Answers that mention MailerLite

If you’re a budget-conscious solopreneur with a growing list, I’d narrow it to MailerLite vs. Kit.

My pick: MailerLite

MailerLite is probably the best fit if your priority is getting real automation + broadcasts without your monthly bill jumping too quickly.

• Free: up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, campaigns, and 3 automations. MailerLite MailerLite
• Comfort: starts at $12/month, with 50 active automations and 10× your subscriber tier in monthly sends. MailerLite MailerLite
• Power: starts at $25/month, with unlimited monthly emails and unlimited automations. MailerLite MailerLite
• It also gives you landing pages, forms, segmentation, and other tools, so you don't necessarily need another platform as you grow. MailerLite

mailerlite.com

The interesting alternative: Kit

Kit is especially attractive if you're a creator/newsletter/business built around content.

Its free Newsletter plan now supports up to 10,000 subscribers, with unlimited broadcasts, forms/landing pages, tagging/segmentation, and one basic visual automation. Kit Kit Help

The catch: if you want serious automated sequences and funnels, the paid Creator plan is currently $33/month at 1,000 subscribers (with annual billing; Kit's help center lists $39/month as the monthly starting price). Kit Kit Help

kit.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Bottom line: If you're already approaching a few hundred subscribers and expect to build welcome sequences, lead-magnet delivery, nurture campaigns, sales sequences, etc., I'd start with MailerLite. Its paid entry point is considerably friendlier for a solopreneur, while still giving you the automation functionality you'll need. MailerLite MailerLite

If you're primarily a creator/newsletter operator and your list could grow past 2,500–5,000 fairly quickly, Kit's free tier becomes extremely compelling. Kit Help

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have now (e.g. 500, 2k, 5k, 10k) and whether you're selling services, courses, products, or just a newsletter, I can tell you which one is likely to be cheapest for your specific setup.

If you're a budget-conscious solopreneur with a growing list, I'd put MailerLite at the top of your shortlist.

My pick: MailerLite

mailerlite.com is unusually well suited to your situation because you get both broadcasts/newsletters and automations without immediately paying for an expensive tier.

• Free: up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, with campaigns and up to 3 visual automations. MailerLite MailerLite
• Comfort: starts at $12/month, with 50 visual automations and 5,000 monthly emails. MailerLite
• Power: starts at $25/month and includes unlimited monthly emails and automations. MailerLite
• It also includes landing pages, signup forms, segmentation, A/B testing, and integrations, so you don't necessarily need several other tools. MailerLite

For a solo business, I'd probably start free, build your welcome sequence + lead-magnet delivery + basic nurture sequence, and only upgrade once the list actually requires it.

Two alternatives worth considering

Brevo is particularly interesting if your list is already fairly large but you don't send constantly. Its free plan allows up to 100,000 stored contacts, 300 email sends/day, and automation for up to 2,000 contacts entering active workflows. Brevo Help Brevo Help Its Starter plan starts at $9/month. Brevo Help

Kit can be worth considering if you're primarily a creator selling content, courses, newsletters, or digital products. I'd choose it for creator-oriented features rather than simply trying to minimize your email-software bill.

What I'd choose for you

Bottom line: Start with MailerLite unless you already have several thousand subscribers. It gives you the core thing you need—broadcasts + proper automations—without forcing you into a pricey plan immediately.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have now and how many emails you send per month, I can compare the actual monthly cost of MailerLite vs. Brevo vs. Kit at your size.

For a small ecommerce store where low monthly cost + simple segmentation are the priorities, I’d shortlist these:

My recommendation:

1. Best fit for most small ecommerce shops: omnisend.com

I’d start here if you sell through Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, etc. It is designed around ecommerce rather than general newsletters, so you get useful segments without a lot of setup:

• “Bought in last 90 days”
• “Spent over £100”
• “Has not purchased recently”
• “Added to cart but didn’t buy”
• “VIP customers”
• “Clicked but didn’t purchase”

It also combines email and SMS automation in the same workflows, which is useful for abandoned carts, offers, and post-purchase messages. Omnisend

2. Cheapest option: brevo.com

Pick this if your main goal is keeping bills low.

Pros:

• Lower entry cost
• Good for newsletters and basic automations
• Pricing is based more around sending volume than just the size of your contact list, which can work well if you have many contacts but email infrequently. Omnisend

Trade-off:

• Ecommerce segmentation is not as deep as Omnisend or Klaviyo.

3. Upgrade path: klaviyo.com

Klaviyo is excellent if email/SMS becomes a major revenue channel. Its segmentation and customer data tools are among the strongest, but a small shop may not use enough of the advanced features to justify the higher cost early on. Klaviyo

What I would do in your position

• Under ~5,000 subscribers: Start with Omnisend.
• Large list but low sending frequency: Consider Brevo.
• High repeat purchase business (fashion, beauty, supplements, subscription products): Consider Klaviyo once revenue justifies it.

For a lean setup, I’d create just 5 segments initially:

1. New subscribers (0–30 days)
2. First-time buyers
3. Repeat customers
4. VIP/high spenders
5. Lapsed customers (no purchase in 90–180 days)

If you tell me your ecommerce platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, Etsy, custom, etc.), monthly order volume, and approximate email list size, I can narrow it down to the cheapest option that still covers your needs.

Yes. For a freelance marketer with multiple small clients, I’d separate the options into “cheap multi-client management” and “true white-label.”

My pick: MailerLite if you don't need true white-label

mailerlite.com is probably the sweet spot for a freelancer.

Its agency setup lets you use one login to switch among separate client accounts, with each client retaining their own subscribers, campaigns, automations, templates and billing. On its higher plan, you also get unlimited user seats. MailerLite

The important catch: MailerLite explicitly does not offer native white-label/reseller functionality. MailerLite

The pricing is attractive for small clients: Comfort starts at $12/month, while Power starts at $25/month and adds unlimited seats, sending, automations, etc. MailerLite MailerLite

Why I'd use it: Have each client own their MailerLite account, then have them grant you access. You don't have to pay for a giant agency platform just to manage newsletters.

Brevo is worth considering

brevo.com has an agency program that allows you to switch between client accounts from your dashboard. It also offers partner commissions—currently 10% at the entry partner level, rising to 25% at higher tiers. Brevo

I'd favor Brevo over MailerLite when your clients send relatively high volumes but have relatively small contact lists, because Brevo's pricing is more oriented around email volume, whereas MailerLite primarily prices around subscriber count. MailerLite

If you specifically want white-label: HighLevel

gohighlevel.com is the much stronger choice if the goal is:

“My client thinks they're using my marketing platform.”

