ChatGPT answers, unedited

Best fit: Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) for a local brick-and-mortar business with seasonal sales, a small list, and simple coupons. Software Rundown TechRadar

Why:

• Brevo — good for occasional bursts (holiday promos, seasonal coupons) because pricing is based more on sends than stored contacts; it also supports basic automations like welcome emails and follow-ups. Resources Rework
• MailerLite — a close alternative if you want the easiest interface and prettier newsletters; it’s strong for small lists and simple automations. ToolSkeptic
• Mailchimp — fine if you already use it, but its contact-based pricing can become less attractive as your list grows. Resources Rework

For your use case, I’d set up:

1. Welcome coupon → new subscriber joins list
2. Seasonal promotion → holiday/slow-season offers
3. Birthday or anniversary coupon → optional loyalty touch
4. “Haven’t visited lately?” reminder → occasional win-back

A simple choice:

• Lowest cost for seasonal sending: Brevo
• Easiest for a non-marketer: MailerLite
• Most familiar brand: Mailchimp ToolSkeptic Software Rundown

For a small local brick-and-mortar business with seasonal sales, I’d look first at Brevo and Mailchimp.

For your specific situation

Brevo is likely the better budget fit if your list is small but you may have bursts of activity around holidays, sales, or seasonal events. Its free plan allows up to 300 email sends per day and includes marketing automation for up to 2,000 contacts; its Starter plan begins at $9/month and removes the daily sending limit. Brevo Help

Mailchimp becomes interesting if you value simplicity and don't mind paying more as your list grows. Its free plan is limited to 250 contacts, while Essentials includes basic automation. Mailchimp also has a Pay As You Go option specifically aimed at seasonal/infrequent senders, where you buy email credits instead of maintaining a monthly subscription. Mailchimp Mailchimp

For example, your basic setup could be:

• Welcome email: “Thanks for joining — here's 10% off.”
• Seasonal promotion: automatically send a coupon when your spring/fall sale begins.
• Birthday or anniversary coupon: one automated discount per customer.
• Lapsed-customer reminder: “We haven't seen you in a while — here's $10 off.”
• Post-purchase follow-up: thank-you email plus another-store-visit incentive.

Bottom line: If “budget-friendly + seasonal + basic automations” is the priority, I'd start by pricing Brevo. If you expect to send only a handful of campaigns a year, also look closely at Mailchimp Pay As You Go, since avoiding a year-round subscription could matter more than the monthly headline price. Brevo Help Mailchimp

help.brevo.com · mailchimp.com · mailchimp.com

For your situation, Brevo is probably the best budget-friendly choice.

• Best overall: Brevo — Its free plan includes basic automation and allows up to 100,000 stored contacts, though you're limited to 300 emails/day. Starter starts at $9/month, and Standard starts at $18/month with unlimited marketing automation. Brevo Help Brevo
• Best if you're extremely seasonal: Mailchimp — Mailchimp specifically offers a Pay As You Go option aimed at seasonal businesses, so you can buy email credits rather than maintain a monthly subscription. Mailchimp
• Why I'd lean Brevo: A small local shop can set up a welcome series, birthday/customer-reengagement emails, seasonal sale announcements, and coupon campaigns without quickly running into contact-based pricing. Brevo Help

My pick

Brevo + a simple 3–4 email automation setup:

1. New subscriber → welcome + first-visit coupon
2. 7 days later → reminder about the coupon
3. Before each major season → promotional offer
4. After a purchase/visit → thank-you + next-visit incentive

If your list is only a few hundred people and you send heavily only during 2–4 seasons per year, Mailchimp Pay As You Go is worth considering. But if you want ongoing automations at the lowest predictable cost, I'd choose Brevo. Mailchimp Brevo Help

brevo.com
mailchimp.com

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list, seasonal promotions, coupons, and only basic automations, I’d pick MailerLite.

My ranking

1. MailerLite — best overall

• Very easy to set up and use.
• Good for welcome emails, birthday/customer follow-ups, seasonal campaigns, and simple automated sequences.
• Excellent fit if you're sending occasional promotions rather than emailing every day.
• Generally cheaper and simpler than Mailchimp at small list sizes. Mailercloud South Arc Digital
• You can create a coupon code directly in an email and use automations to deliver it after signup or another trigger.
• Brevo — best if you want SMS too

• Particularly attractive if you want to send email + text-message coupons.
• Pricing is based largely on email volume rather than simply the number of contacts, which can work well for a small list that doesn't get emailed constantly.
• Includes a basic CRM as well. SMB Compare Stackmerit
• Mailchimp — easiest familiar choice, but not my budget pick

• Polished and beginner-friendly.
• But its 2026 free tier is relatively limited, and pricing becomes less attractive as your list grows. TheGuideX

What I'd do in your situation

MailerLite + a simple 3-automation setup:

• New subscriber: “Welcome — here's 15% off your first visit”
• Seasonal: Automatically send a spring/summer/fall/winter promotion to your appropriate customer segment
• Lapsed customer: “We haven't seen you lately — here's $10 off through Sunday”

Then use regular broadcasts for things like holiday sales, weekend specials, new inventory, and limited-time coupons.

If your list is under ~1,000 people, I'd lean strongly toward MailerLite. If you tell me roughly how many contacts you have and how often you send, I can compare the actual monthly cost of MailerLite vs. Brevo vs. Mailchimp for your business.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list, seasonal promotions, coupons, and only basic automations, I’d pick MailerLite.

• Best overall: MailerLite — inexpensive, easy to use, and well suited to simple workflows such as new-subscriber welcome → seasonal promotion → coupon → follow-up. Recent 2026 comparisons consistently put it among the best-value options for small businesses. ToolSkeptic Accelrio
• Runner-up: Brevo — especially attractive if your list is somewhat larger but you only email during occasional seasonal pushes, because its pricing is primarily based on emails sent rather than contacts stored. It also gives you SMS and a basic CRM if you eventually want those. ToolSkeptic Mailercloud
• I wouldn't choose Mailchimp for this use case unless you already use it. Its pricing tends to become less attractive as your contact list grows, without giving you a major advantage for simple coupon/seasonal campaigns. ToolSkeptic

What I'd set up

For a shop like yours, MailerLite could handle:

1. Welcome automation — new signup → welcome email + first-visit coupon.
2. Seasonal campaign — e.g. “Fall Sale” → coupon → reminder 3–5 days later.
3. Birthday/anniversary offer — optional if you collect that information.
4. Win-back — customers who haven't engaged for several months get a special offer.
5. Simple segments — regular customers, new subscribers, and lapsed customers.

Bottom line: If your list is only a few hundred to a couple thousand people and you want “set it up once, send seasonal promotions, and issue coupons without becoming an email-marketing expert,” MailerLite is probably the sweet spot. If you have a bigger list but send very infrequently, I'd lean Brevo instead. South Arc Digital Accelrio

If you tell me roughly how many contacts you have (e.g. 300, 1,000, 2,500) and how often you send, I can compare the actual monthly cost of MailerLite vs. Brevo vs. Mailchimp for your situation.

