Almost every email marketing tool charges by the size of your list, so the cheapest tool for 500 contacts is not always the cheapest at 10,000. Below are the tools small businesses in the US usually choose between, priced at three list sizes from each vendor's own pricing page: 500 contacts (just starting), 2,500 (an established local business) and 10,000 (a busy store or a long-running newsletter).
The email marketing tools at a glance
| Tool | Free plan | Cheapest paid plan, 500 contacts | Priced by |
|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month | Comfort: $12 a month, $10.80 billed yearly | Subscribers |
| Constant Contact | None; free trial | Lite: $12 a month, $10.20 billed annually | Contacts |
| Kit | Up to 10,000 subscribers | Creator: $39 a month, $390 a year (up to 1,000) | Subscribers |
| ActiveCampaign | None; 14-day trial | Starter: $15 a month for 1,000, billed yearly | Contacts |
| Brevo | 300 emails a day | Starter: $9 a month, $97 a year | Emails sent |
| Zoho Campaigns | 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month | Standard: $4 a month, $3 billed yearly | Contacts |
| Sender | 2,500 subscribers, 15,000 emails a month | Standard: $9 a month | Subscribers |
| HubSpot | 1,000 contacts, 2,000 sends a month | Starter: $20 per seat a month; $7 on a new-customer promo | Seats and contacts |
| Mailchimp | 250 contacts, 500 emails a month | By country; see below | Contacts |
| Klaviyo | 250 active profiles, 500 emails a month | By country; see below | Active profiles |
What a year costs at 500, 2,500 and 10,000 contacts
What a year of email marketing costs at three list sizes
- 500 contacts
- 2,500 contacts
- 10,000 contacts
Show the numbers
| 500 contacts | 2,500 contacts | 10,000 contacts | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Campaigns Standard | $36 | $153 | $441 |
| Brevo Starter | $97 | $270 | $345 |
| Sender Standard | $108 | $324 | $828 |
| Constant Contact Lite | $122.40 | $510 | $1,224 |
| MailerLite Comfort | $129.60 | $356.40 | $961.20 |
| ActiveCampaign Starter | $180 | $468 | $1,788 |
| Kit Creator | $390 | $590 | $1,390 |
| Tool and plan | 500 contacts | 2,500 contacts | 10,000 contacts | How it is worked out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Campaigns Standard | $36 | $153 | $441 | $3, $12.75 and $36.75 a month billed yearly, × 12 |
| Brevo Starter | $97 | $270 | $345 | Yearly totals for 5,000, 15,000 and 20,000 emails a month |
| Sender Standard | $108 | $324 | $828 | $9, $27 and $69 a month × 12 |
| Constant Contact Lite | $122.40 | $510 | $1,224 | $10.20, $42.50 and $102 a month billed annually, × 12 |
| MailerLite Comfort | $129.60 | $356.40 | $961.20 | $10.80, $29.70 and $80.10 a month billed yearly, × 12 |
| ActiveCampaign Starter | $180 | $468 | $1,788 | $15 (1,000 contacts), $39 and $149 a month billed yearly, × 12 |
| Kit Creator | $390 | $590 | $1,390 | Yearly price for 1,000, 3,000 and 10,000 subscribers |
The cheapest plans are not like for like. Brevo Starter and Constant Contact Lite have little or no automation, and Brevo's 10,000-contact price buys only 20,000 emails a month, two per contact. Kit's yearly price buys automations and sequences that its free plan lacks, but the free plan alone covers all three list sizes. Mailchimp's and Klaviyo's paid plans are left out because their pricing pages show different prices by country; HubSpot because its Starter plan is priced per seat and its larger contact tiers are not published.
MailerLite: best all-round value
MailerLite's Comfort plan costs $12 a month for 500 subscribers, or $10.80 a month billed yearly. At 2,500 subscribers it is $33 a month ($29.70 yearly) and at 10,000 it is $89 ($80.10 yearly). Comfort includes 3 user seats, 50 active automations, 10 forms, 10 landing pages, unlimited templates and removal of the MailerLite logo, and lets you send 10 times the top of your subscriber tier each month.
The Power plan, from $25 a month for 500 subscribers ($22.50 yearly), lifts all of that to unlimited, including seats and monthly emails, and adds 24/7 live chat support; Comfort has email support only. At 10,000 subscribers Power costs $129 a month.
What to watch:
- The free plan is small. It covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month with 2 seats and 3 automations.
- Yearly billing saves only 10%. Nonprofits get 30% off instead, and only one discount applies at a time. For donor management, see our CRM for nonprofits guide.
Choose it if you want automations, forms and landing pages at a low price and expect your list to grow. More detail in our Mailchimp alternatives guide.
Constant Contact: best if you want help on the phone
Constant Contact's Lite plan costs $12 a month for 500 contacts, or $10.20 billed annually. Every plan includes live phone and chat support and 1:1 onboarding, plus social posting and event tools. The price climbs quickly with your list:
| Contacts | Lite, monthly | Lite, annually | Standard, monthly | Standard, annually |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 500 | $12 | $10.20 | $35 | $29.75 |
| 1,001–2,500 | $50 | $42.50 | $75 | $63.75 |
| 5,001–10,000 | $120 | $102 | $160 | $136 |
What to watch:
- Lite has 1 automation template. Standard adds 3 templates, an AI campaign builder and automatic resends to non-openers; custom automations need Premium, from $80 a month.
- Sends are capped. Lite allows 10 times your contact tier a month and Standard 12 times; extra emails cost $0.002 each.
- No free plan. There is a free trial with no credit card, and a full refund if you cancel within 30 days.
Choose it if you would rather call someone than read help articles, or you run events alongside your emails. See every tier in our Constant Contact pricing guide.
