People look for MailerLite alternatives for many practical reasons: a different pricing model, deeper automation, built-in SMS, stronger creator tools, or a more CRM-centric workflow. This guide stays factual and platform-focused, so you can compare options with numbers, limits, and plan structures—without assuming one tool is “better” for everyone.
- Category: Email Marketing Platforms
- Use Cases: Newsletters, E-commerce, Lead Gen
- Comparison Lens: Limits, Pricing Logic, Features
- Goal: Practical Alternatives
Table of Contents
MailerLite Baseline for Comparing Alternatives
MailerLite’s Free plan is capped at 500 subscribers, and the documentation states you can still send up to 12,000 emails per month on that plan. [Source-1✅]
On its pricing page, MailerLite positions Free at $0, and shows paid tiers where the monthly price scales with subscriber count; it also highlights a 14-day premium trial and plan differences such as user seats and landing-page limits. [Source-2✅]
What to Match First
- Pricing logic: contact-based vs send-volume-based vs seat-based.
- Automation depth: simple sequences vs multi-step workflows with branching.
- Growth surfaces: landing pages, forms, pop-ups, paid newsletters, SMS.
- Team needs: seats, permissions, approvals, and reporting depth.
Neutral way to think about “alternatives”: you are not replacing features one-to-one. You are choosing a different operating model for list growth, automation, and sending limits.
Alternatives to MailerLite at a Glance
This table is intentionally model-based (how each product works) rather than “feature hype.” The next sections provide official numbers and plan limits for each platform.
| Platform | Typical Pricing Model | Notable Strength | Common Fit | Channels Beyond Email |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | Send-volume driven (often), with plan tiers | Multi-channel plus sales features | SMBs that want email + more in one place | SMS, WhatsApp (plan-dependent) |
| Kit | Subscriber-based tiers | Creator-focused newsletter and audience tools | Creators, writers, educators | Primarily email (creator ecosystem) |
| Mailchimp | Contact-based tiers | Large integration ecosystem and campaign tooling | General marketing teams | Some add-ons and adjacent tools |
| ActiveCampaign | Contact-based tiers (with feature levels) | Automation depth and CRM alignment | Lifecycle marketing and sales handoffs | CRM/sales workflows (plan-dependent) |
| GetResponse | Tiered plans; subscriber-based scaling | All-in-one marketing suite options | Lead gen and webinar-style funnels | Webinars (plan-dependent) |
| Campaign Monitor | Tiered plans and contact-based scaling | Email design and reporting focus | Campaign-centric teams | Primarily email |
| Constant Contact | Contact-based tiers | Small business marketing workflows | Local businesses and nonprofits | Social/ads surfaces (plan-dependent) |
| Omnisend | Tiered plans; profiles/contacts-based scaling | E-commerce automation templates | Online stores and lifecycle flows | SMS, web push (plan-dependent) |
How to Compare MailerLite Alternatives Without Getting Lost
Metrics That Change Your Monthly Cost
- Billable unit: contacts/subscribers, email sends, seats, or a hybrid.
- Send caps: monthly caps, daily caps, or “unlimited” (still subject to compliance rules).
- Seat rules: whether multi-user access requires add-ons or higher tiers.
- Landing pages/forms: included vs limited vs add-on.
Email authentication basics matter across every platform. Google’s admin guidance recommends setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to improve delivery. [Source-11✅]
What to Audit Before Switching
Keep this audit short and concrete: export fields, tags, segments, automations, forms, and your sending domain settings. The goal is to avoid “silent changes” like missing custom fields or broken triggers.
- Subscriber data: tags, groups, custom fields, consent timestamps (if you store them).
- Automation triggers: signup source, purchase events, page views, link clicks.
- Forms and landing pages: embed type, tracking parameters, thank-you URLs.
- Deliverability setup: domain authentication, dedicated IP (if relevant), suppression lists.
Brevo
Numbers and Limits
Brevo’s Free plan documentation states 300 email sends per day, allows storing up to 100,000 contacts, and caps active-automation entry to 2,000 unique contacts. [Source-3✅]
- Best Match
- Teams that want email marketing plus adjacent workflows (basic sales or multi-channel) in one account.
- What to Validate
- Daily sending limits on Free, branding rules, and whether your automations need more than the Free automation-entry cap.
Kit
Kit positions a Free plan at $0/month for up to 10,000 subscribers. Its pricing page also shows Creator at $33/month and Pro at $66/month (as shown for 1,000 subscribers). [Source-4✅]
- Common fit: newsletter-first businesses, creators, educators, and communities.
- Decision lever: how much you rely on complex branching automations versus creator-centric funnels.
- Practical check: confirm your list size and the plan tier where paid features become necessary.
Mailchimp
Plan Structure
Mailchimp’s marketing plan comparison page presents Free, Essentials, Standard, and Premium tiers and shows pricing that varies by contact bands and currency selection. [Source-5✅]
- Best Match
- Marketing teams that want a broad, well-known toolkit with many integrations and a familiar campaign workflow.