For your use case, I’d pick Brevo.

Why it fits a seasonal brick-and-mortar business with a small list:

• Low cost: Brevo’s free plan allows up to 300 emails/day, and its Starter plan begins at $9/month for 5,000 emails/month. Brevo Help Brevo
• Good basic automation: You can set up welcome emails, coupon follow-ups, re-engagement campaigns, and other simple customer journeys. Its free plan includes marketing automation for up to 2,000 contacts. Brevo Help
• Good for seasonal bursts: Brevo prices around emails sent, rather than simply charging more because your contact database exists. That can be advantageous when you have a small list but only email heavily around holidays or promotions. Brevo Help Mailercloud
• Coupons are easy to implement: You can create a promotional email with a discount code and trigger it automatically—for example, a new-subscriber coupon or a “we haven't seen you lately” offer.

Brevo vs. Mailchimp

Mailchimp does have an interesting Pay As You Go option specifically aimed at seasonal/infrequent senders, where you buy email credits instead of paying a monthly subscription. Mailchimp Mailchimp

My recommendation: Start with Brevo Free. If your list grows or you need more sending capacity, move to Starter. If you eventually want sophisticated customer journeys, segmentation, and testing, Brevo Standard starts at $18/month and adds unlimited marketing automation. Brevo Help

brevo.com

If you tell me roughly how many customers are on your list (e.g. 300, 1,000, 2,000) and how often you send during your busy season, I can tell you which plan will actually be cheapest.

For your situation, I’d pick brevo.com.

Why it fits a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list + seasonal promotions:

• Low cost: Brevo’s free plan allows up to 300 email sends/day, and Starter begins at $9/month. Brevo Help Brevo
• Basic automations: The free plan includes marketing automation for up to 2,000 contacts, so you can do things like welcome emails, birthday offers, and post-purchase follow-ups without immediately paying for a higher tier. Brevo Help
• Coupons/promotions: Brevo’s higher Standard tier specifically includes ecommerce features such as coupons, but for a simple brick-and-mortar setup you can also put coupon codes directly into ordinary campaign emails. Brevo
• Good for seasonal sending: You're not paying primarily for the size of your contact database, which can be attractive when your list stays small but you have bursts of activity around holidays or seasons.

One alternative worth considering

mailchimp.com is arguably the better choice if you value a very polished email builder and lots of integrations. More importantly for you, Mailchimp has a Pay As You Go option specifically aimed at seasonal/infrequent senders—you buy email credits instead of maintaining a monthly subscription. Mailchimp Mailchimp

My verdict:

• Brevo: best overall value for basic automations + regular coupon campaigns.
• Mailchimp Pay As You Go: potentially better if you literally only email customers a few times a year.
• I wouldn't pay for a sophisticated platform like Klaviyo/ActiveCampaign for a small local list unless your automation needs become much more complex.

If you tell me roughly how many contacts you have and how many campaigns you send during your busy season, I can give you a very specific lowest-cost choice.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with seasonal sales, a small email list, and a need for simple automations + coupons, I’d usually pick:

Best overall: mailerlite.com

Why it fits:

• Affordable for small lists
• Easy drag-and-drop emails
• Good basic automations (welcome emails, follow-ups, coupon sequences)
• Simple signup forms for collecting emails in-store
• Less complexity than bigger marketing suites

A good setup would be:

• Email #1: “Welcome — here’s 10% off your first visit”
• Email #2: Reminder after 7 days
• Seasonal campaigns: holidays, slow weeks, inventory pushes

Best if you email only occasionally: brevo.com

Brevo can be a strong budget choice because it is built around email volume rather than only the size of your contact list, which can work well for a business that collects customers all year but sends campaigns only during promotions. Mailercloud Sasanova

Good fit:

• 500–5,000 customer emails
• Monthly coupon blasts
• Seasonal promotions
• Occasional SMS reminders

Best for the least technical owner: constantcontact.com

Constant Contact is more expensive, but it emphasizes ease of use, templates, and support. It may be worth it if you want phone/chat help and don’t want to spend much time learning the tool. Constant Contact

I’d probably skip initially:

• mailchimp.com — polished, but costs can rise as your contact list grows, and you may pay for features you don’t use. Mailercloud
• klaviyo.com — excellent for ecommerce, but usually more than a neighborhood store needs.

My recommendation by situation:

• Under ~2,000 contacts + want easy coupons: MailerLite
• Small list but seasonal bursts: Brevo
• Older/non-technical team that wants support: Constant Contact
• Selling heavily online too: Klaviyo

For a typical local shop (boutique, salon, café, gift store, repair shop, etc.), I’d start with MailerLite + a simple coupon automation and spend the saved budget on getting more email signups at checkout.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list and seasonal sales, I’d pick Brevo overall.

• Best overall: Brevo — Its free plan supports up to 100,000 contacts, 300 email sends/day, and basic marketing automation for up to 2,000 contacts. The Starter plan starts at $9/month, making it particularly attractive if your list is small but you send larger seasonal campaigns. Brevo Help
• Best for very seasonal/infrequent sending: Mailchimp Pay As You Go — You buy email credits rather than paying every month, and Mailchimp explicitly positions this plan for seasonal businesses and infrequent senders. It also includes automations and A/B testing. Mailchimp Mailchimp
• Best if you want the easiest coupon/marketing ecosystem: Mailchimp — its paid plans have mature automation and campaign features, but the pricing is more tied to your contact tier. Essentials starts around $13/month and Standard around $20/month. Mailchimp Mailchimp

What I'd choose for your situation

Brevo if you're going to send things like:

• New-customer welcome → coupon
• Birthday/anniversary offer
• “Haven't visited lately” coupon
• Seasonal sale announcement
• Follow-up after a purchase or signup

Brevo can also use coupon codes in emails, although it doesn't generate the unique codes itself. Brevo Help

One caveat: if you literally only email customers 3–4 times a year, I'd seriously consider Mailchimp Pay As You Go instead. You avoid paying for a monthly subscription during the quiet months.

So, in one line: Brevo for an always-on small-business list; Mailchimp Pay As You Go for a truly seasonal list.

brevo.com
mailchimp.com

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list, seasonal promotions, and basic automations, I’d pick Brevo.

My shortlist

Why Brevo: its pricing is based largely on email volume rather than the size of your contact database, which is particularly attractive when you have a small list and only email heavily during seasonal periods. Its free tier also includes basic automation, while paid plans start around $9/month according to current 2026 comparisons. TechSifted SMB Compare

For your use case, I'd set up just 4 automations:

• New subscriber → welcome email + first-visit coupon
• Seasonal promotion → coupon email a few weeks before the season
• Post-purchase → thank-you + "come back" offer
• Lapsed customer → "We miss you" coupon after 60–90 days

One caveat: if by "coupons" you mean unique, automatically generated discount codes tied directly to a POS/e-commerce system, the best platform may depend on what you use for checkout.

