Mailchimp is still the name most small businesses know, but it isn’t always the best value or the best fit. Common reasons people look elsewhere: pricing that climbs as your contact count grows, a free plan that’s limited to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, and automation limits on the cheaper tiers. This guide compares six alternatives by pricing model and fit, so you can shortlist two and test them properly.
Who it’s not for: high-volume ecommerce brands with dedicated deliverability staff, or teams mainly looking for a sales CRM (see best CRM for small business). Comparisons are based on vendor documentation and published pricing, not hands-on testing.
• Big list, infrequent sends: Brevo (priced by emails sent, not contacts).
• Simple newsletters on a budget: MailerLite.
• Creators and paid newsletters: Kit.
• Serious automation and segmentation: ActiveCampaign.
• Email plus webinars, funnels, or courses: GetResponse.
• Lowest-cost unlimited sending for small lists: Moosend.
Pricing checked September 2026; confirm on vendor site.
On this page
- Should you switch at all?
- Mailchimp’s current plans (baseline)
- Comparison table
- Brevo
- MailerLite
- Kit
- ActiveCampaign
- GetResponse
- Moosend
- Migration checklist
- FAQ
Should you switch at all?
Switching email platforms costs time: rebuilding templates and automations, re-authenticating your domain, and retraining. Switch when at least one of these is true:
- Your next Mailchimp contact tier would noticeably raise your bill, and a different pricing model fits your list better.
- You need automation steps or branching your current plan doesn’t include.
- You need something Mailchimp doesn’t emphasize, such as paid newsletters, webinars, or courses.
Stay if Mailchimp works, your cost is predictable, and your team knows it. Familiarity has real value.
Mailchimp’s current plans (baseline)
According to Mailchimp’s pricing page: the Free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month (250/day), one seat, and one audience. Paid plans start at roughly $13/month (Essentials) and $20/month (Standard) at the smallest contact tier, with Premium from $350/month. Send limits scale with contacts (10×, 12×, and 15× your contact count), and Mailchimp charges overages when you exceed contact or send limits. Essentials automation flows are limited to four steps; Standard and Premium allow up to 200. Promotional discounts appear often, so compare regular prices.
Comparison table
| Tool | Pricing model | Free option | Paid entry price (published) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | Emails sent per month | Free plan, 300 emails/day | Starter from $9/mo; Standard from $18/mo | Large lists, infrequent sends, transactional email |
| MailerLite | Subscribers | Free up to 250 subscribers | Comfort from $12/mo (500 subs) | Simple newsletters, small budgets |
| Kit | Subscribers | Free up to 10,000 subscribers | Creator $33/mo billed yearly (1,000 subs) | Creators, newsletters, digital products |
| ActiveCampaign | Contacts | 14-day trial | Starter from $15/mo billed annually (1,000 contacts) | Advanced automation and segmentation |
| GetResponse | Contacts | Free plan (limited) + 14-day trial | Starter $19/mo monthly or $15.58/mo annually | Email plus funnels, webinars, courses |
| Moosend | Subscribers | 30-day trial | Pro from about $9/mo (500 subs) | Unlimited sends on a tight budget |
Entry prices are the lowest published tier and rise with your list or volume. Moosend and ActiveCampaign load prices in an interactive calculator; the figures above match widely reported entry prices—confirm your tier on the vendor site.
Brevo — best for big lists you email occasionally
Why it stands out: Brevo prices by the number of emails you send, not the contacts you store. Its free plan allows up to 300 emails per day. Per Brevo’s pricing page and help center, Starter starts at $9/month (from 5,000 emails/month), Standard at $18/month (adds marketing automation, A/B testing, send-time optimization, and a landing page), and Professional at $499/month (from 150,000 emails, 10 seats, WhatsApp and push). Yearly billing saves 10%. Transactional email (receipts, password resets) is available on all plans.
Pros: cheap for large, lightly-mailed lists; transactional and marketing email in one place; optional SMS, WhatsApp, and sales CRM features. Cons: costs rise quickly if you send often; big jump from Standard to Professional; multi-user seats are a Professional feature.
MailerLite — best for simple, affordable newsletters
Why it stands out: a clean editor and low entry prices. Per MailerLite’s pricing page, the Free plan covers up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, two seats, and three automations. Comfort starts at $12/month for 500 subscribers ($19 at 1,000) with sends at 10× your tier and 50 automations. Power starts at $25/month for 500 subscribers ($39 at 1,000) with unlimited emails, seats, and automations, plus 24/7 live chat. Yearly billing saves 10%.
Pros: low cost for small lists; websites, landing pages, and forms included; straightforward to learn. Cons: automation is capable but less advanced than ActiveCampaign; the free plan is now small (250 subscribers).
