6 Best Mailchimp Alternatives for Small Business (2026)
The best Mailchimp alternatives for small business, in short: MailerLite for a cheaper like-for-like newsletter tool (free to 250 subscribers, paid from $12 a month), Brevo for high-volume senders on a budget (free at 300 emails a day, Starter $9 a month), and ActiveCampaign for deeper automation ($15 a month at 1,000 contacts, billed yearly). Mailchimp itself is free to 250 contacts, then from $13 a month.
More on this topic: CRM comparisons and alternatives, every guide in one place.
People leave Mailchimp for three different reasons — price, automation limits, or because the business now needs a CRM — and each points to a different tool. This list is ordered for a typical small business, with the reason each one fits.
Key takeaways
- Cheapest like-for-like swap: MailerLite — free plan with automations, paid plans from $12 a month.
- Cheapest for big sends: Brevo — plans are quoted by email volume, Starter $9 a month for 5,000 emails.
- Best automation: ActiveCampaign — multi-step automation on every plan, from $15 a month at 1,000 contacts.
- Best if you also sell courses or run funnels: Systeme.io, free to 2,000 contacts.
- Best if you need a CRM and sales follow-up: HubSpot's free CRM or a flat-priced platform such as Scalry.
- Stay on Mailchimp if you run a store and rely on its ecommerce integrations and abandoned-cart flows.
How we picked
Every list like this is someone's opinion. Here are the criteria behind this one, so you can discount the ones you disagree with.
- Does the job Mailchimp does — newsletters, forms, segments and automated sequences — or is clear about the job it does instead.
- Published pricing, checked on each vendor's own page in October 2026.
- Self-serve, with a free plan or a free trial.
- Sensible for a small business, which rules out enterprise-only suites.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is a popular choice for creators, but we could not load its pricing page to verify current prices, so it is not ranked here.
Disclosure: this article is published by Scalry, which appears on the list. We have tried to describe every tool as its own users would, including where they beat us — but read it knowing who wrote it, and check the claims against each vendor.
What is the best alternative to Mailchimp?
For most small businesses that mainly send newsletters, MailerLite is the best alternative: it does the same job, includes automations on its free plan, and its paid plans start below Mailchimp's. If automation is why you are leaving, ActiveCampaign. If price at high volume is, Brevo.
1. MailerLite
Price: Free to 250 subscribers; Comfort from $12/mo, Power from $25/mo
Best for: Small businesses that want Mailchimp's job done for less
The free plan covers up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month and two seats, with three active automations, a website, a landing page and a form. Comfort adds 50 automations, ten forms and ten sites and landing pages with three seats; Power removes most limits and adds unlimited seats.
MailerLite's FAQ gives the starting prices; the exact figure depends on your subscriber tier, and yearly billing saves 10%.
Where it wins: A clean editor, automations on the free plan, and websites and landing pages included. It feels like Mailchimp without the price jumps.
Where it falls short: The free plan's 250-subscriber cap is the same as Mailchimp's, and it is an email tool, not a CRM — no pipeline for one-to-one follow-up.
2. Brevo
Price: Free (300 emails/day); Starter $9/mo, Standard $18/mo billed monthly
Best for: Senders with big lists and modest budgets
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) quotes plans by monthly email volume: Starter from 5,000 emails a month at $9 billed monthly ($8.08 yearly), Standard at $18 ($16.17 yearly) adding unlimited multi-step automation, A/B testing and landing pages. Professional is $499 a month with ten seats.
The free plan allows up to 300 emails a day once your account is approved for sending.
Where it wins: Pricing tied to sends rather than only list size suits businesses with large lists they email occasionally. SMS, WhatsApp and a basic sales CRM are available in the same account.
Where it falls short: Automation is on Standard, not Starter, and on Starter removing Brevo branding is a paid extra. Check the contact allowance in its calculator for your list.
3. ActiveCampaign
Price: $15–$145/mo at 1,000 contacts, billed yearly
Best for: Businesses whose follow-up depends on what each contact does
Multi-step automation on every plan, with conditional content, predictive sending and attribution on Pro. Starter and Plus include one user, Pro three, Enterprise five.
No free plan; a 14-day trial with no card. The CRM is an add-on on Plus and above. Full breakdown in ActiveCampaign pricing explained.
Where it wins: The deepest automation on this list for the money. If you have tried to build a branching sequence in Mailchimp and given up, this is where it becomes straightforward.
Where it falls short: Steeper to learn, no free plan, fewer users on the cheaper plans, and the price rises with every contact band.
4. Systeme.io
Price: Free to 2,000 contacts; $17, $47 or $97/mo
Best for: Solo operators selling courses, coaching or digital products
The free plan includes 2,000 contacts, three sales funnels, one course and unlimited email sends, with no credit card. Paid plans raise contacts to 5,000, 10,000 and unlimited.
Email sends are unlimited on every plan.
Where it wins: Email, funnels, checkout and course hosting in one place, and a free plan with eight times Mailchimp's free contact allowance.
Where it falls short: The email designer is plainer than Mailchimp's, the free plan allows only one automation rule, and contact management is basic.
5. HubSpot
Price: Free CRM; Marketing Hub Starter from $7/seat/mo
Best for: Businesses that want email and a CRM in one place
HubSpot's free tools include a CRM and basic email marketing for up to two users. Marketing Hub Starter, listed from $7 per seat per month (the page also shows a $20 figure, so check which applies to your billing term), includes 1,000 marketing contacts.
Professional, at $800 a month with a required $3,000 onboarding fee, is where branching automation lives. See HubSpot pricing explained.
