this comparison have a free plan. Moosend, Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign, Campaign Monitor and RD Station offer a trial only. One of the nine needs a caveat: AWeber’s free plan is described in its help docs, while its pricing page now shows only a trial.
| 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 |
| AWeber | 500 | 3,000 / month | Yes | described in AWeber’s help docs; its pricing page now shows only a 14-day trial |
| GetResponse | 500 | 2,500 / month | Yes | |
| MailerLite | 250 | 2,500 / month | Yes | |
| Mailchimp | 250 | 500 / month | Yes | also capped at 250 sends a day |
| Omnisend | 250 | 500 / month | Yes | |
| Klaviyo | 250 | 500 / month | Yes | 250 active profiles; includes $5 of mobile messages a month |
| Moosend | No free plan — 30-day free trial | |||
| Constant Contact | No free plan — free trial only | |||
| ActiveCampaign | No free plan — free trial only | |||
| Campaign Monitor | No free plan — 30-day trial limited to 500 contacts and 500 emails | |||
| RD Station Marketing | No free plan — 10-day trial, no card required | |||
Brevo holds the most contacts and caps sending by the day. SendPulse holds a small list and has the highest monthly allowance of the capped plans. Read both columns before choosing.
Not covered here: Sender, EmailOctopus, HubSpot and beehiiv. Their limits are not in our data yet.
The most generous free plans in this comparison
Three plans lead, each on a different count.
Kit
Largest list with no email cap here- Free plan
- 10,000 contacts, unlimited emails
- At 1,000 subscribers
- $39/moCreator
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $139/moCreator
- Emails on Creator
- unlimited emails
Kit’s free plan covers 10,000 contacts and unlimited emails. It is the one to start on if you expect the audience to grow long before it earns money. The catch is in the features. 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. The first paid tier is $39 a month, the highest entry price in this comparison.
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
SendPulse
Most emails of the capped plans here- Free plan
- 500 contacts, 15,000 emails/month
- At 1,000 subscribers
- $18/moStandard
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $78/moStandard
- Emails on Standard
- unlimited emails
SendPulse’s free plan covers 500 contacts and 15,000 emails a month: enough to mail a full list several times a week, with automation (the table below has the limit) and round-the-clock chat and email support. The list limit is the tight part. Once the list outgrows it you move to a paid plan, from $18 a month at 1,000 subscribers. Free emails carry SendPulse branding. SMTP, chatbots and the course builder have free allowances of their own.
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
Brevo
Most stored contacts here- Free plan
- 100,000 contacts, 300 emails/day
- Priced by
- Emails sentnot by list size
- 5,000 emails a month
- $18/moStandard
- 20,000 emails a month
- $69/moStandard
Brevo’s free plan covers 100,000 contacts and 300 emails a day. The list can be large; the daily limit is what you feel. A newsletter to a list no larger than the daily limit goes out in one day, and anything bigger is split across days. Automation is included for a limited number of contacts, and transactional email shares the same daily limit. The large storage belongs to the free plan only: the smallest paid tiers hold far fewer contacts, so look at the paid table before counting on it.
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
Free plans with the highest subscriber limit
By list size the order is Brevo (100,000 contacts), then Kit (10,000 contacts), then SendPulse, GetResponse and AWeber on the same limit (500 contacts). MailerLite, Mailchimp, Omnisend and Klaviyo allow 250 contacts.
A high subscriber limit helps only if the plan also lets you mail those people. Kit does. Brevo spreads a large list over many days.
Free plans that send the most emails
Kit has no cap. After it come SendPulse (15,000 emails a month), Brevo (300 emails a day) and AWeber (3,000 emails a month). Brevo’s place assumes you send the full daily allowance every day, about 9,000 emails in a 30-day month; a single campaign cannot exceed one day’s allowance.
MailerLite and GetResponse allow 2,500 emails a month. Mailchimp, Omnisend and Klaviyo allow the fewest, 500 emails a month: two emails to a full list in a month.
Automation, forms and support on free plans
| 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 | |
| AWeber | 1 automation | 1 landing page, sign-up forms | Not stated |
| GetResponse | Only during the first 14 days | 1 landing page, 1 form or popup | Chat and email for the first 14 days |
| 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 |
| Omnisend | Included; custom workflows are paid | Unlimited forms, landing pages | 24/7 chat and email |
| Klaviyo | Included | Web forms | Email for the first 60 days |
Six of the nine include some automation. Kit and Mailchimp keep it for paid plans, and GetResponse switches it off after the first 14 days. Support is where free plans differ most: SendPulse and Omnisend state round-the-clock chat and email, MailerLite offers its community only, and Mailchimp, Klaviyo and GetResponse give support for a limited time after signup.
What free plans leave out
- Your own branding. All nine put the vendor’s logo or badge in free emails; removing it is a paid feature.
- SMS. No free plan here bundles SMS with the email plan, apart from a small monthly credit for mobile messages on Klaviyo’s free plan.
- Other channels. SendPulse and Brevo have a standing free allowance for transactional email; MailerLite’s sits in a separate product. A free chatbot allowance is listed only by SendPulse among these tools.
