The best Mailchimp alternatives in 2026
Cheaper to scale, better at reaching the inbox, and ranked by what you actually get, not by who has the biggest logo.
People leave Mailchimp for two specific reasons in 2026: it costs more than it used to and it does not reach the inbox as reliably as its rivals. The free plan has been cut repeatedly (from 2,000 contacts in 2022 down to roughly 500, then to about 250 contacts plus 500 sends a month by early 2026, with automation removed from the free tier), legacy plans rose about 11 to 13 percent in April 2026, and Mailchimp charges per contact you store, including unsubscribed and non-mailable ones. In independent long-run inbox testing it lands near the bottom (around 83 percent, roughly 7th of 15). Every tool below beats it on both fronts. Our scores weight real value at scale most heavily, then independent satisfaction, deliverability, and capability, so the cheapest tool that does the job well tends to sit at the top.
Why people leave Mailchimp
Before you pick a replacement, decide what to measure. Most “best of” lists rank by brand recognition. We rank by the four things that actually change your bill and your results.
1. Deliverability is the real differentiator. This is the number one metric, and it is the one vendors obscure. A platform’s advertised “99 percent delivery rate” or “acceptance rate” only means the receiving server accepted the message. It says nothing about whether the email landed in the inbox or the spam folder. Only third-party inbox-placement tests, like the long-run rounds EmailToolTester runs, measure that. Across the market, real inbox placement ranges from about 83 percent to about 94 percent, and that gap is estimated to drive a 30 to 40 percent difference in revenue from the same list. Above roughly 89 percent is excellent, 83 to 88 percent is acceptable, and the global average sits around 83 to 84 percent.
2. The pricing model decides who wins at your size. Contact-based tools (MailerLite, Kit, GetResponse, ActiveCampaign) bill on how many contacts you store, which is predictable but punishes large lists. Send-volume tools (Brevo) bill on emails sent with unlimited contacts, which is cheaper for big lists that mail occasionally and more expensive for small lists that mail constantly. The entry price tells you almost nothing. Model the true 12-month cost at your real list size and your real send frequency.
3. Hidden costs hide in the same four places. Branding removal, CRM or sales-pipeline add-ons, SMS credits, and extra user seats or premium support. A “$15 plan” can quietly become a $90 plan once you add the pieces you assumed were included.
4. Fit beats features. An ecommerce sender, a newsletter creator, and a B2B team running multi-step automations want different tools. The right move is to shortlist two or three, run the free trials, and send a real campaign to your own seed list before you commit.
The best Mailchimp alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Lab Score | From | Cost at scale (10k) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | 9.1 | $9/mo | ~$73/mo | Best overall value and deliverability |
| Kit | 8.8 | $33/mo | ~$170/mo | Creators and newsletter publishers |
| Brevo | 8.5 | $9/mo | varies by sends | Large lists, pay-per-send, free CRM |
| ActiveCampaign | 8.7 | $15/mo | ~$149/mo | Advanced automation and CRM |
| GetResponse | 8.3 | $19/mo | ~$79/mo | All-in-one with webinars and funnels |
A note on the order: this list is sequenced by value for the typical Mailchimp refugee, not strictly by score. Kit (8.8) and ActiveCampaign (8.7) both out-score Brevo (8.5) on raw capability, but Kit is placed second because it is the obvious destination for the creators who make up a large share of people leaving Mailchimp, and Brevo sits ahead of ActiveCampaign on price for most switchers because it does not bill per stored contact. Read the scores and the use-case together.
1. MailerLite
MailerLite earns a Lab Score of 9.1, the highest in this category, because it is the cheapest credible full-featured platform and the strongest performer on the metric that matters most. In EmailToolTester’s long-run “best of 5” rounds it averages about 94.41 percent inbox placement, the top result and the winner of the deliverability award (one individual round came in near 89.8 percent; the multi-round average is the headline figure). Independent users back that up: G2 4.7 out of 5 (about 332 ratings), Capterra 4.7 (2,286 reviews, 96 percent positive), and Trustpilot 4.3 (“Excellent”).