If you tell me what POS you use (Square, Clover, Shopify, etc.) and roughly how many people are on your email list, I can narrow it down to the cheapest/best setup.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with seasonal sales and a small email list, I’d pick Brevo overall.

Brevo's free plan currently allows up to 100,000 stored contacts, 300 email sends/day, and marketing automation for up to 2,000 contacts. Its paid Starter plan begins at $9/month. Brevo Help Brevo Help

Mailchimp's free plan is much tighter—250 contacts and 500 sends/month. Its paid Essentials plan starts at $13/month for the displayed tier, while its Pay As You Go option is specifically intended for seasonal or infrequent senders. Mailchimp Mailchimp Mailchimp

My recommendation

Go with Brevo if your needs are basically:

• Welcome email when someone joins your list
• Automatic coupon for new subscribers
• Occasional birthday/re-engagement email
• Seasonal promotions like holiday sales
• A few customer segments
• A small list where you don't want to pay much during the off-season

The biggest advantage is that you can keep the account essentially free while your marketing is light, then pay $9/month when your sending needs increase. Brevo Help

One exception: if you only email customers a few times a year and want to avoid any monthly subscription, I'd seriously consider Mailchimp Pay As You Go. It uses prepaid email credits and is explicitly designed for businesses with inconsistent or seasonal sending. Mailchimp Mailchimp

So, in one sentence: Brevo for basic ongoing automation; Mailchimp Pay As You Go if you're truly seasonal and send only a handful of campaigns per year.

brevo.com · mailchimp.com

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list, seasonal promotions, coupons, and only basic automations, I’d pick Brevo.

My recommendation: Brevo

brevo.com is particularly good when you send heavily during certain seasons but not every week.

• Free plan: $0, with up to 300 email sends/day and automation for up to 2,000 contacts. Brevo Help
• Starter: starts at $9/month, with no daily sending limit. Brevo Help
• You can build simple automations such as welcome → coupon → reminder, which is probably all you need.
• Its pricing is based more around email volume rather than simply charging you for having contacts, which can work well for a small list that gets emailed in seasonal bursts. Mailercloud
• You can easily create coupon-style campaigns such as “10% off this weekend” or “$10 off your next visit.” For a brick-and-mortar shop, I'd use the coupon as the offer and track redemptions with a unique code.

Brevo vs. Mailchimp

Mailchimp remains a very polished option, but its pricing is tied to your contact tier, and its Standard plan starts at $20/month. Mailchimp Mailchimp

One other platform worth considering is MailerLite if you care most about a very simple interface and attractive newsletters. But between the options, Brevo is my pick for your specific seasonal + coupon use case.

A simple setup I'd recommend is:

Signup → welcome email + coupon → 7-day reminder → seasonal promotion → post-purchase/visit follow-up

That gives a small local business most of the practical benefit of email automation without paying for an unnecessarily sophisticated system.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list, seasonal promotions, basic automations, and coupons, I’d pick MailerLite.

My ranking

1. MailerLite — best overall

• Very easy to use for a non-marketing specialist.
• Good visual automation builder for things like: - New-subscriber welcome series
• Birthday/customer-anniversary offers
• Seasonal coupon campaigns
• “We haven’t seen you lately” re-engagement
• Strong value for a small list; current comparisons put its free tier around 1,000 subscribers, with paid plans starting around $10/month, though pricing can change. ToolSkeptic Fit Small Business
• Best choice if you want simple email + coupons without unnecessary complexity.
• Brevo — best if you also want SMS

• Particularly interesting for a local store because you can combine email and SMS promotions.
• Its pricing is primarily based on emails sent rather than contacts stored, which can be advantageous if your list grows but you only email during seasonal campaigns. South Arc Digital Software Rundown
• Slightly less straightforward than MailerLite.
• Constant Contact — best for hand-holding

• Worth considering if you value customer support and traditional small-business marketing tools more than rock-bottom pricing.
• But I'd generally choose MailerLite or Brevo if budget is the priority.
• Mailchimp — I'd skip for this use case

• It's familiar and perfectly capable, but its pricing/value proposition has become less attractive for small businesses compared with MailerLite and Brevo. ToolSkeptic theStacc

What I'd actually set up

For a seasonal local shop, I'd keep it very simple:

Signup → Welcome coupon → Seasonal promotion → Reminder → Post-purchase/re-engagement

For example:

Join the list → Get 15% off → Fall sale announcement → 3-day coupon reminder → 60-day “come back” offer

You don't need sophisticated ecommerce automation unless you're selling extensively online.

Bottom line: Start with MailerLite. If you're likely to use text-message coupons/promotions too, I'd seriously consider Brevo instead. Current 2026 comparisons consistently put those two at the budget-friendly end for small businesses. smallmailhub.com EmailTooltester.com

mailerlite.com
brevo.com

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small email list, seasonal promotions, basic automations, and coupons, I’d pick MailerLite.

My ranking

1. MailerLite — best overall

• Very good value for a small list.
• Easy drag-and-drop email builder.
• Automation is strong enough for things like: - New-subscriber welcome series
• Birthday/customer follow-ups
• “We miss you” emails
• Seasonal promotion sequences
• Easy to create coupon/promo emails.
• Generally simpler than Mailchimp while still giving you room to grow. ToolSkeptic EmailCloud
• Brevo — best if you email infrequently

• Particularly attractive for a seasonal business because pricing is based primarily on emails sent rather than contacts stored.
• Unlimited contacts on its free model, with a daily sending limit; paid plans start around $9/month according to recent 2026 comparisons.
• Has automation and SMS capabilities if you eventually want texts alongside email. EveryAny.One Compare BizTech
• I'd choose Brevo over MailerLite if your list is, say, 2,000 people but you only send a handful of campaigns each season.
• Mailchimp — easiest familiar choice, but not my budget pick

• Good templates and integrations.
• Basic automation is fine.
• But its contact-based pricing can become less attractive as your list grows, so I'd only choose it if you already use Mailchimp or need a particular integration. EveryAny.One Compare BizTech

What I'd do in your situation

MailerLite if your list is under ~1,000–2,000 people and you're sending regularly during the season.

Brevo if your list is larger but you send only occasionally, such as a spring sale, summer promotion, holiday sale, and a few reminders.

For a typical local shop, you don't need something like Klaviyo or ActiveCampaign—the extra automation/CRM sophistication is likely overkill for coupons and seasonal campaigns.

If you tell me roughly how many contacts you have (e.g. 300, 800, 2,000) and how often you send, I can tell you which one is likely to be cheapest and what plan you'd need.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list and seasonal promotions, I’d pick brevo.com.

