Mailchimp alternatives for creators and small lists
The cheapest Mailchimp alternatives for a creator list are Moosend at $9/mo for 500 subscribers, Buttondown at $9/mo for up to 1,000 subscribers and MailerLite at $12/mo on Comfort. Kit at $33/mo on Creator is the better choice if you sell to the list.
Mailchimp's headline prices are quoted at a contact count: $13/mo for Essentials and $20/mo for Standard both apply at 500 contacts, and $350/mo for Premium applies at 10,000, checked 10 June 2026. The tier, not the plan, sets your bill.
Browse the full creator software directory for more options, or check our glossary for key terms used on this page.
Mailchimp alternatives at a glance
| # | Tool | Starting price | Free trial | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – |  MailchimpCurrent Mailchimp is an email marketing and newsletter platform owned by Intuit that lets creators design, send, and automate email campaigns to subscriber lists. | $13/moFree plan | Yes | |
| 1 |  MailerLite MailerLite is a newsletter and email marketing platform that lets creators build email lists, design newsletters, set up automations, create landing pages, and sell digital products. | $12/moFree plan | Yes | View → |
| 2 |  Kit (ConvertKit) Kit is a newsletter and email marketing platform built for creators who want to grow an audience, automate email sequences, sell digital products, and run paid newsletters. | $33/moFree plan | Yes | View → |
| 3 |  Beehiiv Beehiiv is a newsletter platform built for growth, offering built-in referral programs, an ad network, an AI-powered website builder, and paid subscription tools with 0% transaction fees. | $43/moFree plan | Yes | View → |
| 4 |  Buttondown Buttondown is a minimalist newsletter platform with a Markdown editor and paid subscriptions through Stripe, with zero revenue share. | $9/moFree plan | Yes | View → |
| 5 |  AWeber AWeber is an email marketing and newsletter platform built for small businesses and creators who need reliable email delivery, automation, and built-in monetization tools. | $15/moFree plan | Yes | View → |
| 6 |  Moosend Moosend is an email marketing and automation platform that offers unlimited email sends, visual automation workflows, landing pages, and subscription forms starting at $9/month for 500 subscribers. | $9/mo | Yes | View → |
Why creators switch from Mailchimp
The reason creators leave is the unit. Mailchimp's rate card reads like a plan price list and behaves like a meter: Essentials at $13/mo and Standard at $20/mo are the 500-contact rates, and Premium at $350/mo is the 10,000-contact rate.
Nothing on the card tells you the price at 2,500 contacts, and we will not extrapolate one. A list that grows past a quoted tier is the single most common trigger for a switch.
The free plan is the second trigger.
Mailchimp's free tier allows 500 contacts and 1,000 sends a month, which a weekly newsletter to 300 people exhausts in a month. MailerLite runs free up to 1,000 subscribers, AWeber free to 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails a month, and Buttondown free to 100 subscribers.
Each is a different ceiling, so match it to your list rather than to the word free.
Third is what you are trying to do with the list.
Mailchimp is built for marketing a shop: product blocks, abandoned-cart automation, revenue reporting. Kit at $33/mo on its Creator tier is built for selling a course or a paid newsletter to subscribers, and Beehiiv at $43/mo on Scale is built for publishers who monetise through ads and paid tiers.
Switching for price alone misses that these are different products.
Fourth, count the contacts Mailchimp counts. Unsubscribed and non-subscribed addresses can sit in your audience and still affect your tier, which is why a bill rises without the subscriber number rising.
Before you migrate, export the list, clean it, and price the clean number against the alternatives in our newsletter platforms category.
<a href="/software/mailchimp">Mailchimp</a> alternatives should be assessed based on workflow fit, not just feature overlap.
The strongest alternative to Mailchimp depends on where the current shortlist is too expensive, too limited, too complex, or missing key integrations for the workflows that matter most. This page is meant to shorten that evaluation process.
- Identify whether the shortlist problem is pricing, output quality, workflow depth, or platform support.
