A school's email list is the opposite of a marketer's. You hold thousands of parents, staff, and alumni but mail them lightly — a weekly bulletin, closures, event notices. That single fact should decide the tool, because platforms that bill by contacts stored will charge you every month for a list you barely touch. We reweighted the rubric around cost-per-contact at low frequency, deliverability, and whether a busy front-office person can send without a marketing degree.
Value at large, low-frequency lists carries 30% — the school pattern is many contacts, few sends, and the pricing model is what wins or loses here. Deliverability is 25%: a closure notice that lands in spam is worse than not sending it. Then ease for non-marketers, segmentation by grade or role, and education discounts. See the full rubric →
Value — cost per contact at scale30%
Deliverability25%
Ease & templates for non-marketers20%
Segmentation — grade, role15%
Nonprofit discount & support10%
01
RANK
★ Editor’s Choice
Brevo
Best pricing model for schools
Brevo wins on the one thing that decides this category for a school: it bills by emails sent, not contacts stored. Load 6,000 parents and email them twice a month and you pay for 12,000 sends — not for warehousing 6,000 records. The free tier covers small schools, deliverability is solid, and the editor is simple enough for the office. It's not the flashiest builder, but for the school pattern it's the cheapest correct answer.
MailerLite is the friendliest tool here — a clean drag-and-drop builder a volunteer can use, a free plan to start, and a 30% nonprofit discount many schools qualify for. It bills by contacts rather than sends, so it costs slightly more than Brevo on a large occasional list, but the simplicity and the discount close most of that gap. For a PTA or a single school, this is the easiest recommendation to make.
Constant Contact's edge is people: phone support and event tools that suit schools running fundraisers and galas, plus long-standing nonprofit pricing. It bills by contacts and has no free plan, so it's pricier than the top two on a big list. Choose it when the person sending is nervous and wants a human on the phone — that support is the feature you're buying.
ActiveCampaign is the automation heavyweight — genuinely useful for a university running admissions nurture or an alumni-giving journey with branching logic. For a school sending a bulletin it's more engine than the job needs, and the price climbs with contacts. Buy it when you have real automated journeys to build; skip it if the task is “send Friday's newsletter.”
GetResponse is a capable all-rounder whose one distinctive card for education is built-in webinars — handy for an institution running online info sessions or classes alongside its newsletter. As a pure email tool it's solid but unremarkable next to Brevo on price and MailerLite on ease. It earns its mid-pack slot on that webinar bundle, not on the email side.
Everyone knows Mailchimp, and for a tiny list it's fine — but its 2026 changes (a shrunken free plan and contact-based billing) make it the expensive option exactly as a parent list grows. The 15% nonprofit discount softens it a little. Familiarity is real, but it's the reason schools overpay here rather than a reason to choose it.
Klaviyo is a brilliant e-commerce marketing engine — and completely wrong for a school. It's priced around store revenue and behavioral data you don't have, so you'd pay for machinery that never runs. It sits last here not because it's bad, but because choosing it for a parent newsletter is the classic mismatch this page exists to prevent. Unless you run a real online store, look up the list.
Because a school stores thousands of parent, staff, and alumni contacts but emails them only occasionally — a weekly newsletter, event notices, closures. Platforms that bill by contacts stored (Mailchimp, Klaviyo) charge you every month for a list you barely mail. Brevo bills by emails sent, so a 6,000-parent list you mail twice a month costs a fraction of the contact-based equivalent.
Do email platforms offer education or nonprofit discounts?
Several do. MailerLite offers a 30% nonprofit discount and Mailchimp a 15% one; many public schools and nonprofit private schools qualify. Constant Contact has long-standing nonprofit pricing and hands-on support. Always ask before subscribing — the discount is rarely applied automatically and can change the ranking on cost alone.
Is Mailchimp still a good choice for a school?
It's familiar and easy, but its 2026 pricing changes — a smaller free plan and contact-based billing — make it expensive as a parent list grows. For a small PTA list it's fine. For a whole-school or district list mailed occasionally, Brevo or MailerLite deliver the same job for materially less money.
Should a school use Klaviyo?
No. Klaviyo is a superb e-commerce engine priced around store revenue and behavioral data a school doesn't have. You'd pay for machinery you'll never run. Unless your institution operates a real online store, a general newsletter platform like Brevo or MailerLite is the right tool at a fraction of the cost.