Why Brevo fits

• Budget-friendly: Brevo’s free plan supports up to 300 emails/day, and its Starter plan starts at $9/month. Brevo Help
• Good for seasonal sending: You’re generally paying based on email volume rather than simply the size of your contact list, which makes sense if you have quiet periods and occasional coupon blasts. Brevo Help SMB Compare
• Basic automations: You can automate things like a welcome email, post-purchase follow-up, or birthday/anniversary offer. The free plan includes marketing automation for up to 2,000 contacts. Brevo Help
• Coupons are easy to handle: You can create coupon codes in your POS/e-commerce system and use Brevo to distribute them in attractive promotional emails.
• Room to grow: It also includes CRM and SMS capabilities if you eventually want to text customers about a weekend sale or seasonal event. Brevo Help

What about Mailchimp?

mailchimp.com is probably the better choice if ease of use, templates, and integrations matter more than keeping costs down. Its Pay As You Go option is specifically designed for infrequent/seasonal senders and includes automations. Mailchimp Mailchimp

My ranking for your situation:

1. Brevo — best overall value
2. Mailchimp Pay As You Go — best if you only send a handful of campaigns each season
3. Mailchimp monthly — worthwhile if you're emailing frequently and want its broader ecosystem

If your list is only, say, 100–500 customers and you send 1–2 promotional emails per month, I'd lean Brevo Free initially, then upgrade only when you actually need more sending capacity.

For that specific use case, I’d pick Brevo.

• Best overall: brevo.com — especially good if your list is small but you send heavily during seasonal periods. Its pricing is based largely on emails sent rather than contacts stored, and the free plan includes basic automation, with 300 email sends/day. Paid Starter starts at $9/month. Brevo Help Brevo Help
• Best if you send only a few big campaigns each year: mailchimp.com — this is unusually well suited to seasonal businesses because you can buy email credits rather than maintain a monthly subscription. It also includes automations. Mailchimp
• Best for easiest templates/ecosystem: mailchimp.com — very polished and familiar, but its normal paid pricing is more tied to your contact count, so I wouldn't make it my first choice for a tiny budget. Mailchimp Mailchimp

What I'd do for a local shop

Use Brevo Free initially, with automations like:

1. Welcome email → coupon for first/next purchase.
2. Post-purchase follow-up → thank-you + related offer.
3. Seasonal campaign → e.g. holiday/anniversary coupon.
4. Win-back → coupon for customers who haven't returned in 90–180 days.

For a small brick-and-mortar business, that's enough automation to generate meaningful repeat visits without paying for a complicated marketing system.

One caveat: if you literally only email your list 3–6 times per year, I'd seriously consider Mailchimp Pay As You Go instead. If you're sending regularly and want automations running year-round, Brevo is the better budget choice.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with seasonal sales and a small email list, I’d pick Mailchimp Pay As You Go if you send only occasionally, and Brevo if you want regular automated campaigns.

My pick: Mailchimp Pay As You Go

The key advantage is that it’s specifically designed for seasonal/infrequent senders: you buy email credits instead of paying a monthly subscription. Automations are included, so you can still set up things like:

• Welcome email + first-visit coupon
• Birthday or anniversary offer
• “We miss you” discount
• Seasonal sale announcement
• Post-purchase follow-up

Mailchimp explicitly describes Pay As You Go as suitable for seasonal businesses and says the credits can cover automations as well as regular campaigns. Mailchimp Mailchimp

mailchimp.com

When I’d choose Brevo instead

Brevo is probably the better value if you're going to email your list fairly regularly. Its free plan supports up to 2,000 contacts in automations and 300 email sends per day; paid plans start at $9/month. Brevo Help

It also has strong automation and SMS capabilities. For coupons, though, Brevo's unique/dynamic coupon codes require an e-commerce integration or API/plugin, so for a purely offline store using simple “show this email for 20% off” coupons, you don't necessarily need that feature. Brevo Help

brevo.com

Bottom line

For your exact description, I'd start with Mailchimp Pay As You Go—you avoid paying every month during the slow season while still getting basic automation. Mailchimp

For your situation, I’d pick Brevo.

brevo.com is especially well suited to a local brick-and-mortar business that has a small customer list, seasonal promotions, coupons, and only needs straightforward automations.

Brevo's current Free plan allows up to 100,000 stored contacts, 300 email sends per day, and automation for up to 2,000 contacts. Its Starter plan begins at $9/month. Brevo Help Brevo Help

Mailchimp's Free plan is currently limited to 250 contacts, while its paid Essentials plan starts at $13/month and Standard at $20/month under its current pricing. Mailchimp Mailchimp

What I'd set up

For a seasonal local business, you probably don't need complicated marketing automation. I'd build:

• Welcome email: "Thanks for joining — here's 10% off your first purchase."
• Coupon automation: Send/re-send a coupon based on whether it was used.
• Seasonal campaigns: Christmas, Mother's Day, back-to-school, summer sale, etc.
• Lapsed-customer reminder: "We haven't seen you in a while — here's $10 off."
• Birthday/anniversary offer: If you collect those dates.
• Post-purchase follow-up: Thank-you email + invitation to return.

Bottom line: If you're looking for cheap + simple + coupons + basic automations, I'd choose Brevo over Mailchimp. Mailchimp is worth considering if you particularly value its templates, integrations, or very polished beginner experience. Independent 2026 comparisons similarly find Brevo generally offers better value for budget-conscious small businesses. techsifted.com fitsmallbusiness.com

If you tell me roughly how many customers are on your list (e.g. 300, 1,000, 3,000) and how many emails you send in a typical month, I can tell you which platform/plan is cheapest for your exact situation.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list, seasonal promotions, coupons, and a few basic automations, I’d pick MailerLite.

My ranking

1. MailerLite — best overall fit

• Free up to 250 subscribers, with 2,500 emails/month and 3 basic automations. MailerLite MailerLite
• Paid Comfort starts at $12/month, adding up to 50 automations and more forms/landing pages. MailerLite
• Very well suited to simple flows such as new-subscriber welcome → coupon → reminder, birthday offers, and seasonal promotions. MailerLite
• Best choice if: you want something inexpensive and easy that you won't have to babysit.
• Brevo — best if you want SMS/CRM too

• Free plan allows 300 emails/day; paid Starter starts at $9/month. Brevo Help
• Its Standard plan starts at $18/month and adds unlimited marketing automation, A/B testing, and more advanced reporting. Brevo Help Brevo
• Particularly attractive if your seasonal promotions eventually include text-message coupons or you want CRM functionality.
• Best choice if: email + SMS is part of your plan.

What I'd do in your situation

Start with MailerLite Free if you're under 250 subscribers. Build just three automations:

• Welcome: “Thanks for joining — here's 10% off your next visit.”
• Seasonal: send a campaign when your busy season starts.
• Coupon reminder: automatically remind people who received but didn't redeem the offer.

Once your list exceeds 250 or you need more automation, move to Comfort ($12+/month). MailerLite

Bottom line: MailerLite is the better budget pick. Brevo becomes more compelling if you specifically want SMS coupons, CRM, or pay based more on email volume than list size. Brevo Help emailtooltester.com

mailerlite.com · brevo.com

For a local brick-and-mortar business with seasonal sales, a small customer list, and a need for basic automations + coupons, I’d usually shortlist these:

My recommendation for your situation

Pick MailerLite if:

• You have a few hundred to a few thousand customers
• You send things like: - “Spring sale starts Friday”
• “10% off before Mother’s Day”
• “Holiday hours + coupon”
• “Come back for your yearly service”
• You want something you can set up yourself quickly

Pick Brevo if your list is small but you only email a handful of times per year and want to keep costs down. SMB Compare

Pick Constant Contact if you value phone support and want a more traditional small-business marketing tool, especially if you run events, workshops, or community promotions. Constant Contact

For a typical local shop, I’d set up only these automations:

1. Welcome coupon — new subscriber gets 10% off.
2. Birthday or anniversary offer — optional, if you collect dates.
3. Seasonal reminder — “Last chance for holiday orders.”
4. Post-purchase follow-up — thank-you + next visit incentive.

