The short answer
Brevo is the cheapest starting point for a growing startup at $9 a month for 5,000 emails, because it bills on sends rather than list size. MailerLite at $12 a month suits simple newsletters, while ActiveCampaign from $15 a month fits teams that need real automation. Mailchimp Essentials from $13 a month costs $75 a month at 5,000 contacts.
Key takeaways
- Brevo Starter costs $9 a month billed monthly for 5,000 emails, or $8.08 a month billed annually.
- Mailchimp Essentials starts at $13 a month for 500 contacts and rises to $75 a month at 5,000 contacts.
- MailerLite Comfort starts at $12 a month, with a free plan for up to 250 subscribers.
- Kit Creator starts at $39 a month billed monthly for 1,000 subscribers, and its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers without automations.
- ActiveCampaign Starter starts at $15 a month billed annually for 1,000 contacts, but automations are capped at five actions each.
Email Marketing Tool for Growing Startup at a glance
| Pick | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | Low-cost sending at scale | From $9 a month billed monthly ($8.08 a month billed annually, Starter, 5,000 emails) | Yes, 300 emails a day |
| Mailchimp | All-in-one suite for small teams | From $13 a month billed monthly (Essentials, 500 contacts) | Yes, 250 contacts and 500 emails a month |
| MailerLite | Simple newsletters on a budget | From $12 a month (Comfort) | Yes, 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month |
| Kit | Creators who sell digital products | From $39 a month billed monthly ($33 a month billed annually, Creator, 1,000 subscribers) | Yes, up to 10,000 subscribers without automations |
| ActiveCampaign | Automation-first growing teams | From $15 a month billed annually (Starter, 1,000 contacts) | No, 14-day free trial |
| Constant Contact | Event-led small businesses | From $12 a month billed monthly (Lite, 500 contacts) | No, 60-day free trial |
Six email tools for a growing startup, compared at 5,000 contacts
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | Low-cost sending at scale | From $9 a month | 300 emails a day |
| Mailchimp | All-in-one suite for small teams | From $13 a month | 250 contacts |
| MailerLite | Simple newsletters on a budget | From $12 a month | 250 subscribers |
| Kit | Creators who sell digital products | From $39 a month | Up to 10,000 subscribers |
| ActiveCampaign | Automation-first growing teams | From $15 a month | 14-day trial only |
| Constant Contact | Event-led small businesses | From $12 a month | 60-day trial only |
Prices are the starting monthly rates shown on each vendor's pricing page, checked on 14 November 2026. The number that matters for a growing startup is not the starting price but the price at the list size you will reach in a year, so the worked calculation below prices every tool at 5,000 contacts.
How we chose
Six tools made this list because each one serves a different kind of growing startup: the cheapest sender, the familiar all-in-one, the simple newsletter tool, the creator platform, the automation engine, and the event-led option. Prices, plan names, free-plan limits and send allowances come from each vendor's pricing page, based on published pricing and documentation, checked on 14 November 2026. No hands-on testing was done. Where a vendor's page did not render a price directly, the figure was cross-checked against independent pricing checks of the same vendor page dated October and November 2026, and the price log records which figures those are.
1. Brevo: best for low-cost sending at scale
Starting price: From $9 a month billed monthly ($8.08 a month billed annually, Starter, 5,000 emails) · Best for: Low-cost sending at scale · Skip if: You need multi-step automation on the cheapest plan
Brevo bills on how many emails you send, not how many contacts you store. Starter costs $9 a month billed monthly for 5,000 emails, and the price climbs with volume: $17 a month at 10,000 emails, $32 at 20,000, $82 at 100,000. The free plan sends 300 emails a day with no time limit. Brevo also includes a basic sales CRM, SMS, and landing pages, which keeps a startup from buying a second tool early.
The catch is the contact cap tied to each volume tier. Starter at 5,000 emails covers only 500 contacts, and the cap only jumps to 500,000 stored contacts once you reach the 20,000-email tier. Multi-step automation, A/B testing and landing pages sit on Standard at $18 a month, so a startup that wants real automation pays double the headline price. Logo removal on Starter is a paid add-on at $10.80 a month, which costs more than the plan itself.
Skip Brevo if your welcome and nurture sequences need branching logic on day one. Buy Standard instead, or pick ActiveCampaign below.
