7 Best Mailchimp Alternatives for Small Businesses (Cheaper, Bigger Free Plans)

Prices checked: November 2026

Your list grows past 250 contacts and Mailchimp’s free plan stops sending. On the paid plans, the contacts who unsubscribed still count toward your bill, so you pay for people who will never read your emails.

That is why so many small businesses search for Mailchimp alternatives. Essentials starts at $13 a month, automation flows on that plan are capped at 4 steps, and full automation needs the $20 Standard plan or higher.

To be fair, Mailchimp is popular for good reasons. It is easy to learn, has a huge template library, and connects to 300+ apps, so help and freelancers are easy to find.

But many owners only need clean emails, a welcome series and simple automation. A good alternative gives you that for less, often with a bigger free plan and a free import of your Mailchimp list.

Here are the 7 best Mailchimp alternatives, and who each one suits.

What’s the Best Mailchimp Alternative?

Tool	Best for	Free plan	Starting price
MailerLite	The closest, cheaper swap for Mailchimp	Yes (250 subscribers)	$10.80/mo
Brevo	Big contact lists that get a few emails a month	Yes (300 emails a day)	$8.08/mo
Kit	Creators, coaches and newsletter writers	Yes (10,000 subscribers)	$32.50/mo
Omnisend	Shopify and WooCommerce stores	Yes (250 contacts)	$16/mo (monthly)
Klaviyo	Growing stores that want deep customer data	Yes (250 profiles)	$20/mo (monthly)
Sender	Small lists that want the most for free	Yes (2,500 subscribers)	$9/mo (monthly)
EmailOctopus	Owners who want plain, simple newsletters	Yes (2,500 subscribers)	$9/mo

Prices checked November 2026. Starting prices use annual billing unless noted, at each tool’s smallest list size. For comparison, Mailchimp’s Essentials plan starts at $13 a month and Standard at $20 a month, and annual billing is only offered on bigger accounts.

1. MailerLite

Best for: Small businesses that want Mailchimp’s ease of use, better automation and a lower bill

MailerLite feels the most like Mailchimp, just tidier and cheaper. Its Comfort plan costs $10.80 a month on annual billing for 500 subscribers as of November 2026 and includes 50 automations, while Mailchimp Essentials starts at $13 with flows capped at 4 steps.

Switching is quick. A built-in “Import from Mailchimp” option pulls in your subscribers, turns tags into groups and maps your fields. A 2-person bakery could import its list on a Monday and send its weekly specials email the same afternoon.

Key Capabilities

• Mailchimp import: Connect your Mailchimp account and bring over subscribers, tags and basic segments in a few clicks.
• Drag-and-drop builder: Build clean newsletters, landing pages and signup forms without code.
• AI writing assistant: HeyLite intelligence drafts subject lines and email copy, and AI A/B testing helps pick winners.
• Automation on every paid plan: Welcome series, birthday emails and follow ups start on the $10.80 Comfort plan.
• Unlimited emails on Power: The Power plan removes the monthly send cap (fair use) and adds live chat support.

Works With

Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Stripe and Zapier, plus an MCP server for AI assistants.

Bottom line: Switch to MailerLite if you want Mailchimp’s simplicity for less money. Skip it if you need deep ecommerce flows, where Omnisend or Klaviyo fit better.

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2. Brevo

Best for: Owners with large contact lists who send a handful of campaigns each month

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) flips Mailchimp’s pricing model. It charges by emails sent, not contacts stored, and the free plan lets you store up to 100,000 contacts and send 300 emails a day.

That matters when your list is big but quiet. A local gym with 4,000 past members could keep every contact on file and pay for 5,000 sends a month on the Starter plan, which costs $8.08 a month on annual billing as of November 2026.

