Best Mailchimp Alternatives (2026)
Mailchimp’s free plan now covers just 250 contacts, and every stored contact counts toward your bill. Here are the alternatives worth switching to, picked by the reason you’re leaving, plus a step-by-step migration checklist.
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The quick answer
- Best overall replacement: MailerLite
- Biggest free plan for general email: Sender
- Best for big lists that email rarely: Brevo
- Best for creators: Kit (ConvertKit)
- Best for unlimited sends + funnels: GetResponse
Why people are leaving Mailchimp
- The free plan is small. Mailchimp’s Free plan is for under 250 contacts, with 500 sends a month (250 a day).
- You pay for contacts you can’t email. Subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts all count toward your contact limit. Only archived, cleaned and deleted contacts don’t.
- Going over your tier costs extra automatically. If you exceed your tier’s contact or send limit, Mailchimp adds charges for extra “add-on contact blocks” rather than pausing your account.
- Legacy plans got pricier. Benchmark Email (a Mailchimp competitor) reported that legacy plans created before May 2019 rose an average of 11–13% from April 13, 2026, after January’s free-plan cut.
Pick by the reason you’re leaving
| If your problem is… | Look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| My bill grows faster than my list | Brevo, Moosend, GetResponse | Brevo charges by emails sent; Moosend counts each unique contact once; GetResponse includes unlimited sends. |
| I need a bigger free plan | Sender, Kit (ConvertKit), systeme.io | Sender (2,500 subscribers, automation included), Kit (10,000, but no automations) and systeme.io (2,000, unlimited emails). |
| I want something just as easy, but cheaper | MailerLite, Sender | Both have simple drag-and-drop editors and low entry prices. |
| I sell courses or digital products | Kit (ConvertKit), systeme.io | Kit for email-led creators; systeme.io if you also want funnels, courses and checkout in one place. |
| I publish a newsletter | beehiiv, Kit (ConvertKit) | beehiiv for growth and ads; Kit for creators who sell. |
| I run an online store | Omnisend, Klaviyo | Ecommerce-first tools that use store and order data for automation. See our ecommerce guide. |
The best Mailchimp alternatives
We picked these from official pricing and documentation, choosing tools that fix a specific Mailchimp pain point. We use “best for” labels instead of scores, and we haven’t hands-on tested every tool yet. See how we review.
1MailerLite — Best overall replacement
The closest like-for-like swap for most small businesses: an easy editor, automations, landing pages, websites and forms, with every paid plan getting the full feature set.
Free option: Up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, including 3 active automations and a landing page.
Paid pricing: Comfort from $12/month; Power from $25/month (official FAQ).
Read MailerLite review Visit MailerLite (opens official site)
2Sender — Biggest free plan for general email
If Mailchimp’s 250-contact free plan is the problem, Sender’s Free Forever plan is ten times bigger and still includes automation, landing pages, forms and popups. It adds Sender branding and 1 seat.
Free option: Up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month; never expires. New accounts also get a 14-day Professional trial.
Paid pricing: Standard showed $6.30/month at the entry list size, billed annually as a first-year price ($75.60, normally $108/year). Professional showed $10.50/month on the same terms.
3Brevo — Best for big lists that email rarely
Brevo prices marketing plans by monthly email volume, not by how many contacts you store, so a large list you email occasionally can cost far less. Transactional email is included on all plans.
Free option: Up to 300 emails a day once your account is approved for sending.
Paid pricing: Starter from 5,000 emails a month; prices render dynamically, so check Brevo’s calculator.
4Kit (ConvertKit) — Best for creators
Built for creators who sell digital products and subscriptions. The Free plan is generous on list size, but visual automations and email sequences now need a paid plan (Creator or Creator Pro).
Free option: Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts, forms and landing pages, tagging, digital products and A/B testing on broadcasts. No automations or sequences.
Paid pricing: Paid prices render dynamically on kit.com/pricing; check current pricing.
Read Kit (ConvertKit) review Visit Kit (ConvertKit) (opens official site)
5GetResponse — Best for unlimited sends + funnels
Every standard plan includes unlimited monthly email sends, and higher tiers add sales funnels, webinars and courses, so you aren’t juggling send multiples the way you do on Mailchimp.
Free option: 14-day trial of premium features, then a limited free account.
Paid pricing: From $19/month for 1,000 contacts on monthly billing (official FAQ); yearly saves 18%.
Read GetResponse review Visit GetResponse (opens official site)
6Moosend — Best if you juggle several lists
Moosend includes unlimited email sends and an automation workflow builder with pre-built recipes. It bills on unique email addresses, so a person on several lists or segments counts once. In Mailchimp, audiences are separate and the same person in two audiences is stored twice.
Free option: No free plan: 30-day free trial with no credit card, including unlimited sends for up to 1,000 contacts.