The current $97/month Starter plan gives you 3 sub-accounts. The $297/month Unlimited plan gives you unlimited sub-accounts and agency-oriented features; HighLevel also supports rebilling email/phone costs. GoHighLevel HighLevel Support Portal

HighLevel's agency documentation also specifically lists white-label desktop on the $297 Freelancer/Unlimited-level plan. HighLevel Support Portal

The downside is that $297/month is a lot if you're only managing email newsletters. HighLevel makes more financial sense if you're going to sell clients a broader package—email + CRM + funnels + forms + SMS + automations + booking, etc.

What I'd do in your position

• 1–5 small clients: MailerLite. Let each client own their account; you manage them from one login.
• 5–15+ clients: MailerLite or Brevo, depending on contact/sending volume.
• You want your own branded client portal/platform: HighLevel.
• You want to resell “email marketing software” as part of your service: HighLevel becomes much more interesting.
• You just want to hide the software's logo from emails: Don't overpay for white-label software—MailerLite's paid plans can remove its branding. MailerLite

Bottom line: For a solo freelance marketer, I'd start with MailerLite unless true white-labeling is an explicit selling point of your service. HighLevel is powerful, but $297/month is hard to justify solely for email.

If you tell me roughly how many clients you have (e.g. 5, 10, 20), average subscribers per client, and whether clients need to log in themselves, I can narrow this down to the cheapest setup and estimate your monthly cost.

The important catch: MailerLite explicitly does not offer native white-label/reseller functionality. MailerLite

The pricing is attractive for small clients: Comfort starts at $12/month, while Power starts at $25/month and adds unlimited seats, sending, automations, etc. MailerLite MailerLite

Why I'd use it: Have each client own their MailerLite account, then have them grant you access. You don't have to pay for a giant agency platform just to manage newsletters.

Brevo is worth considering

brevo.com has an agency program that allows you to switch between client accounts from your dashboard. It also offers partner commissions—currently 10% at the entry partner level, rising to 25% at higher tiers. Brevo

I'd favor Brevo over MailerLite when your clients send relatively high volumes but have relatively small contact lists, because Brevo's pricing is more oriented around email volume, whereas MailerLite primarily prices around subscriber count. MailerLite

If you specifically want white-label: HighLevel

gohighlevel.com is the much stronger choice if the goal is:

“My client thinks they're using my marketing platform.”

The current $97/month Starter plan gives you 3 sub-accounts. The $297/month Unlimited plan gives you unlimited sub-accounts and agency-oriented features; HighLevel also supports rebilling email/phone costs.

HighLevel's agency documentation also specifically lists white-label desktop on the $297 Freelancer/Unlimited-level plan.

Yes. For a freelance marketer with several small clients, I’d focus on multi-account management first and true white-labeling second. The cheapest options often let you manage clients centrally without actually hiding the software brand.

My shortlist

🥇 Best value: Brevo

Brevo is probably the first one I'd investigate for your situation.

Its Agency Partner Program gives you centralized multi-account management, so you can switch between clients from your own dashboard rather than juggling separate logins. It's also free to join, and the agency program offers 10–25% recurring revenue share depending on partner tier. Brevo Brevo Help

brevo.com

The important distinction: this isn't traditional white-label SaaS where your clients see only your branding. But for a freelancer, you can simply manage the client's Brevo account while presenting your agency as the service provider.

I'd choose Brevo if: you have 5–30 small clients and want each client to retain ownership of their own email account/billing.

🥈 Cheapest/simple option: MailerLite

MailerLite is particularly attractive if your clients are small businesses that mostly need newsletters, automations, forms and basic landing pages.

You can manage multiple client accounts from one login, switching between them in two clicks. Each client retains a separate subscriber database, campaigns, automations and billing. MailerLite MailerLite

Current pricing starts at $12/month for the Comfort plan for up to 500 subscribers, with a free tier for up to 250 subscribers. MailerLite

mailerlite.com

The downside is significant for your specific question: MailerLite explicitly does not offer a reseller/white-label version. MailerLite

So I'd use it if your clients don't care that the underlying platform is MailerLite.

🥉 If you really want white-label: GoHighLevel

This is the one I'd investigate if your business model is:

"I provide a complete marketing system to clients for $300–$1,000/month."

rather than:

"I manage your newsletter for $100/month."

GoHighLevel is designed around agencies managing multiple client subaccounts and putting the platform behind their own agency brand. You're effectively selling your marketing platform/service, rather than giving every client a separate inexpensive email-software subscription.

The economics become much better once you're charging clients a recurring management fee, but it's probably overkill if all you need is email newsletters.

What I'd do in your shoes

For a freelance marketer managing small accounts, I'd structure it like this:

Client owns account → you get admin access → client pays software → you charge management fee.

I'd start with Brevo because its agency infrastructure is unusually well suited to this arrangement. Brevo Help

For very small/simple clients, I'd consider MailerLite instead.

And if you want to build a white-labeled "marketing platform" that you resell, I'd move up to GoHighLevel rather than trying to hack together white-labeling with MailerLite.

One particularly useful distinction

If by "white-label" you mean "I don't want my client seeing Mailchimp/Brevo/MailerLite anywhere", your choices narrow considerably.

If you mean "I want one dashboard where I can manage 10–20 clients and have each client isolated from the others", Brevo and MailerLite are much more affordable.

If you tell me roughly how many clients you manage (e.g. 5, 10, 25) and the typical subscriber count per client (e.g. 500–2,000), I can calculate which setup would be cheapest and what you'd actually pay per month.

For your situation, I’d start with beehiiv.com.

Why it fits a tiny-budget, low-tech start:

• $0 to start — the free Launch plan supports up to 2,500 subscribers.
• Unlimited email sends, so you don't have to worry about a weekly newsletter eating into a tiny send allowance. Beehiiv Beehiiv
• It includes the newsletter, website, signup tools, analytics, and recommendation/growth features, so you can avoid piecing together several services. Beehiiv
• It's particularly designed around publishing a newsletter as a standalone business, rather than feeling like traditional marketing software.

My quick comparison

MailerLite is still a good tool, but its current free plan is only 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, so I'd be less inclined to start there if you expect the newsletter to grow. MailerLite

Bottom line: Start with beehiiv free, don't pay for anything yet, and spend your money on the newsletter itself rather than software. You can always switch platforms later if your needs become more sophisticated.

beehiiv.com

For your situation, I’d start with kit.com (formerly ConvertKit).

