Neutral mentions of MailerLite

For a two-person landscaping company that mainly needs to keep a customer list, send seasonal promos, and stay top-of-mind (spring cleanups, mulch, pruning, irrigation checks, etc.), I would avoid heavy marketing systems. You likely need something simple, inexpensive, and easy to use from a phone. G2 Learning Hub Fit Small Business

Here are my top recommendations:

My shortlist for your situation

1. Best overall: Brevo

I’d look here first if your workflow is:

• Add every customer after a job
• Tag customers (“lawn maintenance,” “irrigation,” “commercial,” “spring cleanup”)
• Send 4–8 emails per year
• Occasionally send a discount or reminder

Example campaigns:

• “Book your spring cleanup before the calendar fills”
• “Fall leaf cleanup openings”
• “10% off mulch installation this month”
• “Hurricane season tree trimming reminder”

2. Simplest: MailerLite

Pick this if you don’t want to spend much time learning software. It’s a good fit for a small crew where one person handles marketing between jobs. Constant Contact

3. If you want a more “local business” feel: Constant Contact

Worth considering if you value phone support and guided setup more than having the lowest cost. TechVendorIndex

One thing I’d add: use a customer database first

Before sending promos, make sure your list is organized. A simple spreadsheet or CRM with these fields helps:

• Customer name
• Email
• Address
• Last service date
• Services purchased
• Notes (pets, gates, preferred schedule)
• Consent to receive marketing emails

Then your emails become much more targeted.

For a two-person landscaping company, my practical setup would be:

• Customer tracking: workspace.google.com or a lightweight CRM
• Email campaigns: Brevo or MailerLite
• Frequency: about 1 email/month in peak season, fewer in winter

If you tell me roughly how many customers are on your list now (e.g., 200, 2,000, 10,000) and whether you also need quotes/scheduling/invoicing, I can narrow it down further.

For a two-person landscaping company sending occasional promos, I’d shortlist:

• brevo.com — Best fit if you have a growing customer list but only email occasionally; pricing is largely based on emails sent rather than contacts stored. Omnisend
• mailerlite.com — Simple, clean, and well suited to newsletters/promotions without a lot of complexity. Constant Contact
• constantcontact.com — Particularly attractive if you want easy setup and phone/chat support; plans start around $12/month. Constant Contact

My pick: Brevo if you're mainly keeping a customer list and sending seasonal offers like spring cleanup, fall cleanup, or snow removal.

For a freelance photographer on a tight budget, Brevo is probably the best fit if you want to send client updates, mini-session announcements, seasonal offers, and promotions without paying upfront.

My shortlist

• Brevo — best overall for your situation. Its free plan is $0 indefinitely and allows unlimited contacts, with up to 300 email sends per day. It also includes email campaigns, templates, basic analytics, and some automation. Brevo Help Brevo Help
• MailerLite — best if you want a prettier, more photographer-friendly newsletter. Its free plan currently allows 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, plus landing pages, forms, and 3 automations. MailerLite MailerLite
• Kit — excellent for building a creator-style audience. Its free plan allows up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited broadcasts, which is unusually generous, although automated email sequences require a paid plan. Kit Help Center Kit
• Mailchimp — usable, but less compelling on a very tight budget. Its current free plan caps contacts at 250, and sending pauses when you exceed the plan limits. Mailchimp

What I'd do as a photographer

I'd start with Brevo if your main goal is:

“I have a list of past clients and prospects, and I want to occasionally send them photography offers and updates.”

You could create segments such as:

• Wedding clients
• Portrait clients
• Family clients
• Headshot/business clients
• Past clients
• People who have inquired but haven't booked

Then send things like “Fall Mini Sessions — 5 spots left”, “Spring portrait bookings are open”, or a quarterly “What’s new with my photography business” email.

One important distinction: I wouldn't use a marketing platform for ordinary one-to-one client communication such as “Your gallery is ready” or “Here are your proofs.” For those, your normal client-management/gallery workflow is better. Use the email platform primarily for broadcasts, promotions, and staying in touch with your client list.

If you tell me roughly how many contacts you have (e.g. 100, 500, 2,000) and whether you're mostly doing weddings, portraits, events, or commercial work, I can narrow it down to the cheapest setup for your specific photography business.

