ChatGPT answers, unedited

If your priorities are low cost + reliable deliverability + avoiding artificial throttling on entry plans, I’d put these on the shortlist:

What I'd look at first

MailerLite is particularly interesting if you're going to send frequently. Its current Comfort plan starts at $12/month and allows 10× the subscriber count in monthly emails, while Power starts at $25/month and advertises unlimited monthly emails. MailerLite

Brevo becomes attractive if your list is relatively large but you don't email every subscriber constantly, because its economics are more send-volume-oriented. Its shared-IP approach also isn't inherently a deliverability problem: Brevo says it monitors shared-IP performance and can move problematic senders to dedicated infrastructure. Brevo Help

Kit is worth considering if you're primarily running a newsletter rather than complex ecommerce-style campaigns. Its documentation explicitly recommends consistent sending rather than huge bursts, which is important because no legitimate platform can guarantee inbox placement simply by not throttling you. Kit Help Center Kit Help Center

One important distinction: "doesn't throttle" and "has good deliverability" aren't the same thing. A platform may technically let you send a large campaign while mailbox providers subsequently throttle or filter the mail because of your domain/IP reputation. Authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), list quality, complaint rates, engagement, and consistent volume matter enormously.

If you tell me roughly (1) number of subscribers, (2) emails per month, and (3) whether this is newsletter, ecommerce, or transactional-ish, I can narrow this to the 2–3 cheapest options and calculate the approximate monthly cost.

If price + dependable deliverability are the priorities, I’d focus on platforms where the low-cost plan limits volume rather than quietly degrading sending performance.

Shortlist

• Brevo — particularly attractive if you send infrequently to a relatively large list. The free plan allows unlimited contacts but caps you at 300 emails/day. The $9/month Starter plan removes the daily sending limit, with pricing based on monthly email volume. Brevo Help
• MailerLite — a strong low-cost option for smaller lists. Its current free plan is 250 subscribers / 2,500 emails per month, while Comfort starts at $12/month and Power at $25/month, with Power offering unlimited monthly emails subject to fair use. MailerLite MailerLite
• Sender — worth pricing out if your list is in the thousands. Its pricing is subscriber-based and can be competitive at larger list sizes; its own comparison currently shows $39/month at 5,000 contacts and $69/month at 10,000. Sender

One important caveat

No reputable ESP can promise that a cheap plan will never experience throttling. Deliverability depends heavily on sender reputation, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), engagement, complaint rates, list quality, and sending patterns. A provider imposing a daily/monthly quota isn't necessarily "throttling deliverability"—it's simply enforcing a volume limit.

For your specific requirement, I'd lean toward Brevo if you have a larger list but send relatively few campaigns, and MailerLite if you have a smaller list and want predictable newsletter/automation costs. Brevo's pricing is especially useful when your contact count is much larger than your actual monthly send volume. Brevo Help

If you tell me roughly (1) subscriber count and (2) emails/month, I can compare the actual monthly cost of 3–5 providers at your volume, including the sending limits that matter for deliverability.

If your priority is good deliverability without paying for premium tiers, I’d focus less on the cheapest sticker price and more on whether the provider lets you use proper authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), has a good sending reputation, and doesn’t cripple automation or sending infrastructure on entry plans.

A shortlist I’d consider:

My practical ranking for a budget + deliverability balance:

1. Brevo — best if you send campaigns but don’t want your bill tied directly to list size. Picktool
2. MailerLite — best if you want a straightforward marketing tool with good usability. Resources Rework
3. EmailOctopus or Sender — best if cost is the main constraint and your automation needs are modest. Email Bump Sprout24

A few things matter more than the vendor for deliverability:

• Use a custom sending domain (not a shared free address).
• Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC before sending volume.
• Avoid buying/importing old lists.
• Start with engaged subscribers and ramp volume gradually.
• Keep bounce rates low and remove inactive addresses.

I’d be cautious about choosing solely based on “unlimited sends” or “cheapest plan.” Some low-cost plans look attractive but limit authentication, automation, support, or reputation controls in ways that can hurt inbox placement.

If you tell me your list size, monthly send volume, and whether this is ecommerce vs newsletter vs B2B, I can narrow it to 2–3 choices.

If your priority is low cost + good deliverability, the key thing to avoid is choosing a platform where the cheapest tier has aggressive sending limits, poor shared-IP reputation, or locks important deliverability controls behind enterprise pricing.

A few options worth considering:

My shortlist for a price-conscious team:

1. Best overall budget pick: MailerLite

• Good balance of price, usability, and inbox performance.
• Less likely to feel like you are on a "cheap plan" compared with some larger platforms.
• Good for newsletters, onboarding sequences, and basic segmentation.

2. Best if you send lots of emails: Brevo

• Because pricing is based heavily on emails sent, not just subscriber count, it can stay inexpensive as your list grows.
• Good fit if you have a large audience but moderate engagement.

3. Cheapest acceptable option: Sender

• Worth considering if cost is the dominant factor.
• Its lower tiers still include deliverability basics like authentication support and suppression handling. Sender Sender

What matters more than the platform

A cheap plan can still hit inboxes if you do these:

• Use your own sending domain (e.g., mail.yourcompany.com).
• Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
• Avoid buying lists.
• Remove inactive subscribers periodically.
• Keep complaint rates extremely low.
• Warm up a new domain gradually (don't blast 50,000 contacts on day one).

Platforms I’d be cautious about for your goal

• Mailchimp: convenient, but often becomes expensive as lists grow; the cheapest tiers may not be the best value.
• Enterprise-first platforms: great tools, but you may pay a lot before gaining meaningful deliverability advantages.
• Ultra-cheap unknown providers: low price can mean weaker sender reputation controls.

If you tell me your approximate list size (e.g., 5k/50k/500k subscribers), monthly send volume, and whether this is newsletter vs ecommerce vs SaaS lifecycle email, I can narrow it down to 2–3 choices.

If budget + deliverability are the priorities, I’d shortlist MailerLite, Brevo, and EmailOctopus rather than defaulting to Mailchimp.

The important distinction: cheap plans don't inherently mean worse deliverability. Deliverability is driven heavily by sender reputation, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), list quality, engagement, and the platform’s sending infrastructure. A platform can throttle volume on a cheap plan without deliberately making your emails less deliverable.

My shortlist

MailerLite's current paid structure is particularly interesting: its Comfort plan starts at $12/month and scales the monthly email allowance with your subscriber tier, while Power starts at $25/month and provides unlimited monthly emails subject to fair-use rules. MailerLite

Brevo is compelling if your economics are driven by contacts rather than sending frequency. Its model is primarily volume-based, meaning you can hold a relatively large database without paying simply because you have lots of contacts. EveryAny.One StackScored

What I'd pick

• <5,000 subscribers, regular newsletters: MailerLite
• 10,000+ subscribers but relatively few campaigns: Brevo
• You just need inexpensive newsletters and basic automation: EmailOctopus
• You're primarily a newsletter/creator business: Kit

I would not choose based on a claim like "premium plans get better deliverability." Instead, look for whether the provider supports proper authentication, reputation monitoring, bounce/complaint handling, suppression of unengaged contacts, and sensible sending limits. Those matter much more.

One other important point: don't buy a dedicated IP just because you're worried about deliverability. At smaller sending volumes, a reputable shared IP pool can actually be preferable; dedicated IPs generally make sense once your volume and sending consistency justify managing your own reputation.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send per month, I can narrow this to the cheapest 2–3 options and estimate your actual monthly cost.

Yes. If by “won’t throttle deliverability on cheap plans” you mean the vendor doesn’t deliberately give low-tier customers an inferior sending infrastructure, I’d shortlist these:

• MailerLite — best overall budget pick. Its paid plans include the same core feature set, with pricing primarily scaling by subscriber count/sending volume rather than withholding deliverability features. MailerLite explicitly says shared IPs are appropriate for most smaller senders, and recommends a dedicated IP only around 50,000+ emails/week. MailerLite MailerLite
• Brevo — best if you send infrequently or have a large list. Its Starter plan begins at $9/month, has no daily sending limit, and charges based on email volume rather than simply contact count. Brevo says its shared IPs are suitable for a few hundred/thousand emails sent once or twice a month. Brevo Help Brevo Help
• MailerSend — worth considering for transactional/API-heavy mail. Its lower plans include suppression management and other deliverability tooling; dedicated IP is reserved for higher tiers. MailerLite

My pick

For a cost-conscious newsletter/marketing operation, I'd start with MailerLite. You don't need to pay for a dedicated IP to get solid deliverability at ordinary volumes, and its paid plans don't appear to use “cheap plan = worse delivery” as the pricing mechanism. MailerLite MailerLite

Brevo becomes particularly attractive if you have, say, 20k–100k contacts but don't email them constantly, because its pricing is driven much more by monthly sends than by the size of your stored database. Brevo Help

One important caveat: no reputable platform can guarantee inbox placement just because you pay for a plan. Your domain reputation, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), complaint rate, bounces, engagement, and list hygiene matter enormously. Also, a dedicated IP isn't automatically better; both MailerLite and Brevo recommend shared infrastructure for many smaller senders. Brevo Help MailerLite

If you tell me roughly (1) list size, (2) emails/month, and (3) whether these are newsletters, automated emails, or both, I can narrow this to the cheapest 2–3 options and estimate the monthly cost.

Yes. If by “won’t throttle deliverability” you mean the inexpensive plan itself shouldn’t deliberately handicap inbox placement, I’d shortlist these:

1. MailerLite — my default recommendation

mailerlite.com

MailerLite's current free tier includes 2,500 monthly emails to up to 250 subscribers, while its paid Comfort plan starts at $12/month and Power starts at $25/month. MailerLite MailerLite

More importantly for your concern, MailerLite explicitly says shared IPs are best for most smaller senders and recommends a dedicated IP only once you're around 50,000 emails/week. MailerLite

So I wouldn't worry about being forced onto a “cheap-plan IP” that inherently ruins deliverability. At modest volume, a reputable shared pool can actually be preferable to a cheap dedicated IP that hasn't been properly warmed.