I would avoid paying for advanced platforms like activecampaign.com or ecommerce-heavy tools unless you need complex customer journeys.

If you tell me your approximate list size (e.g., 300, 1,000, 5,000 contacts) and whether you sell products vs. services, I can narrow it to one choice.

For that specific use case, I’d pick Brevo.

Why it fits a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list and seasonal bursts:

• Low cost when you send seasonally. Brevo’s free plan allows up to 300 emails/day, while its Starter plan begins at $9/month and is based primarily on email volume rather than simply the size of your contact list. Brevo Help Brevo
• Good basic automations. You can set up things like welcome emails, post-purchase follow-ups, birthday/anniversary offers, and reminders. More advanced, unlimited multi-step automation is on Standard, starting at $18/month. Brevo
• Great for coupons. You can simply include coupon codes in campaigns and automated messages; if you eventually need more sophisticated ecommerce coupon features, Brevo has those at its higher tier. Brevo
• Seasonal sending favors Brevo's model. If you have, say, 800 customers but only email them heavily around Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc., paying based on sends can be more economical than a platform that charges primarily according to stored contacts. Mailercloud

My ranking for your situation

1. Brevo — best overall value

Best if you're sending a few campaigns around seasonal events and want straightforward automations.

2. MailerLite — best for simplicity/design

Worth considering if you care more about an especially easy email builder and clean automation than send-based pricing. A 2026 comparison found it particularly strong for businesses staying under $50/month. ToolSkeptic

3. Mailchimp — good, but not my budget pick

It's polished and has a huge ecosystem, but its free tier is limited to 250 contacts, and its paid pricing is more dependent on contact count. Standard, which includes more substantial automation, starts at $20/month. Mailchimp

Bottom line: For a small local shop with perhaps a few hundred to a couple thousand customers, I'd start with Brevo Free, then move to Starter or Standard only when your automation needs justify it.

A simple setup I'd use is: signup incentive → welcome email with coupon → seasonal promotion → post-purchase thank-you → occasional "we haven't seen you lately" coupon. That gives you most of the practical value without building a complicated marketing system.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list, seasonal promotions, basic automations, and coupons, I’d pick MailerLite.

My ranking

1. MailerLite — best overall

• Free plan supports up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, with 3 automations. MailerLite
• Paid Comfort starts at $12/month for up to 500 subscribers and includes 50 automations. MailerLite
• Very well suited to simple flows such as new-subscriber welcome → coupon → reminder, birthday offers, seasonal promotions, and re-engagement. MailerLite
• You can simply put a coupon code such as FALL20 into an email or landing page—no sophisticated ecommerce setup required.
• Best choice if email is your main marketing channel.

mailerlite.com

2. Brevo — best if your list grows or you send in bursts

• Free plan allows up to 100,000 stored contacts and 300 email sends/day, although automation on the free plan is limited to 2,000 contacts. Brevo Help
• Starter begins at $9/month, and its pricing is primarily based on email volume rather than simply the size of your contact list. Brevo Help
• Particularly attractive if you want to add SMS coupons later.
• Best alternative if you have, say, 1,000–5,000 contacts but only email them heavily around holidays.

brevo.com

3. Mailchimp — I'd skip it for this use case

• It can certainly handle coupons and automations, but for a small local business I don't think its ecosystem gives you enough additional value to justify choosing it over the simpler/cheaper options.

What I'd actually set up

For a seasonal storefront, I'd keep it very simple:

Signup → Welcome email + $10-off coupon → 7-day reminder → Seasonal promotion → Post-purchase thank-you → Next-season reactivation

You don't need elaborate ecommerce automation. If your list is under ~500 people, MailerLite Comfort at $12/month is probably the sweet spot; if you're under 250, I'd start with its free plan and see whether the 3-automation limit becomes an issue. MailerLite MailerLite

Bottom line: MailerLite for simplicity and value; Brevo if SMS or a larger-but-infrequently-mailed list matters.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list, seasonal sales, coupons, and only basic automations, I’d pick MailerLite overall.

My ranking

Recent 2026 comparisons consistently put MailerLite and Brevo ahead of Mailchimp on value for small businesses. ToolSkeptic Accelrio

The key choice: MailerLite vs. Brevo

I'd choose MailerLite if you want automations such as:

• New-subscriber welcome email
• "Thanks for visiting" follow-up
• Birthday or anniversary coupon
• Seasonal promotion sequence
• Automatic reminder to customers who haven't redeemed a coupon
• Simple customer segments

It's particularly attractive if your list is under a few thousand contacts and you want a simple visual automation builder. Accelrio

I'd choose Brevo if your business has, say, 2,000 contacts but you only send 5–10 campaigns per year. Its pricing is based much more on sending volume than on how many contacts you store, making it unusually well suited to an occasionally active seasonal list. SMB Compare Accelrio

One caveat: MailerLite changed its free tier in June 2026, so don't choose it solely based on older articles claiming a 1,000-contact free plan. Accelrio

Bottom line: For a typical local shop—small customer list + monthly/seasonal emails + coupons + a few automated sequences—MailerLite is my first choice. If you email only during seasonal bursts, Brevo may actually be cheaper.

mailerlite.com · brevo.com

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list, seasonal sales, coupons, and only basic automations, I’d pick Brevo.

Best fit: Brevo

Brevo

Why it fits:

• Free plan: up to 300 emails/day, which is plenty for a small seasonal list. help.brevo.comwww.brevo.com
• Starter: begins at $9/month and gives you 5,000+ monthly sends. help.brevo.com
• You pay primarily based on email volume rather than the number of contacts, which is particularly attractive if you have, say, 500–1,500 customers but only email them during holiday/seasonal promotions. help.brevo.com
• You can create signup-triggered follow-ups and segment customers for targeted promotions. help.brevo.comwww.brevo.com
• Standard ($18/month) adds unlimited marketing automation, which is enough for things like:
  • New-subscriber welcome → coupon
  • Birthday/anniversary offer
  • “Haven't visited lately” reminder
  • Seasonal promotion sequence
  • Coupon reminder a few days later help.brevo.comwww.brevo.com

What about Mailchimp?

