Mailchimp isn't the default anymore. Its free plan has shrunk to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month (down from 2,000 contacts a few years ago), and the paid tiers climb fast once your list grows. If you're re-evaluating, the good news is that the alternatives are genuinely cheaper, and several have far more generous free tiers.
The bad news: there's no single "best" replacement. What you should pick depends on whether you're a creator building a newsletter brand, a small business sending campaigns and automations, or an ecommerce store that needs revenue tracking. Here's the honest breakdown.
The bottom line first
- Creator or newsletter-first? Kit (free up to 10,000 subscribers) or Beehiiv (best-in-class monetization). Pick Beehiiv if you plan to sell paid subscriptions or run sponsorships; pick Kit if you want deeper automation and a huge free list.
- Small business on a budget? MailerLite — the best all-round value, from $10/mo. Moosend is even cheaper at $9/mo if you don't need a free plan.
- Ecommerce with real automation needs? GetResponse, but only on the Marketer tier — the cheap Starter plan is crippled on automation.
If you just want the cheapest capable tool with a real free plan, MailerLite is the safe default. If you're building a media brand, Beehiiv or Kit will serve you far better than Mailchimp ever did.
Quick comparison
| MailerLite | Kit | GetResponse | Moosend | Beehiiv | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 250 subs, 2,500 emails/mo | 10,000 subs, unlimited sends | 500 contacts, 2,500 emails/mo | None (30-day trial) | 2,500 subs, with branding |
| Entry paid price | $10/mo (500 subs) | $29/mo (1,000 subs) | $19/mo Starter | $9/mo (500 subs) | $43/mo Scale |
| Billing model | Per subscriber | Active subscribers only | Per contact | One-contact-once | Per subscriber |
| Key strength | Best all-round value | Huge free tier + automation | Ecommerce + funnels | Cheapest paid entry | Newsletter monetization |
| Best for | SMBs, solopreneurs | Creators, course sellers | Online stores | Budget senders | Paid newsletters |
Kit Creator is listed at $33/mo annual / $39/mo monthly for 1,000 subscribers after the September 2025 price increase; some regions still show a ~$29 entry — check current pricing at signup.
MailerLite — best all-round value
MailerLite is the tool most Mailchimp refugees land on, and for good reason. The interface is clean, the automation builder is genuinely usable, and the paid plans undercut Mailchimp meaningfully — the Growing Business plan starts at $10/mo for 500 subscribers (about $9/mo billed annually), versus Mailchimp Essentials at $13/mo for the same list size.
The free plan gives you 250 active subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, plus up to 3 automations, a landing page, a website, and pop-ups. That's the same subscriber cap as Mailchimp but with 5x the monthly send allowance and access to automation the free Mailchimp tier locks away.
The honest weakness: MailerLite quietly cut its free tier in June 2026 — down from 500 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails to 250 and 2,500. It's still competitive, but it's no longer the standout free plan it once was. The free tier also excludes newsletter templates, branding removal, the AI writing assistant, and priority support. Approval for new accounts can also be slower than competitors, since MailerLite manually reviews signups to protect deliverability.
Pick MailerLite if you're a small business or solopreneur who wants the best balance of price, features, and ease of use — and doesn't need a giant free list.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — best free tier for creators
Kit's free Newsletter plan is the most generous in this roundup by a wide margin: up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited emails, forms, and landing pages. For a creator building an audience before monetizing, that's remarkable — you can grow to five figures without paying a cent.
Kit is built for creators specifically: it thinks in tags and subscribers rather than lists, its landing pages and forms are excellent, and it only bills you for active, confirmed subscribers (duplicates and unsubscribes don't count). The paid Creator plan unlocks the visual automation builder, unlimited sequences, and integrations.