Why it’s a particularly good fit right now:

• $0 to start: Kit’s current free Newsletter plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited email broadcasts. Kit Kit
• Beginner-friendly: You can make signup forms and landing pages without needing a separate website. Kit
• Good for a newsletter-first business: It includes subscriber tagging/segmentation and basic automation, so you won't immediately outgrow it if your newsletter gains traction. Kit Help Center
• Room to monetize: You can eventually sell digital products or paid subscriptions directly through Kit. Kit

My runner-up: MailerLite

mailerlite.com is arguably a little more traditional and straightforward for general business email marketing. Its free plan currently allows 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, with a drag-and-drop editor, forms, landing pages, and automations. MailerLite MailerLite

So I'd choose:

Kit → if the newsletter/content itself is the business.
MailerLite → if the newsletter is mainly marketing for a business, service, or store.

Given that you're starting with a tiny budget and limited tech skills, I'd pick Kit and stay on the free plan until you have a reason to pay. You can get your first signup page and first newsletter running without buying a website or other software. Kit

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

My ranking

1. MailerLite — best overall

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

mailerlite.com

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

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

brevo.com

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

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

What I'd actually set up

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

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

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

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

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

My ranking

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

The key choice: MailerLite vs. Brevo

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

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

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

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

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

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

mailerlite.com · brevo.com

For a cash-constrained early-stage SaaS, I’d shortlist Brevo and MailerLite, with Brevo as my default pick if onboarding/product-event emails matter.

1. Brevo — best overall for SaaS

brevo.com

• Pricing: Free tier; Starter from $9/month, Standard from $18/month. Brevo's pricing is primarily driven by email volume rather than simply charging more for every additional contact. Brevo Help
• Onboarding: Standard includes unlimited multi-step marketing automation workflows, which is enough for welcome → activation → education → conversion sequences. Brevo Help Brevo
• Analytics: Standard adds advanced reporting, A/B testing, and web/event tracking—particularly useful for SaaS onboarding. Brevo
• Why I like it for you: You can accumulate a relatively large prospect/customer database without immediately getting hammered by per-subscriber pricing.

Caveat: The really useful SaaS behavioral/event capabilities are on Standard, not the $9 Starter tier.

2. MailerLite — best for simple, cheap marketing automation

mailerlite.com

• Free: up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, with 3 automations. MailerLite
• Comfort: starts at $12/month for up to 500 subscribers and includes 50 automations, visual automation, segmentation, and 5,000 monthly emails. MailerLite
• Power: starts at $25/month for up to 500 subscribers and gives unlimited monthly emails and automations. MailerLite
• It explicitly supports welcome/onboarding-style sequences and segmentation. MailerLite

Downside for SaaS: pricing is still subscriber-based, so Brevo becomes more attractive if your database grows rapidly.

My recommendation

If I were spending your runway: I'd start with Brevo, probably on Free while validating the onboarding funnel, then move to Standard once you need behavioral/event triggers and deeper analytics. The $18/month starting point is unusually reasonable for those capabilities. Brevo Help Brevo

One important distinction: if by “onboarding” you mean “user signed up → didn't create project → invite teammates → hit activation milestone → upgrade”, rather than just newsletter-style drip campaigns, I'd evaluate a few SaaS-focused alternatives too. The best cheap choice can change considerably based on how much product-event tracking you need.

For a cash-constrained early-stage SaaS, I’d shortlist Brevo and MailerLite—and I’d lean Brevo if your priority is avoiding subscriber-count-driven pricing.

Brevo's particularly interesting for SaaS because its pricing doesn't simply ratchet up with every additional contact: the current Free plan supports up to 100,000 stored contacts, while Standard starts at $18/month and includes unlimited-contact marketing automation, A/B testing, advanced reporting, and web/event tracking. Brevo Help Brevo

brevo.com

My recommendation

Start with Brevo Standard if you expect your user base to grow quickly. At $18/month, you get the onboarding workflow functionality and analytics I'd want for a SaaS without making your bill primarily a function of how many dormant/low-engagement users are sitting in your database. Brevo Help

A typical onboarding setup could be:

• Day 0: Welcome + activation CTA
• Day 1: "Here's how to get value in 5 minutes"
• Day 3: Feature/use-case education
• Day 5: Social proof or customer example
• Day 7: Ask whether they've activated the core feature
• Day 10: Help/FAQ
• Day 14: Upgrade or book-a-demo CTA

Use product events to branch the sequence—for example, "created account but didn't complete setup" gets a different sequence from "activated but hasn't returned." Brevo Standard supports web/event tracking specifically for this kind of behavior-based segmentation. Brevo

When I'd choose MailerLite instead

If your subscriber count will stay relatively small and you value simplicity, MailerLite is arguably the better bargain. Its free tier includes automations and reporting, and Comfort starts at $12/month; Power is $25/month with unlimited monthly emails and unlimited automations. MailerLite MailerLite

The catch for your particular requirement is that MailerLite does scale pricing with active subscribers, so it becomes less attractive if your SaaS accumulates tens of thousands of users who aren't necessarily receiving lots of email. MailerLite

Bottom line: Brevo Standard at $18/mo would be my pick for a bootstrapped SaaS. It's cheap enough for an early runway, but its pricing structure is much friendlier to the inevitable growth of a SaaS user database.

If your priorities are low cost + nonprofit pricing + solid segmentation, I’d shortlist these:

My pick: MailerLite

For a budget-constrained nonprofit, I'd start with MailerLite. It has a relatively inexpensive paid offering, a free tier for smaller lists, and segmentation/automation without requiring you to move into a high-end marketing platform. Current 2026 comparisons report a 30% nonprofit discount. EmailToolScout EmailTooltester.com

If you want the strongest nonprofit-specific discount

Constant Contact is particularly attractive if you can afford to prepay. Its current official policy gives verified nonprofits 20% off for six months prepaid or 30% off for 12 months prepaid. It also has contact segmentation, engagement segmentation, and more advanced segmentation on higher plans. Constant Contact Constant Contact Knowledge Base

What I'd choose by situation

• Under ~1,000 contacts and very tight budget: MailerLite
• Need simple campaigns and lots of staff support: Constant Contact
• Need sophisticated donor journeys/automation: Mailchimp or GetResponse
• Have a large donor list but don't email constantly: Brevo
• Need basic segmentation: Don't overpay for an enterprise CRM—most of these platforms can segment by things like donor vs. volunteer, event attendee, geography, engagement, donation history, or interest area.

