Best Email Platform for Nonprofits: 6 Picks by Budget

How we chose

Prices and free-plan limits in this post were taken from each vendor's own pricing page, as reported in checks dated October and November 2026 and confirmed against the Mailchimp and Brevo pricing pages opened on 13 November 2026. The ranking is by fit for a nonprofit: size of the nonprofit discount, what the free plan actually allows, and how the price moves as the list grows. No hands-on testing was done, and no vendor was paid for placement. Based on published pricing and documentation, checked on 13 November 2026.

1. MailerLite: best for small nonprofits on a tight budget

MailerLite is the cheapest reliable starting point in this list. Comfort starts at $12 a month for 500 subscribers on monthly billing, and Power starts at $25 a month at the same size. The free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, with 3 active automations. That free tier shrank in June 2026, from 500 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month, so do not plan a growing list around it.

The nonprofit discount is the clearest in the category: 30% off any paid plan for the life of the account. You select nonprofit as your industry at signup, then send proof of registered nonprofit status to support before you buy. The discount does not stack with the 10% annual-billing discount, so take the 30% and pay monthly unless yearly invoicing matters to you for its own sake.

MailerLite's weak point for nonprofits is fundraising. It has forms and landing pages, but no native donation processing, so you link out to your donation platform. Skip MailerLite if you want donations, donor records and email in one system. Pick it if you want a clean editor, simple automation and the lowest bill for a list under 2,500 subscribers.

2. GetResponse: best for nonprofits running webinars and events

GetResponse offers the deepest discount in this list: 50% off monthly plans for 24 months for confirmed nonprofits. Starter costs $19 a month for 1,000 contacts on monthly billing, or $15.58 a month billed annually, before the discount. At 50% off, Starter is $9.50 a month for 1,000 contacts for the first two years. The discount cannot be combined with annual billing, and you must link to GetResponse from your website within four weeks.

The free plan covers 500 contacts and 2,500 emails a month. Paid plans include unlimited sends, landing pages and, on higher plans, webinars. Webinars are the reason to pick GetResponse over a cheaper rival: virtual fundraisers, donor briefings and annual-report presentations run inside the same subscription.

Watch the renewal. After 24 months the price returns to the list price, so a 5,000-contact list on Starter would move from $27 a month discounted to $54 a month. Skip GetResponse if you only send a monthly newsletter and never run a live event. Pick it if webinars are part of your fundraising calendar and you can use the discount window to grow.

3. Brevo: best for large lists emailed infrequently

Brevo charges by emails sent, not by contacts. Starter starts at $9 a month for 5,000 emails a month, and Standard starts at $18 a month for the same volume, on monthly billing. The free plan sends up to 300 emails a day and stores up to 100,000 contacts. That combination is unusual: a nonprofit with a large, rarely mailed list can stay on the free plan or the cheapest paid tier far longer than on a contact-priced tool.

The catch is the contact cap on the lowest paid tiers. At the 5,000-email tier, Starter and Standard allow 500 contacts. A 1,000-contact list does not fit that tier, so the first paid tier that holds it is the 10,000-email tier, at $17 a month on Starter or $35 a month on Standard. Brevo also charges $12 a month to remove its logo on Starter, while Standard removes it by default.

Brevo's nonprofit discount is limited. Its 15% discount applies to Enterprise plans, which most nonprofits will never need. Do not pick Brevo for the discount. Pick it if your list is large, your sends are infrequent, and you want transactional email and SMS behind the same login. Skip it if you mail a 5,000-contact list every week, because send volume is the meter that will push your price up.

4. Mailchimp: best for nonprofits needing strong automation

Mailchimp is the most widely known email platform in this list, and its automation is the deepest. Essentials starts at $13 a month for 500 contacts, Standard at $20 a month for 500 contacts, and Premium at $350 a month for 10,000 contacts, on monthly billing. The free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, with a daily cap of 250 sends, one seat and one audience, and no automation or scheduling.

Verified nonprofits get 15% off paid plans. You must request it before you buy, with a 501(c)(3) determination letter in the US or equivalent documentation elsewhere. Mailchimp states on its pricing page that it offers a 15% discount to nonprofits and charities, and that you request it by signing up for a free account and contacting its billing team.

The billing rule that matters most is contact counting. Mailchimp counts subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts toward your limit. A list with 2,500 active subscribers and 1,000 lapsed ones bills at the higher tier unless you archive or delete the lapsed contacts. At 2,500 contacts, Essentials is $45 a month before the discount, or about $38.25 after it, and Standard is $60 a month, or $51 after it. Skip Mailchimp if your list is messy and your budget is fixed. Pick it if you have staff who can use its segmentation, multi-step automations and 300-plus integrations.

