Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The best email marketing service for a small business depends on how many contacts it bills, how often you send, and which tools you need—not just the advertised starting price. Brevo is a low-cost choice for high-volume or infrequent sending, while MailerLite suits straightforward newsletters, Omnisend focuses on ecommerce, and HubSpot connects email to a CRM.
Prices below are U.S. starting prices checked on August 9, 2026. Provider documentation linked in each section is the source for the stated prices, limits, and features; your actual bill may vary with contact counts, send volume, billing frequency, seats, and add-ons.
Best email marketing services for small businesses at a glance
| Service | Starting price | Best for | Main pricing risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | Free; Starter from $9/month | Low-cost, high-volume sending | Free plan allows 300 emails per day |
| MailerLite | Free; Comfort from $12/month | Newsletters, forms, landing pages | Free sending locks above 250 active subscribers |
| Mailchimp | Free below 250 contacts; Essentials from $13/month | Integrations and familiar campaign tools | Free plan is limited to 500 sends per month |
| Constant Contact | Lite from $12/month | Local businesses and events | Overage fees may apply |
| GetResponse | Starter from $19/month | Funnels, automation, webinars | Advanced features require higher plans |
| AWeber | Free up to 500 subscribers; Lite from $15/month | Traditional email marketing and support | Price rises with subscriber count |
| Kit | Free; Creator from $39/month | Creators and digital products | Paid plans are expensive for a basic newsletter |
| Omnisend | Free; Standard from $16/month | Shopify and ecommerce automation | Non-subscribers receiving automations can be billable |
| ActiveCampaign | From $15/month under 1,000 contacts | Complex behavioral automation | Several useful capabilities are add-ons |
| HubSpot Marketing Hub | Free tools; Starter from $20/month per seat | Email connected to a CRM | Professional and Enterprise costs escalate sharply |
These are starting prices, not guaranteed monthly bills. Contact counts, send volume, billing frequency, seats, and optional features can all change the total.
1. Brevo: best for low-cost, high-volume sending
Brevo’s pricing-plan documentation describes a good fit for businesses with many stored contacts but relatively infrequent sends, or those needing transactional email, SMS, and basic CRM tools.
#1 Best Overall
- The Free plan stores up to 100,000 contacts but limits sending to 300 emails per day. It includes email and SMS campaigns, transactional email, a drag-and-drop editor, basic reporting, and automation for up to 2,000 contacts.
- Starter begins at $9 per month and removes the Free plan’s daily sending limit. Entry tiers include 5,000 monthly emails for up to 500 stored contacts, 10,000 emails for up to 1,500 contacts, and 15,000 emails for up to 2,500 contacts.
Brevo is not simply an unlimited-contact service. The email-volume tier determines the permitted stored-contact limit on relevant plans. Brevo can warn at 85% of the contact limit and automatically upgrade an account when the limit is reached or exceeded.
Choose it if: you need inexpensive campaigns, transactional messages, or SMS and can plan around volume tiers. The Free plan is unsuitable for a business that regularly sends more than 300 messages in a day.
2. MailerLite: best for straightforward newsletters and landing pages
MailerLite’s pricing page supports service businesses, consultants, nonprofits, or small teams that want newsletters, signup forms, landing pages, and basic automation without a full CRM.
- The Free plan includes 2,500 emails per month, but sending campaigns and automations is locked once active subscribers exceed 250.
- Comfort starts at $12 per month. Power starts at $25 per month.
- Comfort includes unlimited templates, campaign auto-resend, multivariate testing, an unsubscribe-page builder, a preference center, AI writing assistance, and smart sending.
- Power adds unlimited users, monthly emails, automations, forms, digital products, and bookings.
MailerLite counts active subscribers rather than simply counting every record in the account. However, an address that was active at any point during the billing cycle counts until the billing anniversary, even if it is later removed. Paid accounts can also be moved automatically to the next subscriber tier.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
The Free plan does not support email sending through the API or MCP server. Paid plans are needed for that use case.
