Mailchimp Alternatives for Small Business: Prices Compared

By Jody Rourke · Published October 22, 2026 · Last updated October 22, 2026 · Prices checked October 19, 2026

How we checked this: Compared from official docs and pricing pages as of 2026-10-19. We haven't tested these tools hands-on.

Leaving Mailchimp? If you want to stay free with a bigger list, Kit's Free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers [5]. If you want a low paid price and an easy move, MailerLite Comfort is $17.10 a month billed yearly at 1,000 subscribers, as of Oct. 19, 2026 [3], and MailerLite has a built-in Mailchimp importer [4]. If automation comes first, look at ActiveCampaign.

For a head-to-head of the first two, read MailerLite vs Kit. For other tool types, see the best AI tools for small business.

Best Mailchimp alternatives for small business (quick list)

How we picked: tools with official pricing or plan pages we could read on 2026-10-19, listed in no particular order. We didn't rank them.

• Kit: Free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers, with unlimited landing pages, forms and email broadcasts [5]. Creator is $33/month billed yearly ($390 a year) or $39 billed monthly at 1,000 subscribers, as of Oct. 19, 2026 [5].
• MailerLite: Free for up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails, with 2 user seats (logins for your team) [3]. Comfort is $19/month billed monthly or $17.10/month billed yearly at 1,000 subscribers, as of Oct. 19, 2026 [3].
• ActiveCampaign: plans from Starter (1 user, 5 actions per automation) to Enterprise (5 users), counting logins for your team [7]. Starter is $15/month billed annually at 1,000 contacts, as of Oct. 19, 2026 [7].
• Staying on Mailchimp: free under 250 contacts [1]. Paid plans start at $13/month for Essentials at 0-500 contacts, on Mailchimp's monthly prices, as of Oct. 19, 2026 [1].

Prices as of 2026-10-19 (vendor pricing pages), in USD. Prices and plan limits change. Check the vendor's pricing page before you buy.

Why owners leave Mailchimp

These limits come from Mailchimp's own pricing page:

• The free plan is small. Mailchimp is free under 250 contacts, and on the Free plan, sending pauses if you go over the contact or email-send limit [1]. Mailchimp's pricing page doesn't list the Free plan's monthly send limit or seat count.
• Paid plans charge overages. Overages apply if you exceed contact or email-send limits on paid plans [1].
• Automation is limited on the entry paid plan. Essentials is limited to 4 flow steps; Standard and Premium allow up to 200 flows [1].
• Annual billing is for big lists only. Annual plans exist for Standard and Premium at 10,000+ contacts, through sales [1].

Mailchimp's paid plans include 3 seats (Essentials), 5 seats (Standard) or unlimited seats (Premium) [1]. Its monthly prices step up by contact band, as of Oct. 19, 2026: Essentials is $13 a month at 0-500 contacts, $26.50 a month at 501-1,500 contacts and $45 a month at 1,501-2,500 contacts, on Mailchimp's monthly prices [1]. Standard is $20 a month at 0-500 contacts, $45 a month at 501-1,500 contacts and $60 a month at 1,501-2,500 contacts, on Mailchimp's monthly prices [1]. Premium is $350 a month at 0-500, 501-1,500 and 1,501-2,500 contacts, on Mailchimp's monthly prices, and at 0-500 contacts Mailchimp shows $297.50/mo for 12 months, then $350 a month, also on its monthly prices [1].

MailerLite

MailerLite Free is $0 for up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails, with 2 user seats (logins for your team), as of Oct. 19, 2026 [3]. Free limits include 3 active automations with 5 automation steps, 1 website and 1 landing page, and 3 active forms [3].

MailerLite's paid plans are Comfort and Power. MailerLite offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card, and says yearly billing saves 10% [3]. All prices may be subject to applicable taxes [3].

Not for: you, if you want to stay free past 250 subscribers, because that's the Free plan's limit [3]. It's also tight on Free if you run more than 3 automations [3].

Kit

Kit's Free plan is $0 for up to 10,000 subscribers as of Oct. 19, 2026, with unlimited landing pages, forms and email broadcasts [5]. Paid plans have a 14-day free trial with no credit card, and Kit says it can refund you within the first 30 days on monthly or annual plans [5].

