Top MailerLite Alternatives in 2026
- If you run an ecommerce store on Shopify, WooCommerce, or Wix and want deeper revenue tracking than MailerLite offers, choose Mailchimp. Mailchimp's built-in ecommerce tracking and Claude and ChatGPT campaign tools go further than MailerLite's store integrations, at a similar starting price.
- If your real complaint about MailerLite is that price rises with subscriber count, not features, choose Brevo. Brevo bills by email volume sent, not list size, so a large but lightly-emailed list can cost less than it would on MailerLite, and its free plan adds SMS, WhatsApp, and a basic CRM.
- If you're a solo creator or newsletter writer who wants a much bigger free list than MailerLite's new 250-subscriber cap, choose Kit (ConvertKit). Kit's free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts and forms, far past what MailerLite gives away for free.
- If you want automation built around real purchase and browsing behavior, not just list segments, choose Klaviyo. Klaviyo's native Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento data sync drives segmentation off actual store activity, deeper than MailerLite's ecommerce automation.
- If you need branching automation logic and a CRM alongside your email, not just newsletters, choose ActiveCampaign. ActiveCampaign's visual automation builder handles more complex branching than MailerLite's, and its Plus and higher plans bundle a CRM and sales pipeline MailerLite doesn't have.
- If you're a small business or creator on MailerLite's Comfort or Power plan and mainly send newsletters, forms, and basic automations, choose stay on MailerLite. Comfort and Power both include unlimited monthly sends once you're on them, plus a website builder and digital products, at a lower entry price than most of these alternatives.
MailerLite built its reputation on a real free plan and a simple drag-and-drop editor, but that free tier shrank hard in June 2026, from 500 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails down to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails. Comfort and Power, its two paid plans, both send unlimited monthly emails once you're on them, but the price still climbs as your subscriber list grows, so the bill isn't fixed just because you upgraded.
The alternatives below split by what you actually need next. Mailchimp and Brevo are the closest like-for-like swaps for general small-business email marketing, Kit (ConvertKit) beats MailerLite's free plan by a wide margin for creators and newsletter writers, Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign trade MailerLite's simplicity for deeper ecommerce data or automation and CRM, and Customer.io is only worth a look if you've outgrown broadcast email entirely for behavior-triggered messaging.
MailerLite alternatives compared
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free option | Last update |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | Small businesses and solo marketers who want a free plan to start on | $13/mo | Yes | May 2026 |
| BrevoBest value for multi-channel messaging | Small businesses and solo marketers who want email, SMS, and basic CRM without paying per contact | $9/mo | Yes | May 2026 |
| Kit (ConvertKit)Best free plan | Solo creators, newsletter writers, and course or digital product sellers who want automation without hiring a marketing ops person | $39/seat/mo | Yes | June 2026 |
| KlaviyoBest for ecommerce automation | Ecommerce brands that want email and SMS automation tied directly to store data like purchases, browsing, and cart activity | $20/mo | Yes | June 2026 |
| ActiveCampaignBest for complex automation and CRM | Small and mid-size businesses that want email marketing and marketing automation in one tool without stitching together separate apps | $15/seat/mo | Trial (14 days, no credit card required) | March 2026 |
| Customer.io | Product and lifecycle marketing teams that trigger messages off in-app events rather than list imports | $100/mo | No | June 2026 |
Why teams switch from MailerLite
The free plan shrank sharply in June 2026
MailerLite's free tier dropped from 500 to 250 subscribers and from 12,000 to 2,500 monthly emails, while gaining templates and the HTML editor that used to be paid-only.
Paid plan prices rise with subscriber count, not a fixed fee
Comfort and Power both start at their listed price only at the smallest subscriber tier, and the price climbs as your list grows, even though both include unlimited monthly sends once you're on them.
New free-plan limits take effect August 13, 2026
MailerLite will start enforcing caps of 3 automations, 3 forms, 1 landing page, 1 website, and 1 digital product on the free plan, limits it has listed but not yet enforced.
Large lists need a custom Enterprise quote
Accounts with 200,000 or more subscribers can't self-serve a price and have to contact sales for Enterprise pricing.