Paid pricing: Pro is priced by list size and shown dynamically, so check current pricing. Annual billing saves 20% and bi-annual 15%; nonprofits get an extra 25%.
7systeme.io — Best all-in-one for course sellers
If you use Mailchimp next to separate tools for funnels, courses and checkout, systeme.io bundles them, with unlimited email sends and 0% transaction fees on every plan.
Free option: Up to 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails, 3 sales funnels and 1 course, with no credit card. Some limits are tight, such as 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign.
Paid pricing: Startup $17/month (5,000 contacts), Webinar $47/month (10,000), Unlimited $97/month.
8beehiiv — Best for newsletter publishers
For newsletter-first businesses that want growth tools, an ad network and paid subscriptions with a 0% take rate.
Free option: Up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends and 1 publication.
Paid pricing: Lite from $49/month billed annually ($59 monthly) up to 1,000 subscribers.
Free plans compared
| Tool | Free option (official) |
|---|---|
| Mailchimp (for reference) | Free plan for under 250 contacts: max 500 sends/month (250/day), 1 seat, 1 audience; email support for the first 30 days only. |
| MailerLite | Up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, including 3 active automations and a landing page. |
| Sender | Up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month; never expires. New accounts also get a 14-day Professional trial. |
| Brevo | Up to 300 emails a day once your account is approved for sending. |
| Kit (ConvertKit) | Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts, forms and landing pages, tagging, digital products and A/B testing on broadcasts. No automations or sequences. |
| GetResponse | 14-day trial of premium features, then a limited free account. |
| Moosend | No free plan: 30-day free trial with no credit card, including unlimited sends for up to 1,000 contacts. |
| systeme.io | Up to 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails, 3 sales funnels and 1 course, with no credit card. Some limits are tight, such as 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign. |
| beehiiv | Up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends and 1 publication. |
How to switch from Mailchimp: checklist
- Size your new plan on your real list. Unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts count toward your Mailchimp bill, but you only need to import subscribed contacts into your new tool. Check how many subscribed contacts you have before choosing a plan elsewhere.
- Export your audience. In Mailchimp, go to Audience, then Export audience, then Export CSV. Only Owners and Admins can export. The download may be a ZIP with separate CSVs for subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cleaned contacts, and it stays available for 30 days.
- Know what doesn’t come with you. Mailchimp’s export doesn’t include email engagement data like opens and clicks, purchase history or signup source, so download any email reports you want to keep.
- Import only people who opted in. Import the subscribed file as subscribers. Keep the unsubscribed file too, and add it to your new tool’s suppression or unsubscribed list so nobody who opted out gets emailed again.
- Authenticate your sending domain. Set up the SPF and DKIM records your new provider asks for before your first send. Many providers require it, and it protects deliverability.
- Rebuild forms, templates and automations. Templates and automations generally don’t carry over between providers, so plan to recreate them. Swap your website signup forms to the new tool’s forms the same day you import. Sender, Kit and systeme.io advertise free migration help.
- Send a test, then switch over. Send a test campaign to yourself, then a normal campaign. Once everything works, downgrade or cancel Mailchimp before your next billing date.
Should you stay on Mailchimp?
Mailchimp is still a sensible choice if you rely on its 300+ integrations, your list is clean and the price feels fair. Before switching, try archiving non-subscribed and unsubscribed contacts: Mailchimp says archived contacts don’t count toward your bill, which may drop you to a cheaper tier.
Related
- Mailchimp vs Brevo
- Mailchimp vs MailerLite
- Best email tools with free plans
- Best email marketing for small business
- Full comparison table
FAQ
What is the best free alternative to Mailchimp?
Of the tools we checked, Sender’s Free Forever plan (2,500 subscribers, 15,000 emails a month, automation included) is the most generous general-purpose free plan. Kit’s free plan allows up to 10,000 subscribers but no automations or sequences, and systeme.io’s free plan covers 2,000 contacts with unlimited emails.
Is MailerLite cheaper than Mailchimp?
MailerLite’s Comfort plan starts at $12/month and Power at $25/month, per its official FAQ, and every paid plan includes the full feature set. Compare both vendors’ calculators at your exact list size, because both prices scale with subscribers.
Do unsubscribed contacts count toward Mailchimp billing?
Yes. Mailchimp says subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts all count toward your contact limit, while archived, cleaned and deleted contacts don’t.
Can I take my contacts with me when I leave Mailchimp?
Yes. Owners and Admins can export an entire audience as CSV files from the Audience page. The export doesn’t include engagement data such as opens and clicks.
Which Mailchimp alternative is best for ecommerce?
For online stores, look at ecommerce-first tools like Omnisend and Klaviyo, which use store and order data for automation. See our ecommerce and Shopify guide.