Free alternatives to MailerLite
MailerLite has the nicest editor in the budget tier, but its free plan has been cut over time to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, with only 3 signup forms and 3 active automations (as of July 2026). That is a trial, not a home, and most lists cross 250 subscribers quickly. Paid Comfort at $12 a month is fair. But if you would rather not pay yet, or you want a bigger free plan, several tools give you far more room for nothing.
Facts checked as of July 2026Read our MailerLite review
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Brevo
Best Free Alternative ToMailerLiteStores up to 100,000 contacts free, so you never hit MailerLite's 250 ceiling
Brevo removes the limit that makes MailerLite's free plan feel small. You store up to 100,000 contacts for free and pay only for emails sent (as of July 2026), so a growing list does not push you onto a paid plan. The free plan sends 300 emails a day, about 9,000 a month, and includes the builder, forms, basic automation, a CRM, and transactional email. Paid Starter begins at $9 a month for 5,000 emails.
- Free plan, paid from $9/month (as of July 2026)
- France
France- Best for:
- Anyone whose MailerLite free plan filled up at 250 subscribers
- The catch:
- The 300 is a daily ceiling, not a monthly pool, and Brevo's editor is not as polished as MailerLite's.
Compared to MailerLite
- Advantage: Up to 100,000 free contacts versus MailerLite's 250
- Advantage: About 9,000 free emails a month versus MailerLite's 2,500
- Advantage: Basic automation on free, without MailerLite's 3-workflow cap
- Advantage: Marketing and transactional email from one account
- Tradeoff: Editor and templates are less polished than MailerLite's
- Tradeoff: Daily 300-email cap limits one-off blasts
- Tradeoff: No native paid-newsletter or digital product sales
Ten times the free subscribers and six times the free sending
Sender is the closest like-for-like: a drag-and-drop email tool aimed at small shops and creators, but with a much bigger free plan. Free Forever covers 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, with automation, landing pages, forms, and popups included (as of July 2026), where MailerLite caps automations at 3. The editor is not as refined as MailerLite's, which is the tradeoff.
- Free plan, paid from $7/month (as of July 2026)
- Lithuania
Lithuania- Best for:
- Creators who want MailerLite's shape with a free plan that actually lasts
- The catch:
- The editor and templates feel a step behind MailerLite's, and Sender's free plan is single-seat.
Compared to MailerLite
- Advantage: 2,500 free subscribers versus MailerLite's 250
- Advantage: 15,000 free emails a month versus MailerLite's 2,500
- Advantage: Automation, landing pages, and popups free, no 3-workflow cap
- Advantage: Entry paid pricing around $7 versus MailerLite's $12
- Tradeoff: Editor is less polished than MailerLite's
- Tradeoff: No paid-newsletter or digital product sales
- Tradeoff: Lower brand recognition, thinner integrations
A simple newsletter tool with a 2,500-subscriber free plan
EmailOctopus is a deliberately small newsletter tool. Free covers 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month (as of July 2026), ten times MailerLite's free subscriber count. It has no CRM or SMS, just campaigns, and EmailOctopus Connect can route sending through your own Amazon SES for near-wholesale rates. Pro starts at $9 a month billed annually.
- Free plan, paid from $9/month (as of July 2026)
- United Kingdom
United Kingdom- Best for:
- Newsletter writers who want simplicity and a bigger free list than MailerLite gives
- The catch:
- The editor is more basic than MailerLite's, and subscribers and monthly sends are two separate limits you can hit independently.
Compared to MailerLite
- Advantage: 2,500 free subscribers versus MailerLite's 250
- Advantage: 10,000 free emails a month versus MailerLite's 2,500
- Advantage: Amazon SES routing gets cheap at high volume
- Tradeoff: Editor is more basic than MailerLite's
- Tradeoff: No paid-newsletter or digital product features
- Tradeoff: Free reporting history is capped
Sells paid subscriptions and bills only on active readers
Buttondown is a writer-first tool that, like MailerLite, supports paid newsletter subscriptions, but bills on active subscribers rather than everyone in your database. You write in Markdown, send from your own domain, and get a hosted archive. Free covers your first 100 subscribers and at most one email a day to your list (as of July 2026). Beyond that, features are add-ons: paid subscriptions and analytics are $9 a month each, automations $29.
