MailerLite review

The nicest editor in the budget tier, behind a 250-subscriber door

MailerLite is the tool people recommend when someone says Mailchimp is too expensive and too complicated. The editor is genuinely pleasant, the default templates do not need rescuing, and the whole interface is calm in a way that its competitors are not.

The catch arrived with pricing changes: the free plan is now 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails per month, well below what Sender and EmailOctopus hand out.

Who this fits, from design-led creators to paid newsletters

• Creators and small businesses who care how their emails look
• People selling paid newsletters or digital products, which MailerLite supports natively
• Anyone who wants a tool they will not outgrow, since paid tiers go deep
• Teams who found Mailchimp's interface heavy going

250 subscribers, and $12 is the price of the 251st

As of July 2026: 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails per month. You are also capped at 1 website and landing page, 3 signup forms, and 3 active automations. There is no custom domain, and live chat support ends after your first 14 days.

2,500 emails across 250 subscribers is ten sends each per month, so the sending allowance is not the binding constraint. The 250-subscriber ceiling is, and most lists cross it quickly.

Three automations, three forms, one landing page: the free limits

• The free plan is one of the smaller ones in this category and has been cut over time
• Prices on Comfort and Power have risen at every subscriber level
• Some features that feel standard, like popups and the custom HTML editor, sit on the more expensive Power tier
• New accounts go through a manual approval review before you can send, which can take a day
• Automation on the free plan stops at three active workflows, which is limiting for anything beyond a welcome series

Worth paying for, not worth staying free for

MailerLite is the best product in the budget tier and we would happily pay for it. As a free tool it is much weaker than it once was: 250 subscribers is a starting point, not a home. Treat the free plan as a trial and plan on $12 a month, which is still a fraction of what Mailchimp charges for the same list.