Resources · Email and automation
Email marketing platforms for small business: which one fits yours.
There’s no single best email platform. There’s the one that fits how your business makes money, how big your list is, and how often you’ll actually send. This guide matches six popular platforms to the situations they suit best.
The short answer
Start with your situation, not the feature list. If one of these sounds like you, that’s the platform to try first.
| If you… | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Want to grow an audience and eventually sell digital products | Kit | Free up to 10,000 subscribers, built for creators |
| Run a small business and want something simple and affordable | MailerLite | Clean editor and a low entry price |
| Treat the newsletter as the business itself | beehiiv | Built-in ad network and paid subscriptions |
| Run an online store | Klaviyo | Deep store integrations and e-commerce automations |
| Have a big list but email it rarely | Brevo | Charges by emails sent, not contacts stored |
| Already use Mailchimp and it works | Stay put for now | Switching costs time; revisit if the bill climbs |
Prices and free plans compared
The biggest difference between these platforms isn’t features. It’s what they charge you for: how many people are on your list, or how many emails you send.
| Platform | Free plan | Paid plans from | Priced by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | Up to 10,000 subscribers | $39/mo (1,000 subscribers) | Subscribers |
| MailerLite | Up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month | $12/mo (500 subscribers) | Subscribers |
| beehiiv | Up to 2,500 subscribers | $49/mo | Subscribers |
| Klaviyo | Up to 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month | $20/mo (500 profiles) | Active profiles |
| Mailchimp | Up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month | $13/mo (500 contacts) | Contacts |
| Brevo | 300 emails a day | $9/mo (5,000 emails) | Emails sent |
Monthly prices at each platform’s smallest paid tier, last reviewed September 2026. Annual billing is usually cheaper, and every price rises as your list grows.
Most platforms charge by list size, so your bill grows with every sign-up whether or not you send more. Brevo flips that: you can store a large list cheaply and pay for what you send. Neither model is better. It depends on whether you have a small list you email often or a big list you email occasionally.
Start with your situation
You want to grow an audience and sell something eventually
Kit
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is built for creators, coaches and small businesses that grow through content. Its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited emails, sign-up forms and landing pages, which is far more room than most free plans. You can also sell digital products directly from your account.
We use Kit ourselves. It’s what delivers our free AI Marketing Workflow Kit to every new subscriber.
Watch out for: the free plan is built for sending newsletters. Automated email sequences, like a multi-email welcome series, are where you’ll need the Creator plan, which starts at $39 a month for 1,000 subscribers. Kit is good value for small lists; at very large list sizes, beehiiv can work out cheaper.
You run a small business and want something simple
MailerLite
MailerLite is easy to learn and covers the basics well: campaigns, automations, sign-up forms, landing pages and even simple websites. Paid plans start at $12 a month for 500 subscribers, which keeps it one of the cheaper paid options for small lists.
Watch out for: MailerLite changed its plans in 2026. The free plan now covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, and the paid plans were renamed Comfort and Power. Many older guides still quote a much bigger free plan and the old plan names, so check the current limits before you commit.
Your newsletter is the product
beehiiv
If you plan to earn money from the newsletter itself, through sponsors, ads or paid subscriptions, beehiiv is built around that. It includes a website for your newsletter, a referral programme, an ad network and paid subscriptions. Its free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends.
Watch out for: there’s no small step between free and paid. Once you pass 2,500 subscribers, the paid plans start at $49 a month and rise with your list. If your newsletter supports another business rather than being the business, Kit or MailerLite is usually a better fit.
You run an online store
Klaviyo
For e-commerce, the platform choice matters more than anywhere else, because automated emails like abandoned-cart reminders, browse follow-ups and post-purchase messages do much of the work. Klaviyo connects deeply with store platforms like Shopify, uses purchase data for segmentation, and shows how much revenue each email and automation brings in. The paid Email plan starts at $20 a month for 500 profiles.