- Free plan (as of July 2026)
- United States
United States- Best for:
- Writers who want a calm tool and paid subscriptions without MailerLite's interface
- The catch:
- 100 free subscribers is smaller than MailerLite's 250, and the a la carte add-ons stack quickly.
Compared to MailerLite
- Advantage: Bills only on active subscribers, unlike per-subscriber pricing
- Advantage: Paid newsletter subscriptions available
- Advantage: Markdown editor and custom domain from the free plan
- Tradeoff: 100 free subscribers versus MailerLite's 250
- Tradeoff: Roughly one email a day at published prices
- Tradeoff: Analytics, segmentation, and automations are separate add-ons
- Tradeoff: No visual drag-and-drop builder
No subscriber or send limits, if you self-host
listmonk is a self-hosted, AGPL-3.0 mailing list manager in one Go binary against Postgres, with no subscriber or sending limits at all. Nothing like MailerLite's 250-subscriber ceiling applies because there is no vendor. It handles subscribers, SQL segmentation, templates, and campaigns. The catch: listmonk does not deliver email, so you supply and pay an SMTP provider, and you own deliverability.
- Completely free (as of July 2026)
- India
- Open source (AGPL-3.0)
India- Best for:
- Technical people with large lists who do not want per-subscriber pricing
- The catch:
- Free software, not free email. You run a server, pay an SMTP provider per email, and there is no visual builder to match MailerLite's.
Compared to MailerLite
- Advantage: No subscriber or send limits versus MailerLite's 250
- Advantage: No monthly cost for the software itself
- Advantage: Full ownership of subscriber data
- Tradeoff: Requires a server, Postgres, and DNS setup
- Tradeoff: Editor is functional, nowhere near MailerLite's design
- Tradeoff: You own deliverability and the SMTP bill
- Tradeoff: No landing pages, popups, or paid-newsletter tools
Built for SaaS, with transactional email included
Loops suits software teams rather than creators, merging marketing and transactional email on one contact record. Every feature is on one plan priced by contact count. Free covers under 1,000 contacts and 4,000 sends per 30 days (as of July 2026). The paid plan is $49 a month for 5,000 contacts with unlimited sends. It is a different tool from MailerLite, and the fit depends on whether you run a product.
- Free plan, paid from $49/month (as of July 2026)
- United States
- Best for:
- SaaS teams who need product and marketing email together, not creators
- The catch:
- 1,000 free contacts and 4,000 sends is development-stage, and the jump to $49 a month is steep next to MailerLite's $12.
Compared to MailerLite
- Advantage: 1,000 free contacts versus MailerLite's 250
- Advantage: Transactional email included on paid plans
- Advantage: One plan with every feature, no tiers
- Tradeoff: 4,000 free sends per 30 days, transactional counts against it
- Tradeoff: First paid tier is $49 versus MailerLite's $12
- Tradeoff: No landing pages, popups, or paid-newsletter features
- Tradeoff: Built for products sending events, not creators
More depth and integrations, at a higher price
Mailchimp is the incumbent MailerLite is often chosen to escape, so it sits here for context. It is more capable, with deep reporting, a huge integration catalogue, and good customer journeys. But the free plan is 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, capped at 250 a day (as of July 2026), smaller on sending than MailerLite, and paid plans price on total contacts. Essentials starts at $13 a month.
- Free plan, paid from $13/month (as of July 2026)
- United States
- Best for:
- Ecommerce teams who use Mailchimp's Shopify integrations and journeys
- The catch:
- 500 free emails a month is below MailerLite's 2,500, and you pay for inactive contacts, so most MailerLite users would not switch here to save.
Compared to MailerLite
- Advantage: Deeper reporting and far more integrations
- Advantage: Customer journeys and predictive segmentation are strong
- Tradeoff: Same 250 free contacts, but only 500 emails versus 2,500
- Tradeoff: Prices on total contacts, inactive included
- Tradeoff: Free plan cut repeatedly over the years
How to choose
If the problem is that 250 subscribers filled up fast, Brevo never charges for contacts and stores up to 100,000 free. Sender is the closest like-for-like, a drag-and-drop tool with ten times the free subscribers. EmailOctopus suits simple newsletters, and Buttondown adds paid subscriptions while billing only on active readers. Self-host listmonk only if DNS records are familiar territory. Stay on MailerLite if its editor is the whole reason you are here, because nothing free matches it.