2. Brevo — particularly attractive for high send volume

brevo.com

Brevo is interesting if your list is relatively large but you don't send constantly. Its shared IP infrastructure is specifically designed for lower-volume senders, and Brevo says shared IPs are already warmed and suitable for users sending hundreds or thousands of emails periodically. Brevo Help

Brevo also monitors shared-IP performance and maintains thresholds for bounce, complaint, and unsubscribe rates. Brevo Help

That's actually a good sign rather than a bad one: the platform has an incentive to protect the reputation of its shared pools.

The important catch

No provider can guarantee inbox placement just because you're paying for a particular tier. Your domain reputation, authentication, engagement, complaint rate, bounce rate, and list quality matter enormously.

For a budget sender, I'd actually avoid paying for a dedicated IP unless you're sending substantial, consistent volume. Brevo, for example, recommends dedicated IPs around 100k+ emails/month or 3+ campaigns/week to 3,000+ contacts; otherwise shared IPs can be more appropriate. Brevo Help

I'd make sure whichever platform you choose supports proper SPF, DKIM and DMARC authentication and lets you use your own sending domain. Brevo, for example, explicitly recommends domain authentication as part of its setup. Brevo Help

If you tell me roughly (1) number of subscribers and (2) emails/month, I can narrow this to the cheapest 2–3 options and compare their actual costs at your volume.

If deliverability is the priority and you’re price-sensitive, I’d shortlist MailerLite, Brevo, and Kit rather than choosing purely by the cheapest headline price.

• MailerLite — best overall budget pick. Its paid plans include the core sending/automation features rather than putting deliverability-related capabilities behind a premium tier. The current entry paid plan starts at $12/month, while its free plan allows 2,500 emails/month to 250 subscribers. MailerLite
• Brevo — best if you send lots of email to a relatively small list. It prices primarily by email volume rather than subscriber count. Starter begins at $9/month and removes the free plan's 300-emails/day ceiling. Brevo Help
• Kit — worth considering for creators/newsletters. Its economics can be attractive when your sending pattern is newsletter-heavy, though it becomes less compelling as subscriber counts get large. Current market comparisons put its paid pricing higher than Brevo/MailerLite at some list sizes. etropo SMB Compare

What I would not optimize for

Don't assume that a more expensive plan automatically means better inbox placement. Cheap plans aren't inherently throttled into poor deliverability; deliverability is heavily affected by your sending reputation, list hygiene, authentication, engagement, complaint rates, and the provider's infrastructure.

In fact, MailerLite explicitly says its pricing is based on usage/list size and that its paid plans provide the full feature set; dedicated IPs and specialized deliverability support are positioned for much larger Enterprise customers. MailerLite

My default choice: MailerLite for a typical small business.
Choose Brevo instead if you have a big contact database but send relatively infrequently, or if transactional email/SMS matters.

If you tell me roughly (1) subscriber count and (2) emails/month, I can give you a much more precise cheapest-good-deliverability pick.

Yes. If your priority is low cost + good deliverability without an artificially crippled cheap tier, I’d shortlist these:

1. MailerLite — my default recommendation

MailerLite is probably the sweet spot for a price-conscious small business. Its current paid Comfort plan starts at $12/month and gives you a sending allowance of roughly 10× your subscriber-tier maximum per month; Power starts at $25/month with unlimited monthly emails subject to fair use. MailerLite MailerLite

Importantly, I wouldn't interpret a low price as meaning "they throttle deliverability." Sending limits and deliverability are different things: the former is a quota; the latter depends heavily on sender reputation, authentication, list quality, engagement, and the provider's infrastructure.

One caveat: MailerLite tightened its free plan in June 2026 to 250 subscribers / 2,500 emails per month, so I wouldn't choose it specifically for a large free list. MailerLite

mailerlite.com

2. Brevo — particularly good for larger lists

Brevo is interesting because pricing is more send-volume-oriented than purely subscriber-count-oriented. Its free tier permits 100,000 stored contacts but limits you to 300 sends/day. The $9/month Starter plan removes that daily sending limit, with tiers based on monthly email volume. Brevo Help Center Brevo Help Center

So, for example, if you have 20,000 contacts but only email them occasionally, Brevo can make more economic sense than a platform charging primarily by subscriber count.

The free 300/day limit is a real operational restriction, though, so I wouldn't use the free plan for a large campaign that needs to go out quickly. Brevo Help Center

help.brevo.com

3. Kit — unusually generous for newsletters

If you're primarily running a newsletter rather than traditional ecommerce/CRM marketing, Kit deserves serious consideration. Its free plan currently supports up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited email broadcasts. Kit Help Center Kit

That's a remarkably generous free tier. The tradeoff is that sophisticated automations and sequences require the paid Creator plan, currently $33/month for 1,000 subscribers. Kit

kit.com

What I'd choose

• Small business + newsletters + automated campaigns: MailerLite
• Large contact list but relatively low send frequency: Brevo
• Creator/newsletter business and mostly broadcasts: Kit
• If deliverability is your #1 concern: don't select based solely on the cheapest plan. Make sure the service supports SPF, DKIM and DMARC, has sensible bounce/complaint handling, and lets you maintain clean, engaged lists.

One important distinction: a sending quota isn't the same thing as deliverability throttling. A $10 plan might limit you to 10,000 messages/month while still delivering those messages normally; that's very different from a provider intentionally routing cheap-plan mail through inferior infrastructure.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send per month, I can narrow this to the cheapest 2–3 options for your actual volume.

One caveat: MailerLite tightened its free plan in June 2026 to 250 subscribers / 2,500 emails per month, so I wouldn't choose it specifically for a large free list. MailerLite

mailerlite.com

2. Brevo — particularly good for larger lists

Brevo is interesting because pricing is more send-volume-oriented than purely subscriber-count-oriented. Its free tier permits 100,000 stored contacts but limits you to 300 sends/day. The $9/month Starter plan removes that daily sending limit, with tiers based on monthly email volume. Brevo Help Center Brevo Help Center

So, for example, if you have 20,000 contacts but only email them occasionally, Brevo can make more economic sense than a platform charging primarily by subscriber count.

The free 300/day limit is a real operational restriction, though, so I wouldn't use the free plan for a large campaign that needs to go out quickly. Brevo Help Center

help.brevo.com

3. Kit — unusually generous for newsletters

If you're primarily running a newsletter rather than traditional ecommerce/CRM marketing, Kit deserves serious consideration. Its free plan currently supports up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited email broadcasts.

That's a remarkably generous free tier. The tradeoff is that sophisticated automations and sequences require the paid Creator plan, currently $33/month for 1,000 subscribers.

If deliverability is a priority and you're trying to keep the bill low, I'd shortlist these rather than choosing purely on the cheapest sticker price:

• MailerLite — best overall budget pick. Strong fit for normal newsletters, automations, forms, and small-business marketing. Independent testing/reviews currently put its deliverability among the stronger options, while its pricing remains reasonable at smaller list sizes. Small Mail Hub SaaS Scored
• Brevo — best if you have a large list but don't email constantly. It prices primarily around send volume rather than number of contacts, so you can keep a large database without paying simply to store contacts. The free tier is 300 emails/day and paid plans start around $9/month. Email Bump EveryAny.One
• EmailOctopus — worth a serious look for a lean newsletter operation. Its free tier currently goes up to 2,500 subscribers/10,000 emails per month, with paid plans starting around $9–10/month depending on billing. Email Bump EmailTooltester.com
• Sender — potentially the cheapest if your list is small-to-medium. Current comparisons show a free allowance around 2,500 contacts and 15,000 emails/month, with paid pricing starting around $7/month. Sequenzy Email Bump
• Amazon SES — cheapest at high volume, but only if you're technical. At roughly $0.10 per 1,000 emails, it's dramatically cheaper than traditional marketing platforms, but you have to build/manage much more of the marketing layer and sender-reputation machinery yourself. Courier Lettr

What I'd choose

For most price-conscious businesses: MailerLite.
You get a proper marketing platform without having to trade away deliverability just because you're on an entry plan.

If you have 10k–50k+ contacts: I'd look particularly hard at Brevo, because contact-based pricing can make traditional ESPs surprisingly expensive as your database grows. EveryAny.One

If you're sending 50k–millions of emails/month and have engineering resources: SES is the budget king, but it's a different proposition—you're buying email infrastructure rather than a polished marketing platform. Lettr

One important caveat: a cheap plan itself shouldn't be assumed to mean poor deliverability. Deliverability is much more affected by your list quality, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), engagement, complaint/bounce rates, and sending practices. I'd avoid any provider where the cheap tier has an unusually restrictive daily sending cap or shared-IP policy, rather than assuming "premium plan = better inbox placement."

If you tell me your list size + roughly how many emails you send per month, I can narrow this to the 2–3 cheapest options that make sense for your actual volume.

If your priorities are low cost + reliable inbox placement, I would avoid choosing purely on the cheapest monthly price. The biggest deliverability risks usually come from:

• poor shared-IP reputation,
• weak domain authentication options,
• allowing purchased/low-quality lists,
• lack of suppression and engagement management.

A cheap plan itself does not automatically mean worse deliverability. Most reputable ESPs (email service providers) use the same core infrastructure across tiers; the difference is usually features, limits, and support. Omnisend

My shortlist:

My picks by scenario

1. “We have 1,000–20,000 subscribers and send regular newsletters”

Pick MailerLite.

Why:

• inexpensive scaling,
• good editor and automation,
• generally strong deliverability reputation among budget tools. EmailCloud EmailTooltester.com

2. “We have a big list but only send occasionally”

Pick Brevo.

