Answers that mention MailerLite

Yes. For a freelance marketer with several small clients, I’d separate “multi-account management” from true white-label/reseller software—because the cheapest option is often not the one with full white-labeling.

My shortlist

1. MailerLite — my pick for most freelancers

This is probably the best value if your clients can each have their own MailerLite account.

MailerLite explicitly supports agencies: you can manage multiple client accounts from one login, switching between them in two clicks. Each client retains separate subscribers, campaigns, automations and billing. MailerLite MailerLite

The catch: it isn't actually white-label. MailerLite says it doesn't offer a reseller/white-label version. MailerLite

The upside is price. Its current Power plan starts at $25/month for up to 500 subscribers, with unlimited users and unlimited monthly emails; there's also a free plan for small lists. MailerLite MailerLite

Best setup: Have each client own/pay for their MailerLite account, while you get agency access. You can charge them your management fee separately without eating their email-software costs.

mailerlite.com

2. HighLevel — best if you really want white-labeling

If by white-label you mean:

“I want my client to log into my agency's branded platform, not see MailerLite/HighLevel.”

Then HighLevel is much more appropriate.

Its current pricing is:

• $97/mo — 3 sub-accounts
• $297/mo — unlimited sub-accounts
• $497/mo — unlimited sub-accounts + SaaS Mode, which lets you sell the platform as your own software and automate account creation/rebilling. GoHighLevel

So, for example, once you have 10–20 clients, the $297 plan can become attractive because you aren't paying for a separate platform subscription for every client.

The downside is that $297/month is a lot if you're only managing 3–5 small clients. And HighLevel is substantially more than an email platform—it includes CRM, funnels, SMS, automation, calendars, etc. GoHighLevel

gohighlevel.com

3. Brevo — worth considering for inexpensive client email

Brevo is attractive if you're primarily doing email campaigns and automation rather than selling clients a whole marketing platform.

However, its true centralized sub-account functionality is currently an Enterprise feature, so I wouldn't choose it specifically for inexpensive multi-client account management. Brevo Help Brevo Help

It does have inexpensive plans and relatively flexible user/permission management, though. Brevo Help

brevo.com

What I'd do in your situation

If you're a solo freelance marketer with ~3–15 small businesses, I'd probably go:

MailerLite → client owns the account → you manage it → client pays the software bill → you charge a monthly management fee.

That's much cheaper and cleaner than paying $297–497/month for a white-label platform.

I'd move to HighLevel when you have enough clients that you want to turn email/CRM/automation into a standardized agency product and sell it under your own brand.

The key distinction is:

• Want cheap + easy: MailerLite
• Want cheap + separate client accounts: MailerLite
• Want actual agency-branded software: HighLevel
• Want to resell software and recurring subscriptions: HighLevel SaaS Mode
• Want primarily inexpensive email sending: Brevo

If you tell me roughly how many clients you have (e.g. 5, 10, 20) and average subscribers per client, I can calculate the cheapest setup and break-even point between these options.

3. Brevo — worth considering for inexpensive client email

Brevo is attractive if you're primarily doing email campaigns and automation rather than selling clients a whole marketing platform.

However, its true centralized sub-account functionality is currently an Enterprise feature, so I wouldn't choose it specifically for inexpensive multi-client account management. Brevo Help Brevo Help

It does have inexpensive plans and relatively flexible user/permission management, though. Brevo Help

brevo.com

What I'd do in your situation

If you're a solo freelance marketer with ~3–15 small businesses, I'd probably go:

MailerLite → client owns the account → you manage it → client pays the software bill → you charge a monthly management fee.

That's much cheaper and cleaner than paying $297–497/month for a white-label platform.

If your priority is a small paid newsletter audience + keeping costs low + eventually adding SMS, I’d narrow it to MailerLite, Kit, and beehiiv.

My pick: MailerLite if SMS is genuinely important

mailerlite.com

MailerLite is probably the best value if you want email + SMS in one ecosystem. Its paid Comfort plan starts around $12/month, and the platform explicitly supports email and SMS functionality. MailerLite

The catch: it isn't designed around paid newsletters as deeply as beehiiv. If your business is primarily “I publish a newsletter and people pay me for it,” I'd lean toward beehiiv instead.