Choose it if: you want a clean, relatively simple system and do not need sophisticated sales-pipeline automation.
3. Mailchimp: best for integrations and general-purpose marketing
Mailchimp’s pricing page is useful for businesses that depend on integrations, established templates, and a familiar campaign workflow. Its free plan is much smaller than many older comparison articles suggest.
- The current Free plan supports up to 250 contacts, 500 email sends per month, and a maximum of 500 stored contacts. Sending is paused if the contact or send limit is exceeded.
- Essentials starts at $13 per month for up to 500 contacts and 5,000 monthly sends.
- Standard starts at $20 per month for up to 500 contacts and 6,000 monthly sends.
- Premium starts at $350 per month for the displayed entry configuration of 10,000 contacts and 150,000 monthly sends.
Paid plans include professionally designed templates, 24/7 email and chat support, scheduled sending, and removal of Mailchimp watermarks. Standard adds automation, AI writing and design tools, predictive customer-behavior features, and additional reporting.
Recommended Free Tools
Rank #2
Choose it if: a required integration or your team’s familiarity with Mailchimp is worth paying for. Do not choose it solely because you remember the old 2,000-contact free plan.
4. Constant Contact: best for local businesses and support
Constant Contact’s pricing page positions the service for businesses that combine email with events, social posting, ecommerce, payments, and hands-on support. It can suit a local retailer, community organization, event organizer, or nonprofit.
- Lite starts at $12 per month, Standard at $35, and Premium at $80.
- Lite includes one automation template and one custom segment.
- Standard adds subject-line testing, three automation templates, automatic resend to non-openers, and 10 custom segments.
- Premium adds dynamic content, unlimited automation templates, ecommerce templates, custom automations, and unlimited custom segments.
Monthly send allowances are calculated as a multiple of the highest contact tier: 10 times contacts for Lite, 12 times contacts for Standard, and 24 times contacts for Premium. Constant Contact’s send-allowance documentation notes that overage fees may apply if the allowance is exceeded.
The platform also advertises social posting, event tools, ecommerce and payment capabilities, and more than 300 integrations, including Canva, Shopify, Eventbrite, Google, Microsoft, and Zapier.
Choose it if: phone or chat support and event or social features matter as much as newsletter automation.
5. GetResponse: best for unlimited sends and broader funnels
GetResponse’s pricing page describes a broader platform combining email with landing pages, signup forms, funnels, automation, webinars, and—in higher plans—commerce and transactional capabilities.
- Starter is listed at $19 per month when paid monthly, or $15.58 per month billed annually.
- Starter includes unlimited monthly email sends, AI content tools, a welcome email series, one custom automation workflow, landing pages, forms, popups, and a free custom domain with the yearly plan.
- Contact-list options include 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000, 50,000, and 100,000 contacts.
- Marketer adds unlimited automation workflows, advanced segmentation, abandoned-cart recovery, sales funnels, promo codes, revenue reports, webinars, SMS, mobile push, transactional email, and unlimited users.
Unlimited sends do not mean every feature is included. GetResponse describes transactional email as an add-on for MAX plans with custom, volume-based pricing.
Choose it if: replacing several separate tools for email, funnels, landing pages, and webinars could save your business money and administrative time.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →6. AWeber: best for traditional email marketing and support
AWeber’s pricing documentation describes a conventional newsletter and autoresponder platform with landing pages, segmentation, automation, and support options.
- The Free plan supports up to 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails per month, with one list profile and one workflow automation.
- Lite starts at $15 per month, or $12.50 per month billed annually, for up to 500 subscribers and 5,000 monthly sends.
- Plus starts at $30 per month monthly, or $20 per month annually, for up to 500 subscribers and 6,000 monthly sends.
- At the 500-subscriber tier, Lite allows three automations, three landing pages, three users, and one custom segment. Plus provides unlimited versions of those features.