Example: 50,000 contacts, but you only send one newsletter/month. A contact-based platform can punish you for storing inactive subscribers; send-volume pricing can be much cheaper. EmailToolScout

3. “Email drives revenue and missing inboxes costs us money”

Consider paying slightly more for:

• better segmentation,
• stronger analytics,
• dedicated deliverability support.

The cheapest plan is rarely the right place to optimize if email is a major revenue channel.

What I would avoid

• Mailchimp by default if budget is the main constraint. It remains popular, but many small teams find the pricing less competitive as lists grow. ToolSkeptic
• Any provider that encourages importing scraped/purchased lists.
• Free plans where you cannot authenticate your own sending domain (SPF/DKIM/DMARC setup matters more than the logo on the ESP).

The deliverability setup matters more than the software

Whichever you choose, do these before sending:

1. Authenticate your domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
2. Warm up a new domain gradually.
3. Remove inactive subscribers periodically.
4. Use double opt-in for cold audiences.
5. Keep complaint rates extremely low.

If you tell me:

• subscriber count,
• emails/month,
• newsletter vs ecommerce vs SaaS,
• whether you need automations,

I can narrow this to 1–2 choices and estimate the monthly cost.

If your priority is low cost + strong deliverability without the cheap tier deliberately crippling inbox placement, I’d shortlist these:

• mailerlite.com — best overall budget pick. Its current free plan allows 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, while the paid Comfort plan starts at $12/month. Importantly, its pricing is primarily based on list size/sending volume rather than withholding core deliverability features from inexpensive plans. MailerLite MailerLite
• brevo.com — best if you send frequently. The free tier has a 300-emails/day limit; its $9/month Starter plan removes the daily sending limit and instead gives you a defined monthly send allowance. That can be much more practical than a low-cost platform that throttles campaigns. Brevo Help
• emailoctopus.com — worth checking for very small lists. It's particularly attractive if you want simple newsletters and don't need a huge automation/CRM stack.

What I'd choose

MailerLite would be my default recommendation for a budget-conscious organization. It gives you a legitimate sending platform rather than making you pay for some mysterious "better deliverability" tier. Its current free-plan documentation also explicitly frames the limits as measures to protect deliverability and prevent abuse, rather than as a paid-plan deliverability distinction. MailerLite

One important caveat: no provider can guarantee inbox placement just because you're on a paid plan. Sender reputation, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), list hygiene, engagement, complaint rates, and sending practices matter enormously. A $10/month account with a clean, engaged list can outperform a $500/month account with poor practices.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send per month, I can narrow this to the cheapest 2–3 options and compare the actual monthly cost.

If your priorities are low cost + solid deliverability, I’d shortlist these rather than assuming the cheapest plan is automatically the best.

What I'd choose

1. Brevo — best if you're watching every dollar.
Its Starter plan starts at $9/month for 5,000 emails, and importantly, Starter has no daily sending limit. Its pricing is primarily tied to sending volume rather than simply punishing you for having a larger database. Brevo Help Outmano

That makes it particularly attractive if you have, say, 5,000–20,000 contacts but only email them a few times a month.

brevo.com

2. MailerLite — best if you're sending frequently.
Its paid Comfort plan scales with subscriber count and gives you roughly 10× your subscriber tier in monthly sends; Power offers unlimited monthly email subject to fair-use rules. MailerLite

One important 2026 change: its free plan was cut to 250 active subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, so I wouldn't choose it simply because it has a free tier. MailerLite

mailerlite.com

3. Sender — a good dark-horse budget option.
Its published comparison shows very aggressive pricing at smaller list sizes—for example, around $10/month at 500–1,000 subscribers—so it's worth putting into a trial alongside Brevo/MailerLite. Sender

One important caveat about "deliverability"

A cheap plan doesn't inherently mean poor deliverability. On mainstream platforms, lower-tier customers commonly use shared infrastructure. Your inbox placement depends heavily on list quality, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), engagement, bounce/complaint rates, and sending practices—not simply whether you paid for the expensive plan. Stackmerit

So I would not pay extra merely to avoid an imaginary "cheap-plan deliverability throttle." Instead, look for a platform whose lower tier doesn't impose an artificially restrictive daily sending limit.

My default recommendation:

• Large list + occasional campaigns → Brevo
• Smaller/growing list + frequent newsletters → MailerLite
• Ultra-price-sensitive → also test Sender
• Creator/newsletter business → Kit

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send per month, I can calculate the cheapest option among these at your actual volume.

1. Brevo — best if you're watching every dollar.
Its Starter plan starts at $9/month for 5,000 emails, and importantly, Starter has no daily sending limit. Its pricing is primarily tied to sending volume rather than simply punishing you for having a larger database. Brevo Help Outmano

That makes it particularly attractive if you have, say, 5,000–20,000 contacts but only email them a few times a month.

brevo.com

2. MailerLite — best if you're sending frequently.
Its paid Comfort plan scales with subscriber count and gives you roughly 10× your subscriber tier in monthly sends; Power offers unlimited monthly email subject to fair-use rules. MailerLite

One important 2026 change: its free plan was cut to 250 active subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, so I wouldn't choose it simply because it has a free tier. MailerLite

mailerlite.com

3. Sender — a good dark-horse budget option.
Its published comparison shows very aggressive pricing at smaller list sizes—for example, around $10/month at 500–1,000 subscribers—so it's worth putting into a trial alongside Brevo/MailerLite. sender.net

One important caveat about "deliverability"

A cheap plan doesn't inherently mean poor deliverability. On mainstream platforms, lower-tier customers commonly use shared infrastructure. Your inbox placement depends heavily on list quality, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), engagement, bounce/complaint rates, and sending practices—not simply whether you paid for the expensive plan.

If your priority is low cost + reliable inbox placement, I would avoid choosing purely by the cheapest monthly price. Cheap plans usually do not intentionally “throttle” deliverability in the sense of sending your emails to spam, but some platforms limit sending speed, automation features, support, testing tools, or shared infrastructure controls on entry tiers. Deliverability is usually driven more by your list quality, authentication, sending habits, and the provider’s infrastructure. SoloClientStack

For a budget-conscious team, I’d shortlist these:

My practical ranking for your stated goal:

1. Best overall budget + deliverability balance: Brevo

• Good if you send frequent campaigns and want costs tied to volume.
• A sensible choice for a growing list.
• Best small business/marketing team choice: MailerLite

• Good if you have a few thousand subscribers and want clean workflows.
• Best “keep costs down as the list grows”: EmailOctopus

• Good for newsletters and basic automation.

A few things matter more than the vendor:

• Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC before sending.
• Do not import old/unengaged lists.
• Use double opt-in if appropriate for your audience.
• Remove inactive subscribers periodically.
• Ramp sending volume gradually after switching providers.

I would be cautious with ultra-cheap plans from any provider if they lack:

• custom domain authentication,
• bounce/complaint monitoring,
• segmentation,
• suppression lists,
• automation based on engagement.

If you tell me your list size (e.g., 2k/10k/50k contacts), monthly send volume, and whether this is B2B, ecommerce, or newsletter, I can narrow this to 2–3 choices.

If your priorities are low cost + strong deliverability, I’d shortlist MailerLite and Brevo first. The important nuance is that a cheap plan doesn’t inherently “throttle deliverability”; providers generally use shared infrastructure, and your reputation, list quality, authentication, engagement, and sending behavior matter enormously.

My budget shortlist

• mailerlite.com — best overall budget pick. Its paid plans don't gate the core email-marketing feature set behind expensive tiers. The current Comfort plan starts at $12/month, while Power starts at $25/month with unlimited monthly emails. MailerLite MailerLite
• brevo.com — best if you send lots of email relative to list size. Its Starter plan begins at $9/month and removes the Free plan's 300-emails/day ceiling. Pricing is primarily based on sending volume, rather than simply the size of your contact database. Brevo Help
• kit.com — worth considering for creator/newsletter businesses. I'd put it behind the two above if minimizing cost is the dominant criterion.

What I'd choose

One particularly attractive thing about MailerLite is that its Power plan is currently $25/month starting price with unlimited monthly emails, while its cheaper Comfort plan still provides substantial sending capacity. MailerLite

I would not choose based on “dedicated IP” at your stage. Shared IP infrastructure can actually be perfectly good for a small sender. A dedicated IP only becomes compelling when you're sending sufficiently large, consistent volumes that you can maintain the reputation yourself; Brevo, for example, only offers dedicated IPs on its higher-end plans/add-ons. Brevo Help

The bigger deliverability checklist is: SPF + DKIM + DMARC, gradual warm-up, clean/permission-based lists, suppression of inactive addresses, and consistent sending. A $10/month plan with those fundamentals handled will generally beat a $100/month plan used with a poor list.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails/month you send, I can narrow this to the cheapest 2–3 options and calculate the approximate monthly cost for each.

Yes. If deliverability is the priority and you're trying to stay cheap, I’d focus less on “which platform has the best deliverability” and more on whether the low-cost plan imposes artificial sending limits or puts you on a lower-quality sending infrastructure.

My shortlist for 2026:

My picks

1. Brevo — best value if your list is big relative to your sending frequency.

Brevo's model is unusually favorable for budget-conscious senders: you're primarily paying for emails sent rather than contacts stored. Its free plan allows unlimited contacts but caps you at 300 emails/day; Starter starts at $9/month and removes that daily sending limit. Brevo Help Hack'celeration

That's attractive if you have, say, 10,000 subscribers but only send 2–4 newsletters a month. You aren't paying simply because those contacts sit in your database.