The best MailerLite alternatives, ranked
Mailchimp is the most direct trade for MailerLite. Both offer a genuine free plan, subscriber-based pricing, and a landing page and automation builder aimed at small businesses and creators. Mailchimp's free tier caps out at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, close to MailerLite's post-June-2026 250-subscriber cap, so neither wins clearly on the free plan anymore. Where Mailchimp pulls ahead is ecommerce: built-in revenue tracking for Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix, plus a Claude and ChatGPT connector on Standard and Premium for AI-assisted campaign drafting. The catch is that Mailchimp's Essentials plan caps automation at 4 steps, and annual pricing isn't published on the site, you need a sales quote to see it. Pick Mailchimp over MailerLite if you want deeper store integrations and don't mind a similar starting price, $13 a month at 500 contacts versus MailerLite's $12 Comfort tier.
Pros
- + Genuinely free plan for very small lists, no credit card needed
- + Generative AI features included in Standard and Premium at no extra add-on cost
- + Broad e-commerce integrations (Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix) with built-in revenue tracking
Cons
- – Price scales with contact count, so a list of 5,000+ contacts costs far more than the advertised starting price
- – Free plan lost half its contact and send limits on February 17, 2026 (down to 250 contacts, 500 sends from 500 contacts, 1,000 sends)
Brevo is the pick for a MailerLite user whose main complaint is subscriber-count pricing, not features. Instead of charging by list size, Brevo bills by how many emails you actually send, so a large, lightly-emailed list can cost less than it would on MailerLite's per-subscriber tiers. Its free plan adds SMS, WhatsApp, and a basic CRM on top of email, none of which MailerLite offers at any price. The tradeoff shows up in a couple of spots: the free and Starter plans keep the Brevo logo on your emails unless you pay extra to remove it, and CRM depth beyond the free basics needs a separate Sales Essentials or Sales Advanced add-on. For a small business that wants multi-channel messaging in one account without doing list-size math every renewal, Brevo is a stronger structural fit than MailerLite.
Pros
- + Pricing is based on email volume, not contact count, so large lists with low send frequency stay cheap
- + Free plan includes SMS, WhatsApp, and CRM access, not just email
- + Transactional email (API, SMTP, webhooks) is included on every plan, even the free one
Cons
- – The free and Starter plans still show the Brevo logo unless you pay extra to remove it
- – CRM and sales pipeline features are separate paid add-ons (Sales Essentials, Sales Advanced), not included in the core plans
Kit, formerly ConvertKit, competes for the same creator and newsletter-writer audience MailerLite targets, and it wins clearly on the free plan: up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, forms, and landing pages, versus MailerLite's 250-subscriber free cap. Paid plans add unlimited visual automations and SMS starting at $39 a month for a 1,000-subscriber list, similar in spirit to MailerLite's Comfort tier but pricier at the entry point. Kit also ships a built-in light CRM and Kit MCP, which connects Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor directly to your account. What it lacks is MailerLite's website builder and the breadth of ecommerce integrations, since Kit leans toward digital products and newsletter sponsorships rather than storefront tracking. Choose Kit over MailerLite if a much bigger free list matters more to you than a lower starting paid price.
Pros
- + Free plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers, far more than most competitors' free tiers
- + Visual automation builder is unlimited even on the entry paid plan
- + Built-in landing pages, forms, and a creator-focused CRM reduce the need for extra tools
Cons
- – Price climbs quickly once your list grows past 1,000 subscribers
- – No published enterprise or custom pricing tier for larger senders
Klaviyo is the alternative for a MailerLite user running an actual online store who wants automation built around purchase and browsing data rather than generic list segments. Every Email or Email+SMS tier gets the same core features, so upgrading is purely about active profile count, starting at $20 a month for 251-500 profiles versus MailerLite's $12 Comfort tier. The free plan, 250 profiles and 500 emails a month, is comparable to MailerLite's own shrunken free tier. The real difference is depth of ecommerce data sync with Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento, which goes further than MailerLite's Shopify integration. The cost is that Klaviyo bills on total active profiles, not just people you email, and newer add-ons like Customer Hub, Helpdesk, and Marketing Analytics carry their own separate fees on top. Pick Klaviyo if ecommerce automation depth matters more than a simple flat bill.
