Constant Contact Alternatives 2026: 5 Free Options
Constant Contact alternatives: MailerLite, Mailchimp, Brevo, listmonk and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 25, 2026.
•3 min read•Email Marketing & Newsletters
Verdict:Constant Contact has no free plan. Its Lite tier starts around $12 a month for a small list and the price climbs with each contact tier, so the people who leave are usually the ones whose list has grown. The cheapest exit is a free plan on a smaller tool. MailerLite gives 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, and Mailchimp gives 250 contacts with 500 sends, which is tighter on sends. Brevo is different because it limits sends by day, 300 a day, not by contact count, so it can work if you have a larger list but mail it rarely. For a growing list the real saving is self-hosting: listmonk is free software, but you must run Postgres and pay for an SMTP provider, and deliverability is on you. Mautic goes further into automation, and it demands more administration. What you give up in all cases is Constant Contact's phone support and its event and SMS tools. The trade-off to weigh is time against money: a hosted free plan costs nothing but is capped, and self-hosting removes the caps but adds server work. Leave if you mainly send newsletters to a list under a few thousand; stay if you rely on its support and event features.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | Free (250 subscribers, 2,500 emails per month); paid from $12 per month, billed monthly (stated as starting price in the pricing FAQ) | Web browser | Newsletters on a small list | Docs only |
| Mailchimp | Free (250 contacts, 500 sends per month or 250 per day, 1 seat, 1 audience) | Web browser | Beginners wanting templates and a free start | Docs only |
| Brevo | Free (300 emails per day, no time limit) | Web API | Low-volume lists with daily sending caps | Docs only |
| listmonk | Free (Self-hosted and free; needs Postgres and your own SMTP or sending service) | Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD, Docker | Technical teams with big newsletters | Docs only |
| Mautic | Free (free open-source software; hosted version has a 14-day trial) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Self-hosted automation beyond email | Docs only |
| GetResponse | Free (Free account with limits: GetResponse badge on every message, landing pages capped at 1,000 unique visitors a month, webinars limited to 10 people); paid from EUR 13.12 per month, billed yearly (Starter, 1,000 contacts; EUR 16 billed monthly) | Web browser | Email Marketing | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You send a simple newsletter to a small list (MailerLite is the pick)
- You want the most familiar free starter (Mailchimp is the pick)
- You mail a big list occasionally (Brevo is the pick)
- You can run a server and want no caps (listmonk is the pick)
- You want automation as well as email (Mautic is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Constant Contact features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Constant Contact today: Paid from $12 per month (Lite, from; price rises with contact count) (Constant Contact pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
MailerLite
Compared with Constant Contact: Free plan allows 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Constant Contact has no free plan and starts around $12 a month, rising with contacts. MailerLite is simpler and has less event and SMS support.
Price: Free (250 subscribers, 2,500 emails per month); paid from $12 per month, billed monthly (stated as starting price in the pricing FAQ) (MailerLite pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Newsletters on a small list.
Worth knowing: Yearly billing saves 10%.
Mailchimp
Compared with Constant Contact: Free plan: 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. Constant Contact's Lite starts near $12 monthly; Check Mailchimp's pricing page, as sends and contacts both affect cost.
Price: Free (250 contacts, 500 sends per month or 250 per day, 1 seat, 1 audience) (Mailchimp pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Beginners wanting templates and a free start.
Brevo
Compared with Constant Contact: Free plan sends 300 emails a day with no time limit, which suits low-volume lists better than Constant Contact's contact-based plans. Check the pricing page for the Starter price; the free plan carries Brevo branding.
Price: Free (300 emails per day, no time limit) (Brevo pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web API. Proprietary.
Best for: Low-volume lists with daily sending caps.
listmonk
Compared with Constant Contact: Open-source (AGPL-3.0) and free to self-host with Postgres. You lose Constant Contact's templates, support and deliverability handling, and you pay for your own SMTP. Good for large lists on a budget.
Price: Free (Self-hosted and free; needs Postgres and your own SMTP or sending service) (listmonk pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD, Docker. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 24k GitHub stars · latest release v7.0.0-beta.1 (Oct 20, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Technical teams with big newsletters.
Worth knowing: Sending costs depend on the SMTP provider you connect.
Mautic
Compared with Constant Contact: Free open-source marketing automation under GPL-3.0, with a 14-day trial for the hosted version. It does far more than Constant Contact's email tools, but needs hosting skills and setup time.
Price: Free (free open-source software; hosted version has a 14-day trial) (Mautic pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. GPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 10.9k GitHub stars · latest release 7.2.2 (Oct 26, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Self-hosted automation beyond email.
Worth knowing: No hosted prices shown on the site.
Other popular options (paid)
GetResponse
Compared with Constant Contact: GetResponse Starter is EUR 13.12 a month billed yearly for 1,000 contacts, against Constant Contact's Lite from $12 that rises with contacts. A free plan exists, with a GetResponse badge on every message.
Price: Free (Free account with limits: GetResponse badge on every message, landing pages capped at 1,000 unique visitors a month, webinars limited to 10 people); paid from EUR 13.12 per month, billed yearly (Starter, 1,000 contacts; EUR 16 billed monthly) (GetResponse pricing, checked 2026-10-25).
Which one to pick
- You send a simple newsletter to a small list: MailerLite
- You want the most familiar free starter: Mailchimp
- You mail a big list occasionally: Brevo
- You can run a server and want no caps: listmonk
- You want automation as well as email: Mautic
Limits of this review
Docs-only for MailerLite, Mailchimp, Brevo, listmonk, Mautic: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Constant Contact. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-25: Constant Contact, MailerLite, Mailchimp, Brevo, listmonk, Mautic, GetResponse. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.