A blogger builds a large free list long before it earns a cent, so the number that decides this is cost as the list scales — what you pay per 1,000 subscribers, and whether new-post RSS-to-email is included or upsold. Kit wins because its free plan holds 10,000 subscribers and you pay only once you monetize. MailerLite, long the cheap default, gutted its free tier from 1,000 to 250 subscribers on June 16, 2026. Klaviyo is the trap: an ecommerce engine billed by profile, with no store to justify it.
A blogger's asset is a free list that grows for months before it pays, so we weighted free-list headroom — the cost of holding subscribers as the list scales — and RSS-to-email above template polish or store automation. A platform that bills by stored contacts taxes the one thing a blogger builds fastest. Pretty designs do not move the per-1,000-subscriber math. See the full rubric →
Free-list headroom (cost as list grows)30%
RSS-to-email & automation25%
Ease of use20%
Deliverability15%
Templates & design10%
01
RANK
★ Editor’s Choice
Kit
Editor’s pick
The only generous free tier left after MailerLite's cut: 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts and one automation at $0. RSS campaigns and visual automations sit on Creator ($39/mo at 1,000), so you pay only when the list earns. Tag-based subscribers fit how bloggers segment; the plain design and missing SMS are nothing a newsletter misses.
Bills by emails sent, not contacts stored, and every paid plan carries unlimited contacts — so a blogger hoarding a fast-growing free list pays nothing to keep it. The free plan sends 300/day. Templates are plainer and there is no real monetization, so it suits a pure-newsletter blogger watching every dollar.
The strongest RSS-to-email and autoresponder tooling here: auto-send new posts and run drip courses without add-ons. Starter is $19/mo for 1,000 and $79 at 10,000. The free plan caps at 500 contacts, and the monetization features that justify the pricier Creator tier are a separate $69/mo line.
Still the best-looking emails for the least money on paid plans, with RSS campaigns and landing pages included. The problem is the June 16, 2026 cut: the free tier fell from 1,000 to 250 subscribers and 12,000 to 2,500 monthly emails. For a blogger who relied on the free list, the cheap default just got expensive.
The reflex pick and the wrong one for a blogger. Contact-based billing turns your free subscribers — the asset — into the bill, and multi-step automation lives behind the $20 Standard tier. At 5,000 contacts Standard is $100/mo. Fine for a small static list; punishing the moment the blog grows, which is the entire point.
An elite tool aimed at the wrong target. Klaviyo is built around store orders and product events and bills on total active profiles — exactly the cost curve a blogger with a large free audience should run from. No products to sell means you pay ecommerce prices for a newsletter.
Kit, free to 10,000 subscribers, or Brevo, free to 300 sends a day with unlimited contacts. Both let you hold a large list at $0 and pay only once it earns. Avoid contact-billed tools while the list is still free.
Did MailerLite really cut its free plan?
Yes. On June 16, 2026 the free tier dropped from 1,000 to 250 subscribers and from 12,000 to 2,500 monthly emails. Bloggers who hoarded a free list now upgrade or stop sending — which is why it falls to fourth here despite strong paid plans.
Which tool auto-emails new blog posts via RSS?
Kit (on Creator), GetResponse, MailerLite and Brevo all do RSS-to-email; GetResponse's and Kit's are the cleanest. Mailchimp supports it but on paid tiers.
Why is Klaviyo ranked last for bloggers?
It bills on active profiles and is built around store orders. A blogger with no products gets none of the ecommerce upside and all of the profile-based cost — ecommerce prices for a newsletter.