The Free plan is capped at 500 subscribers; exceeding that limit prompts an upgrade. As with most subscriber-based services, the bill rises as the list grows.
Choose it if: you want a traditional email platform with landing pages, autoresponder-style automation, and strong support rather than an all-in-one CRM.
7. Kit: best for creators and newsletter-led businesses
Kit’s pricing page is geared toward creators who distribute content and sell digital products, subscriptions, courses, or services.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
- The free Newsletter plan supports up to 1,000 subscribers.
- It includes unlimited landing pages and forms, unlimited broadcasts, tagging and segmentation, digital products and subscriptions, and one basic Visual Automation.
- Creator starts at $39 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers. Creator Pro starts at $79 per month.
- Both paid plans include Visual Automations, automation rules, link triggers, tagging, segmentation, digital products, custom domains, sequences, broadcasts, and custom email templates.
Kit’s plan comparison says Creator supports two subject-line A/B variants. Creator Pro supports up to five, adds email-content A/B testing, unlimited team members, advanced deliverability reporting, engagement scoring, collaborative editing, Facebook Custom Audiences synchronization, referrals, and acquisition and sales analytics. Annual billing provides two months free, and both paid plans offer a 14-day trial without a credit card.
Choose it if: your email list is a core business asset and you earn from content or digital products. For a basic local-business newsletter, Kit’s paid price may be difficult to justify.
8. Omnisend: best for ecommerce email automation
Omnisend’s 2026 pricing documentation describes an ecommerce-focused service for product recommendations, abandoned-cart messages, purchase follow-ups, and customer segments connected to a store platform.
- Free includes the core features but allows 500 emails per month to a maximum of 250 unique contacts.
- Standard starts at $16 per month and provides email credits equal to contact count multiplied by 12 per billing cycle.
- Pro starts at $59 per month and includes unlimited email and push notifications.
Its most important billing detail is that billable contacts include subscribers and non-subscribers who receive automated messages. An order confirmation, cart reminder, or behavioral message can therefore affect your bill even when the recipient has not opted into promotional email. Check Audience → Total billable contacts before estimating costs.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFor users subscribing on or after May 4, 2026, SMS is unavailable on Free and Standard and is an add-on to Pro, starting at volume-based rates of $0.007 per SMS. Older subscribers may retain different legacy terms.
Choose it if: your store’s revenue depends on automated product and customer journeys. It is unnecessary complexity for a business that only sends a monthly announcement.
9. ActiveCampaign: best for advanced behavioral automation
ActiveCampaign suits businesses that need different journeys for leads based on page visits, clicks, purchases, sales stages, or other behaviors. Its pricing page is the place to check the current plan and add-on configuration.
- Pricing starts at $15 per month for accounts with fewer than 1,000 contacts.
- Starter is intended for essential email marketing and light automation, with one user seat, up to 25,000 contacts, and no more than five actions per automation.
- Plus adds landing pages, native ad platforms, web push notifications, AI content generation, custom permissions, segmentation, and basic reporting.
- Professional adds three user seats, advanced triggers and actions, connected automations, conditional content, predictive sending, revenue attribution, advanced reporting, and custom event tracking.
Transactional Email, SMS, Custom Reporting, Pipelines Enhanced CRM, and Sales Engagement Enhanced CRM are add-ons rather than universally included features. The 14-day trial allows up to 100 contacts and 100 emails, although its feature set matches the Professional tier.
PC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchChoose it if: the extra revenue from behavior-based follow-up can repay the cost and complexity. It is overkill for a simple broadcast list.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.10. HubSpot Marketing Hub: best for email tied to a CRM
HubSpot’s Marketing Hub pricing information is relevant when email is part of a broader sales and customer-data system. Its advantage is the connection between marketing email, forms, contact records, sales activity, service information, and CRM reporting.