2. MailerLite — my default choice for a small/medium newsletter.

The free tier supports 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month; paid plans give you substantially more sending, with Power offering unlimited monthly emails. MailerLite

I particularly like it for your use case because deliverability isn't presented as a premium-plan feature. You get the same basic sending infrastructure while moving up primarily for capacity/features. Its Enterprise offering adds dedicated-IP and deliverability support, but that's aimed at very large senders. MailerLite

3. Moosend — interesting if you send very frequently.

Its paid pricing is based around subscriber count rather than individual sends, and its Pro plan starts around $9/month for 500 subscribers with unlimited emails. Moosend itself advertises SPF/DKIM/DMARC support and a dedicated deliverability team. The Easiest Email Marketing Platform

So if you're sending multiple campaigns per week, its economics can become much better than a pay-per-send platform.

One important caveat

No reputable platform can guarantee that a cheap plan will get the same inbox placement as an expensive plan—or that you'll reach the inbox at all. Your domain reputation, SPF/DKIM/DMARC configuration, list hygiene, engagement, complaint rate, and sending behavior are major determinants.

In other words, I'd not pay extra just because a vendor markets a higher tier as “better deliverability.” Look for whether the inexpensive tier has:

• Proper SPF/DKIM/DMARC support
• Domain authentication
• Reasonable sending limits
• No deliberately throttled shared infrastructure
• Bounce/complaint handling
• Suppression of unengaged or problematic addresses
• A good track record with Gmail/Yahoo/Microsoft

Bottom line

If I were choosing purely on “cheap + solid deliverability + don't artificially cripple us”:

MailerLite → best overall small-business/newsletter choice
Brevo → best if you have a large list and relatively low sending frequency
Moosend → worth serious consideration if you send a lot

I would not choose based on the cheapest advertised monthly price alone. The break-even point changes dramatically depending on your subscriber count × emails/month. marcandrews.com capterra.com

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send per month, I can calculate which of these is actually cheapest for your volume.

The free tier supports 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month; paid plans give you substantially more sending, with Power offering unlimited monthly emails. MailerLite

I particularly like it for your use case because deliverability isn't presented as a premium-plan feature. You get the same basic sending infrastructure while moving up primarily for capacity/features. Its Enterprise offering adds dedicated-IP and deliverability support, but that's aimed at very large senders.

3. Moosend — interesting if you send very frequently.

Its paid pricing is based around subscriber count rather than individual sends, and its Pro plan starts around $9/month for 500 subscribers with unlimited emails. Moosend itself advertises SPF/DKIM/DMARC support and a dedicated deliverability team.

So if you're sending multiple campaigns per week, its economics can become much better than a pay-per-send platform.

One important caveat

If price + deliverability are the priorities, I’d shortlist MailerLite and Brevo first. The key is distinguishing plan sending limits from actual deliverability throttling.

My pick: MailerLite

mailerlite.com

MailerLite is probably the best match for what you're describing. Its current paid plans don't appear to use a cheap-plan "we'll deliberately slow your delivery" model. Instead, the main constraint is how many emails you're allowed to send: Comfort starts at $12/month with 5,000 monthly emails in its entry tier, while Power starts at $25/month with unlimited monthly emails subject to fair use. MailerLite MailerLite

One important 2026 change: MailerLite cut its free plan to 250 subscribers / 2,500 emails per month in June 2026. That's a sending quota, not a claim that the free tier gets inherently worse inbox placement. MailerLite

Brevo is the other strong choice

brevo.com

Brevo is particularly attractive if you have a large contact database but don't email everyone constantly. Its pricing is primarily send-volume based: Free allows 300 emails/day, while Starter starts at $9/month and removes the daily sending limit, with tiers starting at 5,000 emails/month. Brevo Help

Brevo also explicitly says its default shared IP infrastructure is appropriate for lower-volume senders and that it monitors shared-IP performance. It doesn't require you to buy a dedicated IP just to get started. Brevo Help

Don't over-focus on dedicated IPs

For a budget-conscious operation, I would not pay extra for a dedicated IP just because you're worried about deliverability. Brevo, for example, recommends shared IPs for lower-volume senders; dedicated IPs become more relevant around 3+ campaigns/week to 3,000+ contacts or 100,000+ emails/month. Brevo Help Brevo Help

Your domain reputation, authentication, list quality, engagement and complaint/bounce rates generally matter much more than whether you're on the cheapest plan.

Bottom line

• Small/medium list + regular newsletters: MailerLite
• Large list + relatively low sending frequency: Brevo
• Creator/newsletter-first business: Kit is worth putting on the comparison list
• High volume: I'd evaluate the providers' sending policies and dedicated-IP options rather than simply choosing the cheapest tier.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send per month, I can calculate the cheapest option among these and flag any plans where your volume could become a problem.

mailerlite.com

MailerLite is probably the best match for what you're describing. Its current paid plans don't appear to use a cheap-plan "we'll deliberately slow your delivery" model. Instead, the main constraint is how many emails you're allowed to send: Comfort starts at $12/month with 5,000 monthly emails in its entry tier, while Power starts at $25/month with unlimited monthly emails subject to fair use. MailerLite MailerLite

One important 2026 change: MailerLite cut its free plan to 250 subscribers / 2,500 emails per month in June 2026. That's a sending quota, not a claim that the free tier gets inherently worse inbox placement. MailerLite

Brevo is the other strong choice

brevo.com

Brevo is particularly attractive if you have a large contact database but don't email everyone constantly. Its pricing is primarily send-volume based: Free allows 300 emails/day, while Starter starts at $9/month and removes the daily sending limit, with tiers starting at 5,000 emails/month. Brevo Help

Brevo also explicitly says its default shared IP infrastructure is appropriate for lower-volume senders and that it monitors shared-IP performance. It doesn't require you to buy a dedicated IP just to get started. Brevo Help

Don't over-focus on dedicated IPs

For a budget-conscious operation, I would not pay extra for a dedicated IP just because you're worried about deliverability. Brevo, for example, recommends shared IPs for lower-volume senders; dedicated IPs become more relevant around 3+ campaigns/week to 3,000+ contacts or 100,000+ emails/month.

If your priorities are low cost + solid deliverability, I’d shortlist these:

• mailerlite.com — best overall budget pick. Its current paid plans are built around subscriber count, and the Power plan offers unlimited monthly emails. The entry-level Comfort plan starts at $12/month. That makes it attractive if you send frequently and don't want a cheap plan's send quota becoming the bottleneck. MailerLite MailerLite
• brevo.com — best if your list is large but sends are relatively infrequent. Its pricing model is more send-volume-oriented, so you can keep a lot of contacts without necessarily paying based on every contact. The free tier is limited to 300 emails/day, though, so I'd move to paid if you're doing substantial campaigns. Brevo Themeisle
• kit.com — worth considering for newsletters/creators. Kit emphasizes consistent sending and domain reputation rather than artificially restricting sending frequency; its own deliverability guidance recommends consistent weekly sending and avoiding sudden volume spikes. Kit Help Center
• Sender — potentially the cheapest for a small business that needs a lot of sends. Its free tier has historically offered 2,500 contacts and 15,000 emails/month, although I'd verify the current limits before choosing it. Themeisle

My pick

MailerLite would be my first test. More importantly, don't equate a platform's cheap-plan sending limit with deliverability throttling. A provider can impose a monthly quota without deliberately degrading inbox placement. Deliverability is much more dependent on your domain reputation, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), list quality, engagement, complaint rate, and sending consistency.

If you're expecting, say, 10k–100k subscribers, the answer changes considerably. In that case I can compare MailerLite vs Brevo vs Amazon SES/SendGrid vs Kit specifically on cost per 100k sends + deliverability controls + throttling, which is probably the most useful comparison for a budget-conscious sender.

Yes. If your priority is low cost without the provider artificially throttling normal campaign sending, I’d shortlist these:

1. MailerLite — my first choice

mailerlite.com

MailerLite is particularly attractive because its paid Power plan currently starts at $25/month and includes unlimited monthly emails. Its cheaper Comfort tier has a sending allowance based on subscriber count rather than an arbitrary daily throttle. MailerLite MailerLite

For a small business sending, say, 1–4 campaigns a month, I'd start here. You don't need a dedicated IP just because you're on a cheap plan; in fact, for most smaller senders, a reputable shared infrastructure is preferable to trying to manage a dedicated IP yourself.

2. Brevo — great if list size is bigger than sending volume

brevo.com

Brevo's model is different: pricing is primarily tied to email volume, rather than simply subscriber count. The free plan is limited to 300 sends/day, but Starter starts at $9/month and removes that daily sending limit, with tiers up to 100,000 emails/month. Brevo Help Brevo Help

That's a compelling option if you have, for example, 20,000 contacts but only email them occasionally. The catch is that Brevo uses shared IP infrastructure by default; dedicated IPs are an add-on on Professional/Enterprise plans. Brevo Help

3. Kit — unusually generous free newsletter plan

kit.com

Kit's free Newsletter plan allows up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited broadcasts, which is unusually generous. Kit Help Center

It's especially worth considering if you're primarily running a newsletter rather than sophisticated ecommerce/CRM campaigns. Kit also emphasizes consistent sending and gradual volume increases as important to deliverability—ultimately, those sender-reputation factors matter more than whether you're paying $10 or $100/month. Kit Help Center Kit Help Center

What I'd avoid optimizing for

Don't assume "cheap plan = worse deliverability." A good ESP generally doesn't deliberately dump inexpensive customers into a lower-quality delivery path. Deliverability is much more affected by:

• Your domain reputation
• SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configuration
• Whether recipients actually want your emails
• Bounce and complaint rates
• Sudden volume spikes
• List hygiene and engagement
• Consistent sending patterns

So I'd choose the provider based on sending economics and infrastructure, rather than paying extra solely because you think the $10 plan will be throttled.

My budget ranking: MailerLite → Brevo → Kit.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send per month, I can narrow that down to the cheapest option and estimate your monthly cost.

For a small business sending, say, 1–4 campaigns a month, I'd start here. You don't need a dedicated IP just because you're on a cheap plan; in fact, for most smaller senders, a reputable shared infrastructure is preferable to trying to manage a dedicated IP yourself.

