Every list of free email marketing tools starts the same way: a table of generous free plans that mostly no longer exist. MailerLite’s free plan is still widely quoted at 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month. It was cut to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails in June 2026. Mailchimp’s free plan is still described as 500 contacts and 1,000 sends. It was cut to 250 contacts and 500 sends in February 2026. If you choose a tool from those numbers, you are planning around limits you will never actually get.
So this list was rebuilt the slow way. Every free plan below was read on the vendor’s own pricing page in October 2026, limit by limit: how many subscribers or contacts you can hold, how many emails you can send, whether automation is included, and what the first paid step costs when you outgrow free. Seven tools made the cut. All seven have a real free plan, not a trial with a countdown. For a wider comparison beyond free plans, see our guide to the best email marketing tools, checked on real costs and limits.
The quick facts
- Biggest free list: Kit holds up to 10,000 subscribers on its free plan, the largest ceiling here by a wide margin.
- Most free sending: Brevo allows 300 emails a day with up to 100,000 contacts stored, and Beehiiv and Kit both allow unlimited broadcasts or sends.
- Free automation: Brevo, MailerLite and Sender include automation on their free plans. Kit, Beehiiv and Mailchimp keep it behind a paid plan.
- Smallest free plans: MailerLite and Mailchimp now tie at the bottom, 250 subscribers or contacts each, after both cut their free tiers in 2026.
- Cheapest upgrade: Zoho Campaigns starts paid plans at $3 a month billed annually. The most expensive first step here is Beehiiv at $49 a month billed yearly.
- All limits and prices below come from the vendors’ official pricing pages, read in October 2026.
The 7 free plans at a glance
| Tool | Free list size | Free sending | Automation on free | First paid plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | 100,000 contacts | 300 emails a day | Yes, up to 2,000 contacts | $9 a month |
| MailerLite | 250 subscribers | 2,500 emails a month | Yes | $12 a month |
| Kit | 10,000 subscribers | Unlimited broadcasts | No | $33 a month, billed yearly |
| Sender | 2,500 subscribers | 15,000 emails a month | Yes | $9 a month |
| Beehiiv | 2,500 subscribers | Unlimited sends | No | $49 a month, billed yearly |
| Zoho Campaigns | 2,000 contacts | 6,000 emails a month | Basic workflows on paid plans | $3 a month, billed annually |
| Mailchimp | 250 contacts | 500 emails a month | No | $13 a month |
Notice the pattern before we go tool by tool: there are two kinds of free plan. Some tools cap how many people you can store, others cap how much you can send, and the strictest cap both. Which kind suits you depends on whether your list is big or your sending is frequent, and that choice matters more than any feature list.
Brevo
Brevo prices by sending volume instead of list size, and on the free plan that works heavily in your favour. You can store up to 100,000 contacts and send 300 emails every day, roughly 9,000 a month, forever, with no credit card asked for at signup. Marketing automation is included, limited to audiences of 2,000 contacts, and there is a built-in CRM alongside the email tools. For a small list that emails often, no other free plan here sends this much.
The catches are presentation and pace. Free emails carry Brevo branding in the footer, and removing it later is not free either: on the first paid plan, Starter at $9 a month for 5,000 emails a month, taking the Brevo logo off costs an extra $12 a month add-on, which is more than the plan itself. The 300-a-day rhythm also means a launch to a 5,000-person list cannot go out in one send. Brevo’s free plan rewards steady, frequent sending to a modest audience, and it is genuinely hard to beat at that job.
What we like
- 300 free emails a day, every day, with up to 100,000 contacts stored
- Automation and a CRM included on the free plan
- No credit card needed and no expiry on the free plan
What could be better
- Brevo branding sits in the footer of free emails
- Removing the logo on the Starter plan costs a $12 a month add-on
- The daily cap spreads a big launch across many days
MailerLite
MailerLite is the tool this site’s own newsletter runs on, chosen when its free plan was far bigger than it is today. In June 2026 the free plan was renamed and cut hard: 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, down from 1,000 and 12,000. Most articles recommending MailerLite still quote the old numbers, which is exactly why this list exists. What did not shrink is the product itself. The free plan still includes the drag and drop editor, signup forms, a free landing page and free automations, a combination several rivals reserve for paid tiers.
