MailerLite Pricing in 2026: Free vs. Comfort vs. Power
MailerLite's three-rung ladder — Free (250 subscribers, 2,500 emails), Comfort (from $12/mo at 500 subscribers on monthly billing, $10.80/mo billed annually), Power (from $25/mo, $22.50/mo billed annually) — is one of the fairest in email. Here's what each rung unlocks, who should climb, and the exact moments upgrading earns its keep.
Verify live pricing: figures below reflect the official page at research time. Confirm at mailerlite.com/pricing before purchasing.
TL;DR
- Free: 250 subscribers + 2,500 emails/month — validate your newsletter idea for $0.
- Comfort from $12/month: higher limits plus auto-resend, custom HTML, and advanced testing.
- Power from $25/month: the full toolkit for scaling lists with serious automation needs.
- Model: per-subscriber tiers — prune cold contacts quarterly to hold your rung.
- Best for: beginners and budget creators who want polish without complexity.
The three rungs, explained
Free — 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month
The free plan is a complete starter kit: the drag-and-drop editor, automation templates, landing pages, forms, and the AI writing assistant all work. With 250 subscriber slots and 2,500 monthly emails, you can run a weekly newsletter plus a welcome series while you prove the concept — most creators don't outgrow it for months.
The constraint to respect is the subscriber cap, not the email allowance. At 251 subscribers you choose: prune, or climb to Comfort. Start pruning habits early — they're profitable on every tool.
Comfort — from $12/month
Comfort raises subscriber and sending limits while unlocking the features growing lists actually need: auto-resend to non-openers, custom HTML editing, advanced A/B testing, and richer automation options. For a newsletter crossing 500–2,500 engaged readers, this is the sweet spot — professional capability at lunch-money pricing.
Creators monetizing through affiliates or a first digital product usually land here: the testing and resend features target exactly the emails that earn.
Power — from $25/month
Power is MailerLite unleashed: the highest limits, full automation depth, Facebook custom audiences, dedicated onboarding help, and priority support. Lists in the tens of thousands — or teams running multiple brands — get headroom plus the human help to use it well.
Don't climb here for vanity metrics. Upgrade to Power when a specific gate blocks you: an automation limit, a testing need, or support response times that cost you launch revenue.
When does upgrading pay for itself?
| Signal | Move | Why it pays |
|---|---|---|
| 250+ engaged subs | Free → Comfort | Keep momentum; resend + testing lift opens |
| First product/affiliate income | Stay Comfort, use testing | Optimize the emails that earn |
| 10k+ subs or team seats | Comfort → Power | Limits + support unblock scale |
| Behavioral automation outgrows the builder | Consider ActiveCampaign | Starter $15/mo at 1,000 contacts brings deeper journeys |
MailerLite vs. the alternatives on price
Against Kit's free 10,000 subscribers, MailerLite's free 250 looks small — but MailerLite's paid ladder stays cheaper longer for small lists, and its editor is simpler. Comfort at $12/mo for 500 subscribers costs less than a third of Kit's Creator at $33/mo with annual billing, so writers who monetize early often spend less here for their first two years.
Against Brevo and Sender on pure volume economics, compare your send frequency: daily senders to big lists often save with volume-priced tools, while weekly senders to small lists thrive on MailerLite Comfort.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Estimated monthly cost | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Solo creator — 250 subs, weekly newsletter plus welcome series | $0 | Free |
| Growing newsletter — 1,500 subs | From $12/mo at 500 subscribers (monthly billing) | Comfort |
| Scaling publisher — 10,000+ subs or team seats | From $25/mo (monthly billing; breakpoint sets the exact figure) | Power |
Free's 2,500-email monthly allowance covers a weekly send to 250 subs plus a welcome series — the cap that forces the first upgrade is almost always subscriber count, not frequency. Subscriber breakpoints set the exact Comfort and Power prices, so verify your rung on the live calculator.
Hidden fees & fine print
- Free hard-stops at 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails — crossing either means pruning or paying.
- Per-subscriber pricing means cold contacts inflate the bill; quarterly pruning directly controls cost.
- Comfort and Power prices step up at subscriber breakpoints — check the live calculator at your exact count before budgeting.
- Auto-resend, custom HTML, and advanced A/B testing need Comfort ($12+); priority support and the deepest limits need Power ($25+).
- Annual billing discounts may apply — check the plan comparison and toggle the billing term on the official page.
MailerLite pricing FAQs
What does MailerLite Free actually include?
250 subscribers and 2,500 emails per month, plus the core editor, automation templates, landing pages, forms, and AI writing help. It's enough for a weekly newsletter with a welcome series — a real validation runway, not a trial in disguise.
What's the difference between Comfort and Power?
Comfort (from $12/month) adds headroom plus pro sending features like auto-resend, custom HTML, and deeper testing. Power (from $25/month) raises limits further and adds premium extras — advanced integrations, dedicated support, onboarding help — for scaling lists and teams.
Does MailerLite charge for unsubscribed or duplicate contacts?
MailerLite counts active subscribers toward plan limits, so regular pruning of cold and bounced contacts directly controls your bill. Deduplication is automatic — the same person on two lists counts once — which keeps the ladder fair as you segment.
When should I leave MailerLite for a bigger automation tool?
When branching journeys, lead scoring, or CRM pipelines become central: ActiveCampaign's Starter at $15/mo for 1,000 contacts brings the deeper builder, while Customer.io's Essentials at $100/mo suits event-driven products. Many creators run the newsletter in MailerLite early, then graduate only when a flow they can name no longer fits the builder.
What happens when I hit the Free plan's limits?
At the 251st subscriber or 2,500th email you choose: prune back under the caps or move to Comfort from $12/month. There's no overage meter on Free — the ceiling is hard, which makes the upgrade decision binary and easy to see coming.
Is MailerLite cheaper than Kit for a small paid list?
For lists in the hundreds to low thousands, usually yes: Comfort from $12 undercuts Kit's Creator from $33, while Kit's free tier dwarfs MailerLite's 250-sub free plan. Compare both at your exact size before committing.
Where do I confirm current MailerLite pricing?
On the official page at mailerlite.com/pricing. Subscriber-count breakpoints determine each tier's exact price, so check your list size against the live calculator before upgrading — and compare with our pricing hub.