The cheapest email marketing software, by real total cost
"Cheapest" isn't the lowest sticker price — it's what you actually pay twelve months in, after the list grows and the upsell hits. So we reweighted the whole rubric around effective cost and free-tier honesty, then ranked seven tools on it. The winner charges by emails sent, not contacts stored. And we name the bait-and-switch that looks cheap and isn't.
When the goal is cheapest, the deciding factor is effective price after the upsell — what you pay once the list grows — not the headline. So we weighted true total cost at 40%, then free-tier honesty, then the value of what's actually included. Ease and deliverability still count; they just don't lead. See the full rubric →
Effective price after the upsell40%
Free-tier honesty20%
Value of what's included20%
Ease and setup10%
Deliverability10%
01
RANK
★ Editor’s Choice
Brevo
Cheapest for most
The honest reason it wins: Brevo charges by emails sent, not contacts stored, so a big list you email occasionally costs almost nothing. The free plan gives you 9,000 emails a month with unlimited contacts — no one else lets you import your whole list for free — and paid starts at $9/mo. If your list grows faster than your send volume, this pricing model quietly saves you the most money over a year. That's the whole game here.
If you'd rather pay a clean flat rate than think about send counts, MailerLite is the best value in the field at $12/mo, and it's the tool that feels the least stripped-down at the bottom of the price ladder. The free plan (250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo) is real but capped and drops the pre-built templates. For a small business that wants tidy pricing and a genuinely nice editor, this is the pick.
If you're a creator or newsletter writer, Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is free up to 10,000 subscribers — the most generous real free tier for pure newsletter senders. You give up some automation depth on free, and the paid Creator tiers scale with your list, so it gets pricier as you grow. But to launch and grow a list to five figures without paying, nothing else here matches it.
At $19/mo it's not the cheapest sticker, but it bundles landing pages, automation and forms you'd otherwise pay for separately — so if you need those, the effective cost is lower than the number suggests. For a solo business trying to run email plus a couple of landing pages on one bill, GetResponse is a smart consolidation. If you only need to send email, you're overpaying versus Brevo.
The $15/mo starting price looks tempting on a cheapest list, but that's not why anyone buys ActiveCampaign — you buy it for automation depth, and the real cost climbs quickly as your contacts and feature needs grow. If you'll genuinely use the automation, it's worth it. If you're here to spend as little as possible, it's the wrong fit dressed as a bargain.
The $12/mo entry only holds on a small list. Constant Contact bills by contact count, so the price climbs every time your list grows — and for the money, the automation is thin next to MailerLite or Brevo. It's approachable and the support is friendly, which is why it hangs on, but on pure cost-per-value it's near the back of this field.
Once the default "free" email tool, Mailchimp is now the cautionary tale. In January 2026 it cut the free plan to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, and its paid pricing bills by total contacts — including the unsubscribed and inactive ones you're not even emailing. A list that's half dead still bills at full price, and the cost climbs as the list grows. We rank it last on cost-per-value and name it the bait-and-switch to plan around.
What is genuinely the cheapest email marketing software?
For most senders it's Brevo, and the reason is how it charges. Brevo prices by emails sent, not by how many contacts you store, and its free plan gives you 9,000 emails a month (300/day) with unlimited contacts. Paid plans start at $9/mo. If you have a big list but email it occasionally, that model is dramatically cheaper than the contact-count pricing everyone else uses. MailerLite is the best-value paid tool at $12/mo, and Kit is free up to 10,000 subscribers for creators.
Is there a genuinely free email marketing tool, or is it all a trial?
Two are genuinely free, not trials. Brevo's free plan (9,000 emails/mo, unlimited contacts) is the most flexible, and Kit is free for up to 10,000 subscribers if you mainly send newsletters. MailerLite's free plan (250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo) is real but capped and drops pre-built templates. The one to watch is Mailchimp: in January 2026 it cut its free plan to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, so "free Mailchimp" is now barely usable.
Why is contact-count billing more expensive than it looks?
Because you pay for every contact stored, including unsubscribed and inactive ones, whether or not you email them. On tools like Mailchimp and Constant Contact, a list that's half dead still bills at full price, and the cost climbs every time your list grows even if your sending doesn't. That's the bait-and-switch: a low entry price on a small list that balloons as the list does. Send-based pricing (Brevo) or clean subscriber-based pricing (MailerLite, Kit) is usually cheaper over a year.
Should I ever pay more than the cheapest option?
Yes — if you need heavy automation, an entry price isn't the whole story. ActiveCampaign starts at $15/mo but earns its keep only if you'll use its automation depth; as a pure "cheapest" pick it's the wrong fit. GetResponse at $19/mo bundles landing pages and automation you might otherwise buy separately. Buy the cheapest tool that does the job you actually have, not the cheapest tool full stop.