Watch out for: Klaviyo bills on active profiles, meaning anyone you could email, including customers who gave their email at checkout. Costs climb quickly as a store grows, so clean out people who never engage and price the plan at the list size you expect next year.
You have a big list but email it rarely
Brevo
Brevo charges by emails sent rather than contacts stored. The free plan lets you store up to 100,000 contacts and send 300 emails a day, and paid plans start at $9 a month for 5,000 emails. For a business with a large customer list that sends one or two emails a month, that can be much cheaper than platforms that charge by list size.
Watch out for: the free plan’s 300 daily emails include transactional emails like order confirmations, and your emails carry Brevo branding on the free and entry plans unless you pay to remove it. Some entry-level paid tiers also cap how many contacts you can store, so check the limit on the exact tier you choose.
What about Mailchimp?
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is the name most people know, and it’s still a capable, easy-to-use platform. Paid plans start at $13 a month for 500 contacts, with multi-step automations on the Standard plan from $20 a month.
Watch out for: the free plan is now small: 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. For a new list, the platforms above usually give you more for less. If you’re already on Mailchimp and it’s working, don’t switch just for the sake of it. Switch when the price or a missing feature actually costs you something.
How to choose in 10 minutes
Answer these five questions before you open a single pricing page.
- How will email make you money? Selling your own products, booking services, running a store, or selling sponsorships each point to a different platform.
- How many people are on your list now, and how many in 12 months? Use the second number when you compare prices.
- How often will you send? Weekly to a small list favours subscriber pricing. Monthly to a big list favours Brevo’s send-based pricing.
- What’s the first automation you need? For most businesses it’s a single welcome email. Make sure the plan you pick includes it.
- What will it cost at three times your current list? Price the business you’re building, not the one you have today.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Choosing on the free plan alone. Free plans at Mailchimp and MailerLite shrank in 2026. The paid price at your future list size matters more.
- Paying to store people who never open. Most platforms bill on list size. Remove long-inactive subscribers every few months.
- Skipping domain authentication. Every platform asks you to add a few DNS records to prove you own your sending domain. It’s the biggest single factor in reaching the inbox instead of spam.
- Building complex automations first. Start with one good welcome email. Add more once you know what subscribers respond to.
- Switching platforms every year. Moving subscribers is easy; rebuilding forms, automations and templates isn’t. Pick for the next two years, not the next two months.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free email marketing platform for a small business?
It depends on what you’ll send. Kit’s free plan is the most generous for list size, at up to 10,000 subscribers. beehiiv’s free plan suits newsletter-first businesses up to 2,500 subscribers. Brevo suits large lists you email rarely. The free plans at MailerLite, Mailchimp and Klaviyo are now small enough that they work best as trials.
How much should a small business spend on email marketing software?
With fewer than 1,000 subscribers, you can pay nothing on a free plan, and most paid plans cost under $40 a month at that size. Costs rise as your list grows, so judge the price against what your list earns rather than against other software.
Do I need email automation from day one?
You need one automated welcome email, because that’s when new subscribers pay the most attention. Beyond that, send regular emails first and add automations once you know what works.
Can I switch email platforms later?
Yes. Every platform lets you export your subscribers, and some offer free migration help. The time cost is rebuilding forms, automations and templates, which is why it’s worth choosing carefully the first time.
Is Mailchimp still a good choice for small businesses?
It’s a capable platform and easy to use. Its free plan is now limited to 250 contacts, so new businesses usually get more from Kit, MailerLite or Brevo at the same budget. If you already use Mailchimp and it works, there’s no urgent reason to move.
Prices and plan limits were last reviewed in September 2026 using each provider’s pricing page: Kit, MailerLite, beehiiv, Klaviyo, Mailchimp and Brevo. Check the current numbers before you sign up.
Free resource
The AI Marketing Workflow Kit.
Five copy-and-paste AI workflows for the marketing work you already do, including an email brief template that gets you drafts worth sending.
- Brief AI to write better emails
- Turn customer reviews into copy angles
- Edit AI drafts so they sound like you