Email marketing
How to choose email marketing software
Quick answer
Price the entry plan at your real list size, because every tool here charges by contacts or emails. At 2,500 contacts, entry plans run $25 to $60 a month billed monthly. Then check the send cap, whether automation, A/B tests, landing pages and logo removal are on that plan, the free plan's limits, and when support answers.
Email marketing tools look alike on their home pages. The differences are in the price at your list size and in what the cheapest paid plan leaves out. This guide covers what our ranking weighs, the prices you will see, and the traps we found on the 10 companies' own pages, all read on Sep 27, 2026.
What we weigh, and why
Every tool we rank prices by list size, so we compare them at one size: 2,500 contacts. Our method scores the entry paid plan on five things:
- Cost for 2,500 contacts (35%). The regular monthly price, with annual prepay counted. It carries the most weight because it is what you pay every month.
- Emails a month (15%). How many sends that price allows. A low price with a tight cap can cost more once you pay for extra sends.
- Included on the entry plan (20%). Automated emails, A/B testing, landing pages, signup forms, and emails without the provider's logo.
- Free plan (15%). A free plan with 1,000 or more contacts scores highest, then a smaller free plan, then a trial.
- Support (15%). Phone and chat, or 24/7 chat, score highest; email only scores low.
The price range you'll see
At 2,500 contacts, entry plans billed monthly run from $25 (Brevo Starter) to $60 (Klaviyo Email). In between: GetResponse Starter $29, Moosend Pro $32 (at 3,000 contacts), MailerLite Comfort $33, AWeber Lite $35, Mailchimp Essentials $45, ActiveCampaign Starter $49, Constant Contact Lite $50 and Kit Creator $59 (at 3,000).
Paying a year up front lowers most of these. Brevo drops to $22.50 a month, GetResponse to $23.78, Moosend to $26 and Kit to $590 a year. Mailchimp has no annual price at this size, and Klaviyo bills monthly only.
Traps our research found
Tiers that skip your size. Kit's slider goes from 1,000 to 3,000 subscribers, and Moosend's from 2,000 to 3,000. A list of 2,500 pays the 3,000 price on both.
Priced by emails, not contacts. Brevo sells email volume. Its 10,000-email step includes only 1,500 contacts, so 2,500 contacts needs the 15,000-email step.
Features capped below your list. Brevo Starter's automation is limited to 2,000 contacts. Mailchimp Essentials flows stop at 4 steps. AWeber Lite allows 3 automations, GetResponse Starter 1 custom workflow, Constant Contact Lite 1 active path, and ActiveCampaign Starter 5 actions per automation.
Features missing from the entry plan. GetResponse Starter has no A/B testing. Constant Contact Lite has no subject-line A/B testing, per its plan table. ActiveCampaign Starter and Brevo Starter have no landing pages.
The provider's logo. AWeber Lite can't remove its branding; that needs Plus. Brevo charges $10.80 a month to remove it on Starter. Constant Contact removes its footer logo only if you ask Support. Moosend and ActiveCampaign don't say on their pages whether entry-plan emails carry a logo.
Overage fees. Constant Contact bills $0.002 per send over the allowance. ActiveCampaign charges $0.005 per send if you don't raise your limit. Mailchimp says overages apply but gives no rate on its pricing page. Kit, GetResponse and Moosend have no send cap on the entry plan.
Commitments. ActiveCampaign's annual billing is a one-year commitment that renews automatically. AWeber's pricing FAQ says it has no contracts.
Support hours. "Chat support" varies. Moosend lists 24/5 live chat. ActiveCampaign's chat runs set hours, and its phone number reaches a virtual assistant. GetResponse's own pages give two different sets of chat hours. MailerLite Comfort and Brevo Starter offer email only. AWeber Lite and Constant Contact Lite include phone support.
Free plans differ a lot. Brevo's free plan holds up to 100,000 contacts but sends 300 emails a day. Kit's holds 10,000 subscribers. AWeber and GetResponse allow 500; Mailchimp, MailerLite and Klaviyo 250. Moosend, Constant Contact and ActiveCampaign offer trials instead.
If you sell online
Check the plan, not the integration page. GetResponse's Shopify page lists abandoned-checkout recovery, but its pricing table puts cart recovery on Marketer. MailerLite's Shopify help article says the integration does not support abandoned-cart automations. Moosend's integrations directory lists no Shopify. Our online stores page ranks the tools whose entry plan states at least two of a Shopify integration, abandoned-cart emails, product blocks and purchase segments.
A checklist before you sign up
- Set the pricing slider to your real list size, and to the size you expect in a year.
- Compare the monthly and yearly price, and check whether yearly locks you in.
- Find the send cap and the overage rate.
- Check automation limits: number of workflows, steps or contacts.
- Confirm A/B testing and landing pages are on the plan you will buy, not the next one up.
- Check whether you can remove the provider's logo, and at what cost.
- Read the support hours, not just the channel names.
- If you run a store, check which plan gets cart recovery and product blocks.
The ranking applies these checks to all 10 tools.