Mailchimp is arguably a little more polished and has a huge ecosystem, but I'd choose it mainly if you already use Mailchimp or need its integrations. Its current pricing is more tied to contact counts, and the automation features you want sit on higher tiers. mailchimp.com

One alternative worth considering: MailerLite

If your priority is the easiest interface for creating attractive newsletters and simple automations, MailerLite is also worth a look. Recent comparisons put it ahead on value for many small businesses, while Brevo is particularly compelling when you send infrequently but in seasonal bursts. toolskeptic.com

My ranking for your situation:

If you tell me roughly how many customers are on your list (e.g. 300, 1,000, 2,500) and how often you send during your busy season, I can tell you which plan would be cheapest and what I'd set up for the coupon automation.

For your situation, MailerLite would be my first choice.

A local brick-and-mortar business with a small list usually needs three things: inexpensive sending, simple automations, and an easy way to promote seasonal offers. MailerLite hits that combination particularly well. Its free plan currently supports up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, with visual automations included; paid Comfort starts at $12/month. MailerLite MailerLite

My ranking

1. mailerlite.com — Best overall

• Great for a small list and occasional seasonal campaigns.
• Easy welcome, birthday/anniversary, re-engagement, and post-purchase automations.
• You can put a coupon/discount code directly into an automated welcome or promotional email. MailerLite
• Particularly attractive if you want something a non-marketing person can manage.
• brevo.com — Best if sales are very seasonal

• Brevo uses sending volume rather than simply charging you based on contacts, which can be advantageous if you have a larger dormant list but only email heavily around holidays/promotions.
• Its Standard plan adds unlimited multi-step marketing workflows. Brevo
• I'd pick it over MailerLite if you also want SMS or a more substantial CRM.
• mailchimp.com — Good, but not my budget pick

• Capable, but for a small local business doing basic email + coupons, I don't think its additional complexity is worth paying for.

What I'd actually set up

For a shop like yours, I'd keep the automation system very simple:

• New subscriber → welcome email + first-visit coupon
• Coupon reminder → 5–7 days later if they haven't redeemed it
• Seasonal promotion → e.g. holiday/Christmas, summer, back-to-school
• Birthday/anniversary → optional small offer
• Lapsed customer → "We miss you" offer after 3–6 months
• After purchase → thank-you + invitation to return

That gives you most of the practical benefit of email automation without building a complicated marketing machine.

Bottom line: Start with MailerLite's free tier if your list is under 250. If you're above that, its $12/month Comfort plan is still a very reasonable fit. MailerLite

If you tell me roughly how many contacts you have and how often you email (e.g. 500 contacts, 2 campaigns/month), I can tell you which platform is likely to be cheapest for your actual usage.

For that specific use case, I’d pick MailerLite.

Current 2026 comparisons consistently put MailerLite near the top for small businesses under 5,000 contacts. Its paid plans start around $12/month, while Brevo can be particularly economical for businesses that have a larger contact list but send only occasional campaigns. www.constantcontact.com

What I'd set up for a brick-and-mortar shop

With MailerLite, you don't need complicated marketing automation. I'd start with:

1. Welcome email → "Thanks for joining — here's 10% off."
2. Coupon reminder → automatically 5–7 days later if they haven't redeemed it.
3. Seasonal campaign → e.g. spring sale, holiday shopping, back-to-school.
4. Lapsed-customer reminder → after a suitable period without a purchase.
5. Birthday/anniversary offer → optional, if you collect that information.

The key is that your coupons can simply be unique or campaign-specific codes that you put into the emails; you don't need an ecommerce-heavy platform just to accomplish this.

My verdict:
MailerLite if you want the easiest all-around solution.
Brevo if keeping the monthly bill as low as possible is the overriding concern and your sending is genuinely seasonal. www.constantcontact.comemailcloud.com

If you tell me roughly how many contacts you have (e.g. 300, 1,000, 2,500) and how often you send, I can tell you which one will actually be cheapest for your situation.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list and seasonal sales, I’d pick Mailchimp, specifically because of its Pay As You Go option.

• Best fit: mailchimp.com Pay As You Go — You buy email credits instead of paying a recurring monthly fee. Mailchimp explicitly positions this for seasonal/infrequent senders, and it still includes automations. Mailchimp Mailchimp
• Best if you email regularly: brevo.com — Brevo's pricing is based heavily on email volume rather than list size. Its Standard plan starts at $18/month and includes unlimited automated workflows. Brevo Brevo
• Cheapest for a tiny list: Mailchimp's free plan supports up to 250 contacts, though its more useful automation features are on paid tiers. Mailchimp

My recommendation

If you're something like a retail shop, salon, specialty store, or local service business that sends a few campaigns around Mother's Day, summer, Black Friday, Christmas, etc., I'd use Mailchimp Pay As You Go.

You can set up simple automations such as:

New subscriber → welcome coupon → reminder → seasonal promotion

For coupons, you can simply include a discount code in the email; you don't need an elaborate ecommerce platform.

If you tell me roughly how many contacts you have (e.g. 100, 500, 1,000) and how many emails you expect to send per month, I can tell you which will actually be cheapest.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list and seasonal sales, I’d pick Brevo overall.

Brevo's free plan gives you 300 sends/day and basic marketing automation, while its Starter plan begins at $9/month. help.brevo.com

The one reason I'd choose Mailchimp instead: if you're very seasonal and may go months without sending anything. Mailchimp specifically offers a Pay As You Go plan designed for seasonal/infrequent senders, where you buy email credits instead of paying a monthly subscription. It also supports automations on that plan. mailchimp.commailchimp.com

My recommendation

Choose Brevo if you're going to send reasonably regularly—for example:

• Welcome email after someone joins your list
• Automatic birthday/customer-anniversary offer
• Monthly or occasional promotions
• “We haven't seen you lately” coupon
• Holiday/seasonal sale emails
• Coupon codes in your regular campaigns

Choose Mailchimp Pay As You Go if your pattern is more like: “We have 300 customers on our list, send a few campaigns around Christmas, Valentine's Day, and our summer sale, and otherwise barely email.” That's almost exactly the use case Mailchimp describes for its seasonal plan. mailchimp.commailchimp.com

Bottom line: Brevo for best everyday value; Mailchimp Pay As You Go for truly seasonal sending.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with seasonal promotions and a small email list, I’d usually pick MailerLite as the best budget-friendly option. It hits the sweet spot: simple coupons, basic automations, signup forms, and newsletters without the complexity of larger marketing suites. toolskeptic.comzapier.com

Best fits for your situation

For your use case, I’d set up:

• Welcome automation: “Thanks for joining — here’s 10% off your first visit”
• Seasonal campaigns: holiday sale, summer special, back-to-school, slow-week promotions
• Customer segments: new customers, repeat customers, inactive customers
• Coupon tracking: unique codes or tagged links so you know what drives visits

A simple decision rule:

• Under ~2,000 contacts and sending regularly: choose MailerLite. toolskeptic.com
• A few thousand+ contacts but only sending monthly/seasonally: consider Brevo. www.mailercloud.com
• Already deeply tied into Mailchimp integrations: staying may be easiest. toolskeptic.comzapier.com

For a neighborhood shop, salon, café, boutique, service business, or similar, I’d start with MailerLite and avoid overbuilding. A clean list and consistent coupons will matter more than advanced automation features. emailcloud.com

For a local brick-and-mortar business with seasonal sales, coupons, and a small email list, I’d usually choose MailerLite or Brevo over bigger-name tools. The best fit depends on whether you value simplicity or flexibility. www.constantcontact.com

Best overall pick: MailerLite

Best for: a few hundred to a few thousand customers, simple promotions, and easy automations.

