Best Affordable Email Marketing Software (2026): Top 10 Compared

Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, combines email campaigns with SMS, transactional messaging and a sales CRM. Its pricing page sets paid marketing plans by the number of emails sent each month rather than by the number of contacts stored, which changes the cost profile for businesses with large lists and infrequent sends.

The Free plan is described as free forever with no credit card needed. Once Brevo approves the account for sending, it allows up to 300 emails per day. Starter is $9 per month on monthly billing or $96.96 per year on yearly billing, from 5,000 emails per month. It includes a drag-and-drop editor, templates, an AI content generator, advanced segmentation, forms and basic reporting, with SMS credits sold separately. Standard, at $18 per month or $194.04 per year, adds unlimited automated workflows, A/B testing, advanced reporting with click heatmaps, send-time optimisation, web and event tracking, one landing page and removal of the Brevo footer. Professional is $499 per month from 150,000 emails and adds WhatsApp, pop-ups, push notifications and ten seats.

Brevo suits small businesses that send to a large list occasionally and want SMS in the same tool. Teams that need automated sequences should price Standard rather than Starter.

MailerLite is an email marketing platform for small businesses and creators that also builds websites, landing pages and digital product checkouts. Its pricing page states that every paid plan gets the full feature set and that customers pay more only for a larger list or more sending.

The Free plan covers up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails per month and two user seats. It includes campaigns, three active automations of up to five steps, one website, one landing page, three active forms, one digital product or booking, and the drag-and-drop, custom HTML and simple editors. Comfort is $12 per month on monthly billing or $10.80 per month billed yearly for 500 subscribers, rising to $19 or $17.10 at 1,000 subscribers. It allows 50 automations, ten forms, ten sites, five digital products, three seats and removal of the MailerLite logo. Power is $25 per month or $22.50 billed yearly at 500 subscribers and adds unlimited monthly emails, automations and seats, plus live chat support. A 14-day trial of paid features needs no card.

MailerLite suits newsletters and small stores that want automation and a website from one vendor. The 250-subscriber free cap means most active lists will move to Comfort early.

Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is an email platform built for creators such as authors, podcasters and course sellers. Its pricing page lists three plans and states yearly billing saves 17 percent, with a 14-day trial and free migrations.

The Free plan is described for creators just starting out and covers up to 10,000 subscribers. It includes unlimited landing pages and forms, unlimited email broadcasts, audience tagging and segmentation, and the ability to sell digital products and subscriptions. Creator is $33 per month billed yearly, or $390 a year, at 1,000 subscribers, and the page states yearly billing saves $78 a year. It adds unlimited visual automations and email sequences, subject-line A/B tests, polls, SMS marketing, apps and integrations, removal of Kit branding and 24/7 email and chat support. Pro lists $66 per month, shown at $50 per month for the first year under a limited offer, or $593 billed for the first year, and adds subscriber engagement scoring, deliverability reporting, unlimited users, a newsletter referral system and priority support.

Kit suits creators who expect a large audience before revenue arrives. Creators who need automated welcome sequences should budget for Creator from the start.

Mailchimp is an email marketing platform for small businesses, with campaigns, automation flows, forms, landing pages and reporting in one account. The marketing pricing page sells Free, Essentials, Standard and Premium plans, each priced by contact tier.

The Free plan, described on the page as for businesses under 250 contacts, includes one seat, one audience, a maximum of 250 contacts and up to 500 sends per month, with no more than 250 a day. On 19 October 2026 the USD page showed paid plans at 50 percent off for 12 months: Essentials at $8.84 per month and Standard at $13.24 per month for 500 contacts, and Premium at $264.78 per month at its 10,000-contact starting tier. After 12 months the regular tier price applies. Standard allows 6,000 emails a month at 500 contacts, and its send limit is 12 times the maximum contact count. Overages apply above contact or send limits, and onboarding is included with Standard and Premium.

Mailchimp also sells email credits through a Pay As You Go plan for infrequent senders and offers nonprofits a 15 percent discount. Budget-led buyers should compare the renewal price, not the first-year figure.

Sender is an email and SMS marketing platform aimed at small businesses and online stores. Its pricing page states there are no contracts, obligations or setup fees, and prices plans by subscriber count with annual and monthly billing options.

The Free Forever plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month with one seat. It includes email newsletters, email automation, landing pages, signup forms and popups, and transactional emails, but carries Sender branding. New accounts receive a 14-day trial of the Professional plan before choosing. Standard is billed $108 per year at 500 subscribers and 6,000 emails per month; on 19 October 2026 the page showed $75.60 for the first year, or $6.30 per month, under a 30 percent discount for first-time users. Standard adds three role-based seats, SMS messaging, unlimited templates and landing pages, a custom domain, A/B testing and advanced ecommerce reports, and removes Sender branding. Professional is billed $180 per year at the same tier, $126 in the first year, and adds 10 seats, 12,000 emails per month, advanced automation, advanced reports and priority support.

Sender suits small stores and newsletters that want automation without paying. Buyers should budget against the full annual price after the first year.