Kit — best for creators and newsletter businesses
Why it stands out: Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is built around creators selling content and digital products. Per Kit’s pricing page, the Free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited landing pages, forms, and broadcasts, plus tagging and digital product sales. Creator is $33/month billed yearly (about $390/year) for 1,000 subscribers and adds unlimited visual automations and sequences, subject-line A/B tests, and branding removal. Pro is $66/month billed yearly for 1,000 subscribers. Yearly billing saves about 17%.
Pros: generous free plan for list-building; tag-based subscriber model; paid-newsletter and product tools. Cons: automations require a paid plan; less suited to B2B sales pipelines or complex ecommerce.
ActiveCampaign — best for automation depth
Why it stands out: ActiveCampaign is an automation-first platform with segmentation, site tracking, and optional CRM pipelines. Plans are Starter, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise. At 1,000 contacts billed annually, entry prices are widely reported as $15, $49, $79, and $145/month respectively (confirm in the live calculator on ActiveCampaign’s pricing page). Starter limits automations to five actions each; Plus and above allow unlimited actions and add landing pages.
Pros: deep automation and segmentation; 950+ automation recipes; 1,000+ integrations; add-on pipelines for light sales use. Cons: costs more than budget tools; Starter is limited; CRM pipelines cost extra. Full details in our ActiveCampaign review.
GetResponse — best for email plus funnels, webinars, and courses
Why it stands out: GetResponse bundles email with landing pages, funnels, and (on Creator) webinars, a website builder, and courses. Per GetResponse’s pricing page: Starter is $19/month monthly ($15.58/month billed annually) with unlimited sends and one custom automation workflow; Marketer is $59/month ($48.38 annually) with unlimited workflows, advanced segmentation, and abandoned-cart recovery; Creator is $69/month ($56.58 annually). Enterprise is custom. Annual billing saves 18%; there’s also a limited free plan and a 14-day trial.
Pros: unlimited sends on all paid plans; many marketing tools in one account. Cons: Starter includes only one custom automation; you pay for bundled tools you may not use.
Moosend — best budget option with unlimited sends
Why it stands out: Moosend’s Pro plan includes unlimited email sends, automation, landing pages, and forms, priced by subscriber count. Entry pricing is commonly reported at about $9/month for 500 subscribers; the official Moosend pricing calculator shows your exact tier. Moosend offers a 30-day trial (unlimited sends up to 1,000 contacts), discounts for biannual (15%) and annual (20%) billing, and pay-as-you-go credit packs for seasonal senders.
Pros: low cost; unlimited sends; automation included on Pro. Cons: no free-forever plan; smaller integration ecosystem than the larger players; enterprise features are add-ons.
Migration checklist
- Export audiences, tags, and custom fields from Mailchimp as CSV. Keep unsubscribes and bounces as suppressions.
- Authenticate your sending domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) in the new tool before your first send.
- Rebuild your top one or two automations first—usually welcome and post-purchase.
- Replace signup forms and any site or store integrations.
- Warm up by sending first to your most engaged subscribers.
- Overlap for one billing cycle, then downgrade Mailchimp to Free or close it.
FAQ
What is the cheapest Mailchimp alternative?
It depends on your list and sending pattern. Brevo charges by emails sent (free plan: 300 emails/day), so a large list you email rarely is cheap. MailerLite and Moosend charge by subscribers and start low for small lists. Kit’s free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with limited automation. Price your actual numbers in each calculator.
Which Mailchimp alternative has the best automation?
Of the tools here, ActiveCampaign is the most automation-focused, with multi-step journeys and advanced segmentation on higher plans. GetResponse Marketer and MailerLite Power also offer unlimited automations at lower price points, with fewer advanced options.
Is it hard to move from Mailchimp?
Contacts and tags export easily as CSV. Templates, automations, and signup forms generally have to be rebuilt. Several vendors (for example ActiveCampaign and Kit) advertise free migration help—confirm scope before you rely on it. Keep Mailchimp active until your new sending domain is authenticated and your first campaigns go out cleanly.
Which alternative is best for creators and newsletters?
Kit is built for creators: its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, and paid plans add visual automations, sequences, and paid-newsletter tools. GetResponse’s Creator plan bundles courses and webinars.
Do I need a CRM instead of an email tool?
If you track deals and sales conversations, yes—pair an email tool with a CRM or pick a platform that includes both. See our best CRM for small business guide.
Are these rankings based on hands-on testing?
No. This guide is research-based, drawing on each vendor’s published pricing and documentation as of September 2026. Always trial with your own list and content before switching.
Next step
Shortlist two tools that match your pricing model and main job, run the same test in both, and confirm live pricing before you buy.
Visit Brevo Visit MailerLite Visit Kit Visit ActiveCampaign Visit GetResponse Visit Moosend