One caveat: nonprofit discounts and free-tier limits change frequently, so I'd verify the final price for your actual contact count before switching. For example, Mailchimp's official nonprofit discount is currently 15%. Mailchimp

If you tell me roughly how many contacts you have (e.g. 500, 2,000, 10,000) and how many emails you send per month, I can narrow this to the cheapest 2–3 options and estimate the actual monthly cost.

Constant Contact is particularly attractive if you can afford to prepay. Its current official policy gives verified nonprofits 20% off for six months prepaid or 30% off for 12 months prepaid. It also has contact segmentation, engagement segmentation, and more advanced segmentation on higher plans.

For a budget-conscious nonprofit that needs segmentation, I’d put MailerLite at the top of the shortlist.

My recommendation: MailerLite

mailerlite.com currently offers 30% off every paid plan for verified nonprofits. More importantly for your use case, its plans include unlimited dynamic segments and unlimited interest groups/tags, so you can separate donors, volunteers, event attendees, monthly donors, geographic groups, etc., without paying extra for each audience. MailerLite MailerLite

It also has a free plan for up to 250 subscribers, which makes it particularly attractive if you're starting small. MailerLite

Runner-up: Constant Contact

constantcontact.com is worth considering if your nonprofit also needs things like events, social posting, SMS, or lots of integrations. Its nonprofit discount can reach 30%, but you have to prepay for 12 months; there's no nonprofit discount on monthly billing. Constant Contact Constant Contact Knowledge Base

The catch is segmentation: Lite includes only one custom segment, Standard includes 10, and unlimited segmentation requires Premium. Constant Contact

What I'd choose

If your priority is "keep costs down + segment our supporters effectively," choose MailerLite.

If you tell me roughly how many contacts you have (e.g., 1,000 / 5,000 / 10,000) and whether you need automations, I can compare the actual monthly nonprofit cost of 3–4 options and identify the cheapest one.

If you’re a content creator with a small paid subscriber list and you want both email + SMS, I’d lean MailerLite—but there’s an important distinction depending on what “paid subscribers” means.

My ranking

1. MailerLite — best if SMS is genuinely important

MailerLite is probably the best fit if you want one inexpensive platform for email campaigns, automations, forms, and SMS. Its positioning is more traditional email marketing than creator publishing, but that can actually be an advantage for a small paid list. beehiiv itself identifies MailerLite's transactional messaging as including email + SMS. Beehiiv

The downside is that MailerLite's free tier became much less attractive in July 2026: it now caps free accounts at 250 active subscribers and 2,500 emails/month. Paid plans are still relatively inexpensive for small lists. Worklever Stuff Report

2. Kit — best if you're primarily a creator

kit.com is the one I'd consider if your newsletter is part of a broader creator business—courses, digital products, sponsorships, funnels, etc.

Its big advantage right now is the unusually generous free tier: up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited sends, although the free plan has meaningful automation limitations. Worklever Field Tested

If SMS is a core requirement, though, I wouldn't choose Kit solely for that.

3. beehiiv — best if the newsletter itself is the product

beehiiv.com is arguably the strongest choice if you're building a paid newsletter/media business rather than simply using email to communicate with customers.

Its free Launch plan supports 2,500 subscribers and unlimited email sends, while paid plans add things like recommendations, monetization, and more sophisticated growth tools. Paid subscriptions have 0% platform fees on beehiiv's side. Beehiiv Field Tested

But I'd rule it out if you specifically need SMS as a first-class channel.

What I'd choose

• Under ~1,000 subscribers + email/SMS + minimize monthly cost: MailerLite
• Under 10,000 subscribers + creator funnels/products: Kit
• Building a serious paid newsletter/media brand: beehiiv
• Want the absolute simplest paid newsletter: Substack, accepting its revenue-share model

One caveat: if by “paid subscriber lists” you mean people who pay you a recurring subscription specifically for the newsletter, rather than simply a small email list for a paid business, beehiiv becomes much more compelling.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have (e.g. 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000) and whether SMS is essential or just nice to have, I can give you the cheapest setup and estimated monthly cost for each.

The downside is that MailerLite's free tier became much less attractive in July 2026: it now caps free accounts at 250 active subscribers and 2,500 emails/month. Paid plans are still relatively inexpensive for small lists. Worklever Stuff Report

2. Kit — best if you're primarily a creator

kit.com is the one I'd consider if your newsletter is part of a broader creator business—courses, digital products, sponsorships, funnels, etc.

Its big advantage right now is the unusually generous free tier: up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited sends, although the free plan has meaningful automation limitations. Worklever fieldtestedhq.com

If SMS is a core requirement, though, I wouldn't choose Kit solely for that.

3. beehiiv — best if the newsletter itself is the product

beehiiv.com is arguably the strongest choice if you're building a paid newsletter/media business rather than simply using email to communicate with customers.

If your main business is a paid newsletter and your list is still relatively small, I’d pick Kit if SMS is genuinely important; otherwise beehiiv is the better newsletter-first platform.

My ranking

🥇 I'd choose Kit for your use case

kit.com is particularly attractive for a creator because its free Newsletter plan currently goes up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited email sends. More importantly, Kit now integrates SlickText, allowing SMS to be triggered from Kit automations and keeping email/SMS contacts synchronized. Kit Kit

That makes it a good fit if you're doing things like:

• Weekly paid newsletter
• Subscriber onboarding sequences
• Launches and promotions
• SMS alerts for premium content
• Course/product sales
• Creator sponsorships
• Automated upsells

The catch is that SMS isn't really native Kit infrastructure—you need a paid SlickText account in addition to your Kit plan. Kit

🥈 Choose beehiiv if the newsletter itself is the business

beehiiv.com is my pick if your priority is growing and monetizing a publication, rather than building a broader creator marketing machine.

Its free Launch plan currently supports 2,500 subscribers and unlimited email sends. The Scale plan is $43/month when billed annually and adds paid subscriptions, automations, recommendations, ads, digital products, etc. beehiiv takes 0% of paid-subscription revenue. Beehiiv Beehiiv

That's compelling for a paid newsletter because the economics get better as revenue grows.

The big problem for your question: beehiiv doesn't natively send SMS. You'd need to connect a third-party SMS provider through its API/webhooks. Beehiiv

So I'd use beehiiv + a separate SMS service only if SMS is occasional rather than a core channel.

