Quick Picks (TL;DR)

  • Best overall alternative: Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) — sends-based pricing is a game-changer for small lists
  • Best for creators and solopreneurs: Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — built around sequences, landing pages, and audience monetization
  • Best for e-commerce: Klaviyo — revenue attribution, abandoned cart flows, deep Shopify sync
  • Best free tier: Brevo — 300 emails/day on free, no list-size cap
  • Best for simplicity: MailerLite — clean UI, automation, landing pages at a fraction of the cost

Mailchimp's pricing has become increasingly difficult to justify for lists under 5,000 contacts — the point at which the platform's cost structure crosses a threshold many small senders can't absorb. Five alternatives genuinely compete with — and in some cases beat — Mailchimp on the very features it helped popularize.

This guide is for freelancers, solo founders, and small teams. If you're managing a newsletter, running a product launch sequence, or trying to keep a client list warm without paying SaaS-tier prices, read on.

Comparison Table

Tool Best For Free Plan Starting Price Standout Feature
Brevo Budget-first senders Yes ~$9/mo Sends-based pricing, SMS included
Kit (ConvertKit) Creators, newsletters Yes ~$9/mo Visual automations, creator monetization
Klaviyo E-commerce brands Yes (500 emails/mo) ~$20/mo Deep Shopify/WooCommerce revenue sync
MailerLite Simplicity seekers Yes ~$9/mo Best UI-to-price ratio
Moosend Automation-heavy senders No free plan ~$9/mo Advanced segmentation, good deliverability
ActiveCampaign CRM + email combined No ~$15/mo Deepest CRM-email integration

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

Best for: Teams with large lists but moderate send volume

Brevo flipped the pricing model. Instead of charging per contact, it charges per email sent. That means a 10,000-contact list emailed twice a month costs the same as a 2,000-contact list emailed weekly.

For client newsletters and announcement-only lists, this is a huge win. The free tier allows 300 emails/day — enough to test, enough to run a small list indefinitely.

Transactional email, SMS, and WhatsApp messaging are all in the same platform, which saves budget if you're juggling multiple tools.

Honest pros: Sends-based pricing, SMS/WhatsApp built in, solid deliverability, generous free tier.

Honest cons: Automation builder is less visual than Kit; template editor can feel clunky; support response times vary on lower plans.

Who should skip: Creators who need polished landing pages and revenue-focused analytics — Brevo isn't built for that.

Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

Best for: Newsletter writers, course creators, solo founders with an audience

Kit is the natural recommendation for anyone saying "I want to build an email list that makes me money." The platform is opinionated in the best way — sequences, tags, and subscriber-level tracking are first-class citizens.

The visual automation builder is genuinely good — designed to make building onboarding sequences significantly faster than comparable tools like Mailchimp. The free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with core features.

Kit also handles paid newsletters and paid recommendations, which is a feature set Mailchimp has never matched.

Honest pros: Beautiful automation builder, strong creator monetization, landing pages included, growing subscriber ecosystem.

Honest cons: More expensive than MailerLite at scale; not built for e-commerce; broadcast analytics are basic.

Who should skip: E-commerce brands that need purchase-event triggers and revenue attribution.

Klaviyo

Best for: Any brand selling physical or digital products online

If you have a Shopify store, Klaviyo isn't just an alternative — it's arguably the right choice over Mailchimp. Revenue attribution, abandoned cart flows, and post-purchase sequences are built around actual purchase data, not just click proxies.

Where Klaviyo stands out most is segmentation depth. The platform allows targeting people who viewed a product three times, added to cart, but didn't buy, within the last 14 days — a level of specificity that outperforms what Mailchimp offers on the same use case. That specificity pays off.

Honest pros: Best-in-class e-commerce data sync, powerful segmentation, SMS + email in one, strong revenue reporting.

Honest cons: Pricing escalates quickly with list size; overkill for content newsletters; learning curve on flows.

Who should skip: Service businesses, coaches, or newsletter-only operators — you won't use what you pay for.

MailerLite

Best for: Small teams that want clean, fast, affordable email marketing

MailerLite is a strong first recommendation for clients starting from scratch. The UI is genuinely pleasant — not cluttered, not overwhelming. Automations work. Landing pages are included. Deliverability is solid.

The free plan allows up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails. Paid plans start low and scale reasonably. For simple newsletters, product announcements, and welcome sequences, MailerLite hits every note without complexity tax.

Honest pros: Best UI in this category, strong free plan, landing pages + forms included, affordable at scale.

Honest cons: Fewer native integrations than Mailchimp; advanced segmentation requires paid plan; not built for e-commerce.

Who should skip: Teams that need deep CRM integration or complex multi-branch automations.

Moosend

Best for: Automation-heavy email teams on a budget

Moosend doesn't get talked about enough. The automation builder rivals tools twice its price, segmentation is granular, and deliverability is consistently strong. There's no free plan, but the paid tier starts low.

If your email strategy relies on behavioral triggers — someone visits a page, downloads a file, clicks a specific link — Moosend handles this better than most tools at its price point.

Honest pros: Advanced segmentation, strong automation, competitive pricing, good analytics.

Honest cons: No free plan; smaller brand recognition (affects template quality perception); fewer integrations than Mailchimp.

Who should skip: Users who need a free-forever option or who need tight Shopify revenue tracking.

ActiveCampaign

Best for: Teams that want email + CRM in one place

ActiveCampaign is the most powerful tool on this list for teams willing to invest time learning it. Email automation, deal pipelines, lead scoring, site tracking — it's a sales + marketing platform that happens to include email.

For service businesses managing client relationships, it's excellent. The automation map can get complex, but that complexity pays off when orchestrating multi-week sequences tied to deal stages.

Honest pros: Deepest automation + CRM combo, strong deliverability, incredible segmentation, good support.

Honest cons: No free plan; pricing climbs with list size; can be overkill for pure newsletters.

Who should skip: Content creators and newsletter-only operators — you're paying for CRM features you won't use.

How to Choose

A quick decision filter:

  • Big list, low send frequency? → Brevo (sends-based pricing saves money)
  • Building an audience and monetizing it? → Kit
  • Running an e-commerce store? → Klaviyo
  • Want the simplest setup that works? → MailerLite
  • Need behavioral automation without paying Klaviyo prices? → Moosend
  • Need email + CRM in one tool? → ActiveCampaign

A sensible stack for many use cases: MailerLite for personal newsletters, Brevo for transactional email, and Kit for anyone building a creator-side income.

FAQ

Q: Which Mailchimp alternative has the best free plan? Brevo wins on raw send volume (300/day, no list cap). MailerLite wins if you want the cleanest free experience with up to 1,000 subscribers.

Q: Is Kit really free? Kit offers a free plan up to a subscriber threshold with core broadcast and automation features. Paid plans unlock more advanced features.

Q: Which is best for Shopify? Klaviyo is the clear winner for Shopify integration — the data sync is deeper than any competitor.

Q: Can I migrate from Mailchimp without losing my list? Yes. Every tool on this list supports CSV import or direct Mailchimp migration. Tags, segments, and automations will need to be rebuilt manually.