Email Marketing Tools Pricing Guide 2026

Mailchimp is the default email tool for non-technical teams, but it has become expensive for growing lists. The company raised prices significantly in 2022 and restricted the free plan to 500 contacts — down from 2,000 previously.

Plan	1K contacts	5K contacts	25K contacts	Key Features
Free	$0 (max 500)	—	—	1K sends/mo, basic templates
Essentials	$13/mo	$52/mo	$230/mo	Unlimited sends, A/B testing, custom branding
Standard	$20/mo	$75/mo	$270/mo	Customer journeys, send-time optimization, retargeting ads
Premium	$350+/mo	$350+/mo	$350+/mo	Advanced segmentation, unlimited seats, phone support

Mailchimp Hidden Costs

• Transactional email (Mandrill): Transactional emails (receipts, confirmations) require the Mandrill add-on — not included in any Mailchimp plan. Starts at $20/mo for 500K emails.
• Multi-audience billing: Mailchimp counts contacts across all audiences separately. A contact in 2 audiences counts as 2 contacts. Lists grown organically easily hit the next billing tier.
• SMS marketing add-on: SMS campaigns require a separate add-on with per-message pricing on top of your base plan.
• Website and landing pages: The "free" website builder removes Mailchimp branding only on paid plans — $13+/mo just to remove the footer link.

Mailchimp Price History

Mailchimp raised prices significantly in 2022 and again in 2024, cutting the free tier from 2,000 to 500 contacts and raising paid plan prices 30–45%. Many long-term users saw bills double overnight at renewal.

Klaviyo is the dominant email platform for eCommerce, particularly Shopify brands. Its pricing scales steeply with list size — but ROI is often justified by deep purchase-behavior segmentation that drives higher revenue per email.

Contacts	Email Only	Email + SMS
Free (250 contacts)	$0	$0 (150 SMS credits)
1,001–1,500	$30/mo	$45/mo
5,001–6,000	$100/mo	$135/mo
10,001–12,000	$175/mo	$225/mo
25,001–30,000	$400/mo	$500/mo
50,001–60,000	$700/mo	$875/mo
100,001+	Custom ($1,500+)	Custom

Klaviyo SMS Pricing

Klaviyo charges separately for SMS: $0.01/SMS for outbound, $0.01/MMS (multimedia), plus carrier fees. A campaign to 10,000 subscribers costs ~$100–150 in SMS fees alone, on top of the plan fee.

Klaviyo Hidden Costs

• Unsubscribed contacts still count: Klaviyo counts all profiles (subscribed, unsubscribed, suppressed) toward your billing tier. A 10K list with 30% churn effectively costs as if you have 13K contacts.
• Reviews add-on: Product reviews collection requires a separate Reviews module ($25–$100+/mo depending on orders).
• Multiple store billing: Each Klaviyo account connects to one store. Multiple Shopify stores = multiple Klaviyo subscriptions.

ActiveCampaign leads on marketing automation — visual workflow builder, lead scoring, CRM integration. Best for B2B teams running complex nurture sequences. Pricing is competitive compared to HubSpot but adds up with contact volume.

Plan	500 contacts	5K contacts	25K contacts	Key Features
Starter	$15/mo	$61/mo	$145/mo	Email, automation, forms, 1 user
Plus	$49/mo	$105/mo	$229/mo	CRM, landing pages, 3 users, lead scoring
Professional	$79/mo	$169/mo	$369/mo	Predictive sending, site messaging, 5 users
Enterprise	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom reporting, SSO, custom mailserver

ActiveCampaign Strengths

• Best-in-class visual automation builder — complex multi-branch workflows without code
• Built-in CRM on Plus+ plans (no separate CRM subscription needed for simple B2B sales)
• Predictive sending AI (Professional+) optimizes delivery time per contact
• Per-contact pricing is more forgiving than Mailchimp at higher volumes

Kit rebranded from ConvertKit in 2024 and targets creators — bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, and newsletter writers. The free plan is genuinely useful (up to 10,000 subscribers), making Kit the default starting point for individual creators.

Plan	Up to	Price	Key Features
Newsletter (Free)	10,000 subscribers	$0/mo	Unlimited email sends, landing pages, basic automations
Creator	1,000 subscribers	$29/mo	Advanced automations, integrations, free migration
Creator	10,000 subscribers	$100/mo	Same as above
Creator	50,000 subscribers	$379/mo	Same as above
Creator Pro	10,000 subscribers	$199/mo	Newsletter referral system, subscriber scoring, priority support
Creator Pro	50,000 subscribers	$599/mo	Same as above

Kit's Free Plan: What's Included and What's Not

Kit's free plan is one of the best in the industry for solo creators: unlimited sends, landing pages, forms, and basic automations for up to 10,000 subscribers. Paid plans unlock team members, advanced automations, and the newsletter referral network.

Kit vs. Beehiiv Decision

Kit wins on automation and integrations. Beehiiv wins on built-in monetization (paid subscriptions, ad network, boosts). If your goal is growing a newsletter with built-in revenue, check Beehiiv first.

Beehiiv is purpose-built for newsletter growth and monetization. Unlike general email tools, Beehiiv includes a built-in ad network, paid subscriptions, referral tracking, and boosts (paying other newsletters to grow your list). Pricing is dramatically cheaper than Mailchimp or Klaviyo.

Plan	Subscribers	Price	Key Features
Launch (Free)	Up to 2,500	$0/mo	Unlimited sends, web posts, custom domain, referral program
Grow	Up to 10,000	$42/mo	Custom newsletter themes, automations, no Beehiiv branding
Grow	Up to 100,000	$99/mo	Same as above
Scale	Up to 100,000	$149/mo	Advanced segmentation, 3D analytics, A/B testing
Enterprise	100K+	Custom	Dedicated support, API access, custom integrations

Beehiiv's Monetization Add-ons

• Beehiiv Ad Network: Opt in to sponsored placements in your newsletter — Beehiiv handles advertiser relationships and pays you per send (CPMs typically $1–$3). No cost to publishers.
• Paid subscriptions: Charge readers for premium content. Beehiiv takes 5% of subscription revenue (declining with plan level).
• Boosts: Pay to be recommended by other newsletters. Typically $1.50–$3 per new verified subscriber. Cost depends on your spend.

Beehiiv vs. Mailchimp at 50K Subscribers

Beehiiv Grow: $99/month. Mailchimp Standard: $350+/month. For newsletter publishers, Beehiiv saves $3,000+/year at this list size.

Brevo charges by email sends, not subscriber count. This makes it dramatically cheaper for large lists that send infrequently — you pay for what you send, not who you hold. Particularly popular with European companies due to GDPR-native infrastructure.

Plan	Monthly Emails	Price
Free	300/day (9,000/mo)	$0
Starter	20,000/mo	$25/mo
Starter	40,000/mo	$35/mo
Business	60,000/mo	$65/mo
Business	120,000/mo	$89/mo

A 50K subscriber list sending one monthly newsletter (50,000 emails) costs $65/month on Brevo vs. $350–700/month on Mailchimp or Klaviyo. Brevo is the cheapest option for low-frequency broadcast emails to large lists.