ChatGPT answers, unedited

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 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.

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.