Kit: best free plan for a newsletter
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is free for up to 10,000 subscribers, with unlimited landing pages, forms and broadcasts, tagging and the ability to sell digital products. The free plan has one user and no visual automations or automated sequences.
The Creator plan adds those automations, a second user, SMS and removal of Kit branding. It costs $39 a month or $390 a year for up to 1,000 subscribers, $59 a month ($590 a year) up to 3,000 and $139 a month ($1,390 a year) up to 10,000. Pro, from $79 a month for 1,000 subscribers, adds unlimited users, engagement scoring and deliverability reports; Kit is currently offering 25% off the first year of yearly Pro.
What to watch:
- The free plan has no automations. Visual automations and sequences start at Creator, $39 a month.
- Pro's discount is for the first year only. The plan renews at the standard rate after that.
Choose it if you publish a newsletter or sell courses and digital products. For a shop sending promotions, MailerLite or Constant Contact fit more naturally.
ActiveCampaign: best if automation is the main job
ActiveCampaign's Starter plan costs $15 a month for 1,000 contacts, billed yearly; its smallest band is 1,000 contacts. It is $39 a month at 2,500 contacts and $149 at 10,000. Every plan includes multi-step automation, and Starter allows 10 email sends per contact a month with one user seat.
What to watch:
- Prices are listed for yearly billing, so take the free 14-day trial before you commit.
- Starter climbs fastest. At 10,000 contacts the Plus plan is $189 a month, only $40 more, and adds landing pages and more channels.
Choose it if you want welcome series, follow-ups that branch on clicks and win-back emails from day one. Full table in our ActiveCampaign pricing guide.
Brevo: best if you have a big list and send rarely
Brevo prices by emails sent, not by contacts, with a cap on contacts for the smallest tiers. Starter is $9 a month ($97 a year) for 5,000 emails and up to 500 contacts; $25 a month for 15,000 emails and up to 2,500 contacts; and $32 a month for 20,000 emails, a tier that allows up to 500,000 contacts. That is why Brevo is the cheapest tool here at 10,000 contacts, as long as you send about two emails per contact a month.
What to watch:
- Starter carries the "Sent with Brevo" footer. Removing it costs $12 a month extra.
- Automation workflows start on Standard. Standard is $18 a month for 5,000 emails, $49 for 15,000 and $69 for 20,000, and includes A/B testing, one landing page and no Brevo logo.
- The free plan sends 300 emails a day.
Choose it if you have a large list that you email once or twice a month, or you also want SMS and WhatsApp from the same tool.
Zoho Campaigns: lowest paid price
Zoho Campaigns' Standard plan costs $4 a month for 500 contacts, or $3 billed yearly, and $17 a month ($12.75 yearly) at 2,500 and $49 ($36.75 yearly) at 10,000. It includes basic drag-and-drop workflows, and Zoho says there is no daily email limit. Professional, from $6 a month for 500 contacts ($81 at 10,000), adds abandoned-cart and purchase follow-up workflows and frequency capping.
The free plan covers 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and 5 users, the most users of any free plan here.
What to watch:
- Standard's workflows are basic. Abandoned-cart and purchase follow-up workflows need Professional, $6 a month at 500 contacts.
- Yearly billing saves 25%, so the low monthly prices drop further if you pay for the year.
Choose it if you want the lowest bill, or you already use Zoho CRM, Zoho Books or Zoho Invoice, all listed among its integrations. Zoho CRM's editions are priced in our Zoho CRM pricing guide, and Zoho Invoice is compared in our invoicing software guide.
Sender: a generous free plan with automation
Sender is free for up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, with automation, landing pages and popups included; the catch is one seat and Sender branding on your emails. Standard costs $9 a month for 500 subscribers, $27 for 2,500 and $69 for 10,000, billed monthly, with 3 seats, no branding and A/B testing.
Sender is running a Black Friday promotion: 30% off annual billing for anyone, and 40% off Standard (60% off Professional) on a 24-month prepayment for first-time users. The chart uses the monthly list price.
What to watch:
- Free-plan emails carry Sender branding, and the plan has one seat.
- Standard caps sends at 12 times your subscribers a month, 6,000 emails at the 500 tier.
Choose it if your list is under 2,500 and you want automations without paying anything yet.
Free plans inside HubSpot, Mailchimp and Klaviyo
- HubSpot is free for 2 users and 1,000 contacts, with 2,000 marketing email sends a month carrying HubSpot branding. Marketing Hub Starter lists at $20 per seat a month (new customers currently see a $7 promo price) and includes 1,000 marketing contacts, with sends of 5 times your contact tier. It suits you if you want a CRM as well; see our HubSpot CRM pricing guide, and our guide to free CRMs for small business for the other free plans. Startups can compare it with Zoho and Salesforce in CRM for startups.
- Mailchimp's free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 emails a month (no more than 250 a day), with one seat, no automation flows and email support for the first 30 days only. Its paid plans are priced by country, so check them on its pricing page; our Mailchimp alternatives guide compares the tools above.
- Klaviyo's free plan covers 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month, with email support for the first 60 days. Klaviyo is built for online stores; its paid prices at each list size are in our Klaviyo pricing guide, checked from a US connection.
How to choose
- Under 2,500 contacts and no budget? Sender's free plan if you want automation, Kit's if you publish a newsletter.
- A local business that wants help? Constant Contact Lite or Standard, for the phone support.
- Want automations and a growing list at a low price? MailerLite Comfort.
- Automation is the reason you are buying? ActiveCampaign Starter, after the 14-day trial.
- Large list, a monthly newsletter? Brevo, priced by sends.
- Lowest bill, or already on Zoho? Zoho Campaigns Standard.
- Online store? Compare Klaviyo with MailerLite before you choose.