🥉 MailerLite if keeping costs extremely low matters

mailerlite.com is very good value for a small list. Its current paid plans start around $12/month, with unlimited emails on the appropriate paid tier. It also supports recurring paid newsletter subscriptions. MailerLite MailerLite

But there's an important distinction: MailerLite's SMS offering is tied to its broader MailerSend/transactional SMS infrastructure, rather than being as creator-centric as Kit + SlickText. MailerLite

Also, its free tier changed substantially in 2026: it's now just 250 subscribers / 2,500 monthly emails, so I wouldn't choose it primarily for the free plan. MailerLite

What I'd actually do

If you have, say, 500–5,000 paid/free subscribers, I'd narrow it to:

Newsletter is the product → beehiiv

Creator business with newsletter + products + SMS → Kit

SMS is almost as important as email → Brevo

Absolute lowest-cost general-purpose email marketing → MailerLite

One other consideration: if your list is small but paid, don't optimize too aggressively for the cheapest monthly subscription. A platform that costs $20–40 more per month but increases conversion, retention, or upsells by even a couple of percentage points can easily pay for itself.

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have (e.g. 500 / 2,000 / 5,000), your monthly paid revenue, and how often you'd send SMS, I can give you a much more precise $/month comparison and recommend the cheapest setup that won't box you in later.

If your priority is low starting cost + sane scaling, I’d narrow it to Brevo and MailerLite, with the right choice depending on how you send.

My pick: Brevo

Brevo's big advantage is that your contact count doesn't drive the bill the way it does with Mailchimp/MailerLite. Its paid plans are based primarily on email volume, so you can have, say, 20,000 contacts without paying simply because they're sitting in your database. Current 2026 comparisons show Brevo around $25/month for 20K emails and roughly $65 for 25K contacts/volume scenarios, substantially below many contact-based competitors. Sasanova etropo

That's particularly attractive if your list grows faster than your sending frequency.

For example, imagine:

• 5,000 subscribers → email once/week = ~20K emails/month
• 10,000 subscribers → ~40K emails/month
• 25,000 subscribers → ~100K emails/month

With a volume-based service, you're paying for what you actually use rather than paying increasingly high fees just to store subscribers.

When I'd choose MailerLite instead

If you're going to email your whole list frequently, MailerLite can be better. Its current paid Comfort plan starts at $12/month, with pricing increasing according to subscriber tiers; its Power plan starts at $25/month and includes unlimited monthly emails subject to fair-use terms. MailerLite

So:

Large list + occasional newsletters → Brevo
Smaller/medium list + frequent campaigns → MailerLite

One caveat: MailerLite automatically moves paid accounts to the next subscriber tier when you exceed the current limit, rather than simply charging a small per-contact overage. MailerLite

What I'd avoid

Mailchimp would not be my choice if price/scaling is your main concern. Current comparisons put it around $110/month at 10K contacts and ~$385/month at 50K, versus substantially less for Brevo or MailerLite. etropo

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have now, how fast you expect the list to grow, and how many emails you'll send per month, I can calculate the likely monthly cost at 1K → 5K → 10K → 25K → 50K subscribers and tell you which one actually wins for your use case.

If your priority is low starting cost + costs that don’t explode as your list grows, I’d shortlist Brevo, MailerLite, and beehiiv.

My ranking

Brevo is probably the best match for what you described. Its pricing is primarily based on monthly email volume rather than list size. The current Starter plan starts at $9/month for 5,000 emails/month, and you can buy additional email credits rather than being forced into a much larger contact-based tier. Brevo Help Brevo Help

That distinction matters a lot. For example, if you have 20,000 subscribers but only email them once a month, Brevo can be dramatically cheaper than a platform charging primarily by subscriber count. A recent 2026 pricing comparison likewise found Brevo particularly inexpensive at 25k–100k subscribers. Sasanova

MailerLite is my second choice if you want a more traditional email-marketing platform. Its current Free plan allows 2,500 monthly emails, while Comfort starts at $12/month and includes sending at 10× your subscriber count; Power starts at $25/month with unlimited monthly emails. MailerLite

beehiiv is especially attractive if this is primarily a newsletter/media business rather than ecommerce or general marketing. Its free Launch plan supports 2,500 subscribers with unlimited email sends, but the paid Scale plan jumps to $43/month currently. Beehiiv

The important distinction

I'd choose based on how you expect your list to behave:

• Lots of subscribers, relatively few sends: Brevo
• Normal business email marketing + automations: MailerLite
• Newsletter is the core product: beehiiv
• Creator-focused funnels/automations: Kit
• Avoiding vendor lock-in on pricing is a major concern: Brevo

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have now and how many emails you send per month (e.g. 2,000 subscribers / 8,000 emails), I can calculate the approximate monthly cost at 5k, 10k, 25k, 50k, and 100k subscribers and show you exactly where each platform becomes more/less expensive.

Brevo is probably the best match for what you described. Its pricing is primarily based on monthly email volume rather than list size. The current Starter plan starts at $9/month for 5,000 emails/month, and you can buy additional email credits rather than being forced into a much larger contact-based tier. Brevo Help Brevo Help

That distinction matters a lot. For example, if you have 20,000 subscribers but only email them once a month, Brevo can be dramatically cheaper than a platform charging primarily by subscriber count. A recent 2026 pricing comparison likewise found Brevo particularly inexpensive at 25k–100k subscribers. sasanova.com

MailerLite is my second choice if you want a more traditional email-marketing platform. Its current Free plan allows 2,500 monthly emails, while Comfort starts at $12/month and includes sending at 10× your subscriber count; Power starts at $25/month with unlimited monthly emails. mailerlite.com

beehiiv is especially attractive if this is primarily a newsletter/media business rather than ecommerce or general marketing. Its free Launch plan supports 2,500 subscribers with unlimited email sends, but the paid Scale plan jumps to $43/month currently.

The important distinction

I'd choose based on how you expect your list to behave:

For a one-person marketing operation, I’d pick MailerLite.

My ranking

1. MailerLite — best overall

• Free: up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, and 3 active automations. MailerLite MailerLite
• Paid: starts at $12/month for the Comfort plan. MailerLite
• The big advantage is the UI: its visual automation builder is straightforward, and the platform is deliberately focused on email rather than burying you in CRM features.
• Great for: welcome sequences, lead-magnet delivery, nurture sequences, tagging/segmentation, newsletters, and simple follow-ups.
• Brevo — cheapest if you send a lot

• Free: $0, with 300 emails/day and marketing automation for up to 2,000 contacts. Brevo Help Brevo Help
• Starter: from $9/month, with 5,000 emails/month. Brevo Help
• Its pricing is based more on email volume than subscriber count, which can make it exceptionally cheap if you have a large list but don't email frequently.
• Downside: it's a broader CRM/SMS/marketing platform, so I find it a little less pleasant if your only goal is "make my email marketing easy."
• Kit — best if you're primarily a creator/newsletter

• Very attractive if your business revolves around a newsletter, audience, and creator-style funnels.
• I'd choose it over MailerLite if your marketing model is fundamentally content → subscribers → products, rather than conventional small-business marketing.