When a free plan stops being enough
A free plan ends in one of four ways: the list passes the subscriber limit, the monthly emails run out, the vendor’s logo has to go, or you need a feature kept for paid plans. The table shows what the cheapest paid plan then costs at the two smallest list sizes.
| Tool | Plan | Price at 500 subscribers | Price at 1,000 subscribers | Emails included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moosend | Pro | $9 | $16 | unlimited emails |
| RD Station Marketing | Light | $181,000 tier | $18 | 5× contacts per month |
| SendPulse | Standard | $12 | $18 | unlimited emails |
| ActiveCampaign | Starter | $191,000 tier | $19 | 10× contacts per month |
| GetResponse | Starter | $191,000 tier | $19 | unlimited emails |
| MailerLite | Comfort | $12 | $19 | 10× contacts per month |
| Omnisend | Standard | $16 | $20 | 12× contacts per month |
| AWeber | Lite | $15 | $25 | 10× subscribers per month |
| Mailchimp | Essentials | $13 | $26.50 | 10× contacts per month |
| Constant Contact | Lite | $12 | $30 | 10× contacts per month |
| Klaviyo | $20 | $30 | 10× profiles per month | |
| Kit | Creator | $391,000 tier | $39 | unlimited emails |
| Campaign Monitor | Lite | $13 | $47 | 5× contacts per month |
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 |
Kit is the example of a generous free plan with a costly first step: the largest free list with no email cap here, then $39 a month on its first paid tier. MailerLite is the reverse: a small free plan, then $12.
Which one to choose
AWeber and GetResponse hold a bigger list than MailerLite but are not picks here. GetResponse’s automation and support end after the first 14 days, and AWeber’s free plan no longer appears on its pricing page.
- KitYou are building an audience first and want thousands of subscribers on a free plan with no email cap.
- SendPulseYour list is still small and you mail it often, or you also want free SMTP, chatbots or a course on the same account.
- BrevoYou have a large contact list and send small batches, or you need transactional email on a free plan.
- MailerLiteYou want automation, forms and a landing page on a free plan from an email-only tool, and more emails per subscriber than Mailchimp allows on the same list limit.
Frequently asked questions
Which email marketing service has the best free plan in 2026?
It depends on what runs out first. Of the nine free plans compared here: for list size with no email cap, Kit (10,000 contacts and unlimited emails); for emails per month on a small list, SendPulse (500 contacts and 15,000 emails a month); for a large list mailed a little at a time, Brevo (100,000 contacts and 300 emails a day).
Which free email marketing plan allows the most subscribers?
Of the nine plans compared here, Brevo stores the most contacts (100,000 contacts), but it caps sending at 300 emails a day, so one campaign reaches only part of a big list per day. Kit is next with 10,000 contacts and no email cap. The other seven stop at a few hundred subscribers; the table has each limit.
Which free plan sends the most emails per month?
Among the nine plans on this page, Kit has no cap on emails. Of the capped plans SendPulse allows the most: 15,000 emails a month. Brevo allows 300 emails a day, which comes to less than SendPulse's allowance even if you send every day, and a single campaign cannot exceed one day's limit. AWeber follows with 3,000 emails a month.
Is there a free email marketing plan with automation?
Yes, with limits. Of the nine compared here, six include automation on the free plan: SendPulse (5 flows), MailerLite (3 automations, 5 steps each), AWeber (1 automation), Brevo (included, for up to 2,000 contacts), Omnisend (included; custom workflows are paid) and Klaviyo, which states no limit. Kit's and Mailchimp's free plans do not include it, and GetResponse allows it only during the first 14 days.
Do free email marketing plans add the vendor's logo to emails?
Yes, all nine compared here do. Each vendor's pages say free emails carry its logo or badge, and removing it is a paid feature.
How long can a small business stay on a free plan?
Until the list or the monthly emails pass the limit. The three smallest plans here (Mailchimp, Omnisend and Klaviyo) allow two emails a month to a full list, which is a trial in practice. A plan that lets you mail the whole list every week, or one that holds thousands of subscribers, can carry a young list for months.
Sources
Every price and limit on this page comes from the vendor’s own public pages. How we choose and check.
- Kit: kit.com/pricing — checked September 30, 2026
- Kit: help.kit.com/en/articles/16627071-the-kit-free-plan — checked September 30, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing?country=us — checked September 30, 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
- Brevo: brevo.com/pricing/ — checked September 30, 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
- AWeber: aweber.com/pricing.htm — checked September 30, 2026
- AWeber: docs.aweber.com/getting-started-with-aweber/aweber-information/how-much-does-aweber-cost — checked September 30, 2026
- GetResponse: getresponse.com/pricing/trial — checked September 30, 2026
- GetResponse: getresponse.com/pricing/free — checked September 30, 2026
- GetResponse: getresponse.com/help/can-i-try-getresponse-before-i-buy.html — checked September 30, 2026
- GetResponse: getresponse.com/pricing — checked September 30, 2026
- MailerLite: mailerlite.com/pricing — checked September 30, 2026
- MailerLite: mailerlite.com/pricing-mailersend — checked September 29, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/?currency=USD — checked September 30, 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
- Omnisend: omnisend.com/pricing/ — checked September 30, 2026
- Klaviyo: klaviyo.com/pricing — checked September 30, 2026
- Moosend: moosend.com/pricing/ — checked September 30, 2026
- Constant Contact: constantcontact.com/pricing — checked September 30, 2026
- ActiveCampaign: activecampaign.com/pricing — checked September 30, 2026
- Campaign Monitor: campaignmonitor.com/pricing/ — checked September 30, 2026
- Campaign Monitor: help.campaignmonitor.com/s/article/plans-and-pricing — checked September 30, 2026
- Campaign Monitor: help.campaignmonitor.com/s/article/monthly-billing-chargebee — checked September 30, 2026
- RD Station Marketing: rdstation.com/en/pricing/ — checked September 30, 2026
- RD Station Marketing: rdstation.com/planos/marketing/ — checked September 30, 2026