5. Constant Contact: best for nonprofits running ticketed events

Constant Contact starts at $12 a month for Lite, $35 a month for Standard and $80 a month for Premium, at 500 contacts on monthly billing. There is no free plan, only a free trial. Lite allows one user and one automation template, Standard adds subject-line A/B testing and three automation templates, and Premium adds unlimited automation templates, unlimited users and 500 SMS messages a month.

The nonprofit discount is up to 30% off, but only on prepayment: 20% off a 6-month prepay and 30% off a 12-month prepay. On a 12-month prepay, Lite falls to $8.40 a month, Standard to $24.50 a month and Premium to $56 a month. Monthly billing gets no nonprofit discount, and prepayments are non-refundable, so do not prepay a year until you are sure the tool fits.

Constant Contact's real advantage is events. Ticketed fundraisers, galas and workshops run inside the subscription, and its phone support suits teams that are new to email marketing. It also excludes unsubscribed contacts from your billing total, which is kinder than Mailchimp's rule. Skip it if you cannot prepay or you need a free plan. Pick it if your calendar is full of ticketed events and you want one tool for invitations, tickets and follow-up emails.

6. AWeber: best for small lists that want a generous free plan

AWeber's free plan is the largest by subscribers in this list: up to 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails a month, with one list, one landing page, one automation and one user, and no time limit or credit card. Lite starts at $15 a month for up to 500 subscribers, Plus at $30 a month, and Unlimited at $899 a month for large lists.

New nonprofit accounts get 3 months of Lite or Plus free, then 25% off, once they send 501(c)(3) paperwork or equivalent documentation. That free period is the closest thing to a nonprofit-only free plan in this list, and it gives a small team a full quarter to test paid features before paying.

AWeber's limits are the ones: one list and one automation on the free plan, and paid plans that send 10 times your subscriber tier on Lite and 12 times on Plus. Skip AWeber if you run several lists or need deep automation. Pick it if you are a small nonprofit with one newsletter, a list under 500 subscribers, and volunteers who need phone support, which AWeber includes on every plan.

What a 1,000-contact list actually costs

Prices rise with list size, so compare at your real size, not at the starting tier. This worked example uses published monthly prices before any nonprofit discount, then applies the discount where the vendor publishes one, for a 1,000-contact list.

Constant Contact is not in this table because its published 1,000-contact Standard price was not confirmed in the checks for this post; Standard starts at $35 a month for 500 contacts, and falls to $24.50 a month on a 12-month prepay at the 30% nonprofit discount. Check its 1,000-contact tier before budgeting.

How to choose

• List under 500 subscribers and a tight budget: start with AWeber free or MailerLite free, then move to MailerLite Comfort with the 30% discount.
• List over 2,000 and mailed rarely: price Brevo by sends, not by contacts, and check the contact cap on the tier you pick.
• Webinars in your fundraising plan: take GetResponse for the 50% discount and the built-in webinar tools, and diary the 24-month renewal.
• Ticketed events every month: take Constant Contact, but only if you can prepay 12 months to get the 30% discount.
• A team that will use automation properly: take Mailchimp Standard, after archiving unsubscribed contacts so you do not pay for people who left.

Before you buy, check the free plan against your real list size, apply for the nonprofit discount before your first paid invoice, and read the discount terms for expiry dates. For a wider look at newsletter tools, see the best email marketing platforms for newsletters, and for the funnel those emails feed, see the email marketing funnel. If you also send text messages to donors, compare the best SMS marketing platform. Adziq's email services cover campaign setup, and the guide to email automations for an online store shows how automation sequences are structured.

Common mistakes nonprofits make

• Paying for lapsed contacts. On Mailchimp and GetResponse, unsubscribed and removed contacts can still count toward your tier. Archive or delete them before you upgrade.
• Applying for the discount after buying. Mailchimp, MailerLite and Constant Contact all require the discount before purchase or before the prepay invoice. None applies it retroactively.
• Choosing by the starting price. A $9 or $12 starting price applies to 500 contacts or 5,000 emails. Your price at 2,500 or 5,000 contacts is the number that belongs in your budget.
• Ignoring the free-plan send cap. Brevo's 300 emails a day means a campaign to 2,000 contacts takes seven days to go out in full. A monthly newsletter to a large list needs a paid tier.
• Picking a donor CRM when you need email. Bloomerang and similar donor systems start around $99 a month and are built for donor retention, not for newsletters. Buy email software for email, and a donor CRM for donor records, unless one system genuinely covers both jobs.

Common questions

Sources

• Mailchimp pricing (marketing plans)
• Brevo pricing
• MailerLite pricing
• Constant Contact pricing
• GetResponse pricing
• AWeber pricing

Adziq sells marketing services and does not accept payment for placement in its articles. See our editorial policy.