My pick: beehiiv if newsletter revenue is the main business

beehiiv.com

beehiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers, with paid subscriptions, referrals, advertising/Boosts and newsletter growth tools. It takes 0% of paid-subscription revenue beyond normal payment processing. Beehiiv Beehiiv

For a small list, though, there's an important wrinkle: the free Launch plan goes to 2,500 subscribers, but the monetization-focused paid tier starts around $43–$49/month depending on billing/pricing version. Field Tested Newsletter Cost Calculator

So if you're only making, say, $100–300/month from a small paid list, that monthly software bill can be significant.

Kit is the sleeper choice

kit.com

Kit is especially attractive if you're a creator who might eventually sell courses, digital products, coaching, or other creator products. Its free tier is unusually generous—up to 10,000 subscribers—although monetization and advanced features change the economics. Beehiiv StackDrawer

I'd choose it over beehiiv if your newsletter is part of a broader creator business, rather than the product itself.

What I'd do in your situation

• Under ~1,000 subscribers + SMS is important: MailerLite
• Under ~2,500 subscribers + newsletter is the product: beehiiv Launch, then reassess when you start charging
• Growing creator business + courses/products: Kit
• Already making meaningful recurring paid-subscription revenue: beehiiv, because the 0% platform fee becomes increasingly valuable
• You specifically need serious SMS marketing: MailerLite, or use a separate SMS provider alongside your newsletter platform

One important distinction: “email + SMS” and “paid newsletter monetization” aren't necessarily best handled by the same platform. If you tell me roughly how many free subscribers, how many paid subscribers, your monthly newsletter revenue, and how many SMS messages/month you expect, I can calculate the cheapest setup and tell you exactly which platform I'd use.

mailerlite.com

MailerLite is probably the best value if you want email + SMS in one ecosystem. Its paid Comfort plan starts around $12/month, and the platform explicitly supports email and SMS functionality. MailerLite

The catch: it isn't designed around paid newsletters as deeply as beehiiv. If your business is primarily “I publish a newsletter and people pay me for it,” I'd lean toward beehiiv instead.

My pick: beehiiv if newsletter revenue is the main business

beehiiv.com

beehiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers, with paid subscriptions, referrals, advertising/Boosts and newsletter growth tools. It takes 0% of paid-subscription revenue beyond normal payment processing. beehiiv.com beehiiv.com

For a small list, though, there's an important wrinkle: the free Launch plan goes to 2,500 subscribers, but the monetization-focused paid tier starts around $43–$49/month depending on billing/pricing version. fieldtestedhq.com newslettercalc.com

So if you're only making, say, $100–300/month from a small paid list, that monthly software bill can be significant.

Kit is the sleeper choice

For a one-person marketing operation, I’d pick MailerLite if your priorities are easy UI + basic automations + low cost.

My pick: MailerLite

MailerLite's current free plan gives you up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, and 3 automations. Its paid Comfort plan starts at $12/month and adds substantially more automation capacity. MailerLite

The reason I'd choose it over Brevo for your use case isn't just price: the interface is particularly straightforward, and its visual automation builder is well suited to simple sequences such as:

• New subscriber → welcome email
• Wait 2 days → educational email
• Wait 3 days → offer
• Clicks link → add tag
• Doesn't open → resend/follow-up

Brevo starts cheaper at $9/month, and its pricing is based more on email volume than subscriber count. That's potentially a better deal if you have a relatively large list but send infrequently. Its free plan also includes automation for up to 2,000 contacts. Brevo Help

So I'd use this rule:

• Small list + want the easiest experience: → MailerLite
• Large list + low sending volume + absolute lowest cost: → Brevo
• Creator-focused business/newsletter: → Kit
• Want maximum simplicity and don't mind paying a little more: → MailerLite

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have (or expect in year 1) and how many emails you'll send per month, I can calculate which one is actually cheapest for you.