- Compare the alternatives against your first 30-day use cases rather than edge-case feature parity.
- Use side-by-side comparison pages before treating any tool as the default replacement choice.
The best Mailchimp alternatives
These sort into three groups. MailerLite, Moosend and AWeber compete with Mailchimp on price for a general list. Kit and Beehiiv are built for creators who sell to subscribers rather than market to customers.
Buttondown is the one that prices in plain subscriber brackets, which makes it the easiest to budget.
1.MailerLite
MailerLite is a newsletter and email marketing platform that lets creators build email lists, design newsletters, set up automations, create landing pages, and sell digital products.
MailerLite is the straightest cheaper swap for Mailchimp and the one most creator lists land on. It covers campaigns, automations, landing pages, signup forms and a drag-and-drop editor, with a cleaner interface than Mailchimp's and unlimited sends on paid plans.
Pricing is $0/mo free up to 1,000 subscribers, $12/mo on Comfort or $10.80/mo billed annually, $25/mo on Power or $22.50/mo billed annually, and custom on Enterprise, with a 30-day trial of Advanced features.
Both of those paid rates are entry rates that rise with subscriber count. Best fit: a list under a few thousand people that sends weekly and does not sell digital products. See the MailerLite profile and Mailchimp against MailerLite.
Pros
- The free plan actually works for real newsletters
- Genuinely affordable paid plans that scale predictably
- Drag-and-drop editor that beginners can actually use
Cons
- Templates locked behind paid plans
- Automations are basic compared to Kit or ActiveCampaign
2.Kit (ConvertKit)
Kit is a newsletter and email marketing platform built for creators who want to grow an audience, automate email sequences, sell digital products, and run paid newsletters.
Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is built for creators who sell to a list rather than market a shop to one. Its automations are visual and tag-based rather than list-based, which suits a reader who buys a course, then a template, then a membership.
It also sells digital products and subscriptions natively, so you can take payment without a separate checkout.
The free tier is $0/mo, the Creator tier is $33/mo or $32.50/mo billed annually, and Pro is $66/mo or $65.83/mo billed annually, all with unlimited sends and a 14-day trial with no card.
Best fit: a creator with a product to sell and a list in the low thousands. Read Kit against Mailchimp and the Kit profile.
Pros
- Top-performing visual automation builder for creators
- Free plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers
- Built-in commerce with only 0.6% transaction fee
Cons
- Pricing escalates fast as your subscriber list grows
- Limited A/B testing: subject lines only
3.Beehiiv
Beehiiv is a newsletter platform built for growth, offering built-in referral programs, an ad network, an AI-powered website builder, and paid subscription tools with 0% transaction fees.
Beehiiv is a newsletter business platform rather than an email marketing tool, and that is the reason to choose or reject it.
It bundles a web-hosted archive, referral mechanics, paid subscriptions and an ad network, so the newsletter is the product instead of a channel for one.
Launch is $0/mo, Scale is $43/mo or $517 a year, Max is $96/mo or $1,151 a year, and Enterprise is quoted, with a 30-day trial on Scale and Max and no card required.
Best fit: a publisher who intends to monetise the newsletter itself through ads or paid tiers. Weaker than Mailchimp for e-commerce automation. More on the Beehiiv profile.
Pros
- Built-in referral program that actually drives growth
- Boosts ad network for earning and subscriber acquisition
- 0% transaction fees on paid subscriptions
Cons
- Automations are basic compared to dedicated email tools
- Pricing jump from free to $43/month with no middle tier
4.Buttondown
Buttondown is a minimalist newsletter platform with a Markdown editor and paid subscriptions through Stripe, with zero revenue share.
Buttondown is the most honestly priced tool on this page, because every tier states the subscriber count it covers.
Free is $0/mo to 100 subscribers, Basic is $9/mo to 1,000, Standard is $29/mo to 5,000, Professional is $79/mo to 25,000 and Advanced is $139/mo above 25,000. It is deliberately plain: Markdown writing, simple automations, no visual drag-and-drop builder and no e-commerce reporting.