Pros
- + Deep, native integrations with Shopify and other ecommerce platforms, so segments and flows use real purchase and browsing data
- + Same core features at every Email/Email+SMS tier, so upgrading is mostly about list size, not unlocking functionality
- + Free plan is usable for very small lists (up to 250 profiles) before you need a card
Cons
- – Price is based on total active profiles, not just people you actively email, so a large stale list costs more even if you rarely message most of it
- – Newer products like Customer Hub, Helpdesk, Customer Agent, and Marketing Analytics are billed as separate add-ons on top of the core email plan, each with its own pricing basis (profiles, tickets, or conversations)
ActiveCampaign fits a MailerLite user who has outgrown simple visual automations and wants genuinely complex, branching workflows plus a built-in CRM. There's no free plan, only a 14-day trial, so anyone used to MailerLite's free tier starts paying immediately, at $15 a month for 1,000 contacts billed annually. What that buys is a deeper automation builder, AI-assisted workflow drafting through Active Intelligence, and a CRM and sales pipeline bundled into Plus and above, none of which MailerLite offers. The tradeoff is a real learning curve, reviewers commonly describe needing several weeks before feeling comfortable in the automation builder. Pricing also jumps in large steps at each contact-count threshold, and now includes unsubscribed and bounced contacts for accounts opened after November 2025. Choose ActiveCampaign over MailerLite if you need CRM-grade sales tracking alongside your email, not just newsletters.
Pros
- + Automation builder handles complex, branching workflows better than most email-only tools
- + CRM and sales pipeline are included on paid plans instead of requiring a separate purchase
- + Wide integration library, over 1,000 listed connections including e-commerce and ad platforms
Cons
- – No free forever plan, unlike Mailchimp, Brevo, or MailerLite
- – Pricing is contact-count based and jumps in large steps at each threshold, so renewal costs can rise sharply as a list grows
Customer.io is the farthest reach from MailerLite on this list and fits a narrower case: a team that has moved past broadcast-style newsletters and needs messaging triggered by real product events, across email, SMS, push, and in-app, not just list membership. There's no free plan, and Essentials starts at $100 a month for 5,000 profiles, more than eight times MailerLite's Comfort entry price. Its workflow builder handles behavioral branching that MailerLite's automations aren't built for, but it also expects a data pipeline or event-tracking setup that most MailerLite users won't have in place. Premium and Enterprise pricing aren't published either, both require a sales conversation. This is the right move only if you're a product or SaaS team outgrowing simple email marketing entirely, not a like-for-like MailerLite swap for most small businesses or creators.
Pros
- + Workflow builder handles complex, multi-channel behavioral journeys well
- + Profile and object data model supports messaging based on product usage, not just list membership
- + Startup Program gives qualifying early-stage companies 12 months free
Cons
- – Pricing above Essentials is not posted; Premium and Enterprise require talking to sales
- – Cost scales with profile count, so it can get expensive fast as your user base grows
MailerLite alternatives: FAQ
What's the best free alternative to MailerLite?+
Kit (ConvertKit) has the most generous free plan in this group, covering up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, forms, and landing pages, well past MailerLite's 250-subscriber free cap.
Which MailerLite alternative is best for an ecommerce store?+
Klaviyo is built around ecommerce data, with native Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento sync that drives automation off real purchase and browsing behavior, deeper than MailerLite's store integrations.
Is there a MailerLite alternative that doesn't charge more as my list grows?+
Brevo prices by how many emails you send each month rather than by list size, so a large but lightly-emailed contact list can cost less than it would on MailerLite's per-subscriber tiers.
What if I need a CRM and more advanced automation than MailerLite offers?+
ActiveCampaign bundles a CRM and sales pipeline into its Plus plan and above, alongside a visual automation builder that handles more complex branching logic than MailerLite's automations.
MailerLite alternatives: pricing compared
Entry price, billing model, and whether pricing is public. 7 of 7 publish pricing you can check without talking to sales.
| Tool | Starting price | Billing | Free option | Pricing disclosed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | $12/seat/mo | tiered | Yes | Partly public |
| Mailchimp | $13/mo | tiered | Yes | Public |
| Brevo | $9/mo | tiered | Yes | Partly public |
| Kit (ConvertKit) | $39/seat/mo | per-seat | Yes | Public |
| Klaviyo | $20/mo | tiered | Yes | Partly public |
| ActiveCampaign | $15/seat/mo | tiered | Trial (14 days, no credit card required) | Public |
| Customer.io | $100/mo | tiered | No | Partly public |
How we made these picks. We compare tools on public pricing, features, and hands-on assessment, then verify every price against the vendor's own page. We never accept payment for rankings. Read the full methodology.