Mailchimp alternatives for small business: what to switch to and why

If Mailchimp has started to pinch, it is usually for one clear reason: the free plan is too small, you cannot automate a welcome email for free, or the bill keeps rising. The best Mailchimp alternatives for small business depend on that reason. Kit fits a free newsletter to a large list, MailerLite fits free automations on a small list, Brevo fits storing many contacts free and sending slowly, ActiveCampaign fits serious automation, and Constant Contact fits teams that want live phone support on an entry plan.

Every fact below comes from the vendors’ own pricing pages and help articles, read on 6 October 2026. We did not test these tools hands-on, and no vendor paid to be included.

Price scope: the US-dollar examples are the earlier documented display, not a newly verified US checkout quote. Current retrieval may localize currency. Match currency, contact tier, billing selection and renewal terms before comparing costs.

Mailchimp alternatives at a glance

Here is the short version, with Mailchimp as the baseline. Prices are the starting prices each vendor displayed in US dollars; most rise with your list size.

Tool	Best fit	Free option	Entry paid price shown	Support on entry paid plan	Migration help listed
Mailchimp	Staying put on a clean, small list	Free plan, 250 contacts	US$13 a month for 12 months (0 to 500 contacts)	24/7 email and chat	Not applicable
MailerLite	Free automations on a small list	Free plan, 250 subscribers	From US$12 a month (Comfort)	24/7 email	Mailchimp importer
Kit	Newsletters to a big list	Free plan, up to 10,000 subscribers	Rounded US$33/month equivalent; US$390 billed yearly at 1,000 subscribers (Creator)	24/7 email and chat	Mailchimp importer, free migrations
Brevo	Many contacts, slow sending	Free plan, 300 emails a day	Shown only in the price calculator	Check with Brevo	CSV import
ActiveCampaign	Multi-step automation	14-day trial	Shown only in the price calculator	Email and chat	Free migration and onboarding
Constant Contact	Live phone help	30-day trial	US$12 a month (Lite, monthly billing)	Live phone and chat	CSV import

Two words of caution. “Entry price” means the smallest list tier, so your real price will be higher if your list is bigger. And three of these vendors hide some prices behind a calculator, so run your own list size through each one before deciding.

What is the best alternative to Mailchimp?

The best alternative is the one that fixes the problem making you leave, not the one with the longest feature list. Write down your single biggest complaint about Mailchimp first. Then use these rules to cut six options down to one or two worth a trial.

• You send a newsletter and nothing else, and your list is under 10,000: start with Kit Free.
• You need a welcome sequence and have fewer than 250 subscribers: MailerLite Free lists 3 automations.
• You have thousands of contacts but send rarely: Brevo Free stores up to 100,000 contacts but sends only 300 emails a day.
• Your automations need many steps or branches: trial ActiveCampaign Plus or above, which list unlimited automation actions.
• You want to call someone when things break: Constant Contact lists live phone and chat on Lite.
• Your only problem is a growing bill: archive unsubscribed contacts in Mailchimp first and see what you would pay.

How to choose among Mailchimp alternatives for small business

Choose on five things: your list size in a year, whether you need automation, how often you send, what support you need, and how much rebuilding you can face. A tool that wins on price today can cost more once your list doubles.

1. List size in 12 months. Most tools here price by contacts or subscribers. Brevo prices paid plans mainly by email volume, which favours big lists that send rarely.
2. Automation. Count the steps in the longest sequence you want. Mailchimp Essentials stops at 4 flow steps; ActiveCampaign Starter allows 5 actions per automation.
3. Sending volume. Mailchimp Essentials and MailerLite Comfort both allow 10 times your contacts a month. Constant Contact Premium allows 24 times.
4. Support. If you need a phone number, only Constant Contact lists it below the top plan in this group.
5. Rebuild effort. No importer moves automations or templates. Budget an afternoon per automation you rely on.

Mailchimp alternatives free: what you really get

All three free alternatives beat Mailchimp Free on at least one limit, but each has a different ceiling. MailerLite gives more sends and automations on the same 250-subscriber cap. Kit gives a far bigger list but no automation. Brevo gives huge contact storage but a daily sending cap.

Tool	Contact or subscriber limit	Sending limit	Automation on free	Users
Mailchimp Free	250 contacts	500 a month, 250 a day	Not listed	1 seat
MailerLite Free	250 subscribers	2,500 a month	3 automations	2 seats
Kit Free	Up to 10,000 subscribers	Unlimited broadcasts	None	1 user
Brevo Free	Up to 100,000 contacts	300 a day	Up to 2,000 contacts in active automations	1 user

Two traps hide in this table. Brevo’s 300-a-day cap means a newsletter to 900 people takes three days to finish sending. Kit’s large free limit covers broadcasts only, so an automated welcome email needs the paid Creator plan.

Free plans also carry vendor branding. Brevo’s free emails always show a “Sent with Brevo” sticker. MailerLite lists logo removal from Comfort, and Kit lists branding removal on Creator. If your emails must look fully your own, price the first paid plan now.

Is Mailchimp worth it for a small business?

Mailchimp is worth it if your list fits a paid tier, your automations fit that tier, and you have budgeted for the regular price after the first year. Its paid plans include 10 to 15 times your contacts in monthly sends, which is plenty for a weekly newsletter.

The catch is how it counts. Mailchimp’s help centre says subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts all count toward your limit. If you go over during a billing cycle, sending continues but an extra charge is added to your bill. Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not count, so a list with years of unsubscribes is worth cleaning first.