Kit says that when you go over your plan's limit, it automatically upgrades you to the next subscriber tier, and that subscribers are counted only if they are unique and active [5].

Not for: you, if you don't want your bill to move without a decision, because Kit upgrades you to the next tier automatically when you exceed your limit [5]. Kit's Creator plan is $50/month billed yearly at 3,000 subscribers and $116/month billed yearly at 10,000 subscribers, as of Oct. 19, 2026 [5], so check the tier you'd land in.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign's plans are Starter (1 user, 5 actions per automation), Plus (1 user, unlimited automation actions), Pro (3 users) and Enterprise (5 users); its pricing cards say "Billed annually" [7]. It offers a free 14-day trial [7]. ActiveCampaign's pricing page also advertises "results in 30 days or your money back" [7]. Read the terms before you rely on it.

Email plan prices per month, billed annually, in USD [7]:

Monthly email sends are 10x contacts on Starter and Plus, 12x on Pro and 15x on Enterprise [7].

Not for: a team that needs several people in the tool on the entry plans, because Starter and Plus include 1 user [7]. If you need a free plan, start with Kit or MailerLite instead. ActiveCampaign's pricing page offers a free 14-day trial [7].

Should you stay on Mailchimp?

Stay if your list is under 250 contacts and the Free plan's limits work for you [1]. Nonprofits and charities can request a 15% discount from Mailchimp [1]. If you import more contacts and the total goes above your plan tier's limit, Mailchimp says you'll be subject to additional charges [2].

Not for: owners who want to grow past 250 contacts for free, or who need longer automations on a budget, because Essentials is limited to 4 flow steps [1].

Cost table at 1,000 / 2,500 / 10,000 subscribers (as of 2026-10-19)

Prices are per month, USD. "Yearly" means the per-month price when billed yearly. Mailchimp prices by contact band, so its cells show the band that list size falls in, on its monthly prices [1].

Vendors count your list differently: Mailchimp counts contacts [1], MailerLite and Kit count subscribers [3][5], and Kit counts only unique, active subscribers [5].

Common mistake: assuming everything moves with your list

Moving subscribers is the easy part. Here's what each tool says moves, and what doesn't:

• MailerLite: its "Import from Mailchimp" tool connects with your login or an API key [4]. Only basic Mailchimp segments come across; advanced segments, such as behavioral, e-commerce or activity-based conditions, don't [4]. Duplicate subscribers across groups count only once toward your plan [4].
• Kit: migration is included with every paid plan [6]. Under 10K subscribers, Kit's "Essentials migration" moves subscribers, tags, lists and segments, with a timeline of 2-5 business days [6]. Forms, automation emails, email templates and integrations are rebuilt only in its "Concierge migration," for 10K+ subscribers [6].
• ActiveCampaign: ActiveCampaign's help center documents a manual path that starts with Mailchimp's "Export as CSV" [8], and says you can also use Active Intelligence to migrate your contacts [8]. On its comparison page, ActiveCampaign claims its free migration covers automations up to 10 steps, most migrations finish in under 2 hours, and Mailchimp restricts migration help to Premium customers [9]. Those are ActiveCampaign's claims about its own service and a competitor.

How to avoid it: before you switch, list your forms, automations and advanced segments. Plan to rebuild anything the new tool doesn't move.

How to migrate your list

1. Export your audience from Mailchimp, or use the new tool's importer.
2. Import into the new tool's free plan or trial, and check the subscriber count against your plan's limit.
3. Rebuild forms and automations, then send a test email to yourself.
4. Point your website signup form at the new tool before you close Mailchimp.

What to do next

Check your current list size in Mailchimp, then find that size in the cost table above. Start a free plan or trial with the tool that fits, and move a small test group first. Compare MailerLite and Kit head to head in MailerLite vs Kit, or see CRMs with email features in HubSpot alternatives.

Prices checked October 19, 2026. Prices and plans change; confirm on each vendor's site.

Last updated: October 22, 2026