MailerLite Alternatives 2026: 5 Free Options
MailerLite alternatives: listmonk, Mautic, Brevo, Buttondown and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•3 min read•Email Marketing & Newsletters
Verdict:MailerLite suits solo creators and small newsletter teams who want a visual editor and a free tier of 250 subscribers. Leave it when the list outgrows that tier and you would rather run the sending stack yourself. listmonk is the cheapest exit: it is free and self-hosted, but you maintain Postgres and an SMTP service, so budget server time and some technical comfort. Mautic fits a different need, where contact scoring and multi-step campaigns matter more than a newsletter. It is a heavier install and needs real administration. Brevo is the free option for volume, with 300 emails a day and no time limit, so it is the practical pick for a busy list on a small budget. Buttondown suits a writer who sends plain-text letters to a modest audience and does not want a visual builder at all. Compare send volume before you move: MailerLite's free tier covers 2,500 emails a month, which is generous for a small list. Mailersend belongs on the list only if your mail is mostly receipts and alerts, because it charges by sends. The trade-off is consistent across the free picks: you gain price control and send volume, and you pay for it in hosting time or in a thinner editor.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| listmonk | Free (Self-hosted and free; needs Postgres and your own SMTP or sending service) | Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD, Docker | Self-hosting by a technical team | Docs only |
| Mautic | Free (free open-source software; hosted version has a 14-day trial) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Campaign automation on your own server | Docs only |
| Brevo | Free (300 emails per day, no time limit) | Web API | Higher daily send volume on a free plan | Docs only |
| Buttondown | Free (Free for your first 100 subscribers) | Web | Writers sending plain-text newsletters | Docs only |
| MailerSend | Free (500 emails per month); paid from $7 per month, billed monthly (Hobby, 5,000 emails) | Web API | Transactional email priced by sends | Docs only |
| Mailchimp | Free (250 contacts, 500 sends per month or 250 per day, 1 seat, 1 audience) | Web browser | Email Marketing | Docs only |
| ActiveCampaign | See pricing page | Web browser | Email Marketing & Automation | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want a free newsletter tool and will run your own server (listmonk is the pick)
- You need campaign automation and scoring on your own server (Mautic is the pick)
- You send several hundred emails a day and want a free plan (Brevo is the pick)
- You write plain-text newsletters for a modest audience (Buttondown is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on MailerLite features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
MailerLite today: 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).
Why people look for MailerLite alternatives
MailerLite Free covers 250 subscribers, 2 user seats and 2,500 emails a month, with limited templates, 3 active automations of up to 5 steps, one website, one landing page, three forms and knowledge-base support only. Comfort starts at $12 a month and caps emails at ten times the subscriber tier; Power starts at $25 with unlimited emails, priority email and 24/7 live chat. Annual billing saves 10%.
listmonk
Compared with MailerLite: Free and self-hosted, so you pay only for your server and a sending service. Against MailerLite you lose the hosted editor and vendor support, and you run Postgres and SMTP yourself. You gain full control of subscriber data and no monthly bill.
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: Self-hosting by a technical team.
Worth knowing: Sending costs depend on the SMTP provider you connect.
Mautic
Compared with MailerLite: Free GPL-3.0 marketing automation you host yourself. Compared with MailerLite it reaches further into contact scoring and multi-step campaigns, so you gain depth. You lose the quick newsletter setup and take on a heavier install and upkeep.
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: Campaign automation on your own server.
Worth knowing: No hosted prices shown on the site.
Brevo
Compared with MailerLite: The free plan sends 300 emails a day with no time limit, against MailerLite's free cap of 2,500 emails a month. You gain daily send volume on a free plan; you lose the creator-oriented newsletter layout MailerLite is built around.
Price: Free (300 emails per day, no time limit) (Brevo pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web API. Proprietary.
Best for: Higher daily send volume on a free plan.
Buttondown
Compared with MailerLite: Free for your first 100 subscribers, then paid. It is far smaller than MailerLite's free 250 subscribers, but it centres on plain-text newsletters. You give up MailerLite's wider feature set for a simpler writing workflow.
Price: Free (Free for your first 100 subscribers) (Buttondown pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Writers sending plain-text newsletters.
MailerSend
Compared with MailerLite: The free plan covers 500 emails a month, and the Hobby plan starts at $7 a month for 5,000 emails. It prices by sends rather than by contacts, so it suits receipts and alerts better than MailerLite's subscriber-based newsletter lists.
Price: Free (500 emails per month); paid from $7 per month, billed monthly (Hobby, 5,000 emails) (MailerSend pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web API. Proprietary.
Best for: Transactional email priced by sends.
Other popular options (paid)
Mailchimp
Compared with MailerLite: Mailchimp Free allows 250 contacts and 500 sends a month (250 a day), against MailerLite's 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails. Essentials showed $13 a month as a 12-month promotion.
Price: Free (250 contacts, 500 sends per month or 250 per day, 1 seat, 1 audience) (Mailchimp pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
ActiveCampaign
Compared with MailerLite: ActiveCampaign is priced by contact count across Starter, Plus, Pro and Enterprise, with a 14-day trial and no free plan. Choose it when automation depth matters more than MailerLite's low entry price.
Price: See pricing page (ActiveCampaign pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
- You want a free newsletter tool and will run your own server: listmonk
- You need campaign automation and scoring on your own server: Mautic
- You send several hundred emails a day and want a free plan: Brevo
- You write plain-text newsletters for a modest audience: Buttondown
Limits of this review
Docs-only for listmonk, Mautic, Brevo, Buttondown, MailerSend: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from MailerLite. 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 2026-10-22: MailerLite, listmonk, Mautic, Brevo, Buttondown, MailerSend, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign. 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.