Best fit: a writer who wants a newsletter sent reliably and a bill they can predict before the list grows. If you need product blocks or cart recovery, it is the wrong tool. See the Buttondown profile.
Pros
- Clean, Markdown-first writing experience
- Zero percent revenue cut on paid subscriptions
- Developer-friendly API with real documentation
Cons
- No built-in audience growth tools
- The free plan's 100-subscriber cap is tight
5.AWeber
AWeber is an email marketing and newsletter platform built for small businesses and creators who need reliable email delivery, automation, and built-in monetization tools.
AWeber is the long-running option with the most generous entry point for a small list, and it covers much of Mailchimp's ground: automations, landing pages, signup forms and templates.
Free is $0/mo for 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails a month, Lite is $15/mo or $12.50/mo billed annually, Plus is $30/mo or $20/mo billed annually, and Unlimited is $899/mo for unlimited subscribers and sends.
That last tier is the one to notice: it is a flat ceiling rather than a rising meter, which is unusual. Best fit: a list that is either small or large, where the per-subscriber middle is the expensive part. Details on the AWeber profile.
Pros
- 600+ email templates and Smart Designer
- Built-in ecommerce with 0.6% transaction fees
- 24/7 phone, email, and chat support: even on the free plan
Cons
- Automation is basic compared to modern competitors
- Pricing increased 50-150% in late 2024: no more grandfathered rates
6.Moosend
Moosend is an email marketing and automation platform that offers unlimited email sends, visual automation workflows, landing pages, and subscription forms starting at $9/month for 500 subscribers.
Moosend is the cheapest paid option here at a stated list size, and it publishes a rate per subscriber band rather than one entry price.
Pro is $9/mo for 500 subscribers or $7/mo billed annually, $16/mo for 1,000 or $13/mo annually, $24/mo for 2,000 or $19/mo annually, and $48/mo for 5,000 or $38/mo annually, with Moosend+ and Enterprise quoted. There is a 30-day trial of Pro features with no card.
Best fit: a cost-led switch where you know your subscriber count and want to see the exact price at it. It is lighter than Mailchimp on reporting and integrations. See the Moosend profile.
Pros
- Cheapest email marketing with full automation included
- Unlimited email sends on every plan
- Visual automation builder that punches above its price
Cons
- Limited native integrations, especially for e-commerce
- No free plan after the trial ends
Comparing Mailchimp alternatives on cost
Compare at your own subscriber count, and only use figures a vendor publishes at that count. Two platforms here make that easy.
Buttondown publishes Basic at $9/mo up to 1,000 subscribers, Standard at $29/mo up to 5,000, Professional at $79/mo up to 25,000 and Advanced at $139/mo above that. Moosend publishes Pro at $9/mo for 500 subscribers, $16/mo for 1,000, $24/mo for 2,000 and $48/mo for 5,000.
Those are the only two sets of numbers on this page you can read straight off against a list size.
For the rest, the published rate is the entry rate. MailerLite Comfort is $12/mo, or $10.80/mo billed annually, and Power is $25/mo, or $22.50/mo billed annually. Kit Free is $0/mo, the Creator tier is $33/mo, or $32.50/mo billed annually, and Pro is $66/mo.
Beehiiv Launch is $0/mo, Scale is $43/mo, or $517 a year, and Max is $96/mo, or $1,151 a year. None of those tells you the price at your list size, so check each vendor's own calculator before you commit.
Second dimension: sends. Mailchimp meters them on the free plan at 1,000 a month. MailerLite and Kit both sell unlimited sends on paid plans, which changes the maths for anyone mailing more than weekly.
If you send daily, a per-send ceiling matters more than the monthly fee, and our pricing calculators will show you where the two curves cross.
Third, cost the migration. Moving a list means re-verifying deliverability on a new sending domain, rebuilding automations by hand, and accepting a short dip in inbox placement while the new platform warms up. Under 1,000 subscribers that is an afternoon.