- What to Validate
- How contact tiers scale as your list grows, and which features appear only in higher tiers for your band.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign’s pricing page lists plan-level sending rules such as email sends at a multiple of your contact limit (for example, 15× on one plan and 10× on another), and also shows differences in included users (for example, 1 user vs 3 users vs “unlimited”). [Source-6✅]
- Common fit: lifecycle automation where sales and marketing workflows overlap.
- Decision lever: whether your team needs CRM-aligned automations, scoring, and more advanced routing logic.
- Practical check: compare your expected monthly send volume to the plan’s send-multiple.
GetResponse
GetResponse’s pricing page shows plans “starting at $19 per month” and describes this entry as including unlimited messages up to 1,000 subscribers; it also notes a 12-month prepay discount of 18%. [Source-7✅]
- Best Match
- Teams that want an “all-in-one” marketing platform feel and prefer a single vendor for multiple acquisition and nurture tools.
- What to Validate
- The exact feature set per tier for automation depth, landing pages, and any add-on channels you plan to use.
Campaign Monitor
Campaign Monitor’s pricing page describes a 30-day free trial with 500 contacts and a 500 email sending limit; it also shows that one plan uses a monthly send volume tied to contacts (for example, 500 contacts mapped to 2,500 monthly sends). [Source-8✅]
- Common fit: teams that value email design workflows and campaign reporting.
- Decision lever: whether a send-volume approach matches your typical cadence.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact’s pricing page lists tier starting points (for example, $12, $35, and $80 per month shown for 500 contacts) and includes performance claims such as an average 97% deliverability rate and an ROI statement (“$36 for every $1 spent”). [Source-9✅]
- Best Match
- Small businesses that want clear tiers and a marketing suite approach with guided workflows.
- What to Validate
- How email send limits scale with your contact list, and which channels/features are bundled into each tier.
Omnisend
Omnisend’s pricing page describes a Free plan starting from $0 per month, with limits of 250 contacts and 500 emails per month; the same page shows paid plans “starting from $44 per month.” [Source-10✅]
- Common fit: e-commerce stores that want email + SMS style flows and prebuilt lifecycle automation patterns.
- Decision lever: whether your store events (cart, checkout, product views) are first-class triggers in your stack.
- Practical check: confirm contact limits and channel allowances for your average monthly cadence.
Migration Notes That Affect Real Outcomes
A migration is rarely blocked by “email templates.” It’s usually blocked by data shape: tags, consent fields, event triggers, and how each system counts contacts and sending volume. Treat the move like a controlled data project, not just a new UI.
- Export cleanly: subscribers, unsubscribes, bounces, tags, groups, and custom fields.
- Map the model: translate “groups/segments” into the new platform’s equivalent (tags, lists, audiences).
- Rebuild automations: start with the highest-impact flows (welcome, nurture, re-engagement) and validate triggers.
- Verify sending: authenticate your domain, then ramp volume in a measured way if you’re changing providers or sending IP pools.
- Compare reporting: ensure your KPIs are computed similarly (unique opens/clicks, attribution windows, filtering rules).
If you use multiple sending domains or subdomains, keep your structure consistent. Small changes in “From” domains can alter authentication alignment and deliverability behavior across inbox providers.
FAQ
Is a send-volume pricing model always cheaper than contact-based pricing?
Not always. Send-volume models can be efficient when you email less frequently or keep lists large but low-cadence. Contact-based models can be simpler when you send often and want predictable scaling by audience size.
What is the most common migration issue from MailerLite to another platform?
The most common issue is data mapping: tags, groups, and custom fields don’t translate one-to-one. The second is automation triggers—especially if you rely on site or store events.
Do “unlimited emails” plans mean there are no limits at all?
“Unlimited” usually means no explicit monthly cap in the plan table, but sending still must comply with provider policies, reputation safeguards, and anti-abuse controls. The practical limit is what your list and sending practices can sustain.
Which alternative is the closest fit for creators and newsletter-first businesses?
Creator-centric tools tend to emphasize subscriber growth, signup flows, and monetization-friendly workflows. If your business is newsletter-first, prioritize subscriber-tier clarity and audience tooling over multi-channel breadth.
Which alternative is typically preferred for e-commerce lifecycle automation?
E-commerce-focused platforms usually prioritize store-event triggers (cart, checkout, product view) and prebuilt flows. The best fit is the one that matches your store platform and event data quality.
What should I verify before importing contacts into a new email platform?
Verify consent fields (if you store them), suppression lists, and your segmentation logic. Then test a small batch import to ensure tags, fields, and automations behave as expected.
If you want the “most logical” alternative, start by choosing your pricing model (contacts vs sends), then pick the platform whose limits match your real cadence. Once that’s aligned, features like templates and editors become easy to replace.