On price it undercuts almost everyone. The free plan covers up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month (note: some accounts saw the free tier trimmed to 500 in late 2025, so confirm on the official page). Paid plans start at $9 a month on annual billing ($10 monthly) and every paid tier includes unlimited emails. At scale it runs roughly $21 to $36 a month for 2,500 subscribers and around $73 a month for 10,000, less than half what Mailchimp Standard costs at the same size. The trade-offs are real but minor: fewer and less flexible templates, limited design customization (no brand-wide color settings), the occasional update that disrupts an existing workflow, and a strict anti-spam onboarding review. It suits small businesses, bloggers, creators, and any budget-conscious team that wants top-tier deliverability and a simple interface without Mailchimp’s bill. For the “cheaper and better deliverability” brief, this is the default pick.
2. Kit
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) takes a Lab Score of 8.8 as the purpose-built choice for creators. Its model is subscriber-centric: tagging, clean visual automations, paid newsletters and commerce, plus monetization through its recommendations and sponsor network. The free Newsletter plan is genuinely generous, covering up to 10,000 subscribers with sending and basic features, which is far beyond what Mailchimp now offers for free.
The catch is cost per subscriber once you pass the free tier, made worse by a roughly 35 percent price rise in September 2025. The Creator plan is $39 a month monthly ($33 annual) for 1,000 subscribers, about $59 at 3,000, about $89 at 5,000, and roughly $350 to $400 a month at 50,000. Creator Pro runs $79 monthly ($66 annual) and scales to around $279 a month by 25,000 subscribers. On deliverability Kit is mid-pack: EmailToolTester puts its multi-round average near 88.2 percent (acceptable, below MailerLite and ActiveCampaign). Kit advertises a 99.8 percent “delivery rate,” but that is server acceptance, not inbox placement. The reviews split sharply, which is worth knowing: Capterra 4.6 (about 239 reviews) and G2 around 4.4 are positive, while Trustpilot has fallen to 1.9 (“Poor”) on support and account-handling complaints through 2025 and 2026. Design templates are plain and ecommerce and analytics are lighter than rivals. It suits bloggers, course creators, newsletter operators, and coaches monetizing an audience, and it is the wrong tool for design-heavy or ecommerce senders.
3. Brevo
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) scores 8.5 and is the one tool here that bills on emails sent rather than contacts stored, with unlimited contacts on every tier. That single difference makes it the cheapest path for a large or fast-growing list that mails occasionally, and the clearest escape from Mailchimp’s pay-per-stored-contact billing. The free plan allows 300 emails a day. Paid Starter begins at $9 a month for 5,000 emails, rises to roughly $25 to $29 for 20,000, and about $69 for 100,000. The Business plan, around $65 a month, adds automation, A/B testing, send-time optimization, landing pages, and phone support. Removing Brevo branding costs an extra $9 a month.
It is more than an email tool: SMS and a genuine built-in CRM are included on most plans, which is rare at this price and a real all-in-one saving. The reviews are strong: G2 4.5 (about 2,637 reviews), Capterra 4.6 (3,474 reviews, 94 percent positive), and Trustpilot 4.2 (“Great”). The honest weakness is deliverability on the long run: EmailToolTester’s multi-round average is about 88.3 percent, roughly 8th of 15 and the lowest of these five on the long-run figure, though some recent individual rounds scored higher. There is a daily send cap on the free plan, the UI and support can feel less polished, and the math can flip more expensive for a small list that sends very frequently. It suits SMBs and ecommerce or transactional senders with big or growing lists, and anyone who wants email, SMS, and CRM in one bill.
4. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign earns 8.7 and is the power-user choice: the deepest automation logic in the category paired with a real native CRM, and it is the co-leader on deliverability. EmailToolTester recently put it around 94.2 percent, reclaiming the top spot alongside MailerLite. Independent satisfaction on the software-review sites is high, with G2 4.5 (about 14,586 reviews) and Capterra 4.6 (2,561 reviews, 93 percent positive), though Trustpilot sits at 2.8 (“Average”) on billing and support complaints.
The reason it is not ranked higher for switchers is cost. It is contact-based and climbs fast. Starter is $15 a month for 1,000 contacts (annual), Plus is $49, Pro is $79, and Enterprise starts at $145. At 10,000 contacts on annual billing that becomes roughly $149 a month on Starter, about $189 on Plus, around $375 on Professional, and about $589 on Enterprise. Then come the add-ons: CRM and pipelines at about $68 a month, SMS credits from about $16.83, custom reporting at about $159, and extra users at about $12 each per month. Annual billing saves around 20 percent. The learning curve is steeper than the rest of this list, and the nickel-and-dime structure adds up. It suits growing SMBs and B2B teams that genuinely need serious automation plus a sales CRM and will use the depth. For a straightforward newsletter it is overkill.
