The free plan is not the product
Every vendor's pricing page opens with the contact count, because that number is the easiest to compare. The number that decides whether you stay free is the monthly send cap, and it usually sits two clicks further down the page.
A list of 1,000 subscribers against a cap of 500 sends is not a free plan. It is a trial that renews every month. Before comparing features, work out one figure: subscribers multiplied by the number of campaigns you intend to send each month. If that figure is above the cap, the plan is paid, whatever the headline says.
Four tools, four different jobs
There is no single best free tier. There is only the tier that matches the job you actually have.
- Mailchimp — the beginner's default. Templates, a landing page builder and a welcome sequence are all present on the free tier, which is why it is the usual first stop for a shop that has never sent a campaign.
- Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) — built around transactional mail and SMS. If your need is order confirmations and shipping notices rather than newsletters, the fact that transactional mail is included matters more than the size of the daily allowance.
- ConvertKit — built for people who sell their own writing. Unlimited sends on the free tier, forms, and tagging, with a deliberately plain editor.
- MailerLite — the most generous free allowance of the group, with a drag-and-drop editor, automation workflows and landing pages included.
What each free tier actually caps
| Tool | Contacts | Sending allowance | Automation | Landing pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | 500 | 500 per month | Basic | Yes |
| Brevo | Unlimited | 300 per day | Basic | No |
| ConvertKit | 1,000 | Unlimited | Basic | Yes |
| MailerLite | 1,000 | 12,000 per month | Advanced | Yes |
Read the second column and the third column together. Unlimited contacts next to 300 per day means the list can grow without cost while the number of campaigns you can send in a month stays fixed.
The three limits nobody checks until month two
1. Contacts versus sends. A list grows; a sending cap does not. The moment your list crosses the point where one campaign exceeds the cap, the free tier is over.
2. Daily versus monthly. A daily allowance looks bigger than it is. If your rhythm is one campaign a month to the whole list, a monthly cap of 12,000 leaves far more room than a daily cap of 300 spread over 30 days.
3. Seats and pages. One user on the free tier is fine for a solo operator and a problem for a shop where two people handle orders and marketing. Landing page limits behave the same way: generous until you need a fifth page.
Migration is the expensive part
Moving a list is not hard. Moving a list and the automations attached to it is. Welcome sequences, tags and pop-up forms rarely export cleanly, so the real cost of switching is the afternoon spent rebuilding the flows.
Two habits keep that cost low:
- Export the list to a CSV on the same day every month, so a migration never depends on a vendor's export tool working on the day you need it.
- Keep the automation logic short. A welcome sequence of three emails is portable; a branching workflow with a dozen rules is not.
Why this still matters
Email remains the channel with the most direct line to revenue. The widely cited figure is a return of $42 for every $1 spent, and conversion rates in the 3-5% range are normal for a well-kept list. Those are averages across businesses of every size, so treat them as a reason to start rather than as a forecast.
A five-step check before you sign up
- Count the subscribers you expect within a year, not the ones you have today.
- Multiply by the number of campaigns you will actually send in a month.
- Compare that figure with the sending cap, not with the contact cap.
- Check whether transactional mail is included, because order confirmations are the one email you cannot skip.
- Export your list once, before you need to.
FAQ
Is a free plan enough for a shop with 500 subscribers?
Usually yes, provided you send no more than one campaign a month and the free tier includes transactional mail.
What happens when the cap is hit mid-month?
Sending stops. Nothing is deleted, but the campaigns scheduled for the rest of the month do not go out, which is why the cap should be checked before a launch rather than after.
Do I need SMS from day one?
No. SMS is worth adding when the message is time-sensitive, such as a delivery window or a pickup reminder, and not before.
The full comparison, with the pricing detail for each tier, is in the original guide: https://tanit365.com/en/blog/posts/free-email-marketing-tools-2026/
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