For a small online store with <2,000 subscribers, and your priorities are simple + cheap + basic email + SMS, I’d narrow it to these:

• Brevo — probably the first one I’d investigate. It’s designed around relatively inexpensive email sending rather than simply charging heavily for stored contacts, and it supports both email and SMS. Hostinger
• Omnisend — particularly worth considering if you're on Shopify/WooCommerce and want basic ecommerce automations (welcome, abandoned cart, etc.). Its current Standard plan starts at $16/month, but SMS now requires Pro for new subscribers, which starts at $59/month, so it may be more expensive than you want. Omnisend Help Center Omnisend
• MailerLite — very straightforward for email and inexpensive for small lists, but if SMS is a must-have in the same platform, I'd look elsewhere first. A current 2026 comparison lists it as one of the beginner-friendly options. Hostinger

My practical take

If you mean “I want to spend as little as possible and don't need fancy ecommerce automation”, I'd start with Brevo.

If you tell me what platform your store uses (Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, etc.) and roughly how many emails/SMS you expect to send per month, I can compare the actual monthly cost of 2–3 options for your situation.

For a small real-estate practice with a modest contact list, I’d start with Mailchimp if your main needs are straightforward newsletters, announcements, and basic automated follow-ups. It’s relatively simple and doesn’t force you into a full CRM. Constant Contact SaaS Compare

• Mailchimp: newsletters + basic follow-up; good lightweight starting point.
• MailerLite: another simple, budget-conscious option if you want minimal complexity. Constant Contact
• Constant Contact: worth considering if you also send event/open-house invitations and want email + text in one place. Constant Contact
• Follow Up Boss: better when your priority becomes managing lots of individual leads, tasks, and sales follow-up rather than newsletters. Constant Contact

For your description, I’d keep it simple: Mailchimp or MailerLite rather than paying for a full real-estate CRM.

For a one-person online course business where simplicity matters, I’d start with kit.com.

Why Kit fits your use case

• Built around creators: Kit specifically supports course creators, newsletters, digital products, and memberships rather than trying to be an all-purpose marketing suite. Kit Kit
• Good email sequences: You can create automated sequences for welcome emails, lead nurturing, course launches, sales, and re-engagement. Kit Help Center Kit
• Simple visual automation: You can build workflows based on things like signups, clicks, purchases, and engagement without needing a complicated CRM. Kit
• Analytics are enough for a solo operator: Sequence reports show sends, opens, clicks, unsubscribes, and individual subscriber actions. Kit also provides broader audience and engagement analytics. Kit Kit Help Center
• You can start without a huge stack: Kit also has landing pages, forms, tagging/segmentation, and digital-product capabilities, reducing the number of separate tools you need. Kit

Kit vs. MailerLite

mailerlite.com would be my other serious candidate. It also has approachable automation and reporting, including automation activity reports and campaign/automation performance metrics. MailerLite MailerLite MailerLite

I'd think about them this way:

One important distinction: don't buy based on "advanced analytics" alone. For a one-person course business, I'd mainly track new subscribers → sequence clicks → course sales → conversion rate. You probably don't need a heavyweight platform like ActiveCampaign unless your funnels eventually become substantially more complex.

My practical starting setup: Kit + your course platform, with 3–4 core automations: welcome → nurture → course offer → post-purchase/onboarding. That gives you a useful system without turning email marketing into another job.

For a local boutique retailer with seasonal sales (holiday drops, spring collections, pop-ups, promotions), I’d prioritize easy templates, fast setup, simple customer lists, and low cost over advanced automation.

My shortlist:

Constant Contact Constant Contact### My recommendation for your situation

• Small boutique + occasional seasonal blasts: choose MailerLite. It’s usually the easiest balance of affordability, attractive designs, and enough automation for things like:

• “New collection just arrived”
• “VIP early access”
• “Last weekend of the sale”
• Birthday/customer appreciation emails

MailerLite MailerLite- If you prefer having more hand-holding: choose Constant Contact. It’s designed around small businesses and emphasizes easy editors, templates, and support. Constant Contact

• If most sales happen through Shopify or another online store: consider Klaviyo later, when you want behavior-based emails like “you viewed this item” or “customers who bought X also liked Y.”

A simple boutique setup would be:

1. Import your customer list.
2. Create 3–5 branded templates (new arrivals, sale, event, thank-you, holiday).
3. Set up one automated welcome email for new subscribers.
4. Send seasonal campaigns 2–4 times per month.

For most local boutiques, I’d start with MailerLite unless you specifically want phone support and a more guided experience, in which case Constant Contact is a strong alternative. Constant Contact Constant Contact