Where it wins: A genuinely usable free CRM, so sales follow-up and newsletters can share one record from day one.
Where it falls short: The jump from Starter to Professional is steep, and marketing contacts are metered on paid plans.
6. Scalry
Price: $29–$199/mo, flat per workspace
Best for: Teams where someone follows up with leads by hand
A CRM with pipelines, email and cold email, funnels, booking pages, automations and AI sales agents in one workspace, at a flat price that does not change with your contact count. Plans are $29, $79 and $199 a month, with a 14-day trial and no card.
Where it wins: When Mailchimp has quietly become one tool in a five-tool stack — a spreadsheet for follow-ups, a scheduler, a page builder — one record and one bill replaces them.
Where it falls short: Not the cheapest way to send a newsletter, no free plan, no Shopify or WooCommerce integration and no abandoned-cart automation. A store should look elsewhere on this list.
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How do Mailchimp alternatives compare on price?
MailerLite, Brevo, Systeme.io and HubSpot all have free plans; ActiveCampaign and Scalry offer trials instead. The table shows each tool's starting point and how its bill grows.
| Tool | Free plan | Paid from | Bills on | Automation from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | 250 contacts, 500 sends/mo | $13/mo (Essentials) | Contacts | 4-step flows on Essentials; 200 flows on Standard ($20) |
| MailerLite | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo | $12/mo (Comfort) | Subscribers | Free plan (3 active automations) |
| Brevo | 300 emails/day | $9/mo (Starter, monthly) | Email volume | Standard ($18) |
| ActiveCampaign | No — 14-day trial | $15/mo at 1,000 contacts, yearly | Contacts | Every plan |
| Systeme.io | 2,000 contacts | $17/mo (Startup) | Contacts | Free plan (1 rule) |
| HubSpot | Free CRM, 2 users | $7/seat/mo (Starter) | Seats + marketing contacts | Simple on Starter; branching on Professional |
| Scalry | No — 14-day trial | $29/mo | Flat per workspace | Every plan |
Prices checked on each vendor's own pricing page in October 2026, in US dollars, at the smallest list size each page shows. Most of these tools price by contacts or email volume, so check current pricing at your own list size before you switch.
Mailchimp's own prices above are its regular rates; in October 2026 it was advertising 50% off for the first 12 months. Budget on the regular price, because that is what you pay in year two.
Why do small businesses leave Mailchimp?
Usually for one of three reasons, and knowing which one is yours narrows this list to one or two tools.
The bill grew with the list
Mailchimp prices by contacts, with seat and audience limits per plan. If cost is the only problem, MailerLite or Brevo will usually do the same job for less, and Brevo's send-based pricing suits big, rarely-emailed lists.
The automation hit a wall
Essentials flows stop at four steps. If you need sequences that branch on what each contact did, ActiveCampaign is the specialist; our ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp comparison covers when the switch is worth it.
Someone is now following up by hand
When a person is chasing replies, booking calls and tracking who said what in a spreadsheet, the problem is no longer email. That is a CRM problem — HubSpot's free CRM, or an all-in-one platform. Our Scalry vs Mailchimp page describes that point honestly, including when staying is right.
If you run an online store and your email is product launches, abandoned-cart reminders and post-purchase flows, Mailchimp's ecommerce integrations are mature and well documented, and its template designer is among the best. A cheaper tool that breaks your store sync is not cheaper.
How to switch from Mailchimp without losing subscribers
- Export contacts with tags, groups and consent fields, not just email addresses. Consent records matter for compliance.
- Leave out unsubscribed and cleaned contacts on import — mailing them damages your new sender reputation.
- Authenticate your domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) on the new tool before the first send. Our deliverability checklist covers the steps.
- Rebuild your top two automations first, usually the welcome series and the main nurture sequence.
- Swap signup forms on your site the same day you import, so no new subscriber lands in the old account.
- Send to engaged contacts first, then widen, so the new sending domain warms up on good engagement.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free alternative to Mailchimp?
MailerLite's free plan covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month with automations, which Mailchimp's free plan lacks. Systeme.io is free to 2,000 contacts with unlimited sends, and Brevo's free plan allows 300 emails a day.
Is MailerLite cheaper than Mailchimp?
At the entry level, yes: MailerLite's Comfort plan starts at $12 a month against $13 for Mailchimp Essentials, and MailerLite's free plan includes automations. Compare both at your own subscriber count, because both price by list size.
Is Brevo better than Mailchimp?
For large lists you email occasionally, Brevo is often cheaper because its plans are quoted by email volume. Mailchimp has the better template designer and more mature ecommerce integrations.
What is the best Mailchimp alternative for automation?
ActiveCampaign. It includes multi-step automation on every plan, from $15 a month at 1,000 contacts billed yearly, with conditional content and predictive sending on Pro.
Is there a Mailchimp alternative with a CRM?
Yes. HubSpot pairs a free CRM with email marketing, Brevo offers a sales CRM, ActiveCampaign sells a Pipelines add-on, and flat-priced platforms such as Scalry include a pipeline CRM on every plan.
Should an ecommerce store leave Mailchimp?
Only for a clear reason. Mailchimp's store integrations and abandoned-cart flows are mature. Check that any alternative integrates with your store platform before moving.
To price your current Mailchimp-plus-tools stack against these, use the marketing stack cost calculator.
If the reason you are leaving Mailchimp is follow-up rather than email, test a CRM with your real leads. You can rebuild one real campaign inside Scalry before moving anything else.
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