The short answer

If your priority is "I want the easiest thing to operate myself": MailerLite.

If your priority is "I want to spend as little as possible": Brevo.

The distinction is pretty meaningful: an independent 2026 comparison similarly found MailerLite strongest on simplicity/design, while Brevo wins when you value CRM, SMS, and send-based pricing. Mailercloud

For a solo marketer, I'd start with MailerLite's free plan. You can build a real welcome/nurture system before paying anything, and you don't have to learn a complicated marketing-automation system first. MailerLite

mailerlite.com · help.brevo.com

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have (or expect) and what 2–3 automations you need, I can tell you which is cheapest for your actual use case.

For a one-person marketing operation, I’d narrow it to MailerLite vs. Brevo.

My pick: MailerLite

MailerLite is probably the best fit if your priorities are easy UI + basic automations + low cost.

• Free: $0, up to 2,500 emails/month, with 3 visual automations. MailerLite MailerLite
• Paid: starts at $12/month, with 50 visual automations and substantially more functionality. MailerLite
• The automation builder is visual and supports straightforward triggers such as signup, link clicks, purchases, and segment membership. MailerLite
• Its interface is generally regarded as simpler and more design-friendly than broader platforms. Mailercloud

mailerlite.com

The cheaper alternative: Brevo

Brevo is worth considering if you have a relatively large contact list but don't email them constantly.

• Free: $0, up to 300 emails/day, with automation for up to 2,000 contacts. Brevo Help Brevo Help
• Starter: from $9/month, with 5,000 emails/month. Brevo Help
• However, the more advanced unlimited multi-step automation features are on Standard at $18/month, rather than the $9 Starter tier. Brevo

brevo.com

What I'd choose

Bottom line: I'd start with MailerLite Free. For a solo marketer doing things like lead magnet → welcome email → 3–5 email nurture sequence → occasional newsletter, it gives you enough automation without making you learn a complicated marketing platform. The free tier is unusually capable for this use case. MailerLite MailerLite

If you tell me roughly how many subscribers you have (or expect) and what 2–3 automations you need, I can tell you which one will actually be cheapest for your setup.

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.

For a small ecommerce store, Omnisend would be my first choice—especially if you're on Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce.

• Abandoned-cart emails: Built in, with prebuilt automation workflows. Shopify connects directly and syncs customer/product/order data without a separate integration service. Omnisend Help Center Omnisend Help Center
• Discount codes: Omnisend can automatically generate unique, trackable discount codes for Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce, so you don't have to create codes manually. Omnisend Help Center Omnisend Help Center
• Segmentation: Available on all plans, including behavioral and purchase-based segments. Omnisend Help Center
• Cost: The free plan allows up to 250 contacts and 500 emails/month. The current Standard plan starts at $16/month, with a temporary 30% new-subscriber discount when paying three months upfront. Omnisend Omnisend Help Center
• Minimal integration hassle: Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Wix and several others have native integrations; most can be connected without coding. Omnisend Help Center

Why I'd choose it over MailerLite

omnisend.com is more ecommerce-focused. MailerLite is inexpensive and has excellent general-purpose segmentation, but its current Shopify integration specifically does not support abandoned-cart email automations—only abandoned checkout triggers. mailerlite.com

Bottom line: If your must-haves are discount codes + abandoned cart + segmentation + little/no integration overhead, Omnisend is probably the best value for a small store right now.

If you tell me your ecommerce platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can narrow it down to the cheapest 2–3 options and show the likely monthly cost.

For an agency selling email marketing to small local businesses, I’d make mailerlite.com your default platform.

Why MailerLite is my pick

• Very low client cost: the free plan supports 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month; paid plans start around $12/month for 500 subscribers. MailerLite MailerLite
• Agency-friendly: one login can switch between separate client accounts, while each client retains its own subscribers, campaigns, templates, and billing. MailerLite
• Good enough for most local businesses: newsletters, automated follow-ups, forms, landing pages, segmentation, A/B testing, etc.
• Easy to package: you can charge the client for the service rather than making the software itself the centerpiece.
• Recurring revenue opportunity: MailerLite says its agency referral program pays 30% lifetime commission on referred clients' spend. MailerLite

One important caveat: MailerLite isn't white-label. Each client has their own MailerLite account/billing relationship. MailerLite That's actually something I prefer for an agency starting out because you're not carrying all your clients' software costs and account ownership.

The runner-up: Brevo

brevo.com is particularly attractive if your clients have small lists but send relatively frequently.

Its Starter plan begins at $9/month, with pricing based heavily on monthly email volume rather than simply subscriber count. The free plan allows 300 emails/day. Brevo Help

Brevo also has a formal agency program where you can manage clients from your account and earn recurring commissions—10%, 20%, or 25% depending on partner tier. Brevo

How I'd package it

For example:

I'd include the software in your monthly fee rather than saying "$12 for MailerLite + $237 for our service." The client is buying an outcome, not an email platform.

For a typical dentist, contractor, med spa, salon, realtor, restaurant, home-service company, etc., I'd start with MailerLite + a $249–399/month managed-email package. Your software cost remains tiny relative to the retainer, and the service can have excellent margins.

If you expect to manage 20–100+ local-business accounts, I'd also look specifically at the agency-management economics before standardizing—because the best platform for one client isn't necessarily the best platform for 50 clients.

For an agency selling email marketing to small local businesses, I’d make Brevo my default choice.

My pick: brevo.com

Why it fits an agency model particularly well:

• Very low entry cost: Brevo's Starter plan begins at $9/month, while the free tier allows 300 emails/day. Brevo Help
• Pricing is based largely on email volume rather than contact count, which can be attractive for local businesses with 2,000–10,000 contacts that don't email every day. Brevo Help Mailercloud
• Email + SMS + CRM means you can eventually bundle more services without changing platforms. Brevo Help
• Most importantly, Brevo has an actual agency partner program with client-account management and recurring revenue share. The program starts at 10% revenue share and can reach 25% depending on the number of clients you refer. Brevo Brevo Help
• You can invite and manage clients from your agency account, rather than building an awkward one-account-for-everything setup. Brevo Help

The other one I'd seriously consider: MailerLite

mailerlite.com is probably my choice if your agency's offering is primarily beautiful newsletters + simple automations.

