Email Marketing Software Comparison: Cutting Through the Noise

Every email marketing platform claims to be the best. None of them are lying—they're just not telling you the whole truth either. The "best" platform depends entirely on your list size, sending volume, budget, and whether you actually need fancy automation or just want to send newsletters without getting ripped off.

I've dug through the pricing pages, tested the interfaces, and read the fine print so you don't have to. Here's what you need to know about the major players in email marketing software.

Quick Comparison: The Bottom Line

If you're in a hurry, here's the summary:

• Cheapest for beginners: Brevo (300 emails/day free, then $9/month)
• Best free plan: Kit (formerly ConvertKit) – 10,000 subscribers free, but limited features
• Best for automation: ActiveCampaign (starts at $15-19/month)
• Most name recognition: Mailchimp (but increasingly expensive)
• Best value mid-tier: AWeber ($15/month for solid features)

Now let's break down each platform in detail.

Mailchimp: The 800-Pound Gorilla

Mailchimp is what most people think of when they hear "email marketing." It's been around forever, it integrates with everything, and it's probably the platform your competitor uses.

Mailchimp Pricing

Mailchimp offers four plans: Free, Essentials, Standard, and Premium. The paid plans start at $13/month for 500 contacts and go up from there. Standard starts at $20/month, and Premium begins at a steep $350/month for 10,000 contacts.

The free plan allows up to 500 contacts but limits you to just 1,000 emails per month. That's not a typo—500 contacts, 1,000 sends. If you email your list twice a month, you're maxed out.

What Mailchimp Gets Right

• Massive integration ecosystem—if a tool exists, it probably connects to Mailchimp
• Solid drag-and-drop editor that's genuinely easy to use
• Good deliverability rates overall
• Decent analytics and reporting

What Sucks About Mailchimp

Mailchimp has increased prices significantly over the years. The Standard plan has gone from around $17 to $20-23/month between 2023-2024, and the Premium plan jumped from $299 to $350/month.

The pricing scales aggressively with contact count. At 2,500 contacts, expect to pay around $45/month on Essentials or $60/month on Standard. The free plan is increasingly restrictive—automations are no longer available on the free tier.

Bottom line: Mailchimp is fine. It's not exciting, but it works. Just budget for those price increases as your list grows.

Brevo: The Budget Champion

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) takes a different approach to pricing: they charge based on emails sent, not contacts stored. This can save you serious money if you have a big list but don't email them constantly.

Brevo Pricing

The free plan offers 300 emails per day with unlimited contacts—way more generous than Mailchimp's free tier. Paid plans start at $9/month (Starter) for 5,000 monthly emails, with Standard at $18/month adding landing pages and unlimited automation.

The Professional plan starts at $499/month for high-volume senders (150,000+ emails). There's no contact limit penalty here—you can have as many subscribers as you want without paying extra.

What Brevo Gets Right

• Email-based pricing is refreshing and often cheaper
• Pay-as-you-go credits don't expire (unlike Mailchimp)
• Built-in SMS and WhatsApp marketing on higher plans
• Solid automation features even on lower tiers

What Sucks About Brevo

The Starter plan displays Brevo branding on your emails. Removing it costs an extra $12/month. Some advanced features like A/B testing and detailed analytics require the Standard or Business plans.

Customer support has been criticized as slow, and the customization options for email templates feel more limited than competitors.

Check out our full Brevo pricing breakdown and Brevo review for more details.

AWeber: The Reliable Workhorse

AWeber has been in the email game since 1998. It's not flashy, but it's reliable and straightforward.

AWeber Pricing

AWeber offers Free, Lite, Plus, and Unlimited plans. The free plan covers up to 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails/month. The Lite plan starts at $12.50/month (billed annually) or $15/month monthly for 500 subscribers. Plus runs $20/month annually or $30/month monthly.

An Unlimited plan exists at $899/month for businesses with massive lists. Prices increase as your subscriber count grows—the Plus plan for 25,000 subscribers runs about $145/month.

What AWeber Gets Right

• Rock-solid deliverability
• 24/7 customer support even on lower plans
• Free migration service from other platforms
• AI Writing Assistant included
• Unsubscribed users no longer count toward billing

What Sucks About AWeber

The Lite plan restricts you to just 1 email list, 1 custom segment, 3 automations, and 3 landing pages. That's pretty limiting. The automation features aren't as sophisticated as ActiveCampaign or even Brevo.

