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Email Marketing Tools Compared 2026: Free Tiers

Five tools, five very different answers to one question: how much of your list does the free plan actually hold? We checked Kit (ConvertKit), Mailchimp, Brevo, Beehiiv and Klaviyo against their official pricing pages (verified 2026-08-31, Klaviyo added 2026-09-09). The spread is wide: Mailchimp caps its free tier at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, while Kit's free Newsletter plan carries up to 10,000 subscribers. Brevo is the raw-volume pick — 300 emails per day, no credit card required, with logo removal a $10.80/mo add-on rather than a plan upgrade. Beehiiv is built for newsletter growth specifically: free Launch up to 2,500 subscribers, then Lite at $49/mo billed yearly (2026-10-12 verified, the former Scale tier). Klaviyo fits the ecommerce niche — its free plan covers 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month plus $5 mobile-message credits, and paid Email starts at $20/mo for 500 active profiles. Below: which free tier you can actually run a business on, and what the cheapest paid rung costs the moment you outgrow it. The free tiers separate on two axes: how big the list before the cap hits, and how the paid rung is metered. Kit charges by subscriber volume — the Creator plan opens at $39/mo (or $33/mo billed annually) for a 1,000-subscriber base, so the free 10,000 subscribers is a real ceiling, not a teaser. Mailchimp instead gates on two dials at once: 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, and its Essentials entry price is $13/mo but the headline rates are first-12-month promos whose post-promo price is unpublished, so the sticker you see is not the price you keep. Brevo meters the free 300-emails-a-day by send volume, and its paid ladder is the shallowest here — Starter at $9/mo for 5,000 emails a month (a $8.08/mo yearly promo), Standard at $18 adding automation and A/B — which is why it is the cheapest way to move from free to paid once 300/day is no longer enough. Beehiiv is the only one priced like a growth product: free Launch to 2,500 subscribers, then Lite at $49/mo billed yearly (2026-10-12 verified; the former Scale tier) that climbs with list size up to a 100,000-subscriber cap, so a big list costs a lot more than the entry price. Klaviyo's free 250 profiles and 500 emails plus $5 of mobile and Composer credits is aimed squarely at ecommerce recovery flows, and paid Email starts at $20/mo for 500 active profiles on a month-to-month only basis — no annual discount published. Net: Kit if your list is the product and it is already near 10,000; Brevo if you send high volume on a thin budget; Beehiiv if you are growing a newsletter and expect to outgrow 2,500; Klaviyo if you sell online and want win-back and browse-abandon flows; Mailchimp only if its feature set outweighs a free cap that is the smallest here.

How we rated

Kit (ConvertKit)

Best free tier for creators
★★★★3.9

The most generous free plan in the class - 10,000 subscribers free, verified on the official pricing page, 40x Mailchimp's 250-contact cap. Creator is $33/mo billed yearly ($390/yr, saves ~17%). Built for creators selling products, with automations from that entry price.

Free tier: Yes
Paid from: $39/mo (Newsletter (free) to 10,000 subs; Creator from $39/mo (1k subs, monthly) / $33/mo equiv annual; Creator Pro from $79/mo (1k subs) / $66/mo equiv annual; prices scale with subscriber count; Sep 2025 price hike (~35%))

Mailchimp

Best all-rounder
★★★★4.0

The safe default (4.0): free at 250 contacts, Essentials from $13/mo with price scaling as contacts grow, no annual discount (verified). Trusted, template-rich, and honest about the paywall - you outgrow it fast, and then pay per contact.

Free tier: Yes
Paid from: $13/mo (Essentials (500 contacts); price scales with contacts, headline rates are first-12-month promos (post-promo price unpublished); free = 250 contacts, 500 sends/mo; 14-day trial (re-checked 2026-09-09 via 2026 roundups: Standard from $20/mo at 500 contacts; unsubscribed contacts keep counting toward the contact tier — list hygiene is a billing obligation))

Brevo

Best volume escape hatch
★★★★3.8

The volume option (3.8): free plan 300 emails/day, Starter $9/mo for 5k emails with ~10% yearly discount (verified). The cheapest paid entry in the class and the least painful scaling - pick it when send volume, not subscriber count, is the bottleneck.

Free tier: Yes
Paid from: $9/mo (Starter $9/mo (5,000 emails/mo), yearly -10% promo $8.08/mo; Standard $18 adds automation + A/B; free plan 300 emails/day, no credit card; remove-logo add-on $10.80/mo)

Beehiiv

Best for newsletter growth
★★★★4.0

The newsletter-native option (4.0): Launch plan free to 2,500 subscribers, Lite at $49/mo billed yearly (2026-10-12 verified, the former Scale tier). Built for audiences that grow on a newsletter - monetization and growth features are the point, not general email drip campaigns.

Free tier: Yes
Paid from: $49/mo (Lite; $49/mo billed yearly (2026-10-12 verified; prior Scale tier renamed Lite; Pro $95/mo yearly), rises with list size to 100,000-subscriber cap; Launch (Free) to 2,500 subs)

Klaviyo

Best ecommerce free starter (small lists)
★★★★4.0

Free at 250 active profiles / 500 emails per month with $5 SMS credits and core flows included (official pricing page, verified 2026-09-09) — support is limited to the first 60 days and branding stays. A store that means it upgrades to $20/mo Email; a newsletter person should start on Kit's 10,000-subscriber free plan instead.

Free tier: Yes · Free plan covers up to 60 days of support
Paid from: $20/mo (Free: 250 active profiles, 500 emails/mo, $5 mobile-message + $5 Composer credits/mo, email support first 60 days, Klaviyo branding; Email from $20/mo at 500 active profiles (5,000 sends), ~$175/mo at 5,000, ~$150-175/mo at 10,000 across sources; Email + SMS from $35/mo at 500 profiles; billed by active profiles since Feb 2025 (suppressed/unsubscribed stop counting; imported-but-unengaged still count); no annual-billing discount published — pricing is month-to-month; Klaviyo Reviews is a separate $25/mo add-on; tier crossing capped at +25% per increase)

Klaviyo

Email Marketing

Klaviyo is the ecommerce email-and-SMS platform — Shopify-grade data, predictive analytics and flow automation — billing by active profile with no annual discount.

★★★★☆4.0
FreemiumEcommerceEmail + SMS
Docs-based · official check
Review Visit ↗

Bottom line

Bottom line: If you are a creator building an audience, Kit (ConvertKit)'s 10,000-subscriber free plan is the clear start - the most generous free tier in the class by a wide margin. Mailchimp is the safe all-rounder once you can pay ($13/mo Essentials) but its free cap is thin at 250 contacts. Brevo is the volume escape hatch ($9/mo, 5k emails) and beehiiv the newsletter-growth specialist (free to 2,500 subs). Match the free tier to how many contacts you actually have - that number alone decides this category.

FAQs

Which email marketing tool has the biggest free plan?

Kit (ConvertKit) - 10,000 subscribers free, verified on the official pricing page. Beehiiv is free to 2,500, Mailchimp caps at 250 contacts, and Brevo's free plan is 300 emails/day.

What is the cheapest paid email marketing tool?

Brevo Starter at $9/mo for 5,000 emails (~10% yearly discount). Mailchimp Essentials starts at $13/mo; Kit Creator is $33/mo billed yearly; Beehiiv Lite is $49/mo annual (2026-10-12 verified).

Which tool is best for a newsletter creator?

beehiiv - built for newsletter growth with a free Launch plan to 2,500 subs and monetization features; Kit (ConvertKit) if you sell products and want the bigger 10k-subscriber free tier.

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