Its free plan supports 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails, while paid plans start around $12/month. Its Power plan includes unlimited monthly emails, unlimited users, automations, forms, landing pages, and websites. MailerLite

MailerLite explicitly targets agencies and offers partner discounts/referrals, too. MailerLite

How I'd package it

I'd avoid selling "email software" as a line item. Sell the outcome:

Then make the software cost essentially invisible inside your monthly fee.

For example, if a client's Brevo account costs you/your client $9–25/month, that's trivial compared with a $299/month managed-service package. You're monetizing strategy, setup, copy, design, automation, and ongoing management, not the SaaS license.

My ranking for your use case

1. Brevo — best overall agency bundle
2. MailerLite — best for simplicity/design
3. EmailOctopus — worth considering if minimizing software cost is the #1 priority
4. ActiveCampaign — excellent, but overkill for many small local businesses
5. Mailchimp — familiar, but I wouldn't choose it for a new agency offering

If I were starting the agency today, I'd choose Brevo. The agency-management infrastructure + recurring partner commissions make it substantially more interesting than simply finding the cheapest email sender. Brevo Brevo Help

If you tell me roughly how many clients you expect (e.g. 10, 50, 100) and typical list size, I can run the numbers on the best setup and show you what your software cost + potential margin per client would look like.

Then make the software cost essentially invisible inside your monthly fee.

For example, if a client's Brevo account costs you/your client $9–25/month, that's trivial compared with a $299/month managed-service package. You're monetizing strategy, setup, copy, design, automation, and ongoing management, not the SaaS license.

My ranking for your use case

1. Brevo — best overall agency bundle
2. MailerLite — best for simplicity/design
3. EmailOctopus — worth considering if minimizing software cost is the #1 priority
4. ActiveCampaign — excellent, but overkill for many small local businesses
5. Mailchimp — familiar, but I wouldn't choose it for a new agency offering

If I were starting the agency today, I'd choose Brevo. The agency-management infrastructure + recurring partner commissions make it substantially more interesting than simply finding the cheapest email sender.

If affordability + reliable suppression/list hygiene are the priorities, I’d shortlist Brevo and MailerLite first.

• Brevo — best for consolidation/suppression controls. It maintains explicit blocklisted contacts, lets you import your existing suppression/blocklist during migration, and keeps unsubscribed contacts excluded from future sends. It also supports filtering/segmenting unsubscribed contacts and automatically adds list-unsubscribe headers. Brevo Help Brevo Help Brevo Help

brevo.com

• MailerLite — best if inactive-list cleanup is especially important. It has a dedicated inactive-subscriber cleanup feature where you can identify people who haven't engaged for 6/12/24 months or never opened, then unsubscribe or segment them. It also supports exclusion segments/blacklists and one-click unsubscribe headers. MailerLite MailerLite MailerLite

mailerlite.com

My pick for your situation

Brevo if you're consolidating several existing lists and have a potentially messy suppression history. Its ability to import your old blocklisted contacts is particularly useful during migration—you don't want an old unsubscribe list accidentally becoming marketable again. Brevo Help

MailerLite if your lists are relatively clean but bloated with old/inactive subscribers and you want inexpensive tools to systematically prune them. MailerLite

One important distinction: neither platform should be treated as a substitute for a pre-import email verification service if your consolidated lists contain lots of stale addresses. Suppression handles people you mustn't mail; verification helps identify addresses that are likely invalid or risky to mail.

If you tell me roughly how many contacts you have (e.g. 10k/50k/250k) and how many emails you send per month, I can compare the current costs and recommend the cheapest option.

If your priority is low cost + reliable suppression during a list consolidation, I’d put Brevo at the top of the shortlist.

Best affordable options

• brevo.com — best overall for consolidation

• Free plan; paid Starter starts at $9/month. Brevo Help
• Strong blocklist/suppression model: unsubscribes, spam complaints, and hard bounces are kept out of future sends. Brevo specifically recommends blocklisting rather than deleting so suppressed contacts can't accidentally be re-imported and mailed again. Brevo Help Brevo Help
• You can import an existing suppression/blocklist during migration, which is particularly useful for consolidating multiple databases. Brevo Help
• Segmentation can identify old, inactive, invalid, or otherwise problematic contacts before you send. Brevo Help
• My pick if list hygiene is the main requirement.
• mailerlite.com — best for a simpler interface

• Good automatic handling of unsubscribes and spam complaints; spam-reporting subscribers are automatically removed from active subscribers and can't receive future campaigns. MailerLite
• Its anti-spam policy is fairly strict about purchased, scraped, or stale lists, which is actually a positive if you're trying to maintain deliverability. MailerLite
• I'd choose this if you want simple email marketing rather than a more CRM-like contact-management system.

What I'd do for a consolidation

Don't simply merge all the active lists. Build a master suppression file first containing:

1. All historical unsubscribes.
2. Spam complaints.
3. Hard-bounced/invalid addresses.
4. Anyone who explicitly opted out of a particular brand or communication type.
5. Contacts whose consent/source can't be established.

Then import that suppression data into the new platform before importing the active lists. Brevo explicitly supports importing contacts as blocklisted during migration. Brevo Help

One important distinction: list hygiene ≠ email-address verification. These platforms are good at suppressing people who shouldn't be mailed and managing engagement, but if your merged lists contain lots of potentially invalid addresses, I'd consider running the new-to-you addresses through a dedicated email-verification service before the first large campaign.

Bottom line: For a cash-constrained consolidation, I'd choose Brevo if suppression integrity is the deciding factor, and MailerLite if simplicity is more important.

If cheap + subject-line A/B testing is the priority, I’d choose MailerLite.

• MailerLite: A/B testing is available even on the free plan, including subject lines. The free tier allows up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month. Paid Comfort starts at $12/month. MailerLite MailerLite
• Brevo: Also inexpensive, with a free plan and Starter from $9/month, but A/B testing requires the Standard plan, starting at $18/month. Brevo Help Brevo Help

My pick

MailerLite if you're primarily sending newsletters/marketing emails and want to experiment with subject lines without paying much. It specifically supports subject-line A/B tests and can automatically send the winning version to the remainder of your audience. MailerLite MailerLite

mailerlite.com

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

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

My recommendation

MailerLite includes campaign A/B testing on its free plan, and specifically supports testing subject lines. The free tier allows up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month. MailerLite MailerLite

Its paid Comfort plan starts around $12/month and adds things like more automations, AI writing tools, and a subject-line generator. MailerLite

mailerlite.com

Brevo is also good, particularly if you have a relatively large contact list but don't send huge volumes. However, subject-line/content A/B testing starts with its $18/month Standard plan, rather than the free tier. Brevo Help Brevo Help

help.brevo.com

Bottom line

I'd start with MailerLite. You get the A/B testing you specifically need without paying anything initially, and you can upgrade later if your list grows.