At 250 subscribers the free plan is now a starting ramp rather than a home. The first paid step, Comfort, costs $12 a month billed monthly or $10.80 billed yearly for 500 subscribers and 5,000 emails a month, which stays reasonable, and the editor remains one of the calmest around for a first-time sender. Pick MailerLite if you are starting a newsletter now and expect to pay a modest amount within the first year. If you need a free plan you can live on for longer, the next two tools hold more.
What we like
- Free automations and a free landing page included
- Clean, beginner friendly editor and forms
- The paid step up stays modest at $12 a month
What could be better
- Free plan cut to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month in 2026
- Most third party recommendations still quote the old, bigger limits
- Free support is community only
Kit
Kit, the platform formerly called ConvertKit, holds the largest free list on this page by a factor of four: up to 10,000 subscribers, with unlimited email broadcasts, unlimited landing pages and forms, tagging and segmentation, and even the ability to sell digital products and subscriptions. If your plan is to grow a list for a year or two before spending anything, nothing else free comes close on capacity.
The trade is automation. Automations and email sequences sit behind the paid plans, which means a welcome series cannot run on its own while you stay on free. When you do upgrade, the step is steeper than most: Creator starts at $33 a month billed yearly for 1,000 subscribers, and the price rises with your list size. Kit’s free plan is a warehouse, not a machine. It stores a big audience cheaply and waits for you to pay before it starts working for you.
What we like
- 10,000 free subscribers, four times the next best ceiling here
- Unlimited broadcasts, landing pages and forms on free
- You can sell digital products and subscriptions on the free plan
What could be better
- No automations or sequences until you pay
- Creator starts at $33 a month billed yearly and rises with list size
- Built for creators, so ecommerce tooling is lighter
Sender
Sender is the least famous name on this list and, on paper, the most generous all-rounder. The free plan holds 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, includes email automation, and asks for no credit card. That combination, a real list size, a real send allowance and working automation at $0, is what the bigger brands used to offer before the 2026 cuts. Sender still does.
Free emails carry Sender branding, and the free plan includes a single seat. Paid plans start from $9 a month for the Standard tier at smaller list sizes, with a first year discount shown on the pricing page, and the company is smaller than the giants here, so its template library and integration list are shorter. None of that changes the maths for a new sender: if you want automation running from day one without paying, Sender and Brevo are the two honest options, and Sender lets you keep the bigger list.
What we like
- 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, free
- Email automation included on the free plan
- No credit card required to start
What could be better
- Sender branding appears on free emails
- Smaller template and integration library than the big names
- One seat on the free plan
A free plan is not small because it is free. It is small exactly where the vendor wants your first payment to feel necessary.
Beehiiv
Beehiiv is a newsletter platform first and an email tool second. Its free plan holds 2,500 subscribers with unlimited email sends, one publication and a proper newsletter website with landing pages, plus access to its recommendation network, which swaps recommendations with other newsletters to grow your list. For a writer whose product is the newsletter itself, that growth loop is something the general email tools do not offer at any price.
Automations sit on the paid Lite plan, and that plan is the steepest first step on this list at $49 a month billed yearly for 1,000 subscribers. Beehiiv also thinks in publications rather than lists, which suits one flagship newsletter better than several brands. Choose it when the newsletter is the business. Choose one of the tools above when email is one channel among several.