2. Brevo — great if list size is bigger than sending volume

brevo.com

Brevo's model is different: pricing is primarily tied to email volume, rather than simply subscriber count. The free plan is limited to 300 sends/day, but Starter starts at $9/month and removes that daily sending limit, with tiers up to 100,000 emails/month. Brevo Help Brevo Help

That's a compelling option if you have, for example, 20,000 contacts but only email them occasionally. The catch is that Brevo uses shared IP infrastructure by default; dedicated IPs are an add-on on Professional/Enterprise plans. Brevo Help

3. Kit — unusually generous free newsletter plan

kit.com

Kit's free Newsletter plan allows up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited broadcasts, which is unusually generous. help.kit.com

It's especially worth considering if you're primarily running a newsletter rather than sophisticated ecommerce/CRM campaigns. Kit also emphasizes consistent sending and gradual volume increases as important to deliverability—ultimately, those sender-reputation factors matter more than whether you're paying $10 or $100/month.

What I'd avoid optimizing for

If deliverability is the priority and you’re budget-conscious, I’d shortlist these:

• mailerlite.com — best overall budget pick. Its current paid plans start at $12/month, and the higher-tier Power plan starts at $25/month with unlimited monthly emails. MailerLite also explicitly emphasizes deliverability rather than reserving it as an expensive add-on. MailerLite MailerLite
• brevo.com — best if you send relatively infrequently but have a larger list. The free plan allows 100,000 stored contacts, though you're limited to 300 emails/day. Its Starter plan begins at $9/month and removes the daily sending limit, with tiers starting at 5,000 emails/month. Brevo Help
• MailerLite vs. Brevo: I'd choose MailerLite for a newsletter/content business where consistent inbox placement and straightforward sending are the main concern. I'd choose Brevo if your list is large but your monthly sending volume is modest.

One important caveat

No reputable ESP should be thought of as "deliverability guaranteed on the cheap plan." Inbox placement depends heavily on list quality, engagement, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), complaint rates, and sending behavior. Paying for a higher tier generally shouldn't magically make legitimate mail more deliverable.

Also, don't assume "unlimited sending" means you can blast an enormous volume immediately—providers enforce fair-use/anti-abuse systems, and sudden volume spikes can hurt reputation.

My budget-first ranking: MailerLite → Brevo → then consider a more specialized ESP once volume gets high.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send per month, I can narrow this to the cheapest 2–3 options and compare their actual limits.

If your priority is “cheap plans without quietly sacrificing inbox placement”, I’d focus less on the advertised price and more on the provider’s sending reputation, authentication support (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), list hygiene tools, and pricing model. No reputable ESP should intentionally throttle deliverability just because you’re on an entry plan, but cheaper tiers can sometimes have fewer controls (dedicated IPs, advanced deliverability reporting, priority support). Sender

My shortlist:

For a price-conscious company that still cares about deliverability, I’d usually rank them:

1. MailerLite — best overall budget default
2. Brevo — best if your list is large and sends are moderate
3. Kit — best if you’re newsletter/content focused
4. ActiveCampaign — only if automation ROI justifies the extra cost

A few things that matter more than the ESP choice:

• Use a custom sending domain (not a shared/free address).
• Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC before sending at scale.
• Avoid importing old, unengaged lists; engagement drives sender reputation.
• Keep unsubscribe handling clean and easy.
• Warm up a new domain gradually instead of blasting your full list.

I’d be cautious about choosing purely on “unlimited sends” or the cheapest monthly fee. Some low-cost providers are fine, but a cheap platform with poor list practices can hurt deliverability regardless of the software.

If you share your approximate list size (e.g., 1k / 10k / 100k subscribers), send frequency, and whether this is newsletter, ecommerce, SaaS, or B2B lead nurturing, the ranking changes quite a bit.

Yes. If your priority is good inbox placement without paying for an expensive “premium deliverability” tier, I’d focus on platforms where deliverability is part of the core sending infrastructure rather than something heavily gated by plan.

My shortlist

1. MailerLite — my default budget pick.
Its current Free plan allows 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month; paid plans start at $12/month. More importantly for your concern, MailerLite explicitly positions deliverability as a core feature rather than saying cheap-plan customers get inferior sending infrastructure. MailerLite MailerLite

One caveat: MailerLite tightened its free-plan limits in June 2026, reducing it from 500 to 250 subscribers and from 12,000 to 2,500 monthly emails. MailerLite

2. Brevo — particularly good if you send lots of email.
Brevo's pricing is based heavily on email volume, rather than simply how many contacts you have. Its Free plan permits 300 sends/day, while Starter begins at $9/month and removes the daily sending limit. Brevo Help Brevo Help

That's attractive if, for example, you have 10,000 contacts but only email them occasionally. You aren't necessarily paying for 10,000 stored contacts the way you would with some list-based pricing models.

3. Kit — worth considering for newsletters/creators.
I'd put this ahead of Mailchimp if the primary objective is building a subscriber-driven newsletter rather than running a traditional CRM/e-commerce marketing operation.

The important distinction

I wouldn't interpret “cheap plan” as “guaranteed worse deliverability.” With reputable ESPs, sender behavior, authentication, list quality, engagement and complaint rates are generally much more consequential than whether you're on their cheapest paid tier.

What can hurt you on cheap plans is an explicit sending cap/throttle. Brevo's free tier is the clearest example: 300/day means a 5,000-person campaign can't all go out that day. That's a volume limitation, not necessarily an inbox-placement penalty. Brevo Help

What I'd choose

• <1,000 subscribers: MailerLite
• Several thousand+ contacts, relatively infrequent campaigns: Brevo
• Newsletter/creator business: Kit
• Complex behavioral automation: ActiveCampaign
• If you're tempted by Mailchimp because it's familiar: I'd price-check MailerLite/Brevo first.

And regardless of provider, set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC on your sending domain, warm up a new domain gradually, suppress consistently unengaged addresses, and keep spam complaints very low. Those things will matter far more to your deliverability than spending another $20/month on an ESP tier.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have + how many emails you send per month, I can narrow this to the cheapest 2–3 options and compare their actual monthly cost.

2. Brevo — particularly good if you send lots of email.
Brevo's pricing is based heavily on email volume, rather than simply how many contacts you have. Its Free plan permits 300 sends/day, while Starter begins at $9/month and removes the daily sending limit. Brevo Help Brevo Help

That's attractive if, for example, you have 10,000 contacts but only email them occasionally. You aren't necessarily paying for 10,000 stored contacts the way you would with some list-based pricing models.

3. Kit — worth considering for newsletters/creators.
I'd put this ahead of Mailchimp if the primary objective is building a subscriber-driven newsletter rather than running a traditional CRM/e-commerce marketing operation.

The important distinction

I wouldn't interpret “cheap plan” as “guaranteed worse deliverability.” With reputable ESPs, sender behavior, authentication, list quality, engagement and complaint rates are generally much more consequential than whether you're on their cheapest paid tier.

What can hurt you on cheap plans is an explicit sending cap/throttle. Brevo's free tier is the clearest example: 300/day means a 5,000-person campaign can't all go out that day. That's a volume limitation, not necessarily an inbox-placement penalty.

What I'd choose

If your priority is low cost + reliable deliverability, I’d avoid choosing purely by the cheapest monthly price. The platforms that protect deliverability usually do it through shared sending infrastructure, authentication support (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), list hygiene tools, and sender reputation monitoring—not by charging you more for “better inbox placement.” AIMultiple PulseSignal

These are the ones I’d shortlist:

My practical picks by situation:

• Under ~5,000 subscribers, mostly newsletters/promos: MailerLite.
• Large list, lots of sends, trying to minimize cost: Brevo.
• Bare-bones newsletter operation: EmailOctopus.
• Ecommerce: I’d also evaluate Klaviyo or Omnisend, but only if the extra automation pays for itself. etropo

A few deliverability checks matter more than the vendor:

• Use a custom sending domain (not the provider’s shared default).
• Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
• Don’t import old/unengaged lists.
• Warm up a new domain gradually.
• Keep hard bounces and inactive subscribers cleaned out.

I would be cautious with platforms that advertise “unlimited sends” at extremely low prices but give you little control over sender reputation. Cheap plans generally don’t intentionally throttle deliverability, but poor shared IP reputation or weak list practices can make cheap sending look like a deliverability problem. PulseSignal

If you tell me your list size, emails/month, and whether this is ecommerce, SaaS, nonprofit, or newsletter, I can narrow this to 2–3 choices.

If your priority is low cost without deliberately sacrificing sending/deliverability on the entry plan, I’d shortlist these:

1. MailerLite — my first choice

MailerLite is particularly attractive because its current Comfort plan starts at $12/month and gives you a monthly sending allowance equal to 10× the top of your subscriber tier. Its Power plan starts at $25/month and has unlimited monthly emails, subject to fair-use rules. www.mailerlite.com

That means you're not buying an artificially tiny "cheap plan" that becomes unusable once you start mailing regularly.

Why I'd choose it: inexpensive, straightforward, good automation/features, and the paid plans don't appear to intentionally throttle deliverability merely because you're on the cheaper tier. Of course, deliverability itself still depends heavily on list quality, authentication, engagement, complaint rates, etc.

2. Brevo — best alternative

Brevo's model is attractive if you have lots of subscribers but don't email them constantly, because pricing is primarily based on email volume rather than simply list size. Its free tier allows 300 emails/day; paid tiers remove that daily restriction and scale up to substantial monthly volumes. help.brevo.com

Brevo also explicitly emphasizes consent, list hygiene, and engagement as major determinants of inbox placement rather than suggesting that paying for a more expensive tier inherently makes your mail more deliverable. help.brevo.com

Best fit: a 10k–50k contact database where you might only send a newsletter once or twice a month.