The honest weakness: the free plan includes only a single automation, so any real nurture flow forces an upgrade. And that upgrade got expensive — the September 2025 price hike pushed Creator from $15/mo to $33/mo annual ($39 monthly) for 1,000 subscribers, a 120% jump. Creator Pro runs $66/mo annual ($79 monthly). Kit is no longer the budget option it once was; it's now a premium creator tool that happens to have a free on-ramp.
Pick Kit if you're a creator, course seller, or newsletter writer who wants a large free list and best-in-class automation once you're ready to pay for it.
Beehiiv — best for newsletter monetization
Beehiiv was built by ex-Morning Brew operators specifically for newsletter publishers, and it shows. If your goal is to turn a newsletter into a business — paid subscriptions, sponsorships, referral growth — nothing else here comes close.
The free Launch plan supports up to 2,500 subscribers, and the paid Scale plan starts at $43/mo annual (scaling to $290/mo as you approach 100,000 subscribers). The killer feature: Beehiiv takes a 0% revenue share on paid subscriptions. At a $10 median price, roughly five paid subscribers cover the entire Scale subscription. It also includes an ad network, a referral program, and Boosts (paid recommendations that grow your list). Beehiiv's own paid-subscription revenue grew 138% year over year, which tells you the monetization tooling actually works.
The honest weakness: the free plan is the most restrictive here — it forces Beehiiv branding on every email, gives you only basic analytics, locks out automations entirely, and blocks all monetization (no paid subs, sponsorships, or Boosts). You have to pay to unlock the very features that make Beehiiv worth choosing. It's also a weaker fit for traditional drip-campaign marketing than the others; it's a publishing platform first, an email marketing tool second.
Pick Beehiiv if you're building a newsletter as a media brand or revenue stream. Don't pick it if you mainly need transactional or campaign email for a product business.
Moosend — cheapest capable option
Moosend is the value pick for people who don't need a permanent free plan. Paid plans start at $9/mo for 500 subscribers (with 20% off annual billing), which is the lowest entry price in this comparison — and unlike Mailchimp's Essentials tier, automation, landing pages, and reporting are included from the start rather than gated behind upgrades.
Billing is refreshingly simple: one email address is charged once, no matter how many lists it appears on. The automation editor is capable, and there's a solid template library.
The honest weakness: there's no free plan — only a 30-day full-featured trial (1,000 subscribers, no credit card required). After that you pay or leave. Moosend is also owned by Sitecore, and it's a less prominent product than the others, which means a smaller integrations ecosystem and community. It's a great tool that quietly does the job rather than a category leader.
Pick Moosend if you want the cheapest genuinely capable email tool and don't need a free tier to sit on long-term.
GetResponse — best for ecommerce and funnels
GetResponse is the most feature-dense platform here — it's less a newsletter tool and more an all-in-one marketing suite with webinars, a website builder, sales funnels, and ecommerce integrations. The free plan covers 500 contacts and 2,500 emails a month with a 30-day trial of premium features.
For an online store, the Marketer plan's abandoned-cart flows, revenue tracking, and unlimited automation are genuinely strong.
The honest weakness: the pricing tiers are a trap for the unwary. The Starter plan ($19/mo) includes only one automation workflow — any real nurture sequence forces you up to Marketer at $59/mo. So GetResponse's "affordable" entry price is misleading if automation is why you're switching. For a simple newsletter, you're overpaying for features you won't touch.
Pick GetResponse if you run ecommerce or need webinars and funnels alongside email — and budget for the Marketer tier, not Starter.
The verdict
- Pick MailerLite if you want the best overall value and a real free plan — the safe default for most small businesses.
- Pick Kit if you're a creator who wants a huge free list (10k subscribers) and top-tier automation later.
- Pick Beehiiv if you're building a newsletter you intend to monetize — the 0% revenue share is unbeatable.
- Pick Moosend if you want the lowest paid price and don't need a free tier.
- Pick GetResponse only if you're doing ecommerce or funnels — and only on the Marketer plan.
Any of these beats staying on Mailchimp's shrinking free tier. Match the tool to what you're actually building, and you'll pay less for more.