EmailOctopus is an email marketing service with two plans and a pricing page that sets each paid tier by subscriber count. It also sells a separate product, EmailOctopus Connect, for customers sending through their own Amazon SES account.

The Starter plan is free for up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month. It carries EmailOctopus branding, keeps reports for 30 days, allows one landing page and one form, and gives access to one user. Pro is $10 per month on monthly billing for up to 500 subscribers and 10,000 emails, or $9 per month billed yearly, which the page states saves $12 a year. The monthly figure rises to $13.50 at 1,000 subscribers and $20 at 2,500 subscribers with 25,000 emails. Pro removes branding and adds full design control, reports kept indefinitely, unlimited landing pages and forms, and unlimited users. Plans upgrade automatically as the list grows, lists above 500,000 subscribers are quoted, and nonprofits receive a 20 percent lifetime discount. The page states there is no free trial and recommends the free plan instead.

EmailOctopus suits newsletters, clubs and small nonprofits that want predictable list-based pricing and a straightforward editor.

Zoho Campaigns is the email marketing application in the Zoho suite and connects with Zoho CRM and other Zoho apps. Its pricing page loads figures by currency and contact tier; the USD figures below come from the pricing data the page loads for its contact selector.

The Forever Free plan covers up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails per month and five users. It includes list management, templates, a drag-and-drop editor, HTML import, generative AI assistance, 35 app integrations and basic reporting. Paid plans start at 500 contacts. Standard is $4 per month on monthly billing or $3 per month on yearly billing, and the page states yearly billing saves 25 percent. It adds unlimited emails, ten users, basic segmentation, more than 120 templates, A/B testing, attachments, basic drag-and-drop workflows, advanced analytics and priority support, and supports up to 100,000 contacts. Professional is $6 per month or $4.50 billed yearly at 500 contacts and adds advanced segmentation, tags, contact scoring, dynamic content, send-time optimisation, pop-up forms, abandoned-cart and purchase follow-up workflows and webhooks, for up to 500,000 contacts.

Zoho Campaigns suits small teams that need several users on a free plan or already run other Zoho applications.

Mailjet offers marketing campaigns and transactional email through one account, with a drag-and-drop editor for marketers and APIs for developers. Its pricing page sets plans by monthly email volume and also caps contacts on the lower tiers.

The Free plan costs nothing for 6,000 emails per month with a limit of 200 per day and 1,000 contacts. It includes APIs, SMTP relay and webhooks, the advanced email editor, basic statistics, a form builder and email tracking consent. Starter is $9 per month for 8,000 emails with no daily limit and 2,000 contacts, and adds a brand kit, anonymous tracking, online support and one subaccount. Essential is $19 per month for 15,000 emails and adds unlimited contacts, segmentation, AI-assisted content creation, 500 email address validations, 500 email previews a month, a custom unsubscribe page and removal of the Mailjet logo. Premium is $29 per month for 15,000 emails and adds automations, landing pages, advanced statistics, team management and priority support. The page states annual billing carries a 10 percent discount, and custom plans serve high-volume senders.

Mailjet suits small teams that need a developer API alongside campaigns. Marketers who need automation should price Premium.

Benchmark Email is an email marketing platform for small businesses, with a drag-and-drop editor, signup forms, contact management, automation and list verification. Its pricing page carries the line "Every Feature in Every Plan", so plans differ by limits rather than by features.

The Free plan includes 500 contacts, up to 2,500 email sends per month, one user, one sending domain, two API keys and 150 AI credits per month, with Benchmark branding on emails and forms. Pro covers 1,000 to 100,000 contacts. At 1,000 contacts it is $19 per month on monthly billing or $16 per month on annual billing. Pro sends up to ten times the contact limit, includes one user with additional users at $15 per month each, and allows ten domains, ten API keys and 1,000 AI credits per month. Branding becomes removable, and Pro includes verification of one list up to the plan size. Lists above 100,000 contacts are quoted under Enterprise, which adds premium support for large senders.

Benchmark Email suits small businesses that want to test the full feature set on the free plan and then pay only for list size. Teams with several marketers should include the per-user charge in the comparison.

beehiiv is a newsletter platform for creators and media brands that combines email publishing with a website, a podcast feed, a recommendation network and monetisation tools. Its pricing page lists four plans and a toggle between yearly and monthly billing.

The Free plan, described as the basics for creators just getting started, covers up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited email sends, one team seat, one guest author, one publication and a 30-day analytics window. It includes email templates, landing pages, the recommendation network, an API and integrations. Lite is $49 per month on yearly billing in the 1,000-subscriber pricing view and supports up to 100,000 subscribers, two seats and three publications. It adds paid subscriptions with a 0 percent take rate, ad monetisation, automations, polls and A/B testing. Pro is $95 per month on yearly billing, supports up to 250,000 subscribers and ten seats, and adds branding removal, webinars, advanced analytics, webhooks, dynamic content and 24/7 priority support. Enterprise is quoted and adds SSO and dedicated IPs.

beehiiv suits publishers who treat the newsletter as a product with its own revenue. A small business sending occasional promotions will use little of the monetisation layer.