- Free tools include email marketing, forms, and live chat.
- Starter begins at $20 per month per seat and includes 1,000 marketing contacts.
- Professional starts at $890 per month, includes 2,000 marketing contacts and three Core Seats, and requires a $3,000 one-time onboarding fee.
- Enterprise starts at $3,600 per month, includes 10,000 marketing contacts and five Core Seats, and requires a $7,000 onboarding fee.
HubSpot automatically changes the contact tier when marketing-contact limits are exceeded. Marketing contacts are people engaged through marketing tools such as marketing email and ads; non-marketing contacts are treated differently under the platform’s billing rules. Additional Professional Core Seats start at $50 per month and additional Enterprise Core Seats at $75 per month under the current catalog.
HubSpot also uses credits for certain AI features. The current listed allowances are 500 credits for Starter, 3,000 for Professional, and 5,000 for Enterprise, with unused credits not rolling over.
Best Value
Choose it if: you need a CRM-centered operating system. If you only need to send newsletters, HubSpot’s higher tiers are financially difficult to defend.
How to choose without overpaying
- Estimate your real list size. Use active, billable, or marketing contacts—not the number of people in your address book. Remove duplicates and inactive records before comparing plans.
- Estimate monthly sends. A list of 500 people receiving four newsletters per month requires roughly 2,000 campaign deliveries, before automations and resend campaigns.
- Separate promotional and transactional email. Order confirmations, password messages, and cart reminders may have different pricing and compliance rules.
- Price the next tier. If you are close to a limit, compare the price after 1,000 or 2,500 contacts rather than choosing based only on the entry price.
- Check add-ons and seats. SMS, transactional email, enhanced CRM, reporting, extra users, and onboarding can cost more than the email plan.
- Match complexity to revenue. A small service business may need only forms, broadcasts, and a welcome sequence. An online store may benefit from event-based automation that a basic newsletter service cannot provide.
Deliverability requirements you still own
A provider cannot guarantee that every campaign reaches the inbox. Your domain reputation, list quality, complaint rate, authentication, sending behavior, and—in some cases—shared IP reputation all matter.
Use a sending domain you control, authenticate it before the first campaign, collect consent appropriately, suppress unsubscribed addresses, and periodically remove or re-confirm inactive recipients. A platform offering SPF, DKIM, or GDPR settings does not make the business automatically compliant.
FAQ
What is the cheapest email marketing service for a small business in 2026?
Brevo has the lowest paid entry point in this comparison, with Starter from $9 per month. Its Free plan stores many contacts but limits sending to 300 emails per day. MailerLite, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and others also offer free or low-cost plans, but their contact or monthly-send limits differ.
Is Mailchimp still free for 2,000 contacts?
No. Mailchimp’s current Free plan is limited to 250 contacts, 500 email sends per month, and a maximum of 500 stored contacts. The frequently quoted 2,000-contact free allowance comes from older pricing.
Should a small business pay by contacts or by email volume?
It depends on your pattern. A contact-based plan can suit a business that sends frequent newsletters to a small list. A volume-based model such as Brevo’s can be more economical for a large list that receives occasional campaigns, but you must check stored-contact limits and monthly email allowances.
What email marketing service is best for an online store?
Omnisend is the most ecommerce-focused option in this comparison because it supports product, cart, purchase, and customer-segment automation. GetResponse can suit a business that also needs funnels and webinars. Before choosing, check whether automated messages to non-subscribers are billable and price the expected contact growth.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Brevo is the best starting point for low-cost, high-volume or infrequent sending; MailerLite is the simplest all-round choice for many small service businesses; Mailchimp is worth considering when integrations matter; Omnisend is the specialist pick for ecommerce; Kit is built for creators; and HubSpot is justified only when email needs to live inside a broader CRM. Compare the next pricing tier, not just the advertised entry price, and budget for list maintenance, extra seats, SMS, transactional email, and possible overages.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
