Mailchimp Alternatives: 5 Email Marketing Tools Compared for 2026
The best Mailchimp alternatives compared: MailerLite, Brevo, Kit, Klaviyo and beehiiv. Free plans, pricing as of September 2026 and who each suits.
Mythex Team · · 5 min read
The best Mailchimp alternatives are MailerLite for a simple, affordable all-rounder, Brevo if you want pricing based on emails sent rather than contacts, Kit for creators with a large free plan, Klaviyo for online stores, and beehiiv for newsletter publishers who want to grow and earn from their list. Mailchimp itself is still a capable platform with automation flows, generative AI and plenty of integrations. Switch when price, limits or focus stop fitting, not just for novelty.
What Mailchimp offers today
As of September 2026, Mailchimp lists:
- Free: $0 for up to 250 contacts, with up to 500 sends a month (250 a day), 1 audience and 1 seat.
- Essentials: from $13/month, with A/B testing, scheduling and up to 3 audiences.
- Standard: from $20/month, with automation flows, generative AI features and custom templates.
- Premium: from $350/month, with predictive segmentation and phone support.
Paid prices rise with the number of contacts. Essentials and Standard have a 14-day free trial.
Why people look for Mailchimp alternatives
- Cost as the list grows. Pricing is based on contacts, so a large list can get expensive even if you email rarely.
- A small free plan. 250 contacts doesn't go far.
- A different focus. Stores often want deep ecommerce features and SMS; writers often want paid subscriptions and a website in one place.
- Simplicity. Some teams want fewer features and a cleaner editor.
Mailchimp alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Best for | Free plan (as of Sept 2026) | Entry paid price (as of Sept 2026) | Pricing based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | All-round small business marketing | 250 contacts, 500 sends/month | Essentials from $13/month | Contacts |
| MailerLite | Simple, affordable newsletters and automations | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month | Comfort $12/month (500 subscribers) | Subscribers |
| Brevo | Email plus SMS and WhatsApp, larger lists | Up to 300 emails/day | Starter from $9/month (5,000 emails/month) | Emails sent |
| Kit | Creators selling products and newsletters | Up to 10,000 subscribers | Creator $33/month (1,000 subscribers) | Subscribers |
| Klaviyo | Online stores | 250 active profiles, 500 sends/month | Priced by active profiles | Profiles |
| beehiiv | Newsletter publishers | Up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends | Scale $43/month billed annually | Subscribers |
How we compared
We compared the publicly stated features, plans and prices on each vendor's own pricing page as of September 2026. We did not do hands-on testing or measure deliverability, and we left out anything we couldn't confirm on the vendors' sites. Prices are in US dollars as shown on those pages and scale with list size, so check the calculator at your own list size.
MailerLite: the simple all-rounder
MailerLite covers newsletters, automations, sign-up forms, landing pages and websites in a clean interface.
- Free: up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, 3 automations, 1 website or landing page.
- Comfort: $12/month billed monthly ($10.80 billed yearly) for up to 500 subscribers, with 50 automations, an AI writing assistant and removal of MailerLite branding.
- Power: $25/month billed monthly ($22.50 yearly) for up to 500 subscribers, with unlimited automations, unlimited monthly emails and unlimited user seats.
- Strengths: straightforward, with a lot included at low list sizes.
- Pick it if you want the closest thing to "Mailchimp, but simpler".
Brevo: pay for emails, not contacts
Brevo is a marketing platform covering email, SMS and WhatsApp, with separate sales plans.
- Free: once your account is approved for sending, up to 300 emails a day.
- Starter: from $9/month, starting at 5,000 emails a month, with an AI content generator, segmentation and forms.
- Standard: from $18/month, adding marketing automation, A/B testing and landing pages.
- Professional: from $499/month.
- Strengths: pricing based mainly on how many emails you send, which suits a large list you email occasionally; multiple channels in one tool.
- Pick it if you have lots of contacts but a modest sending volume, or you want SMS alongside email.
Kit: built for creators
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is designed for creators who run newsletters and sell digital products.
- Free: up to 10,000 subscribers, with unlimited landing pages, forms and broadcasts, and the ability to sell digital products and subscriptions.
