Free Mailchimp Alternatives 2026: 7 Email Tools With Genuinely Free Plans
Fastlancer Team · Updated: Oct 27, 2026
Mailchimp's free plan now runs out within weeks for most freelancers and small businesses. The seven alternatives below stay free permanently, without a credit card, and are compared on contacts, sends, automations, branding and data location. Paid plans and overall fit are covered in the best email marketing tools for freelancers.
Which free plan fits you?
Free plans run out in one of three places: contacts if you collect sign-ups faster than you email them, sends if you email often or to several segments, features once you want a welcome sequence, a second user or your own branding. Mailchimp is tight on all three; pick the tool that stays free longest for your pattern.
-
Thousands of contacts, emailed once or twice a month.
Jump to Brevo -
A regular newsletter with room to grow before paying.
Jump to Kit -
A welcome sequence and a weekly send without paying.
Jump to Sender -
The simplest replacement for Mailchimp's campaign editor.
Jump to EmailOctopus -
A small list, a landing page and polished emails from day one.
Jump to MailerLite -
Receipts or password resets plus a newsletter from one account.
Jump to Mailjet -
Website, newsletter and growth network in one place.
Jump to beehiiv
Free plans compared: the actual limits
| Tool | Free contacts | Free sends | Automations on free | Provider badge removed | Data stored | First paid plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mailchimp (baseline) |
250 | 500/ |
No | No | US | Essentials $13/ |
 Brevo |
100,000 | 300/ |
Yes, workflows up to 2,000 contacts | No | EU | Starter $9/ |
 Kit |
10,000 | Unlimited broadcasts | No — paid plans only | Not stated by Kit | US | Creator $39/ |
 Sender |
2,500 | 15,000/ |
Yes | No | EU | Standard $9/ |
 EmailOctopus |
2,500 | 10,000/ |
Not listed on the pricing page | No | EU (Ireland) | Pro $9/ |
 MailerLite |
250 | 2,500/ |
3 active, up to 5 steps each | No | EU | Comfort $12/ |
 Mailjet |
1,000 | 6,000/ |
No — Premium only | No | EU | Starter $9/ |
 beehiiv |
2,500 | Unlimited | No — paid plans only | No | US company, location not published | Lite $49/ |
Limits and US-dollar prices from the vendors' pricing and help pages; regular rates without first-year discounts. Every free plan here is permanent, not a trial.
Brevo
- Free plan
- Up to 100,000 contacts, 300 emails a day
- Good for
- Large lists emailed rarely
- Paid from
- Starter $9/mo
- Watch out for
- Contact allowance doesn't carry over to cheap paid tiers
Storing contacts costs nothing, the meter runs on sending, so a large monthly list can stay free for years. If you leave the free plan with a big list, price the tier that matches it, not the headline Starter price.
Kit
- Free plan
- Up to 10,000 subscribers
- Good for
- Selling products and subscriptions from the list
- Paid from
- Creator $39/mo, $33 annual
- Watch out for
- Any sequence needs a steep paid plan
The largest subscriber allowance among serious email tools, but automation is where it charges. Mailchimp vs Kit compares the two big names in depth.
Sender
- Free plan
- Up to 2,500 subscribers, 15,000 emails a month
- Good for
- Free automations and landing pages
- Paid from
- Standard $9/mo billed annually
- Watch out for
- Sender branding, one seat
Covers a newsletter, a welcome automation and a landing page with no daily cap. The editor favours function over polish, but for automations without paying it is the strongest free plan here.
EmailOctopus
- Free plan
- Up to 2,500 subscribers, 10,000 emails a month
- Good for
- Mailchimp users who only write and send
- Paid from
- Pro $9/mo billed annually
- Watch out for
- Reports kept for 30 days only
Email marketing and nothing else, so the learning curve is the shortest here. Export the numbers if you want to compare a quarter.
MailerLite
- Free plan
- Up to 250 subscribers, two seats
- Good for
- A sign-up page, welcome email and newsletter
- Paid from
- Comfort $12/mo
- Watch out for
- Same contact cap as Mailchimp Free
Cut again in mid-2026, so older roundups overstate it, but it wins on everything around the cap in the least cluttered editor. A fit for a new business that expects to pay once the list grows.
Mailjet
- Free plan
- 1,000 contacts, 200 emails a day
- Good for
- Transactional email plus a monthly newsletter
- Paid from
- Starter $9/mo
- Watch out for
- No automations on free
One free account can carry receipts, password resets and a newsletter. For marketing alone it is the thinnest free plan here.
beehiiv
- Free plan
- Up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends
- Good for
- Building authority with a regular issue
- Paid from
- Lite $49/mo billed yearly
- Watch out for
- Automations and paid subscriptions cost extra
Treats the newsletter as a publication, with website, archive and recommendation network on every free account. For follow-ups or automated sequences it is the wrong shape.
Moosend is a free trial, not a free plan. The free tiers of Klaviyo and Omnisend are built for online stores and are no larger than Mailchimp's; MailerSend's covers transactional email from apps, not newsletters.
Moving your list off Mailchimp
- Export everything once, including unsubscribed and cleaned contacts, as a record of who opted out.
- Import only subscribed contacts. Re-importing unsubscribers breaks anti-spam rules in the US, UK and EU and hurts deliverability.
- Clean first. Addresses that haven't opened in a year use up your free limit and drag down sender reputation.
- Authenticate your domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC before the first campaign.
- Rebuild only what you use: sign-up form, one template, the welcome email.
- Send a test to yourself: provider badge, links, unsubscribe link, rendering on a phone.
Verdict: match the free plan to what grows
A big list you email now and then belongs on Brevo, a fast-growing newsletter on Kit, and a newsletter plus welcome sequence on Sender. The exceptions: Mailjet when your website already sends email, beehiiv when the newsletter is the product.
Keep reading: the email marketing category, Brevo vs Mailchimp, Brevo alternatives and the best freelancer tools 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How limited is Mailchimp's free plan in 2026?
Very: 250 contacts, 500 sends a month (no more than 250 a day), one audience and one seat, with no automation flows or scheduling, the Mailchimp badge in every email and email support only for the first 30 days. The free tier allowed 2,000 contacts until 2022; the 250-contact limit has applied since early 2026.
Which Mailchimp alternative has a more generous free plan?
It depends on which limit you hit first: Brevo stores the most contacts (up to 100,000) but caps sending at 300 emails a day, Kit is free up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited newsletter sends, and Sender combines 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month with automations. All three are far above Mailchimp's 250 contacts.
Are there free email services like Mailchimp with no daily sending limit?
Yes: Sender, EmailOctopus and MailerLite count sends per month, and Kit and beehiiv let you email your whole list as often as you like within their subscriber caps. Brevo and Mailjet are the two with a daily cap on the free plan.
What's the catch with free email marketing plans?
The provider's badge in your emails (on the free plans of Brevo, Sender, EmailOctopus, MailerLite, Mailjet and beehiiv) and automations that are missing or capped (Kit, Mailjet and beehiiv keep them for paid tiers). Some providers also price paid plans by sending volume and contact tier together, so check what your list size costs on the first paid tier.
Can I move my Mailchimp list to a free plan without losing subscribers?
Yes. Every tool here imports a Mailchimp CSV export including subscription status, and Brevo, Sender and Kit offer guided Mailchimp imports; just never re-import people who unsubscribed.
Is Moosend or GetResponse a free Mailchimp alternative?
Moosend is not: it offers a free trial and then requires a paid plan. GetResponse has a free account with a GetResponse badge in every email, but its pricing page did not state the free contact limit at our last check.