Template designs can feel dated compared to newer platforms. Some users have complained about recent changes including restricted sending capabilities and price increases.

Read our AWeber pricing guide for the complete cost breakdown.

Kit (Formerly ConvertKit): Built for Creators

Kit specifically targets bloggers, YouTubers, podcasters, and "creators." If that's you, it might be worth the premium price. If you're running a traditional business, probably not.

Kit Pricing

Kit offers three plans: Newsletter (free), Creator, and Creator Pro. The free plan is genuinely generous—up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited emails, forms, and landing pages. The catch? Only a single automation.

The Creator plan starts at $39/month for 1,000 subscribers, jumping to $59/month for 3,000 and $89/month for 5,000 contacts. Creator Pro adds advanced reporting and subscriber scoring, starting at $59/month for 1,000 subscribers.

Important: Kit raised prices significantly in late 2024. The Creator plan jumped from around $15/month to $33-39/month for 1,000 subscribers. Some users report paying up to four times more than before.

What Kit Gets Right

• Industry-leading 99.8% deliverability rate
• Visual automation builder is genuinely intuitive
• Free migration for lists over 5,000 subscribers
• Great for selling digital products and subscriptions
• Clean, minimal interface

What Sucks About Kit

The September 2024 price increase fundamentally changed Kit's value proposition. At $39/month for 1,000 subscribers, it's now one of the more expensive options.

Limited email templates—Kit deliberately keeps designs simple, which works for some but frustrates others. No A/B testing on lower plans. The free plan caps automation at just one sequence, pushing you to paid tiers quickly.

ActiveCampaign: The Automation Powerhouse

ActiveCampaign is what you get when email marketing and CRM have a baby. It's powerful, complex, and not cheap—but if automation is your priority, this is the platform.

ActiveCampaign Pricing

ActiveCampaign offers Starter, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise plans. Starter runs $15-19/month for 1,000 contacts. The Plus plan costs $49/month for 1,000 contacts, Pro is $79/month, and Enterprise requires custom pricing.

At 5,000 contacts, Pro already costs around $205/month. ActiveCampaign offers 20% off for annual billing and an additional 20% discount for non-profits.

What ActiveCampaign Gets Right

• Best-in-class marketing automation
• Powerful visual automation builder with advanced triggers
• Built-in CRM functionality
• Site tracking and behavioral targeting
• Excellent segmentation options
• Free migration and onboarding

What Sucks About ActiveCampaign

No free plan—just a 14-day trial. There's a learning curve; beginners will need time to understand the full feature set. The Starter plan doesn't include direct eCommerce functionality or some automation features you'd expect.

Email sending is capped at 10-15x your contact count per month depending on plan. Live chat support isn't 24/7, and there's no phone support. The August 2024 restructuring eliminated grandfathered plans and raised rates significantly.

Pricing Comparison Table

*Brevo charges by emails sent, not contacts. Prices depend on sending volume.

Which One Should You Actually Pick?

Choose Brevo If:

• You have a large list but don't email frequently
• Budget is your primary concern
• You want SMS/WhatsApp capabilities
• You're okay with learning a somewhat quirky interface

Choose AWeber If:

• You want reliable, no-surprises email marketing
• 24/7 support matters to you
• You're migrating from another platform
• You don't need cutting-edge automation

Choose Mailchimp If:

• You need maximum third-party integrations
• Your list is small and you want simplicity
• You're willing to pay premium as you scale
• Everyone on your team already knows the interface

Choose Kit If:

• You're a creator selling digital products
• You can afford the premium pricing
• Deliverability is your top priority
• You prefer minimal, text-focused designs

Choose ActiveCampaign If:

• Marketing automation is essential to your business
• You want CRM and email in one platform
• You have complex customer journeys to manage
• You're willing to invest time learning the platform

The Real Talk

Here's what nobody tells you: most businesses don't need advanced automation. They need to send emails that reach the inbox and look halfway decent.

If you're just starting out, use Brevo's free plan or AWeber's free tier. Send some emails. See if people open them. Upgrade when you actually need more features, not when some platform's pricing page makes you feel like you're missing out.

If your business depends on sophisticated email sequences—welcome series, abandoned cart recovery, lead scoring—then pay for ActiveCampaign or Kit. The automation will pay for itself.

And if you're currently on a platform that keeps raising prices? Actually do the math on switching. Migration is annoying but not that bad, and you might save hundreds per month.

Looking for more options? Check out our guide to best email marketing software and email marketing for small business.