Pricing hub · checked October 2026
Email Marketing Pricing, Compared Honestly
Email pricing is designed to confuse you: per-contact versus per-email, tier names that hide the features you need, commerce fees in the fine print. This hub distills the verified numbers for the tools creators ask about most — then links each one to a full guide.
Always confirm before buying. Prices change; every figure below links to the vendor's official pricing page, which is the only number that matters at checkout.
- MailerLite guide
- Kit guide
- Brevo guide
- beehiiv guide
- Mailchimp guide
- Drip guide
- Omnisend guide
- GetResponse guide
- Constant Contact guide
- MailerSend guide
Start here · cheapest honest path
Cheapest path at every stage
- $0 — validating: Kit (free to 10k subs), MailerLite (free 250 subs), Brevo's free 300/day tier, or Loops (4,000 sends per rolling 30 days).
- $9–$19 — first revenue: Moosend Pro ($9/mo at 500 contacts), Brevo Starter ($9/mo), MailerLite Comfort ($12/mo), Mailchimp Essentials ($13/mo at 500 contacts).
- $25–$69 — scaling: MailerLite Power ($25/mo), Kit Creator ($33/mo billed annually), Constant Contact Standard ($35/mo), GetResponse Marketer ($59/mo), Kit Pro ($66/mo billed annually).
- $100 and up — data-driven: Customer.io Essentials ($100/mo) when behavioral events run the business.
Verified pricing: the big four
| Tool | Free tier | Paid starting price | Pricing model | Official page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | 250 subs / 2,500 emails | Comfort $12/mo · Power $25/mo at 500 subs | Per-subscriber tiers | mailerlite.com/pricing |
| Kit | Up to 10,000 subs | Creator $33/mo · Pro $66/mo, both billed annually | Per-subscriber tiers + 3.5% + 30¢ commerce fee | kit.com/pricing |
| GetResponse | Trial only (no free plan) | Starter $19/mo · Marketer $59/mo · Creator $69/mo | Per-list-size tiers, unlimited sends | getresponse.com/pricing |
| Brevo | 300 emails/day, 100,000 contacts | Starter $9/mo · Standard $18/mo · Professional $499/mo | By email volume | brevo.com/pricing |
The other 10 tools at a glance
| Tool | Starts around | Model |
|---|---|---|
| ActiveCampaign | Starter $15/mo at 1,000 contacts | Per contact |
| Mailchimp | Free tier; Essentials $13/mo at 500 contacts | Per contact |
| Loops | Free 4,000 sends per 30 days; paid from $99/mo | By volume/contacts |
| Customer.io | Essentials $100/mo | Usage-based |
| Drip | $39/mo up to 2,500 people | By list size |
| Moosend | Pro $9/mo at 500 contacts, monthly billing | By subscribers |
| Sender | Free 2,500 subs; Standard $6.30/mo | By volume |
| AWeber | Lite $15/mo at 500 subscribers | Per subscriber |
| Constant Contact | Lite $12/mo monthly ($10.20/mo annual) | Per contact |
| Encharge | Growth $99/mo up to 2,000 subscribers | By contacts/events |
Concepts · per-contact vs. per-email
Per-contact vs. per-email: why it matters
Per-contact pricing charges you for everyone on your list — including free subscribers who never buy. Per-email (volume) pricing charges only for what you send. Creators with large free audiences (lead magnets, free tiers, big newsletters) save substantially with volume pricing from Brevo or Sender.
Rule of thumb: if fewer than 10% of your subscribers pay you, volume pricing wins. If most subscribers are buyers, per-contact tools with stronger automation (ActiveCampaign, Drip) can justify their premium through conversion lift.
Math · three real list sizes
What three typical creators actually pay
| Creator stage | Volume-priced pick | Per-contact pick | Monthly gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 500 subs · weekly send (~2k emails/mo) | Brevo free (300/day) or Kit free | Mailchimp Essentials $13/mo at 500 contacts | $0–$13 either way |
| Growing · 5,000 subs · 2× weekly (~40k emails/mo) | Brevo Standard from $18/mo (higher volume costs more — check the calculator) | Mailchimp Standard $100/mo at 2,501–5,000 contacts | Volume saves roughly $80/mo at this size |
| Scaled · 25,000 subs (most free) · 2× weekly | Moosend Pro $160/mo at 25,000 contacts, monthly billing | Drip $369/mo at 25,000 people | $209/mo gap (12 × $209 = $2,508 a year) |
The gap widens as your free audience grows — which is exactly when most creators feel pricing pain. Model your cost at triple your current list before committing to a per-contact tool, and revisit this table when you cross a tier boundary.
Fine print · what tier tables hide
Hidden fees to check before you buy
- Commerce transaction fees: Kit charges 3.5% + 30¢ per sale — fine for a hobby shop, material at volume.
- Sending overages: some volume tools bill per thousand past the plan cap; others throttle or force an upgrade — read the overage row, not the headline.
- Feature gates: A/B testing, custom HTML, and advanced automation often sit one tier above the plan the pricing page advertises.
- Seat and brand add-ons: team plans and multi-brand workspaces frequently price separately from contact tiers.
- Dedicated IP and deliverability extras: sometimes included, sometimes a paid add-on — matters above ~50k monthly sends.
- Annual-billing discounts: typically 10–20% — worth taking only after three months of actually sending from the tool.
Decision · which model fits you
Per-contact or per-email: a two-minute decision
- Count free vs paying subscribers. If fewer than 1 in 10 will ever pay you, volume pricing (Brevo, Sender) almost always wins — you shouldn't bill yourself for audience you monetize elsewhere or not at all.
- Estimate monthly sends, not list size. A 20,000-contact list emailed twice a month is 40,000 sends — model both models at that number before comparing stickers.
