MailerLite Alternatives: Strong Options Compared
MailerLite cut its free plan in June 2026 to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Brevo, Kit, EmailOctopus, Sender and Mailchimp all offer more room.
By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-12T04:23:26+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-12T04:23:26+00:00
MailerLite Alternatives: Strong Options Compared
MailerLite used to be the generous cheap option for email marketing. That changed on June 16, 2026. Its free plan now covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, down from 500 subscribers and 12,000 emails. Paid plans start at $12 a month for Comfort and $25 a month for Power. Free accounts are also capped at 3 automations, 3 forms, 1 landing page, and 1 website. New accounts must also pass a manual approval before they can send. If that no longer fits, these MailerLite alternatives are worth a look. All prices below were checked on the vendors' own pricing pages in November 2026.
Why people leave MailerLite
The June 2026 change cut the free plan twice over in one move. The subscriber cap fell from 500 to 250. The monthly send cap fell from 12,000 to 2,500. That is ten emails per subscriber per month. A twice-weekly newsletter plus a welcome sequence uses most of it. When a free account passes 250 active subscribers, sending locks until the account upgrades or the list shrinks. Paid prices rose at the same time. Comfort starts at $12 a month. Power starts at $25 a month. Both scale with list size. The old free plan was the reason many small senders chose MailerLite. The new one fits a hobby list, not a growing one.
| Tool | Free plan | First paid plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month | Comfort, from $12 a month | Small newsletters that stay under 250 subscribers |
| Brevo | Up to 100,000 contacts, 300 emails a day | Starter, from $9 a month for 5,000 emails | Large lists mailed rarely |
| Kit | Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts | Creator, $39 a month at 1,000 subscribers | Creators with a big free newsletter |
| EmailOctopus | 2,500 subscribers, 10,000 emails a month | Pro, $13.50 a month at 1,000 subscribers | Simple campaigns at a low price |
| Sender | 2,500 subscribers, 15,000 emails a month | Standard, from $9 a month | Budget automation with SMS |
| Mailchimp | 250 contacts, 500 sends a month | Essentials, from $13 a month | Senders who want a free start and deep automation later |
Brevo: the biggest free list
Brevo charges by emails sent, not by contacts. Its free plan stores up to 100,000 contacts. Sending is capped at 300 emails a day. That is the trade. A 1,000-contact newsletter takes four days to go out on the free plan. Multi-step marketing automation starts on the Standard plan, from $18 a month. Starter starts at $9 a month for 5,000 emails, covering 500 contacts. The 10,000-email tier costs $17 a month and covers 1,500 contacts. Brevo suits a large list mailed rarely. It does not suit a weekly newsletter to thousands of readers on a free plan. Every plan includes transactional email through its API and SMTP.
Kit: the biggest free subscriber count
Kit, formerly ConvertKit, has the largest free plan for creators. It covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited email broadcasts and unlimited landing pages and forms. The catch is automation. The free plan sends no automated sequences. The visual automation builder needs the Creator plan. Creator costs $39 a month at 1,000 subscribers on monthly billing, or about $33 a month billed yearly. At 10,000 subscribers it costs $139 a month. Kit suits a creator who sends a plain newsletter to a big list. It does not suit a sender who needs welcome sequences and sales funnels for free. Kit bills on all confirmed subscribers, including cold ones. MailerLite bills only on active subscribers.
EmailOctopus: the simplest switch
EmailOctopus keeps things simple. Its free plan covers 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month. That is ten times MailerLite's subscriber cap and four times its send allowance. The free plan includes the visual automation builder and up to three sequences. It includes one landing page and one form. Reports are kept for 30 days. EmailOctopus branding stays on free emails. Pro costs $13.50 a month at 1,000 subscribers on monthly billing, or $144 a year. Pro removes the branding and adds unlimited landing pages and forms. EmailOctopus suits a small sender who wants a clean tool at a low price. It does not suit a sender who needs deep segmentation or a large template library.
Sender: the most generous free sends
Sender's free plan covers 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month. That is the most generous free send allowance in this comparison. It includes a drag-and-drop editor and visual automation. It also adds SMS, which MailerLite's free plan does not. The Standard plan starts at $9 a month. Sender suits a small business that wants lifecycle automation on a budget. It does not suit a sender who needs a large template library or advanced reporting. Check the current free plan limits before moving. Free tiers change, and Sender's edge is its send volume.
Mailchimp: the familiar fallback
Mailchimp's free plan is now small too. It covers 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a daily cap of 250. It includes one seat and one audience. It has no automation flows. Mailchimp cut its free plan in February 2026, from 500 contacts and 1,000 sends. Essentials starts at $13 a month for 500 contacts. It includes sends at ten times the contact count, 3 seats, and A/B testing. Standard starts at $20 a month. It adds up to 200 automation flows, predictive segmentation, and generative AI tools. Mailchimp counts unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts toward the billing tier. Only archived or deleted contacts are excluded. Mailchimp suits a sender who wants deep automation later and accepts a small free start. It does not suit a sender who wants the biggest free plan.
How to choose among the MailerLite alternatives
Start with your list size and your sending rhythm. Under 250 subscribers, MailerLite still works. Between 250 and 2,500, EmailOctopus or Sender gives you room to grow for free. Over 2,500, Brevo holds the list for free but sends slowly. Kit holds up to 10,000 subscribers for free if you only send broadcasts. Next, check automation. If welcome sequences matter, EmailOctopus includes them for free. Kit and Brevo do not. If SMS matters, Sender includes it. Finally, check the billing model. MailerLite and Kit bill by subscribers. Brevo bills by emails sent. A big list mailed once a month is cheap on Brevo. A small list mailed daily is cheap on a subscriber-priced plan. Export your list, test one alternative with a small segment, and compare deliverability before you move everything.
Bottom line
EmailOctopus is the best direct replacement for a small sender leaving MailerLite. Its free plan holds ten times as many subscribers and four times as many sends. Sender is the best pick if you want the most free sends plus SMS. Kit is the best pick for a creator with a large newsletter and no need for automation. Brevo is the best pick for a large list mailed rarely. Mailchimp is the best pick if you plan to pay later for deep automation. The June 2026 cut ended MailerLite's run as the generous free option. The alternatives above all beat its current free plan on at least one limit that matters.