Also check the price you will pay in year two. The pricing page shows US$13 (Essentials), US$20 (Standard) and US$350 (Premium) a month for 0 to 500 contacts, each “for 12 months”. The regular price did not appear in the page text we could read, so ask for it before you commit.

Mailchimp vs MailerLite

Mailchimp vs MailerLite comes down to automation and sends on the free plan, since both cap free lists at 250. MailerLite Free lists 2,500 emails a month, 2 user seats and 3 automations. Mailchimp Free lists 500 sends a month, 1 seat and no automation.

On paid plans, both price by list size. MailerLite Comfort sends up to 10 times your subscriber tier, matching Mailchimp Essentials, and MailerLite Power lists unlimited monthly emails. MailerLite also documents a Mailchimp importer that turns your tags into groups and counts duplicate subscribers once.

Mailchimp alternatives for newsletters

For a plain newsletter, Kit is the strongest free fit because its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, landing pages and forms. If you never automate, you lose nothing you would use.

If you plan to add a welcome sequence later, check the upgrade cost now. Kit Creator displays a rounded US$33/month equivalent at 1,000 subscribers, billed US$390 yearly. This is not a verified monthly-billing rate. MailerLite Comfort starts at US$12 a month, but the page text did not say which subscriber tier that covers, so use its calculator.

Which Mailchimp alternative suits an online shop?

This page focuses on newsletters and service businesses, so it does not cover shop-first tools in depth. If most of your emails are abandoned-cart reminders and product recommendations, look at tools built around store integrations, such as Omnisend or Klaviyo, and check that they connect to your store platform.

Do not assume a shop tool’s free plan is bigger. Omnisend’s pricing page lists a free plan with 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, the same headline limits as Mailchimp Free.

Mailchimp alternatives for nonprofits

MailerLite has the simplest published nonprofit offer: its pricing page says nonprofit organisations get 30% off paid plans. Mailchimp itself lists 15% off for nonprofits and charities.

Constant Contact lists 20% off when you prepay six months and 30% off when you prepay twelve. Organisations in the United States must send a federal Letter of Determination, 501(c)3 or (c)6. The page did not say what charities elsewhere need, so ask before you buy. If your charity only sends a newsletter, price Kit Free and MailerLite Free before applying for any discount.

Mailchimp alternatives UK and Australia: what to check

Buyers in the UK and Australia should check three things: the currency you are billed in, where your data is stored, and whether each channel works in your country.

• Currency. ActiveCampaign’s pricing page offers GBP and AUD, among others. Mailchimp has a currency selector. MailerLite shows USD and EUR. Kit and Constant Contact showed USD only.
• Data location. MailerLite’s GDPR page says its services are hosted in an EU data centre. Mailchimp describes itself as US-based and certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension. The pages we read made no Australia-specific hosting statement, so ask each vendor.
• Channels. Constant Contact’s pricing page says SMS is available only to paid customers in the US.

Also confirm how VAT (UK) or GST (Australia) is added at checkout.

Worked example: a 900-subscriber newsletter

This is a hypothetical calculation, not a test. A local bakery has 900 subscribers and sends two newsletters a month, so 1,800 emails. It does not need automation yet.

• Mailchimp Free: no, 900 is over the 250-contact limit.
• MailerLite Free: no, 900 is over the 250-subscriber limit.
• Kit Free: yes. 900 is well under 10,000 and broadcasts are unlimited.
• Brevo Free: yes, within limits. Each newsletter takes three days at 300 a day, and the Brevo sticker stays.

Now the bakery wants a three-email welcome sequence. Kit needs Creator, displayed as a rounded US$33/month equivalent for up to 1,000 subscribers, with a US$390 annual invoice. We have not verified its monthly-billing rate; multiplying the rounded display by 12 would misstate the annual charge. Brevo Free covers automation for up to 2,000 contacts at no cost, but keeps the daily cap. For Mailchimp and MailerLite, enter 900 contacts into their calculators, and for Mailchimp also ask for the price after month 12.

The lesson: the “free” answer changes the moment you add one automation, so price the plan you will need in six months, not today.

Who should stay with Mailchimp

Do not switch just because an article lists alternatives. Stay if your list fits a paid tier you can afford in year two, your automations fit the plan you are on, and your team already knows the tool. Archiving unsubscribed contacts may lower your bill without any migration at all.

How to switch without losing your list

1. Export every contact from Mailchimp as CSV, including status, tags and consent source.
2. Archive or remove contacts you do not want to pay for in the new tool.
3. Use the importer if one exists (MailerLite and Kit both document one), and keep the CSV as a backup.
4. Rebuild your signup forms and point your website to the new forms.
5. Rebuild one automation and test it with your own email addresses.
6. Authenticate your sending domain in the new tool before your first real campaign.
7. Keep Mailchimp running until the first newsletter from the new tool has gone out.

What to do next

Write down your reason for leaving, pick the one or two tools that address it, and trial them with a copy of your list. Our guide to evaluating email marketing software gives a step-by-step test, and the software buying checklist keeps your notes in one place. Each tool profile, such as MailerLite and Kit, lists its sourced plan limits.

Outbound vendor links on this page are ordinary links. YourTechAI has no affiliate relationship with any vendor named here.

Before switching your small-business email platform

Mailchimp alternatives for small business are useful only when they address the reason you are leaving. Record your current sends, subscriber count, required automation and consent records. Then test the replacement with a small, safe sample and confirm export options before moving the whole list.