What we like
- 2,500 subscribers and unlimited sends on the free plan
- A real newsletter website included, not just sending
- Recommendation network helps a new list grow
What could be better
- Automations are paid only
- Lite at $49 a month billed yearly is the priciest first step here
- One publication on free, built around a single newsletter
Zoho Campaigns
Zoho Campaigns is the quiet value pick. The Forever Free plan covers 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month for up to 5 users, with templates, a drag and drop editor and basic reporting. When free stops being enough, the upgrade is the cheapest on this page by a wide margin: Standard starts at $3 a month billed annually and includes unlimited emails. Almost nobody outgrows this pricing painfully.
The reason it ranks sixth rather than higher is fit. Campaigns makes the most sense inside the wider Zoho suite, syncing with Zoho CRM and dozens of other Zoho apps, and it feels like one module of a large system rather than a focused email product. For a business already running on Zoho, this is the natural free email choice. If you do not, the tools above are simpler places to start.
What we like
- 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month free, for up to 5 users
- Cheapest upgrade here at $3 a month billed annually
- Syncs with the rest of the Zoho suite
What could be better
- Feels like a module of a bigger system, not a focused tool
- Best value only shows if you use other Zoho apps
- Design polish lags behind MailerLite and Kit
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is the name most people start with, which is why its position at the bottom of this list needs explaining. The free plan shrank again in February 2026: 250 contacts at most, 500 sends a month with no more than 250 on any single day, one user, one audience, and no automation flows at all. A list of 250 people emailed twice a month now uses the entire free allowance. Plenty of guides online still describe the older 500 contact plan with its 1,000 monthly sends, and the plan before that was larger again. The free plan that built Mailchimp’s reputation no longer exists.
What remains genuinely strong is everything around the sending: more than 300 integrations, an editor and template library polished over two decades, and the hiring advantage that almost every marketer already knows it. Essentials is the first paid step, $13 a month at 500 contacts, and prices rise fast from there as the list grows. Mailchimp free only really fits when your list is tiny and your other tools insist on it. For almost anyone else, the six plans above give you more room before the first bill.
What we like
- 300 plus integrations, more than any rival here
- Polished editor and a huge template library
- Almost every freelancer and hire already knows it
What could be better
- Free plan cut to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month in 2026
- No automation flows on the free plan
- Paid prices climb quickly as the list grows
Best free email marketing tools: FAQs
Which free email plan gives you the most room?
It depends which limit you mean. The biggest free list belongs to Kit, which holds up to 10,000 subscribers and puts no limit on broadcasts. Brevo is the sending heavyweight here, storing up to 100,000 contacts while letting you send 300 emails daily. Sender is the most balanced of the three, pairing 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 monthly emails with automation at no cost. Each of those numbers comes from the vendor’s own pricing page, read in October 2026.
Is Mailchimp still free?
Yes, but the free plan is much smaller than most guides describe. As checked in October 2026, Mailchimp’s free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 email sends a month, with no automation flows. The February 2026 cut took it down from 500 contacts and 1,000 sends. The first paid plan, Essentials, starts at $13 a month for 500 contacts.
Which free email marketing tools include automation?
Brevo, MailerLite and Sender include automation on their free plans, although Brevo limits free automation to audiences of up to 2,000 contacts. Kit, Beehiiv and Mailchimp reserve automations and sequences for paid plans, so a welcome series on those tools means upgrading.
At what point does a free plan stop covering your list?
Usually sooner than expected, because the cap you hit is rarely the one you watched. Contact ceilings catch growing lists, send caps catch frequent senders, and feature gates catch everyone the day they want a welcome automation. The free plans here are genuinely fine for a first list. Plan the upgrade from the first paid prices in the table above, from $3 a month at Zoho Campaigns to $49 at Beehiiv, so the bill never arrives as a surprise.
More comparisons and reviews are in our Email Marketing section. Prices and free plan limits in this article were checked on official vendor pages in October 2026 and change often. Sources: Brevo pricing, MailerLite pricing, Kit pricing, Sender pricing, Beehiiv pricing, Zoho Campaigns pricing, Mailchimp pricing.