Why it fits:

• Easy drag-and-drop email creation
• Good for seasonal campaigns (“Spring sale,” “Holiday coupon,” “Back-to-school offer”)
• Basic automations:
  • welcome email after signup
  • coupon delivery
  • birthday/anniversary reminders
  • follow-up after a purchase or event
• Less overwhelming than enterprise-style platforms www.constantcontact.comwww.constantcontact.com

Potential downside:

• If you later need very complex customer journeys, advanced segmentation, or heavy CRM features, you may outgrow it.

Best budget/value alternative: Brevo

Best for: businesses that email less often but want more contacts without paying heavily by subscriber count.

Why it fits:

• Pricing is based more on sending volume than just list size, which can be attractive for a seasonal business with a growing customer list.
• Includes email automation and contact management features.
• Good if you also want occasional SMS promotions. www.constantcontact.com

Potential downside:

• The interface has more features and menus, so it can feel less simple at first.

Good but often pricier for a small list: Constant Contact

Best for: owners who want lots of templates, support, and local-event style marketing.

Pros:

• Very beginner-friendly
• Strong support reputation
• Good for businesses running events, announcements, and community promotions www.constantcontact.comwww.constantcontact.com

Con:

• You may pay more than necessary if you only need coupons and basic automations.

I’d probably skip:

• Mailchimp — still popular and capable, but pricing can become less attractive as your contact list grows and you may end up paying for features you don’t use. www.southarcdigital.com
• Klaviyo — excellent for ecommerce, but usually overkill for a local shop unless you sell heavily online.

My recommendation for your situation:

1. MailerLite → if you want “set it up and send coupons without fuss.”
2. Brevo → if your list is growing and you send only occasionally.
3. Constant Contact → if you want phone support and a more traditional small-business marketing tool.

A simple setup that works well for a local store:

• Signup form at checkout + website
• Automatic welcome email with a first-purchase coupon
• Monthly newsletter
• Seasonal sale campaigns
• Customer segment tags (VIPs, recent buyers, inactive customers)

That’s usually enough to get most of the value without paying for advanced marketing software.

For your situation, I’d pick MailerLite.

You have a small list + seasonal sales + basic automations + coupons, so you don’t need a heavyweight marketing platform.

🥇 MailerLite — best overall

MailerLite's free plan supports up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, with basic automations. Its paid Comfort plan starts at $12/month and expands automation considerably. www.mailerlite.com

For a local shop, I'd use it for:

• Welcome email: "Thanks for joining — here's 10% off your first visit"
• Seasonal coupon: automatically send a holiday/summer/back-to-school offer
• Birthday or anniversary offer
• Lapsed-customer reminder: "Haven't seen you in a while — here's 15% off"
• Segmenting customers by interests or past purchases

The interface is also relatively straightforward, which matters if you're the person actually managing the emails.

MailerLite pricing

🥈 Brevo — potentially better if you're very seasonal

There's an interesting reason I'd consider Brevo for you: its pricing is more send-volume oriented than simply paying for the size of your contact list. The free plan allows 300 emails/day, while Starter starts at $9/month with 5,000 monthly emails. help.brevo.com

So if you have, say, 400–800 customers but only email them heavily around three or four sales periods, Brevo can make a lot of sense.

The catch: the more advanced multi-step marketing automation is on Standard, starting at $18/month. help.brevo.com

Brevo pricing

🥉 Mailchimp — worth considering for truly sporadic campaigns

Mailchimp actually has a Pay-As-You-Go option specifically aimed at seasonal businesses and infrequent senders. You buy email credits rather than maintaining a monthly subscription, and it includes automations and A/B testing. mailchimp.com

That's compelling if your pattern is basically:

"We have a small customer list, send almost nothing for several months, then send 5–10 campaigns during our busy season."

But for a straightforward local-business setup, I'd still lean MailerLite unless the pay-as-you-go model saves you substantial money.

My recommendation

Start with MailerLite if you want the easiest inexpensive setup.

Choose Brevo instead if your list is somewhat larger but you send emails in short seasonal bursts.

Choose Mailchimp Pay-As-You-Go if you genuinely send only occasionally and want to avoid a recurring subscription.

One important distinction: coupons don't require a special "coupon" feature. For a brick-and-mortar business, you can simply put something like SUMMER15 or a unique offer in the email and have customers show the email at checkout. That keeps the system cheap and simple.

If you tell me roughly how many people are on your list (e.g. 200, 500, 1,000) and how many emails you send in a typical month, I can tell you which one is likely to be cheapest for your specific usage.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list, seasonal promotions, and basic automations, I’d pick MailerLite.

My ranking

Current 2026 comparisons put MailerLite around the $10/month starting range, with a useful free tier, while Brevo starts around $9/month and uses send-volume pricing. toolskeptic.comwww.mailercloud.com

Why I'd choose MailerLite for you: You can set up a few evergreen automations such as:

• New subscriber → welcome email → coupon
• 30 days after purchase → “come back” offer
• Seasonal campaign → coupon → reminder to non-buyers
• Birthday/anniversary → special discount
• Lapsed customer → win-back coupon

For a storefront where the main goal is “collect emails → send seasonal offers → bring people back into the store,” you don't need the complexity of something like Klaviyo or ActiveCampaign.

One exception: If your list is, say, 2,000 people but you only send 4–6 campaigns per year, I'd seriously consider Brevo. Its send-based pricing can be particularly attractive for businesses that have long quiet periods and then send heavily around holidays or seasons. www.mailercloud.com

If you tell me roughly how many contacts you have (e.g. 300, 800, 2,000) and how often you email, I can tell you which of MailerLite vs. Brevo will actually be cheaper for your specific situation.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list and seasonal promotions, I’d pick Brevo.

Why Brevo fits

• Good for small, infrequent lists: pricing is based primarily on emails sent rather than simply the number of contacts. Its free plan allows 300 emails/day, and Starter begins at $9/month. help.brevo.commailchimp.com
• Basic automations: the free plan includes marketing automation for up to 2,000 contacts, which is plenty for things like “welcome new subscriber” or “send a reminder after X days.” help.brevo.com
• Seasonal campaigns work well: you can keep your customer list year-round and send a few larger campaigns around holidays, anniversaries, sales, etc., without paying a high monthly fee simply for having contacts.
• Coupons: you can easily put a coupon code such as SUMMER20 directly into the email and link it to a redemption page. You don't need an elaborate ecommerce setup for that.
• Room to grow: if you eventually want more sophisticated multi-step automation, Brevo's Standard plan starts at $18/month and includes unlimited marketing automation. help.brevo.com

Brevo pricing and plans

How I'd rank the alternatives

My practical setup: Brevo + a simple signup form + one welcome automation + a few reusable seasonal email templates. For example: Welcome → occasional newsletter → holiday coupon → coupon reminder. That gives a brick-and-mortar shop most of what it needs without paying for an enterprise marketing system.