2. Mailchimp: best for all-in-one suite for small teams
Starting price: From $13 a month billed monthly (Essentials, 500 contacts) · Best for: All-in-one suite for small teams · Skip if: Your budget is under $75 a month once your list passes 5,000 contacts
Mailchimp is the default recommendation for a reason: the template library, landing page builder, and 300-plus integrations cover almost everything a small team needs without extra tools. Essentials starts at $13 a month for 500 contacts and includes A/B testing, while Standard at $20 a month adds multi-step automation and predictive segments. The free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 emails a month.
The billing model is the problem for a growing startup. Mailchimp charges by contact count, counts unsubscribed contacts until you archive them, and Essentials reaches $75 a month at 5,000 contacts. Automation flows on Essentials are capped at four steps, which is too short for a real nurture sequence. The free plan also carries no automation at all, so the "free" tier is a newsletter tool, not a growth tool.
Skip Mailchimp if your list is growing fast and your budget is fixed. Brevo or MailerLite will cost less at the same list size.
3. MailerLite: best for simple newsletters on a budget
Starting price: From $12 a month (Comfort) · Best for: Simple newsletters on a budget · Skip if: You need advanced automation or a built-in CRM
MailerLite keeps the price low and the interface plain. Comfort starts at $12 a month for 500 subscribers with unlimited monthly emails, removes MailerLite branding, and adds auto-resend, dynamic content, and multivariate testing. Power starts at $25 a month and adds smart sending and the AI writing assistant. The free plan covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month after MailerLite cut it back in 2026.
The trade is depth. MailerLite has no built-in CRM, no sales pipeline, and automation that stays simpler than ActiveCampaign or Kit. A startup that outgrows newsletters and needs lead scoring or deal tracking will have to add a second tool. The free plan also caps automations, forms, and landing pages, so it works as a trial rather than a long-term home.
Skip MailerLite if email is your sales engine rather than your newsletter channel. ActiveCampaign fits that job better.
4. Kit: best for creators who sell digital products
Starting price: From $39 a month billed monthly ($33 a month billed annually, Creator, 1,000 subscribers) · Best for: Creators who sell digital products · Skip if: Your budget is under $39 a month for automation
Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is built for creators who sell courses, downloads, and paid newsletters. The free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers for broadcasts and landing pages, which is the most generous free tier on this list. Creator at $39 a month billed monthly adds unlimited visual automations, sequences, and integrations, plus a 3.5% plus $0.30 fee on digital product sales. There is no send limit on any plan.
The price jumped in September 2025, the first increase in twelve years, and Creator went from $29 to $39 a month at 1,000 subscribers. At 5,000 subscribers Creator costs about $89 a month, so a growing creator list gets expensive fast. Kit is also a poor fit for a startup that does not sell to its list: the commerce and referral features are the point, and a plain newsletter team pays for tools it never uses.
Skip Kit if you send a simple company newsletter and sell nothing by email. MailerLite does that job for a quarter of the price.
5. ActiveCampaign: best for automation-first growing teams
Starting price: From $15 a month billed annually (Starter, 1,000 contacts) · Best for: Automation-first growing teams · Skip if: Your budget is under $49 a month for real branching automation
ActiveCampaign is the strongest automation engine on this list, with a CRM included at every paid tier. Starter at $15 a month billed annually covers 1,000 contacts and 10,000 sends, with forms, landing pages, and A/B testing. Plus at $49 a month adds landing pages, predictive sending, and unlimited automation, while Pro at $79 adds conditional content and advanced reporting.
Two limits decide whether Starter works for you. Automations are capped at five actions each, so a welcome series with a purchase check and a delay does not fit. And accounts created since November 2025 pay for every contact, including unsubscribed and bounced ones. Starter also includes only one user, and CRM pipelines, SMS, and transactional email are paid add-ons. At 5,000 contacts Starter costs $79 a month billed annually, and Plus costs $145.
Skip ActiveCampaign if you only need to send a newsletter. The automation power is wasted there, and MailerLite costs far less.
6. Constant Contact: best for event-led small businesses
Starting price: From $12 a month billed monthly (Lite, 500 contacts) · Best for: Event-led small businesses · Skip if: Your list is near 1,000 contacts and your budget is under $50 a month
Constant Contact suits small businesses that run events, collect registrations, and send regular newsletters. Lite at $12 a month for 500 contacts includes the drag-and-drop editor, AI content generator, templates, social posting, and sign-up forms, with 5,000 sends a month. There is no free plan, but the 60-day free trial is double the industry norm, and every plan includes phone, chat, and email support.