3. MailerSend — worth considering for volume

MailerSend is more oriented toward email infrastructure/transactional sending, but its pricing has an appealing feature: if you exceed your monthly allowance, it can continue sending and charge for the overage rather than simply stopping delivery. Its Hobby plan includes 5,000 emails, with additional volume charged per 1,000. www.mailerlite.com

I'd consider it more seriously if your use case mixes marketing with transactional/API email.

The important caveat

I wouldn't judge a service's deliverability by whether its cheap plan has a "throttle." Shared-IP reputation, authentication, list hygiene, engagement and complaint rates matter much more. A premium plan can't rescue a poor sender reputation.

For a price-conscious normal newsletter/business, my ranking would be:

MailerLite → Brevo → MailerSend

If you tell me roughly (1) number of subscribers, (2) emails/month, and (3) whether you're doing newsletters, automated sequences, or transactional mail, I can narrow this down to the cheapest option that makes sense for your actual volume.

If deliverability is the priority and you’re price-sensitive, I’d focus on ESPs where the cheap plan doesn’t deliberately cripple sending infrastructure. One important distinction: a low-cost plan can have sending caps, but that’s different from the provider throttling your inbox placement. Deliverability is driven heavily by sender reputation, authentication, list quality, engagement, and how you ramp volume.

My shortlist

1. MailerLite — my default recommendation

MailerLite is probably where I'd start for a budget-conscious business. Its paid plans aren't structured around a tiny monthly send allowance: Comfort starts at $12/month, while Power starts at $25 and provides unlimited monthly emails. MailerLite MailerLite

More importantly for your concern, I wouldn't interpret the inexpensive plan as "you get worse deliverability." The platform's deliverability still depends on maintaining a healthy sending reputation rather than paying for an expensive tier.

Pick it if: you're sending newsletters, promotions, onboarding sequences, and normal SMB marketing emails and want a polished tool without Mailchimp-style price escalation.

2. EmailOctopus — excellent if absolute cost matters

emailoctopus.com is particularly compelling if you don't need a huge automation suite. Its free tier has historically been generous, and its paid plans start around $9–10/month depending on billing. EmailOctopus

It's deliberately simpler than something like ActiveCampaign, which can actually be an advantage: fewer bells and whistles, lower bill, and you can concentrate on list hygiene and sending practices.

Pick it if: "give me reliable campaigns for as little money as possible" is the main requirement.

3. Brevo — potentially the cheapest at larger list sizes

brevo.com uses a send-volume model rather than primarily charging by number of contacts. Its free tier allows 300 emails/day, while paid pricing starts around $9/month for 5,000 monthly emails according to current pricing comparisons. Field Tested MailToolFinder

That can be fantastic if you have, say, 20,000 contacts but only email them once or twice a month. It becomes less attractive if you're sending several times per week.

Pick it if: your list is big relative to how often you mail.

4. Kit — worth considering for newsletters

kit.com is unusually generous for creators/newsletters: current comparisons put its free tier at up to 10,000 subscribers, with basic automation. Field Tested MailToolFinder

I'd choose it over MailerLite if your business is fundamentally a newsletter/content business rather than conventional promotional email.

What I'd avoid

I wouldn't choose a platform just because its paid tier promises "better deliverability." Paying more generally buys you features, volume, support, analytics, dedicated infrastructure, etc.; it shouldn't be necessary to pay for basic inbox placement.

For your specific requirement, I'd rank them:

MailerLite → EmailOctopus → Brevo → Kit

And I would not make Mailchimp my first choice for a price-conscious operation. Its pricing is increasingly contact-based, and comparisons show substantially higher costs as lists grow. etropo

One caveat: no ESP can guarantee inbox placement on a cheap plan. If you're moving an existing list, the biggest deliverability mistake is blasting the entire database immediately. Authenticate your domain (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), suppress inactive/bad addresses, and gradually establish volume on the new platform. That will matter considerably more than whether you're paying $10 or $100/month.

If deliverability matters more than having the absolute cheapest sticker price, I’d shortlist these:

1. MailerLite — my first choice

MailerLite is particularly attractive because its paid plans don't impose an artificial daily throttling limit. Its current Comfort plan starts at $12/month, while Power starts at $25/month; Power offers unlimited monthly emails subject to fair-use rules. www.mailerlite.com

That makes it a strong fit if you have, say, 5,000–20,000 subscribers and regularly email the whole list. You're paying primarily based on list size rather than being punished for sending a campaign when you need to.

MailerLite pricing

2. Brevo — excellent alternative

Brevo's pricing is unusually favorable if you have a large contact list but don't email everyone constantly. Its paid Starter plan starts at $9/month and has no daily sending limit; you choose a monthly email volume. help.brevo.com

The catch: its free plan really is throttled to 300 emails/day, with additional messages held in a retry queue. So I wouldn't use Free if you care about sending a large campaign on a particular day. help.brevo.comhelp.brevo.com

Brevo pricing

What I'd avoid

I'd be wary of choosing a platform just because its free tier has a big contact allowance. Contact count isn't the same thing as sending capacity. For example, Brevo's free tier lets you store up to 100,000 contacts but still limits you to 300 sends/day. help.brevo.comhelp.brevo.com

Also, don't assume paying for a "cheap" plan inherently hurts deliverability. Deliverability is much more about sender reputation, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), list quality, complaint rates, engagement, and sending practices than the price of your SaaS plan.

My recommendation

For a price-conscious business: start with MailerLite Comfort if your list is relatively small and you send regularly.

Choose Brevo Starter instead if your list is large relative to the number of people you email each month—for example, 30k contacts but only 5–10k campaign recipients.

And whichever you choose, I'd prioritize a platform that lets you use your own authenticated sending domain and gives you good suppression/bounce handling. Those matter considerably more to inbox placement than squeezing another $5/month out of the software.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have + how many emails you send per month, I can narrow this to the cheapest 2–3 options for your actual volume.

If budget + deliverability are the priorities, I’d shortlist these:

My picks

For most small businesses: MailerLite.
It gives you proper automation without requiring a pricey plan, and independent 2026 testing found particularly strong deliverability. getomnichannel.com

If you have a big list but don't email constantly: Brevo.
This is the one I'd look at first if, say, you have 10,000–50,000 contacts but only send a few campaigns per month. Its pricing is based primarily on emails sent rather than contacts stored, which can make a dramatic difference. www.etropo.comwww.sequenzy.com

If absolute cost is the deciding factor: EmailOctopus.
It's deliberately simple and stays inexpensive as the list grows. www.etropo.comemailoctopus.com

One important caveat: a cheap plan shouldn't inherently mean worse deliverability. What matters more is the platform's infrastructure, sender reputation, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), list hygiene, engagement, and sending practices. I would not choose a provider merely because it advertises a high "deliverability rate."

If you tell me roughly (1) number of subscribers, (2) emails/month, and (3) whether you're ecommerce, B2B, or newsletter/creator, I can narrow this to the 2 cheapest options that make sense for your actual sending pattern.

If deliverability is the priority and budget is tight, I’d shortlist MailerLite, Brevo, and Kit—but for different reasons.

My recommendation: MailerLite

MailerLite pricing

MailerLite is probably the sweet spot if you want real email marketing functionality without a cheap plan deliberately making sending painful. Its current Free plan allows 2,500 emails/month to 250 subscribers; Comfort starts at $12/month, while Power starts at $25/month and includes unlimited monthly emails. www.mailerlite.comwww.mailerlite.com

Importantly, MailerLite explicitly emphasizes deliverability and has earned strong deliverability evaluations; its higher-end offering also includes dedicated-IP and deliverability-support options when you eventually need them. www.mailerlite.comwww.mailerlite.com

When I'd choose Brevo instead

Brevo

If you have, say, 20,000 subscribers but only email them once or twice a month, Brevo can be dramatically cheaper because you're primarily paying for email volume rather than contacts. Its free plan allows unlimited contacts but caps sending at 300 emails/day, so I wouldn't use the free tier for a large campaign that needs to go out all at once. help.brevo.com

That's a key distinction: don't confuse a sending cap with poor deliverability. A platform can have excellent inbox placement but still throttle how many messages you can send on a cheap plan.

Kit is worth considering for newsletters

Kit

If you're primarily a creator/newsletter business, Kit is unusually attractive because its free offering supports a large subscriber count and unlimited sending. But once you're beyond the free tier, its subscriber-based pricing can make it less compelling than MailerLite/Brevo for a cost-conscious business. Current comparisons put Kit substantially above MailerLite at several list sizes. www.mailerlite.com

One important caveat

No ESP can guarantee inbox placement simply because you're paying for a better plan. Your list hygiene, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), complaint rate, engagement, content, and sending behavior matter enormously. A cheap plan on a reputable ESP is generally fine; what you want to avoid is a plan with an artificial daily/monthly sending ceiling that interferes with your normal campaigns.

Bottom line:

• <10K subscribers + regular campaigns: MailerLite
• Large list + relatively infrequent campaigns: Brevo
• Creator/newsletter-centric business: Kit
• I'd skip Mailchimp if minimizing cost while maintaining good sending flexibility is the goal.

If you tell me your subscriber count + roughly how many emails you send per month, I can calculate which of these is actually cheapest at your scale.

If price + deliverability are the priorities, I’d shortlist MailerLite, Kit, and Brevo—but they fit different use cases.

My picks

1. MailerLite — best default for a small business

MailerLite's current free tier allows 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, while its $12/month Comfort plan allows 10× the subscriber count in monthly emails. Its higher Power tier starts at $25/month and offers unlimited monthly emails. www.mailerlite.com

The important part for you: I wouldn't expect the cheap plan to intentionally throttle inbox placement. Plan limits are primarily about subscribers/features/sending volume, rather than paying more to unlock "good" deliverability.

MailerLite pricing

2. Kit — strongest if you're primarily running a newsletter

Kit recently introduced a free Newsletter plan for up to 10,000 subscribers, which is unusually generous. kit.com Kit says its customers send through shared IPs by default and that its deliverability/compliance team monitors those IPs. help.kit.com

That's attractive because you don't need to buy an expensive plan just to get onto infrastructure capable of delivering mail.