5. GetResponse
GetResponse rounds out the list at 8.3 as the true all-in-one: email, landing pages, conversion funnels, webinars, and automation in a single subscription. The built-in webinar feature is the rare one here, and it ships with 24/7 chat support even on the entry plan. Deliverability is solid, with EmailToolTester placing it around 90.9 percent (3rd of 15), above Brevo and Kit and behind MailerLite and ActiveCampaign.
It is contact-based. Starter is $19 a month for 1,000 subscribers (unlimited emails, autoresponders, landing pages), about $29 at 2,500, and roughly $79 at 10,000. The Marketer plan starts at $59 a month for 1,000. Prepaying 12 months saves about 18 percent. The most common complaint across every review site is the automatic bump to the next contact tier the moment you cross a limit, which catches people off guard, so watch your list size. The independent ratings are good but polarized: G2 4.3 (about 821 reviews), Capterra 4.2 (524 reviews, 80 percent positive), and Trustpilot 4.2 (about 955 reviews) that splits into roughly 63 percent five-star and 27 percent one-star. Webinar and funnel features are gated to pricier tiers and the interface feels dated to some. It suits SMBs and solopreneurs who want email plus webinars and funnels on one bill instead of stitching separate tools together.
How to choose
Match the tool to your situation, then verify with a trial.
Want the simplest “cheaper and better inbox” swap? Go MailerLite. It is the lowest price for a full feature set and the top deliverability score, and it covers the great majority of switchers.
Run a big list that mails occasionally, or want to stop paying for stored contacts? Go Brevo. Pay-per-send with unlimited contacts plus a free CRM is the cheapest model at scale, as long as you do not send daily to a small list.
Need deep automation and a real sales CRM? Go ActiveCampaign, budget for the add-ons, and only if you will use the depth. It ties for the best deliverability.
You are a creator monetizing an audience? Go Kit for the subscriber model and the free plan to 10,000, accepting plain templates and the support reputation.
Want webinars and funnels in the same bill as email? Go GetResponse, and keep an eye on the auto-bump to the next contact tier.
Whatever the shortlist, model the 12-month cost at your real list size and send frequency, not the entry price, and send a real test to your own seed list before you migrate.
FAQ
What is the best Mailchimp alternative overall?
MailerLite, for most people. It is the cheapest credible full-featured platform, it tops independent inbox-placement testing at about 94 percent, and its free plan and ease of use are widely praised. It directly answers the two reasons people leave Mailchimp: price at scale and deliverability.
Which alternative is cheapest at scale?
It depends on how you mail. For a contact-based plan, MailerLite is the lowest, around $73 a month for 10,000 subscribers with unlimited sends. For a large list that mails occasionally, Brevo’s pay-per-send model with unlimited contacts is usually cheaper still. A small list that sends very frequently can find Brevo more expensive than a flat contact-based plan, so model your own numbers.
Do these tools really have better deliverability than Mailchimp?
Yes, on independent inbox testing. EmailToolTester’s long-run averages put MailerLite around 94.4 percent and ActiveCampaign around 94.2 percent, GetResponse around 90.9 percent, and Brevo and Kit around 88 percent. Mailchimp sits near 83 percent, roughly 7th of 15. Ignore vendor “delivery” or “acceptance” rates of 99 percent, which only mean the server accepted the email, not that it reached the inbox.
Is there a free Mailchimp alternative?
Several. Kit’s free Newsletter plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, MailerLite’s free plan covers up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month (verify, as some accounts saw it cut to 500 in late 2025), and Brevo’s free plan allows 300 emails a day with unlimited contacts. All three are more generous than Mailchimp’s current free tier of roughly 250 contacts and 500 sends a month.
Should I switch if I only have a small list?
Usually yes, on cost and deliverability, but the gain is largest once you are paying. If you are still on a free or near-free plan, the main reason to move is inbox placement and a simpler interface rather than the monthly bill. MailerLite is the safest small-list switch; Brevo makes less sense for a small list that mails very often.
How should I actually run the comparison before migrating?
Shortlist two or three tools that fit your use case, then model the true 12-month cost at your real subscriber count and send frequency rather than the headline starting price. Account for the four hidden costs: branding removal, CRM or pipeline add-ons, SMS credits, and extra seats or premium support. Then start a free trial and send a real campaign to your own seed list so you can see deliverability and the workflow for yourself.
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