The price ladder is the steepest on this list. Lite jumps to $30 a month at 501 contacts and $50 at 1,000, so the $12 headline lasts only while the list stays tiny. Lite is also one user with a single automation template and no segmentation or A/B testing, which makes it the weakest automation option here. SMS is a $10-a-month add-on.
Skip Constant Contact if your list is already near 1,000 contacts. Mailchimp Essentials at the same size costs about $27 a month, roughly half the price.
What a 5,000-contact list costs on each tool
This calculation prices a startup with 5,000 contacts sending about four emails per contact per month, on monthly billing unless stated. Brevo is priced at its 20,000-email tier, which is the volume that workload needs.
| Tool | Monthly cost at 5,000 contacts | Yearly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Brevo (Starter, 20,000 emails) | $32 | $384 |
| MailerLite (Comfort) | $39 | $468 |
| Mailchimp (Essentials) | $75 | $900 |
| ActiveCampaign (Starter, billed annually) | $79 | $948 |
| Constant Contact (Lite) | $80 | $960 |
| Kit (Creator) | $89 | $1,068 |
The gap between the cheapest and the dearest is $57 a month, or $684 a year, for the same list. Brevo wins on price because it bills on sends; Kit costs most because it bills on subscribers and bundles commerce features. A startup that sends rarely and stores a big list should price Brevo first. A startup that sends daily should check whether Brevo's volume tiers erase the saving.
Which email tool fits your startup's situation
| Your situation | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Big list, few sends, tight budget | Brevo | Send-based billing keeps a large, quiet list cheap |
| You want the familiar all-in-one | Mailchimp | Templates, landing pages, and integrations in one place |
| Simple newsletter, smallest bill | MailerLite | $12 a month to start, unlimited sends on paid plans |
| You sell courses or paid newsletters | Kit | Commerce, referrals, and automations built for creators |
| Automation runs your sales follow-up | ActiveCampaign | Strongest automation builder, CRM included |
| Events and registrations drive sign-ups | Constant Contact | Event tools and phone support on every plan |
What the free plans really allow
Free tiers differ more than the word "free" suggests. Brevo's free plan sends 300 emails a day with no end date, which covers a startup sending a weekly newsletter to a few hundred people. Mailchimp's free plan stops at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, and MailerLite's at 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Kit's free plan is the outlier: up to 10,000 subscribers, but automations and sequences do not run, so it is a broadcast tool until you pay. ActiveCampaign and Constant Contact have no free plan at all, only trials of 14 and 60 days. Before you commit to a free tier, check whether the feature you need most, usually automation, is actually included.
For more on turning email into revenue, see the email marketing funnel and the best email marketing platforms for creators. The email automations guide shows which sequences to build first, and Adziq's email services cover setup and automation for teams that want it done for them.
Common questions
What is the cheapest email marketing tool for a growing startup?
Brevo, at $9 a month for 5,000 emails on Starter. It bills on how much you send rather than how many contacts you store, so a large list that gets emailed rarely stays cheap. MailerLite at $12 a month is the next cheapest paid starting point.
Why does Mailchimp get expensive as a startup grows?
Mailchimp bills by contact count, and it counts unsubscribed contacts until you archive them. Essentials starts at $13 a month for 500 contacts but reaches $75 a month at 5,000 contacts, so the bill roughly triples as the list grows past a few thousand.
Does Mailchimp have a free plan?
Yes. The free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, with a daily send cap. Automation is not included, so you will need a paid plan once you want welcome sequences or abandoned-cart emails.
Is Kit free up to 10,000 subscribers?
Yes, for broadcasts and landing pages. The free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, but automations and sequences do not run on it. Creator, from $39 a month billed monthly, is the first plan that turns automations on.
Which tool is best for automation on a startup budget?
ActiveCampaign Starter at $15 a month billed annually, with one warning: automations are capped at five actions each. If your welcome series needs branching, budget for Plus at $49 a month billed annually instead.
Sources
- Brevo pricing
- Mailchimp pricing
- MailerLite pricing
- Kit pricing
- ActiveCampaign pricing
- Constant Contact pricing
Adziq sells marketing services and does not accept payment for placement in its articles. See our editorial policy.