Kit also explicitly emphasizes permission, engagement, consistent sending, and list hygiene—things that matter substantially more to inbox placement than whether you're on a $10 or $50 plan. help.kit.comhelp.kit.com

Kit

3. Brevo — best if you have a relatively small list but send lots of emails

Brevo prices partly around email volume, rather than simply charging more as your contact list grows. Its Free plan is 300 sends/day, while Starter begins at $9/month and removes the daily sending limit; current Starter tiers start at 5,000 monthly emails. help.brevo.com

So, for example, if you have 2,000 subscribers but only send a couple of campaigns a month, Brevo can make more economic sense than a subscriber-priced platform.

Brevo pricing

The bigger deliverability point

I'd not choose based on "which cheap plan has the best deliverability." A reputable ESP shouldn't deliberately make a $10 customer land in spam so that the $50 customer looks better.

Your own domain reputation, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), list quality, engagement, complaint rate, and sending consistency are much more consequential. Kit, for example, specifically recommends permission-based lists, double opt-in, and consistent sending. help.kit.comhelp.kit.com

If I were spending your money:

• Small business / ecommerce / general marketing: MailerLite
• Newsletter / creator / content business: Kit
• Lots of sends with a relatively modest list: Brevo

And I would not pay extra for a dedicated IP at your stage; Kit recommends dedicated IPs only around 150,000 messages/week, and Brevo likewise positions dedicated IPs for larger-volume senders. help.brevo.comhelp.kit.com

Yes. If your priority is “cheap plan, but don’t artificially cripple our sending/deliverability,” I’d shortlist these:

My pick: Brevo

For a price-conscious company, Brevo is probably the strongest fit. Its free plan has a 300-email/day ceiling, but its $9/month Starter plan removes the daily sending limit and starts at 5,000 monthly sends. Importantly, Brevo uses shared IP infrastructure by default and actively monitors its shared-IP reputation. help.brevo.comhelp.brevo.com

That's different from a platform that gives you a cheap plan but quietly imposes a very restrictive sending ceiling.

Brevo also says its marketing infrastructure is built around deliverability, with automatic hard-bounce suppression and reputation monitoring. www.brevo.com

MailerLite is my second choice

MailerLite is excellent if you want a more traditional email-marketing experience. Its free tier is now quite restrictive—250 subscribers/2,500 emails—but its paid Comfort plan starts at $12/month, and Power starts at $25/month with unlimited monthly emails subject to fair use. www.mailerlite.com

I'd choose it over Brevo if automation, newsletter design, forms, and ease of use matter more than squeezing every last dollar out of sending volume.

One important caveat

Don't equate sending limits with deliverability.

A service can let you send unlimited emails and still land you in spam. Your domain reputation, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), list hygiene, complaint rate, engagement, and sending consistency matter enormously.

Also, a dedicated IP isn't automatically better for a small sender. Brevo specifically recommends shared IPs for lower-volume senders and suggests dedicated IPs only around 3,000+ recipients three times a week or 100,000+ emails/month. help.brevo.com MailerLite similarly recommends dedicated IPs primarily once you're above roughly 50,000 emails/week. www.mailerlite.com

Bottom line:

• Under ~10k contacts + budget sensitive: Brevo
• Want the nicest all-around marketing UX: MailerLite
• Absolute lowest-cost straightforward newsletter tool: EmailOctopus
• Creator/newsletter business: Kit

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails/month you send, I can calculate the cheapest option among these at your actual volume rather than comparing headline prices.

Yes. If your priority is low cost + strong deliverability without artificial throttling on the cheap tier, I’d shortlist these:

My picks

1. Kit — best if you're primarily sending newsletters

Kit currently has a genuinely unusual free offering: up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited email sends. Its pricing documentation explicitly says there are no sending limits on any plan. help.kit.com

That makes it particularly attractive if you're worried about a provider deliberately making the inexpensive tier unusable once you start mailing frequently. The tradeoff is that Kit is much more creator/newsletter-oriented than a traditional SMB marketing platform.

Kit pricing

2. Brevo — probably the best all-around budget SMB choice

Brevo's free plan is limited to 300 emails/day, which is a real throttle. But its $9/month Starter plan removes the daily sending limit and instead uses a monthly send allowance (starting at 5,000 emails/month). help.brevo.com

That's a good structure if you occasionally need to send a large campaign rather than being forced into a daily cap.

Brevo pricing

3. MailerLite — excellent value, but understand the limits

MailerLite's current free tier is 250 subscribers/2,500 emails per month. Its $12/month Comfort plan gives you 10× the ceiling of your subscriber tier in monthly sends, while Power starts at $25/month with unlimited monthly emails subject to fair use. www.mailerlite.com

So it's not "unlimited on the cheap plan," but importantly, the limitation is a transparent volume allowance, not an indication that MailerLite deliberately degrades deliverability for inexpensive customers.

MailerLite pricing

One important distinction

Sending limits ≠ deliverability throttling. A provider can cap the number of messages you send without intentionally making the messages that are sent less deliverable.

In practice, your domain reputation, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), list quality, complaint rate, engagement, and sending behavior matter enormously. Even an expensive ESP can't rescue a poor sender reputation.

If you're really price-sensitive, I'd rank them:

Kit > Brevo > MailerLite for your particular requirement.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails/month you send (e.g. 2,000 subscribers × 4 newsletters/month), I can narrow it down to the cheapest option that won't box you in.

If price + deliverability are the priorities, I’d shortlist these three:

My pick

For a normal small business: MailerLite. It's probably the best balance of inexpensive, capable, and not forcing you onto an expensive tier just to send a reasonable volume. Its $25 Power tier includes unlimited monthly emails. www.mailerlite.comwww.mailerlite.com

For high send volume with a relatively small list: Brevo. Its pricing is based much more around email volume, and Starter removes the daily sending restriction. help.brevo.com

For a newsletter/creator business: Kit. The free tier is unusually generous—up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited sends—which makes it hard to beat on pure cost. help.kit.com

One important caveat: a cheap plan itself shouldn't be what determines inbox placement. Deliverability is much more affected by list quality, engagement, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), sending consistency, complaint rates, and the provider's shared-IP reputation. I would not choose a platform merely because it advertises a “dedicated IP” at a higher tier; for a small sender, a good shared infrastructure can actually be preferable.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails/month you send, I can narrow this to the cheapest 2–3 options and compare their actual monthly cost.

If the priority is low cost + dependable inbox placement, I’d shortlist these:

My pick: MailerLite

MailerLite is probably the sweet spot for what you're describing. Its current Free plan allows 2,500 emails/month, while Comfort starts at $12/month and gives you 10× your subscriber-tier ceiling in monthly sends. Power starts at $25/month with unlimited monthly emails (subject to fair use). www.mailerlite.com

Importantly, I wouldn't interpret a low-cost plan as inherently "throttling deliverability." Deliverability is driven much more by sender reputation, authentication, engagement, complaints, bounces, and list quality than by whether you've bought an expensive tier. MailerLite specifically says its new plan structure is intended to keep performance and deliverability strong across plans. www.mailerlite.com

Brevo is the other one I'd seriously consider

Brevo is particularly attractive if your list is large but you don't email everyone constantly. Its Free plan has a 300-emails/day limit, while Starter begins at $9/month and removes that daily limit; paid plans are principally structured around monthly email volume. help.brevo.comhelp.kit.comhelp.kit.com

That's a meaningful advantage over providers that price primarily by subscriber count.

One I'd skip for a budget-conscious business

Kit has good deliverability practices and doesn't charge extra based on emails sent, but its paid Creator plan starts at $39/month for up to 1,000 subscribers, so I'd only choose it if its creator/newsletter features are particularly valuable to you. help.kit.com

Bottom line:

• Small list + regular newsletters: MailerLite
• Large list + relatively low sending frequency: Brevo
• Creator/newsletter business where monetization features matter: Kit

And whichever you choose, I'd prioritize SPF + DKIM + DMARC, a custom sending domain, confirmed/permission-based subscribers, and removing chronically inactive contacts over paying for a higher tier. Those will generally do far more for inbox placement than upgrading from a $10 plan to a $50 plan. help.kit.com

Yes. If your priority is low cost + dependable inbox placement, I’d shortlist these rather than choosing purely on the cheapest sticker price:

My pick: MailerLite

For a typical small business, I'd start with MailerLite. Its paid plans currently start around $12/month, and its pricing scales with subscribers rather than requiring you to pay for a premium "deliverability" tier. Its Power plan includes unlimited monthly emails, subject to fair-use rules. www.mailerlite.com

More importantly for your concern, MailerLite explicitly says most small senders should use its shared IP infrastructure rather than paying for a dedicated IP. It verifies new accounts and says it maintains a strict anti-spam standard, which helps protect the shared sending reputation. www.mailerlite.com

Brevo is particularly attractive if your list is big

Brevo's pricing is based largely on emails sent rather than contacts stored, so it can be dramatically cheaper if you have, say, 20,000 contacts but only email them occasionally. Its shared IPs are already warmed and are intended for lower-volume senders. Brevo also actively monitors shared-IP performance. help.brevo.com

The catch: Brevo can ask poorly performing senders to move to a dedicated IP, and dedicated IPs are reserved for higher-tier plans/add-ons. That's not really "throttling because you're cheap," though—it's reputation protection for the shared infrastructure. help.brevo.com

Kit is worth considering for newsletters

Kit uses shared IPs by default and says its deliverability/compliance team monitors their health. That's actually preferable to buying a dedicated IP prematurely: Kit recommends 150,000 messages/week before considering a dedicated IP, because low-volume dedicated IPs can actually be worse for reputation. help.kit.com

One important distinction

I wouldn't interpret "cheap plan" as automatically meaning "throttled deliverability." Sending speed and inbox placement are different things. A reputable ESP may deliberately throttle or slow individual campaigns when necessary to protect ISP reputation, particularly during warm-up or if engagement/bounce/complaint metrics deteriorate.