Key Capabilities

• Pay per email, not per contact: Plans are sized by monthly sends, so old contacts do not raise your bill.
• Mailchimp sync: A native integration imports opted-in Mailchimp contacts and keeps syncing them on a schedule.
• SMS and WhatsApp: Send texts with prepaid credits, and add WhatsApp and push on higher plans.
• AI tools: An AI content generator, AI send time optimization and Aura AI for segments and reports.
• Unlimited automation on Standard: Build welcome, cart and follow up flows plus A/B tests.

Works With

Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Wix and Zapier, plus an MCP connection for ChatGPT and Claude.

Bottom line: Switch to Brevo if your list is large and your sending is light. Skip it if you email daily, because send based pricing climbs fast with volume.

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3. Kit

Best for: Creators, coaches and solo experts who sell through a newsletter

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is built for people whose newsletter is the business. Its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with 1 user as of November 2026, far more than Mailchimp’s 250 contacts.

Paid plans focus on selling, not decoration. A fitness coach could tag readers by interest, run a 5-email launch sequence for an online program and sell it through Kit’s built-in commerce tools. Kit’s team also rebuilds your forms, templates and automations for free on paid plans.

Key Capabilities

• Big free plan: Up to 10,000 subscribers free, with no sending limits stated on any plan.
• Visual automations: Unlimited sequences and automations on the Creator plan.
• Free migration: Kit’s team moves your forms, templates and automations when you switch to a paid plan.
• Kit + AI: AI writing help, plus Kit MCP to connect Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini on Creator and Pro.
• Referral system: Pro adds a newsletter referral program and engagement scoring.

Works With

Shopify, Stripe, WordPress and Zapier.

Bottom line: Switch to Kit if you are a creator or coach who sells through email. Skip it if you run a shop that needs product emails and abandoned cart flows.

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4. Omnisend

Best for: Ecommerce stores that want ready-made sales flows without Klaviyo’s learning curve

Omnisend is made for online stores. Its Standard plan costs $16 a month for 500 contacts as of November 2026 and includes pre-built abandoned cart, welcome and order follow up flows, so a store can recover lost sales in its first week.

It also takes the pain out of switching. Omnisend’s team migrates lists, flows, segments and templates from Mailchimp for free on every plan, usually in about 5 days. A small candle shop on Shopify could keep selling while the move happens in the background.

Key Capabilities

• Ecommerce flows: Pre-built automations for carts, browse abandonment, orders and win backs.
• Free Mailchimp migration: The team moves lists, flows, segments and templates on all plans.
• Omnisend AI: AI subject lines, an AI segment builder, Forms AI and Reports AI, plus AI agents on paid plans.
• SMS on Pro: Pro adds unlimited emails and SMS from $0.007 a message.
• Product blocks: Pull products and discount codes straight from your store into emails.

Works With

Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and Wix, plus an Omnisend MCP for AI assistants.

Bottom line: Switch to Omnisend if you run an online store and want sales flows that work out of the box. Skip it if you mainly send newsletters.

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5. Klaviyo

Best for: Online stores with steady sales that want to segment customers by what they buy

Klaviyo is the email tool many larger Shopify brands graduate to. Its Email plan costs $20 a month for 500 active profiles as of November 2026, and it shines at segmenting customers by purchase history, browsing and predicted spend.

The Mailchimp integration syncs your audiences, subscription status and the last 90 days of engagement. A skincare brand doing a few hundred orders a month could send a refill reminder only to buyers who are due, instead of blasting the whole list.

Key Capabilities

• Deep segmentation: Group customers by orders, products viewed and predicted next purchase.
• Mailchimp sync: Imports audiences, subscription status and 90 days of engagement history.
• Composer AI agent: Audits your flows and builds campaigns from a simple prompt.
• Customer Agent: An AI agent that answers shopper questions, with 10 resolutions a month on the free plan.
• Email and SMS together: The Marketing plan adds SMS alongside email.

Works With

Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce and Stripe.

Bottom line: Switch to Klaviyo if your store already has steady orders and you want smarter targeting. Skip it if you are just starting out, because Omnisend or MailerLite cost less.

