Best Free Email Marketing Software 2026: 8 Options Compared
Best free Email Marketing Software compared: Brevo, MailerLite, Kit, Mailchimp and 4 more, with free-plan limits, platforms and prices from official pages checked October 23, 2026.
•3 min read•Email Marketing & Newsletters
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | Free (300 emails per day, no time limit) | Web API | Small lists that email often | Docs only |
| 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 and simple automations | Docs only |
| Kit | Free (Free plan: up to 10,000 subscribers); paid from $33 per month (Creator, based on 1,000 subscribers; $390 billed yearly) | Web browser | Creators with a large audience | Docs only |
| Mailchimp | Free (250 contacts, 500 sends per month or 250 per day, 1 seat, 1 audience) | Web browser | Teams that want the best-known tool for a small list | Docs only |
| Klaviyo | Free (250 active profiles and 500 email sends per month) | Web | Online shops syncing store data | Docs only |
| Omnisend | Free (250 contacts, 500 emails per month) | Web | Small ecommerce lists | Docs only |
| listmonk | Free (Self-hosted and free; needs Postgres and your own SMTP or sending service) | Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD, Docker | Large lists on your own server | Docs only |
| Mautic | Free (free open-source software; hosted version has a 14-day trial) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Teams that need automation and own their stack | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You have a big list but send rarely (Kit is the pick)
- You send small batches almost every day (Brevo is the pick)
- You run an online store (Klaviyo is the pick)
- You want no subscriber cap and can self-host (listmonk is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You need paid-tier features, uptime guarantees or support that these free plans leave out
Most free email marketing plans cap one of three things: how many contacts you hold, how many emails you can send, or which features you can use. Brevo caps sends at 300 a day with no time limit, which suits a list that grows slowly but mails often. MailerLite allows 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Mailchimp, Klaviyo and Omnisend all start at 250 contacts or profiles and 500 sends a month, which is tight for anything beyond a launch list. Kit is the outlier on contacts, with a free plan up to 10,000 subscribers, so a creator with a big audience and few sends can stay free much longer. If you would rather own the software than rent a plan, Mautic and listmonk are open source and have no contact limit, but you provide hosting and a sending service, and deliverability becomes your problem. Match the cap to your habit: weekly newsletters to a large list need a subscriber-friendly plan like Kit, while a shop sending daily to a small list fits Brevo's daily limit. Check what happens at the cap, since some vendors block sending and others push you to a paid tier. Export your list before you commit.
Brevo
Free plan lets you send 300 emails a day with no time limit, so frequent small sends work. The price of the first paid plan was rendered by script and not visible.
Price: Free (300 emails per day, no time limit) (Brevo pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web API. Proprietary.
Best for: Small lists that email often.
Compare: Brevo alternatives
MailerLite
Free for 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, with the first paid tier starting at $12 a month billed monthly. A clean editor for newsletters.
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 and simple automations.
Worth knowing: Yearly billing saves 10%.
Compare: MailerLite alternatives
Kit
Free plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers, far more than the others here. Paid Creator is $33 a month for 1,000 subscribers per the pricing page.
Price: Free (Free plan: up to 10,000 subscribers); paid from $33 per month (Creator, based on 1,000 subscribers; $390 billed yearly) (Kit pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Creators with a large audience.
Compare: Kit alternatives
Mailchimp
Free plan holds 250 contacts, 1 audience and 1 seat, with 500 sends a month or 250 a day. Check the pricing page for current paid plans.
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: Teams that want the best-known tool for a small list.
Compare: Mailchimp alternatives
Klaviyo
Free for 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month; it is built around online stores. The readable pricing page showed no paid price as a number.
Price: Free (250 active profiles and 500 email sends per month) (Klaviyo pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Online shops syncing store data.
Compare: Klaviyo alternatives
Omnisend
Free for 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, aimed at ecommerce. The page showed only a promotional first-months price, not a regular rate.
Price: Free (250 contacts, 500 emails per month) (Omnisend pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Small ecommerce lists.
Compare: Omnisend alternatives
listmonk
Open-source and self-hosted under AGPL-3.0 with no subscriber cap, but it needs Postgres and your own SMTP or sending service, and you pay for that.
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: Large lists on your own server.
Worth knowing: Sending costs depend on the SMTP provider you connect.
Mautic
GPL-3.0 marketing automation you can run yourself, with a hosted version on a 14-day trial. Free software, but expect setup and hosting work.
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: Teams that need automation and own their stack.
Worth knowing: No hosted prices shown on the site.
Which one to pick
- You have a big list but send rarely: Kit
- You send small batches almost every day: Brevo
- You run an online store: Klaviyo
- You want no subscriber cap and can self-host: listmonk
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Brevo, MailerLite, Kit, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Omnisend, listmonk, Mautic: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you commit.
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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, license and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-23: Brevo, MailerLite, Kit, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Omnisend, listmonk, Mautic. 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.