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 actual usage—MailerLite vs Brevo vs ConvertKit/Kit vs Mailchimp.

For a low-volume but important transactional email workload where you also want marketing emails in the same platform, my first choice is brevo.com.

Why Brevo fits

• One platform for both: Brevo explicitly supports both marketing campaigns and transactional email through the same account. Brevo Help Brevo Help
• Very inexpensive at low volume: The free tier includes 300 emails/day, including transactional messages; paid plans start around $9/month for 5,000 emails/month. Brevo Help Brevo
• Transactional API/SMTP: You get API and SMTP access, webhooks, tracking, suppression/bounce handling, and SPF/DKIM/DMARC support. Brevo
• Good fit for occasional sending: Brevo also offers non-expiring prepaid email credits, usable for both marketing and transactional messages. Brevo Help

The important caveat

Because your transactional messages are important, I wouldn't simply mix everything indiscriminately on one sending identity. Brevo itself recommends separating transactional and marketing routing/senders when transactional deliverability is critical, because poor marketing engagement or complaints can hurt transactional inbox placement. Brevo Help

A sensible setup would be:

• marketing.yourdomain.com → newsletters/promotions
• notify.yourdomain.com → receipts, alerts, password resets, etc.
• Separate From addresses/subdomains and appropriate SPF/DKIM/DMARC.
• Keep transactional content strictly transactional.

Runner-up

mailerlite.com + MailerSend is also compelling. MailerSend provides API/SMTP transactional sending and can be managed through the same account ecosystem as MailerLite. Its free transactional tier is 500 emails/month. MailerLite

But if the goal is specifically "one inexpensive platform/account that can handle both", I'd choose Brevo. It has the cleaner all-in-one story and particularly attractive economics for low-volume sending.

If you tell me roughly how many marketing emails/month and how many transactional emails/month, I can compare Brevo vs. MailerLite/MailerSend vs. Amazon SES and give you the cheapest safe architecture.

For a low-volume but important transactional email requirement where you want marketing and transactional email under one roof, I’d pick Brevo.

Best fit: Brevo

• One platform for both: Brevo explicitly supports both marketing campaigns and transactional messages. Brevo Brevo
• Very inexpensive at low volume: the free tier allows 300 emails/day, including transactional email. The Starter plan begins around $9/month for 5,000 emails/month. Brevo Help
• API and SMTP: you can send application-generated transactional mail through either, which is useful for receipts, account notifications, password resets, etc. Brevo
• Marketing features are mature: segmentation, campaigns, automation, templates and analytics are included. Brevo
• Security/compliance: Brevo states that its platform is GDPR/CCPA compliant and provides consent-management capabilities. Brevo

One important caveat

If the transactional emails are mission-critical—e.g. password resets, login codes, payment failures—you should ideally protect them from your marketing reputation. Even when a provider supports both, marketing and transactional traffic can have different deliverability requirements. MailerLite's own documentation, for example, recommends separating transactional infrastructure for this reason. MailerLite

For that reason, my practical ranking would be:

1. Brevo — best balance of one account + low cost + marketing + transactional.
2. Amazon SES — cheapest raw sending and supports both transactional and marketing, but considerably more technical and lacks Brevo's marketing UX. Amazon Web Services, Inc.
3. MailerLite + MailerSend — good ecosystem, but you're effectively using two products for the two jobs, even though they're connected under the same account. MailerLite

For your stated requirement, I'd start with Brevo's free tier. If your transactional volume is only a few hundred or a few thousand messages per month, there's little economic reason to build a more complicated SES + marketing-platform setup.

brevo.com

If your priority is lowest cost + GDPR/CCPA-friendly consent and opt-in management, I’d pick Brevo.

My pick: Brevo

Brevo explicitly advertises GDPR & CCPA compliance, customizable consent forms, consent records, and data-request management. Its free plan allows up to 300 emails/day, and its paid Starter plan currently starts at $9/month for 5,000 emails/month. Brevo CompareTiers

brevo.com

Why I'd choose it:

• Consent management: customizable consent forms and consent records.
• Opt-in: supports the mechanisms you need for explicit subscriber consent.
• GDPR + CCPA: compliance features are specifically documented by Brevo. Brevo
• Pricing: particularly cheap if you have a large contact list but don't send huge volumes, because Brevo's pricing is primarily based on emails sent rather than contacts stored. Hack'celeration
• Free tier: useful if you're just getting started.

Close alternative: MailerLite

MailerLite is arguably the better choice if you're sending frequent newsletters. It has built-in GDPR settings, consent checkboxes, pre-written permission fields, double opt-in, and tools for documenting consent. MailerLite MailerLite

mailerlite.com

Its free tier is also quite useful, while paid pricing starts around $12/month currently. MailerLite MailerLite

The simple decision

One important caveat: an email platform being "GDPR/CCPA compliant" doesn't automatically make your marketing compliant. You still need properly worded consent notices, appropriate lawful basis, privacy disclosures, unsubscribe mechanisms, and appropriate data-processing arrangements.

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 for your situation.

If your priority is lowest cost while still having GDPR/CCPA-friendly consent handling, opt-in tracking, and unsubscribe/preference management, I’d narrow it to these:

My pick:

Use Brevo if you want the cheapest option that still feels like a serious compliance tool. It has a strong GDPR-oriented setup (including consent records and double opt-in) without requiring an expensive plan. Sequenzy

A close second:

• Choose MailerLite if you only need newsletters, basic automations, and a clean interface. Sequenzy
• Choose Zoho Campaigns if minimizing monthly cost is the main goal and your needs are basic. Sequenzy

A few compliance caveats:

• No email platform alone makes you GDPR/CCPA compliant—you still need proper signup language, a privacy policy, lawful consent collection, and processes for deletion/access requests.
• For GDPR marketing emails, enable double opt-in and keep consent records (date, source, and what the person agreed to). Sequenzy WordStream

If you tell me your subscriber count (e.g., 500, 5k, 50k) and whether you send newsletters, SaaS lifecycle emails, or ecommerce emails, the cheapest choice may change.