Best Email Marketing Tools for Solopreneurs (2026): MailerLite, Kit, Mailchimp and Brevo
A research-based comparison of email marketing tools for newsletters and small businesses: free-plan limits, how each prices, and which fits creators vs shops.
| Feature | MailerLite | Kit | Mailchimp | Brevo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priced by | Subscribers + sends | Subscribers | Contacts | Emails sent |
| Free plan (as of Oct 2026) | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month | See Kit pricing | Up to 250 contacts | Up to 300 emails/day |
| Paid entry (as of Oct 2026) | Comfort from $12/mo | See Kit pricing | From $13/mo for 12 months (intro) | Starter from 5,000 emails/month |
| Stands out for | Full feature set on every paid plan | Creator monetisation | Brand recognition, integrations | Pay-per-send model, transactional email |
Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you sign up for a paid plan, at no extra cost to you. Several of these tools have free plans, and we tell you when free is enough.
How this guide was made: Research-based. Features, limits and prices come from each vendor’s official pricing page, checked as of Oct 2026. Where a vendor’s page didn’t show a price we could confirm, we’ve left it out rather than guess. We haven’t run deliverability tests, so we don’t rank open or inbox rates.
Quick picks
- Best overall for most solopreneurs: MailerLite
- Best for creators who sell digital products: Kit
- Best known, broadest integrations: Mailchimp
- Best for infrequent senders or big lists: Brevo
How pricing models differ
This is the most important thing to understand before you pick:
- MailerLite charges by active subscribers, with a monthly email allowance (unlimited on Power).
- Kit charges by subscribers. It counts only unique, active subscribers.
- Mailchimp charges by contacts.
- Brevo charges by email volume, not list size. It also offers pay-as-you-go credits that don’t expire.
If you have a large list but send rarely, Brevo’s model can work out cheaper. If you send weekly to a small list, subscriber-based tools are simpler.
1. MailerLite: best overall for most solopreneurs
MailerLite says every paid plan gets its full feature set, and you only pay more for a bigger list or more sending.
Plans (as of Oct 2026):
| Plan | Price | Key limits |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, 2 seats, 3 automations, 1 website + 1 landing page |
| Comfort | From $12/mo | 10× your subscriber-tier ceiling in monthly emails, 50 automations, 10 forms, 10 sites, 3 seats |
| Power | From $25/mo | Unlimited emails (fair use), unlimited automations, forms, sites and seats, 24/7 live chat |
| Enterprise | Custom | 200K+ subscribers |
MailerLite offers a 14-day trial of premium features, with no credit card required, and says annual billing saves 10%. Its data is stored in the EU.
Watch out: on Free, sending locks once you pass 250 active subscribers. On paid plans, MailerLite automatically moves you to the next tier and charges your card.
2. Kit: best for creators who sell
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is built around creators: newsletters, digital products, paid newsletters and recommendations.
What Kit’s pricing page lists (as of Oct 2026):
- Email broadcasts, templates, visual automations and sequences
- RSS-to-email campaigns
- Selling digital products, paid newsletters, recurring subscriptions and tip jars, with a listed fee of 3.5% + 30¢
- Paid Recommendations, with Kit taking a 23.5% fee on earnings
- Newsletter sponsorship matching
- A/B testing of subject lines, deliverability reporting and an insights dashboard on higher plans
- Free migration from another platform
We couldn’t read the plan prices from Kit’s pricing page on our check date, so we haven’t listed them. Check kit.com/pricing for the current figure for your list size.
Fit for: writers, educators and YouTubers who want the newsletter and the shop in one place.
3. Mailchimp: best-known option
Mailchimp has a free plan and contact-based paid plans.
As of Oct 2026, Mailchimp’s pricing page listed:
- A Free plan for up to 250 contacts
- Paid plans with introductory pricing shown from $13/mo for the first 12 months on the smallest contact tier, rising with contact count
- A 15% saving on lists of 10,000+ contacts
Mailchimp’s introductory prices change, and the regular price after the first 12 months depends on your contact count, so check the calculator on its pricing page for your list size.
Fit for: small businesses that want lots of integrations and templates and are comfortable with contact-based pricing. Watch out: introductory pricing. Budget for the regular price after 12 months.
4. Brevo: best for infrequent senders and big lists
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) charges by email volume.
As of Oct 2026, Brevo’s pricing page lists:
- Free: create an account and, once approved, send up to 300 emails per day
- Starter: from 5,000 emails per month, with the drag-and-drop editor, templates, an AI content generator, advanced segmentation and forms
- Standard: adds marketing automation, A/B testing, send-time optimisation and a landing page
- Professional: from 150,000 emails/month, adds WhatsApp, pop-ups, push, 10 seats and phone support
- Pay-as-you-go email credits that don’t expire
Brevo includes transactional email on all plans (APIs, SMTP, webhooks) and accepts card or PayPal.
Fit for: shops and businesses with large lists that email occasionally, or that need transactional email alongside newsletters.
Which should you choose?
| Your situation | Start with |
|---|---|
| New blog or newsletter, under 250 subscribers | MailerLite Free |
| Creator selling courses or digital products | Kit |
| Small business with many app integrations | Mailchimp |
| Big list, few sends, or transactional email | Brevo |
| You already use HubSpot’s free CRM | Try its built-in email first |
On that last point, HubSpot’s free CRM includes email marketing tools. See our HubSpot free CRM review. Hostinger’s Unlimited hosting plan also bundles an AI email tool free for one year; see the Hostinger review.
Set-up checklist (any tool)
- Authenticate your domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) before sending.
- Add a signup form to your site. See best website builders or the blog setup guide.
- Write a short welcome sequence of 2–3 automated emails.
- Use an AI writer for drafts, then edit in your own voice. See best AI writing tools for bloggers.
- Only email people who opted in, and make sure every email has a working unsubscribe link.
FAQ
What is the best free email marketing tool? As of Oct 2026, MailerLite Free includes 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month with automations and a landing page. Brevo Free allows up to 300 emails per day. Mailchimp Free covers up to 250 contacts.
Is Kit better than MailerLite for creators? Kit has more built-in creator monetisation (products, paid newsletters, recommendations). MailerLite also sells digital products and bookings, and its Free and Comfort plans are well documented. Compare both on your actual list size.
Do I need email marketing if I’m just starting? Starting a list early is low-cost on a free plan, and it gives you a channel you control rather than relying only on search or social.
Bottom line
For most solopreneurs, MailerLite is the easiest place to start, with a clear free plan and a full feature set on paid tiers. Choose Kit if selling to your audience is the main goal, Brevo if you send rarely to a big list, and Mailchimp if you need its integrations. Every tool here lets you start free, so begin there.
Sources
Official vendor pages used for prices and features (checked October 2026; plans change, so confirm before buying):
Affiliate links. Prices and plans change; confirm on the vendor's site.