If you tell me roughly how many customers are on the list (e.g. 200, 500, 1,000) and how often you send (monthly, quarterly, etc.), I can compare the actual monthly cost of Brevo vs. MailerLite vs. Constant Contact for your situation.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list and seasonal promotions, I’d pick MailerLite overall.

Why MailerLite

MailerLite's free tier supports up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, and includes visual automations. Its paid Comfort plan starts at $12/month and expands automation and marketing capabilities. www.mailerlite.com

For your use case, you could set up:

• Welcome automation: new signup → thank-you → first-visit coupon
• Seasonal campaign: e.g. fall sale → reminder → last-chance email
• Birthday/anniversary offer
• Lapsed-customer re-engagement
• Segments such as "hasn't visited recently" or "VIP/repeat customer"

When I'd choose Brevo instead

If your list is small but you send very heavily during a few seasonal periods and barely send otherwise, Brevo is particularly interesting because its pricing is based on sending volume rather than simply the number of contacts. Its free plan currently allows 300 emails/day, while Starter begins at $9/month; more advanced marketing automation is on Standard at $18/month. help.brevo.com

Bottom line:
MailerLite if you want the easiest, most straightforward setup. Brevo if your seasonal sending comes in big bursts and you want pricing that better accommodates that pattern.

MailerLite pricing
Brevo pricing

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small list, seasonal promotions, and simple coupon automations, I’d pick MailerLite.

My ranking

Why MailerLite: it's inexpensive, easy to learn, and its visual automation builder is well suited to things like:

• New-subscriber welcome → 10% off first purchase
• Customer hasn't visited/purchased in 90 days → come-back coupon
• Fall/winter/spring promotion → scheduled seasonal campaign
• Birthday/anniversary → automatic coupon
• Segment customers by interest or location
• Send a coupon reminder a few days after the original offer

Its current pricing starts with a free tier, while the paid Comfort plan starts at $12/month. The free offering includes basic visual automations, though limits depend on the current plan/list size. www.mailerlite.com

When I'd choose Brevo instead

Brevo is particularly attractive if your list is, say, 2,000–5,000 people but you only email them a few times each season. It primarily prices around email volume rather than contacts, and it also includes CRM and SMS capabilities. www.southarcdigital.com

So the simple rule is:

Small list + regular newsletters/automations → MailerLite.
Larger list + occasional seasonal blasts → Brevo.

For your specific use case, I'd start with MailerLite unless you also want SMS/text coupons. It's probably the best balance of cheap + simple + enough automation without paying for a full marketing system. www.emailtooltester.com

MailerLite pricing

If you tell me roughly how many customers are on the list (e.g. 300, 1,000, 3,000) and how often you send, I can tell you which one is likely to be cheapest.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with seasonal sales and a small email list, I’d pick MailerLite.

Why MailerLite is the best fit

• Very low cost: Free for up to 250 subscribers, with 2,500 emails/month and basic automations. Paid plans start at $12/month. www.mailerlite.com
• Easy automations: You can set up things like a welcome email, birthday offer, “haven’t visited lately” reminder, and seasonal promotion without needing complicated workflows. www.mailerlite.com
• Good for coupons: You can simply build coupon offers into your promotional emails and segment customers for targeted discounts.
• Scales nicely: If your list grows, you can move up without having to switch platforms.

The runner-up: Brevo

Brevo is particularly attractive if you want email + SMS. Its free plan allows up to 100,000 stored contacts, although you're limited to 300 email sends per day; paid plans start at $9/month. help.brevo.comhelp.brevo.com

Brevo also supports unique coupon codes, but that functionality is geared toward businesses with an ecommerce integration/plugin, so it's more infrastructure than I'd recommend for a simple local-store setup. help.brevo.com

My ranking for your situation

If your list is under 250 people, I'd start with MailerLite's free plan. A simple setup could be: new subscriber → welcome coupon → seasonal sale email → reminder to non-openers → post-sale thank-you.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how often you run sales (e.g. 4 big sales/year), I can recommend the cheapest specific plan and automation setup.

For your situation, I’d pick MailerLite.

For a local brick-and-mortar business with a small contact list, seasonal promotions, coupons, and only basic automation, it hits a particularly good price/ease-of-use sweet spot.

MailerLite's free plan includes campaigns and visual automations, with up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month. Its Comfort plan starts at $12/month and gives you 5,000 monthly emails and substantially more automation capability. www.mailerlite.com

Why I'd lean MailerLite: you probably don't need a sophisticated CRM. You can build simple sequences such as:

• New subscriber → welcome email + first-visit coupon
• 30 days before your busy season → announcement
• Season starts → promotional offer
• A few days later → reminder
• After purchase/visit → thank-you + next-visit incentive
• Inactive customer → "We miss you" coupon

MailerLite specifically supports automations for welcome sequences, re-engagement, birthdays/anniversaries, promotions, and purchase-related triggers. www.mailerlite.com

When I'd choose Brevo instead: if you expect to want SMS, a built-in CRM, or a larger contact database. Brevo starts at $9/month and its Standard plan ($18/month) adds unlimited marketing automation, A/B testing, and more advanced reporting. www.mailerlite.comhelp.brevo.comhelp.brevo.com It can also use coupon-code collections, although Brevo doesn't actually generate the unique codes itself. help.brevo.com

Bottom line:
👉 MailerLite for a straightforward local business that mainly wants attractive promotional emails, seasonal campaigns, coupons, and a few "set it and forget it" automations.
👉 Brevo if you want email to eventually become a broader email + SMS + CRM system.

If you tell me roughly how many people are on the list (e.g. 100, 500, 1,000) and what kind of business it is, I can tell you which specific plan I'd use and what the automation setup should look like.

For that profile, MailerLite is probably the best overall value.

My pick: MailerLite

Its current Free plan supports up to 250 active subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, plus 3 visual automations, signup forms, landing pages, and A/B testing. That is enough for a typical local shop to run things like:

• New-subscriber welcome → coupon
• Birthday/anniversary offer
• “We haven't seen you lately” coupon
• Seasonal sale announcement
• Follow-up after a promotion

www.mailerlite.comwww.mailerlite.com

If you outgrow the free tier, Comfort starts at $12/month and allows up to 50 automations, 5,000 emails/month at its entry tier, and removes several free-tier limitations. www.mailerlite.com

Brevo is the runner-up and could actually be better if your list is, say, 500–2,000 people but you only email them heavily during a few seasonal periods. Its pricing is more oriented around emails sent, rather than simply having a larger contact database; the free plan allows 300 sends/day, while Starter begins at $9/month. help.brevo.com

Bottom line: For a brick-and-mortar business with a small customer list, occasional seasonal promotions, and simple coupon automations, I'd start with MailerLite Free and only upgrade when the list or automation needs justify it.

MailerLite pricing
Brevo pricing