- Creator: $33/month billed yearly ($390/year) for 1,000 subscribers, adding visual automations, email sequences and A/B testing.
- Pro: $66/month billed yearly for 1,000 subscribers, adding engagement scoring, deliverability reporting and unlimited users.
- Fees: digital product sales carry a 3.5% + 30¢ transaction fee.
- Pick it if you're a creator with a growing list and want a generous free plan.
Klaviyo: for online stores
Klaviyo is built for retail and ecommerce, with integrations for Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix and other store platforms.
- Free: up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month, plus a small allowance for mobile messages.
- Paid plans: priced by active profiles and channels; Klaviyo's pricing page uses an estimate tool rather than a single headline price, and shows localised prices in several countries.
- Strengths: built around store data such as orders and browsing, with email and SMS together.
- Pick it if your business is an online store and email is a big sales channel.
beehiiv: for newsletter publishers
beehiiv combines a newsletter, a website and ways to earn from your audience.
- Launch (free): up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, a website, custom domains and an AI website builder.
- Scale: $43/month billed annually ($49 month to month), adding an ad network, paid subscriptions with a 0% take rate, digital products and automations.
- Max: $96/month billed annually, adding more publications, unlimited team seats and removal of beehiiv branding.
- Pick it if the newsletter is the product and you want to grow and monetise it.
Who each suits
- Small business sending a monthly newsletter: MailerLite or Mailchimp.
- Large list, occasional sends, or SMS too: Brevo.
- Creator selling courses, templates or a paid newsletter: Kit or beehiiv.
- Online store: Klaviyo, or Mailchimp if you want one tool for everything.
Where your own app fits in
Email platforms handle bulk marketing: lists, unsubscribes, templates and deliverability. That's hard to replicate and usually not worth building.
What you may want to build yourself is the part around it: a waitlist page, a sign-up flow, a customer portal that sends a welcome email, or a form that adds people to your list. With an AI app builder like Mythex, you describe the page or flow in chat and the AI agent builds it. Mythex doesn't include its own email sending; the agent connects a provider you choose, such as Resend or SendGrid for transactional email, using your API key stored as a secret. See how to send emails from your app, the send email recipe, and how to build a waitlist page.
Before you switch
- Export your list with tags, segments and consent information.
- Check consent rules. Only import people who agreed to hear from you; check local rules.
- Rebuild automations such as welcome series. They rarely transfer automatically.
- Warm up gradually. Start by sending to your most engaged subscribers.
- Update forms on your website so new sign-ups go to the new tool.
Verdict
Mailchimp is still a solid all-rounder, but it's no longer the obvious default. MailerLite is the closest simpler, cheaper swap for most small businesses. Brevo suits large lists and multi-channel marketing. Kit and beehiiv are the strongest picks for creators and newsletter businesses. Klaviyo is the specialist for online stores. Price each option at your real list size and sending volume before deciding. If you're building a site around a newsletter, see how to build a newsletter website.
Questions
What is the best free alternative to Mailchimp?
It depends on your list. As of September 2026, Kit's free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, beehiiv's free Launch plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends, and MailerLite's free plan covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Mailchimp's own free plan is limited to 250 contacts.
Is MailerLite cheaper than Mailchimp?
At small list sizes, usually. As of September 2026, MailerLite's Comfort plan starts at $12 a month billed monthly for up to 500 subscribers, while Mailchimp's Essentials plan starts at $13 a month. Compare at your actual list size, because both scale with subscribers.
Which Mailchimp alternative is best for ecommerce?
Klaviyo is built for online stores, with integrations for Shopify, WooCommerce and other platforms and both email and SMS. Its free plan covers up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month as of September 2026.
Which is better for newsletters, Kit or beehiiv?
Both are built for creators. Kit is strong on automations and selling digital products, with a free plan up to 10,000 subscribers. beehiiv combines a newsletter with a website, an ad network and paid subscriptions with no take rate on its paid plans.
Can I send marketing emails from my own app instead?
You can send transactional emails, such as sign-up confirmations, from your own app using a provider like Resend or SendGrid. For bulk marketing newsletters, a dedicated email platform is usually the better choice because it handles unsubscribes, deliverability and compliance tools for you.