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6. Sender

Best for: Startups and side businesses that want a generous free plan and cheap upgrades

Sender has one of the most generous free plans around. As of November 2026 it lets you email 2,500 subscribers and send 15,000 emails a month for free, which is ten times Mailchimp’s free contact limit.

Paid plans stay cheap too. Standard costs $9 a month for 500 subscribers and adds SMS, A/B testing and unlimited landing pages. A new yoga studio could grow to 2,000 subscribers without paying anything, then upgrade only when it wants to remove the branding.

Key Capabilities

• Large free plan: 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month at no cost.
• Done-for-you migration: A dedicated Mailchimp migration page offers free help moving lists, templates and automations.
• Email and SMS: Standard and Professional add text messages to your campaigns.
• Sender MCP server: Connect Sender to your AI assistant for free.
• Pay as you go: Buy email credits instead of a subscription if you send rarely.

Works With

Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Wix and Zapier.

Bottom line: Switch to Sender if you want to stop paying for email while your list is small. Skip it if you rely on lots of Mailchimp integrations.

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7. EmailOctopus

Best for: Solo owners and nonprofits who want a simple, low-cost newsletter tool

EmailOctopus keeps things simple and cheap. Its free Starter plan covers 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, and the Pro plan starts at $9 a month on annual billing as of November 2026.

It does not try to do everything, and that is the point. A local charity could send a monthly update and run a 3-email welcome series on the free plan. Nonprofits also get 20% off for life.

Key Capabilities

• Simple editor: A drag-and-drop builder with 100+ templates, or code your own HTML.
• Smart timing: Sends each email when each subscriber is most likely to open it.
• Gradual sending: Spread a big send over up to 24 hours to protect deliverability.
• AI segment building: Describe the group you want and let AI build the segment.
• Automatic upgrades: Your plan moves up as your list grows, with an email to tell you.

Works With

WordPress, Zapier and Make, plus an official API.

Bottom line: Switch to EmailOctopus if you want a no-fuss newsletter at the lowest price. Skip it if you need ecommerce flows or a one-click Mailchimp import.

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What to Look For in a Mailchimp Alternative

Leaving Mailchimp is a good moment to pay only for what you send. Check these before you switch.

• Switching cost and data migration: MailerLite has a built-in Mailchimp import, and Omnisend and Sender offer free migration help. Export your audience as a CSV before your Mailchimp plan ends, just in case.
• How contacts are counted: Mailchimp bills unsubscribed contacts too. Brevo charges by emails sent instead, so a big but quiet list costs less.
• Free plan size: Sender and EmailOctopus give 2,500 subscribers free, and Kit allows up to 10,000. Mailchimp, Klaviyo and Omnisend stop at 250.
• Automation on cheap plans: MailerLite Comfort includes 50 automations, and Kit Creator includes unlimited ones. Check step limits before you commit.
• Ecommerce features: If you sell online, look for abandoned cart flows and product blocks. Omnisend and Klaviyo are built for this.
• Billing terms: Klaviyo and Omnisend have no annual plan, while MailerLite and EmailOctopus give a discount for paying yearly.

Which Mailchimp Alternative Should You Choose?

• If you want the easiest switch at a lower price, pick MailerLite.
• If you want to pay nothing for as long as possible, pick Sender or EmailOctopus.
• If you run a Shopify or WooCommerce store, pick Omnisend, or Klaviyo once your store has real volume.
• If you are a creator, coach or newsletter writer, pick Kit.
• If you have a large list but send only a few emails a month, pick Brevo.
• If your team already knows Mailchimp and uses its integrations every day, stay with Mailchimp and clean out unsubscribed contacts to cut your bill.

FAQs

Final Thoughts

Start by exporting your Mailchimp audience and checking how many contacts are unsubscribed. Then try MailerLite or Sender on a free plan, import your list, and only pay once your first campaign goes out smoothly.

Want to compare more email tools, Mailchimp included? See our full list of the best AI email marketing tools for small businesses, or browse our picks of AI tools for ecommerce store owners.