For a budget-conscious sender, I'd actually prefer a well-managed shared IP over paying extra for a dedicated IP. MailerLite says dedicated IPs become appropriate around 50,000+ emails/week, while Brevo recommends them around 100,000 emails/month or 3+ campaigns/week to 3,000+ contacts. www.mailerlite.com

Bottom line:

• <10k subscribers, regular newsletters: MailerLite
• 10k–100k+ contacts but relatively few sends: Brevo
• Creator/newsletter business: Kit
• Don't pay for a dedicated IP just because you're worried about deliverability.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send per month, I can calculate which of MailerLite vs. Brevo vs. Kit is likely to be cheapest at your actual volume.

If your priority is low cost + good deliverability without an artificial “cheap-plan penalty,” I’d shortlist these:

My first choice: MailerLite

MailerLite pricing

MailerLite is particularly attractive because its low-cost plans aren't simply “crippled” versions designed to force you upward. The free tier gives 2,500 sends/month, while Comfort starts at $12/month and Power at $25/month; Power includes unlimited monthly sending subject to fair-use policies. www.mailerlite.comwww.mailerlite.com

More importantly for your concern, deliverability isn't something I'd expect to deteriorate merely because you're on a cheap plan. MailerLite explicitly markets its deliverability performance and has dedicated deliverability support at higher tiers. www.mailerlite.com

Brevo is the other one I'd seriously consider

Brevo pricing

Brevo's pricing model is interesting if you have a lot of contacts but don't email them constantly. Its free plan allows 100,000 stored contacts but limits you to 300 emails/day. Starter starts at $9/month and removes the daily sending limit, with tiers beginning at 5,000 emails/month. help.brevo.com

So, for example:

• 2,000 subscribers, newsletter once/week: Brevo can be very economical.
• 500 subscribers, frequent campaigns: MailerLite is probably more attractive.
• You expect to send heavily: MailerLite Power's unlimited sending is compelling.

One important caveat

No reputable ESP should promise that a cheap plan itself guarantees inbox placement. Deliverability is heavily affected by list quality, engagement, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), complaint rates, sending patterns, and reputation. A provider can give you excellent infrastructure, but it can't make a poorly maintained list deliver well.

Bottom line: I'd start with MailerLite, with Brevo as the main alternative. I wouldn't pay for an expensive platform solely because you think its premium plan will “unlock” better inbox placement.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have + how many emails you send per month, I can narrow this to the cheapest 2–3 options and estimate your monthly cost.

If by “won’t throttle deliverability” you mean the cheap plan shouldn’t deliberately slow/queue your campaigns just because you’re on an inexpensive tier, I’d focus on platforms where the low-cost plans have either generous sending allowances or no send-count cap.

My shortlist

MailerLite is probably where I'd start. Its current Free plan is 250 subscribers/2,500 emails per month, while Comfort starts at $12/month and Power at $25/month. Importantly, Power has unlimited monthly email sending subject to fair use. www.mailerlite.com

Brevo is particularly interesting if your list is relatively small but you send a lot of email. Its Free plan has a 300-email/day limit, which does effectively throttle a large campaign. But Starter starts at $9/month and removes that daily sending limit, with tiers based on monthly email volume rather than simply subscriber count. help.brevo.com

Kit is the cleanest answer if send-volume limits are your biggest concern. Kit explicitly says there are no sending limits on any plan, including its free Newsletter plan. The tradeoff is that its paid plans are considerably more expensive than MailerLite/Brevo. kit.com

ActiveCampaign is also worth considering if you're automation-heavy. Its current policy is unusually friendly to this concern: exceeding your monthly email allowance doesn't disrupt sending; you pay an overage unless you increase your limit. help.activecampaign.com

One important distinction

A cheap plan being capped at, say, 10,000 emails/month isn't necessarily poor deliverability. It's a throughput limit. Deliverability is more about sender/domain reputation, authentication, engagement, bounces, complaints, and the platform's shared-IP reputation.

For a small/medium sender, I would actually prefer a reputable shared IP rather than paying for a dedicated IP. Brevo, for example, says shared IPs are appropriate for lower-volume senders and monitors shared-IP performance; it recommends dedicated IPs only around 3+ campaigns/week to 3,000+ contacts or >100,000 emails/month. help.brevo.com MailerLite similarly recommends dedicated IPs only once you're around 50,000+ emails/week. www.mailerlite.com

What I'd choose

• <$15/mo: MailerLite Comfort or Brevo Starter
• Need lots of sends relative to list size: Brevo
• Want essentially no sending cap: Kit
• Want sophisticated automation and can tolerate higher cost: ActiveCampaign
• Want the best cheap all-around SMB option: MailerLite

One caveat: none of these platforms can guarantee inbox placement. The biggest budget-friendly deliverability win is authenticating your domain properly (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), mailing engaged subscribers, suppressing chronic non-openers/bounces, and avoiding sudden volume spikes.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have + emails/month (e.g. 5k subscribers, 50k emails/month), I can narrow this to the 2 cheapest options and compare their actual monthly cost.

Yes. If price + deliverability are the priorities, I’d focus on platforms that use shared sending infrastructure responsibly rather than assuming you need an expensive “deliverability” tier.

My shortlist

MailerLite's current plans are particularly compelling: its free tier allows 2,500 emails/month, Comfort starts at $12/month, and Power starts at $25/month with unlimited monthly emails. www.mailerlite.com

Sender is even cheaper on paper: its free plan supports up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails/month, while its Standard plan starts at $7/month. www.sender.net

Brevo is interesting if your sending pattern is uneven. Its free plan allows 300 emails/day, while Starter starts at $9/month and removes the daily sending limit. www.mailerlite.comwww.sender.nethelp.brevo.comhelp.brevo.com

What I'd choose

1. MailerLite — safest default.
I'd pick this if you're a small business sending newsletters/automations and want a platform you can stay on as your list grows. The $25 Power tier is especially attractive if you're sending frequently because it doesn't impose a conventional monthly email ceiling, subject to fair-use rules. www.mailerlite.com

2. Sender — cheapest serious contender.
If every dollar matters, I'd test Sender first. Getting 15,000 sends/month free is unusually generous. Its $7 starting paid tier is also hard to beat. www.sender.net

3. Brevo — best if you mix marketing + transactional email.
The 300/day free limit can be annoying for a campaign to a larger list, but the $9 Starter tier eliminates that daily restriction. Brevo also provides SPF/DKIM/DMARC support, bounce handling, suppression management and reputation monitoring as part of its deliverability infrastructure. help.brevo.com

One important caveat

Cheap plan ≠ throttled deliverability. Deliverability is much more dependent on your domain authentication, list quality, complaint/bounce rates and engagement than on whether you're paying $10 or $100/month. Brevo, for example, explicitly recommends authenticating your domain and using a professional domain rather than a Gmail/Yahoo sender address. help.brevo.com

So I wouldn't pay extra merely because a vendor markets a higher tier as having “better deliverability.” I'd spend the money first on proper SPF/DKIM/DMARC, a clean opt-in list, sensible warming, and removing inactive/bouncing contacts.

Bottom line: I'd trial MailerLite and Sender side-by-side. For a typical small business, I'd lean MailerLite; if you're extremely price-sensitive and your volume fits, Sender is probably the first one I'd test.

Yes. If your priority is low cost without deliberately crippling email delivery, I’d shortlist MailerLite, Brevo, and Kit—but they have different pricing models.

My picks

1. MailerLite — best budget choice

MailerLite's paid plans aren't artificially throttled in a way I'd consider a deliverability red flag. Its Comfort plan starts at $12/month, with sending tied to your subscriber tier, while Power starts at $25/month and includes unlimited monthly emails subject to fair use. www.mailerlite.comwww.mailerlite.com

For a small business sending, say, 1–4 newsletters/month, I'd start here. Its free plan gives you 2,500 sends/month, although you're limited to 250 active subscribers. www.mailerlite.comwww.mailerlite.com

MailerLite pricing

2. Brevo — best if you have lots of contacts but don't email them constantly

This is particularly interesting because Brevo charges based on email volume rather than simply making you pay more for every contact. The free plan permits 300 emails/day; Starter begins at $9/month and removes the daily sending limit, with tiers based on monthly volume. help.brevo.com

So if you have 20,000 contacts but only send one newsletter a month, Brevo can be substantially more economical than subscriber-based competitors.

Brevo pricing

3. Kit — excellent deliverability focus, but not my budget pick

Kit puts substantial emphasis on sender reputation, domain authentication, list hygiene, and deliverability education. help.kit.com Its paid Creator plan starts at $39/month for up to 1,000 subscribers, and it charges based on active subscribers rather than emails sent. help.kit.com

I'd choose Kit when creator/newsletter functionality is important enough to justify the premium—not simply because you want good inbox placement.

One important distinction

Cheap plan ≠ poor deliverability. What you really want to avoid is a provider that puts you on an excessively constrained/shared infrastructure arrangement or makes essential authentication/deliverability controls unavailable.

Your own practices matter enormously: authenticate your domain with SPF/DKIM/DMARC, use a legitimate business domain, obtain permission, remove chronically inactive recipients, and ramp sending gradually. Brevo specifically identifies domain authentication and list quality as foundational to deliverability. help.brevo.com

If I were spending my own money:

• <1,000 subscribers: MailerLite
• Thousands/tens of thousands of contacts with relatively low send frequency: Brevo
• Creator/newsletter business where advanced audience tools matter: Kit
• High-volume sending: I'd evaluate dedicated infrastructure and deliverability support separately rather than simply buying the cheapest marketing plan.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send per month, I can calculate which one is actually cheapest at your volume.