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.

For an agency pitching small local businesses, my first choice would be mailerlite.com.

Why I’d bundle it:

• Very low entry cost: free up to 250 active subscribers and 2,500 emails/month. Paid plans start at $12/month. MailerLite MailerLite
• Good enough for most local-business needs: newsletters, forms, landing pages, automations, segmentation, A/B testing, etc. MailerLite
• Agency-friendly: you can manage multiple client accounts from one login, with separate subscribers, campaigns, templates and billing for each client. MailerLite
• Clients can own their accounts/data: you don't have to put every client into one giant agency account. MailerLite
• You can make margin on the service: MailerLite has a 30% recurring referral commission, although it does not offer a true white-label/reseller version. MailerLite MailerLite

How I'd package it

I'd actually avoid selling "email software". Sell the outcome:

Local Business Growth Package — $199–399/mo

• Website / Google Business optimization
• Monthly email newsletter
• 1–2 automated follow-up sequences
• Lead capture form
• Monthly reporting
• Email platform included

Then you can absorb the MailerLite cost into the package rather than presenting it as a separate $12–$25 expense.

For example, at the entry level, your underlying software cost can be only $12/month, while you're charging for the strategy, copywriting, design, setup, maintenance and reporting. MailerLite's current Comfort plan starts at $12/month and includes 5,000 monthly emails. MailerLite

One important caveat: if your agency wants a true white-label client portal where clients never see the underlying email platform, MailerLite isn't the ideal choice. It explicitly says it doesn't offer white-label/reseller software. MailerLite

If you tell me roughly how many clients you expect to have (10, 50, 100+) and whether you want clients to see/manage the email platform, I can recommend the most profitable setup and pricing structure.

If the priority is cheap + dependable list hygiene/suppression, I’d shortlist these:

• Brevo — best budget choice for a large consolidated list. It prices primarily by emails sent rather than contacts stored, so you can retain a sizable master list without paying simply to store it. Its free tier allows unlimited contacts with a daily sending cap, and paid plans start around $9/month. EveryAny.One SMB Compare
• MailerLite — best simple all-around choice for smaller lists. It automatically excludes unsubscribed and bounced subscribers from its billable active-subscriber count, which is a useful sign that suppression is integrated into list management rather than being something you have to manually maintain. MailerLite
• Kit — worth considering if you qualify for its generous free tier. It can be particularly economical if your list is large but you don't need sophisticated CRM functionality. MailToolFinder

What I'd pick for consolidation

Brevo if you're merging several lists and expect the resulting database to be large. The send-based pricing model can make a big difference when you're carrying lots of inactive/suppressed records. EveryAny.One

MailerLite if the resulting list is relatively modest and you value straightforward campaign management over having the absolute lowest storage cost. Its treatment of bounced/unsubscribed contacts is especially relevant to your list-hygiene requirement. MailerLite

One important caveat: don't treat "suppressed" as permission to re-mail old addresses. During consolidation, preserve unsubscribe/complaint status from every source list and use the most restrictive status when records overlap.

If you tell me roughly how many contacts you're consolidating and how often you'll send, I can compare the actual monthly cost of Brevo vs. MailerLite vs. a couple of other budget options.

If your priority is cheap + A/B testing for subject lines, I’d pick MailerLite.

• MailerLite: Best budget choice. Its free plan includes campaign A/B testing, though it’s limited to 250 subscribers / 2,500 emails per month. Paid plans start around $12/month. Humblytics EmailTooltester.com
• Brevo: Better if you have a large list but send relatively infrequently. Its cheaper Starter plan begins around $9/month, but A/B testing requires the Standard plan (~$18/month). Stackmerit Compare Tiers
• Kit: Worth considering if you're primarily a creator/newsletter business, but subject-line A/B testing starts on its paid Creator tier, making it less attractive if price is the main concern. Humblytics

My recommendation

Start with MailerLite. You can actually test subject lines for free, and you don't need to pay just to unlock the basic A/B-testing capability.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send per month, I can tell you which is cheapest for your specific situation.