- Project both costs at triple your list. Per-contact curves get steeper as you grow; volume curves stay flat if your cadence stays flat. The tool that wins at 3× is the tool that won't punish growth.
- Check feature gates for your actual next need. If the automation depth or testing feature you need sits two tiers up on a per-contact tool, the headline price was never the real price.
- Price the exit. Migrations cost 2–4 weeks of parallel sending — favor a model you can grow into for two years over one that's cheaper this quarter.
- When buyer density is high, flip the logic. If most subscribers are paying customers (paid newsletters, membership communities), per-contact tools with strong segmentation can earn their premium through conversion lift — model the lift, not just the fee.
Timing · monthly versus annual
Annual billing: when the discount is real
| Stage | Billing | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First 3 months on any tool | Monthly | Flexibility worth more than 10–20% while you're still validating fit |
| Tool chosen, sending consistently | Annual if discount ≥15% | You've paid the migration cost once; lock the unit price |
| Mid-launch or mid-migration | Monthly | Don't couple a billing commitment to a transition |
| Scaling fast (list doubling yearly) | Monthly on per-contact; annual OK on volume | Annual on a per-contact plan pre-pays a tier you may outgrow |
| Tool on the shortlist, not chosen | Monthly trial or free tier | Never buy annual on day one — the discount is bait for indecision |
Typical annual discounts run 10–20% depending on vendor and plan. Take them only after three months of real sending on the tool, when staying is the boring obvious choice — and re-run the per-contact projection at your current list size before locking a year of contact-based pricing.
Switching · the bill nobody quotes
What migration actually costs
- Parallel sending window: 2–4 weeks of running old and new tools to protect deliverability while reputation transfers — expect to pay both bills once.
- Automation rebuild: welcome series, dunning flows, and segment logic rarely port cleanly; budget a weekend of deliberate reconstruction against your flowchart export.
- Domain re-authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records repointed and re-verified — an hour of DNS work that silently breaks sends if skipped.
- Warm-up cost: volume ramps on a new IP or pool mean temporarily smaller sends or segmented sends until placement stabilizes.
- Opportunity cost: launch calendars and sponsor commitments don't pause for migrations — schedule moves in quiet quarters, never mid-launch.
Tool-switch triggers — when staying costs more than moving — are covered in the per-tool guides above: compare your current bill at triple the list size against the alternatives before deciding.
Checklist · ask before you pay
Eight questions before entering a card
- What is my monthly send volume at current cadence — and at triple the list?
- Which pricing model bills me less at that volume: per-contact or per-email?
- Does the free tier cover validation for 60 days without a feature gate I need on day 10?
- Which specific gate forces the next tier jump — and will crossing it pay for itself in one month?
- Are there commerce fees, overage rates, or seat charges the headline price omitted?
- Is annual billing discounted enough to beat the flexibility I lose — and have I sent from this tool for 90 days?
- If I leave in a year, what does migration cost: export quality, automation portability, API access?
- Does this tool's strength match my business model — newsletter, SaaS lifecycle, commerce — or am I buying someone else's ranking?
In-depth pricing guides
Questions · operator answers
Pricing FAQs
Which email tool is cheapest for a large free audience?
Volume-priced tools: Brevo and Sender. A 50,000-subscriber free list costs nothing extra to hold on these platforms — you pay only when you send — while per-contact tools would bill hundreds monthly for the same audience.
What hidden fees should creators watch for?
Commerce transaction fees (Kit's 3.5% + 30¢), overage charges past sending limits, paid add-ons for dedicated IPs or advanced testing, and feature gates that force tier jumps. Always read the plan comparison table on the official pricing page — not just the headline number. The hidden-fees section above lists the six that surprise creators most often.
Is an annual plan worth it?
Annual billing typically saves 10–20%, worthwhile once you've sent from a tool for three months and know you'll stay. Never buy annual on day one — monthly flexibility is worth more than the discount while you're still validating. If you're mid-migration or still choosing between two tools, stay monthly until the choice is boringly obvious.
When does jumping to a higher pricing tier actually pay?
When a specific gate blocks revenue: an automation limit stopping a proven flow, a testing feature that would lift a money-making sequence, or a support tier whose response time costs launch revenue. Vanity limits — more subscribers you never email, more seats nobody uses — never pay.
How do free tiers compare across the big four?
Kit's free 10,000 subscribers is the most generous contact allowance; Brevo's free 300 emails a day is the most generous send allowance with 100,000 contacts storable; MailerLite's free 250 subs is the most beginner-friendly editor; GetResponse has no permanent free plan, only a trial. Which matters depends on whether your constraint is list size or send volume — model both before committing.
Why do prices differ between monthly and annual billing?
Because most vendors discount prepayment: MailerLite Comfort drops from $12/mo to $10.80/mo billed annually, Constant Contact Lite from $12 to $10.20, GetResponse Starter from $19 to $15.58. The guides quote the monthly-billing figure first and the annual equivalent beside it, so compare like with like — and never buy annual on day one.
Is it worth paying more for better deliverability?
Usually no as a line item — deliverability is mostly authentication, list hygiene, and engagement, which no plan tier buys for you. Pay more only when the paid tier unlocks the operational levers you'll actually pull: dedicated IPs at high volume, send-time optimization, or inbox-testing tools. Before paying anything, make sure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are set on a custom domain and the list is pruned of chronic non-openers.
How often should I re-check my tool's pricing?
Quarterly if you're on a stable plan, immediately before any tier jump or annual commitment, and whenever a vendor announces a pricing change — vendors email account owners, but migrating teams often miss it. Re-run the decision table above at each re-check: the market moves, and a tool that was volume-priced bargains at 500 contacts can be the expensive option at 25,000.
Back to the 16-tool creator guide · About this magazine