Over 10,000 with live automations, plan a fortnight and keep both platforms running. The head-to-heads worth reading are Mailchimp against MailerLite and Kit against Mailchimp.
Pricing fit
Does the pricing model still work as your output grows?
Setup fit
Does it support your platforms, integrations and workflow?
Day-to-day fit
Does it create less configuration and friction after week two?
Use our pricing calculators to model costs across alternatives, or read buyer guides for deeper analysis. See how we review software for the criteria behind every evaluation in our directory.
What to do next
Start by exporting your list and counting clean subscribers, because that number, not the plan name, decides every price on this page. Under 1,000 subscribers: MailerLite is free, or Buttondown Basic is $9/mo and Moosend Pro is $16/mo at that band.
Selling a course or membership to the list: Kit at $33/mo on Creator. Monetising the newsletter itself: Beehiiv at $43/mo on Scale.
If your list sits in Mailchimp's 500-contact band and you use its e-commerce reporting, Standard at $20/mo is reasonable and staying is the cheaper answer.
Our guide to newsletter platforms for creators runs the same comparison across a wider set, and the resources library has the list-migration checklist.
Frequently asked questions
What are the downsides of Mailchimp?
Price per contact is the main one. Mailchimp's published tiers are quoted at 500 contacts for Essentials and Standard, and the free plan caps at 500 contacts with 1,000 sends a month. Premium is quoted at 10,000 contacts for $350/mo. Unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts can also count toward your tier.
How much is Mailchimp for a year?
At the published annual rates, Essentials is $9.75/mo for 500 contacts, which is $117 a year, and Standard is $15/mo for 500 contacts, or $180 a year. Premium is $262.50/mo at 10,000 contacts, or $3,150 a year. Each figure applies only at the contact count it is quoted for.
How much does it cost to send 10,000 emails?
That depends on contacts, not sends, on most platforms. Mailchimp's free plan allows 1,000 sends a month to at most 500 contacts. MailerLite and Kit sell unlimited sends on paid plans and price on subscriber count instead, so 10,000 sends to 1,000 subscribers costs the same as 2,000 sends to the same list.
Is there a free Mailchimp?
Mailchimp's own free plan covers 500 contacts and 1,000 sends a month. Free alternatives run further: MailerLite's free plan covers up to 1,000 subscribers, Kit's free plan has no monthly fee, AWeber's free plan covers 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails a month, and Buttondown's free plan covers 100 subscribers.
Is there a better option than Mailchimp?
For a creator list, usually yes. MailerLite at $12/mo on Comfort is the closest cheaper swap. Kit at $33/mo on Creator is the better fit for selling to a list. Beehiiv at $43/mo on Scale adds ad revenue and paid subscriptions. Mailchimp still wins on e-commerce integrations and reporting depth.
Is Mailchimp worth it?
It is worth it if you need its e-commerce reporting and audience segmentation and your list is small enough to sit in a quoted tier. At $20/mo for Standard at 500 contacts it is not expensive. The complaint is what happens between the quoted tiers, so price your actual contact count before renewing.
Which tools compete most directly with Mailchimp?
In our directory the closest are MailerLite at $12/mo on Comfort, Kit at $33/mo on Creator, AWeber at $15/mo on Lite and Moosend at $9/mo on Pro for 500 subscribers. Beehiiv and Buttondown compete for newsletter publishers rather than general marketers. We publish no market-share ranking.
What are some popular email marketing tools?
The ones creators shortlist against Mailchimp are MailerLite, Kit (formerly ConvertKit), Beehiiv, Buttondown, AWeber and Moosend. MailerLite and Moosend compete on price, Kit on selling to a list, Beehiiv on newsletter monetisation, Buttondown on simplicity and clear subscriber-count pricing, AWeber on its free tier.
Can Salesforce replace Mailchimp?
For an enterprise marketing team, that is a real comparison. For a creator list it is the wrong shape of tool, and we hold no verified pricing snapshot for Salesforce, so we will not quote a figure. The alternatives on this page are the ones priced for lists under about 25,000 subscribers.