Best email marketing and newsletter tools for small businesses

Email marketing and newsletter platforms a small business can start on without an agency: a free plan or a published entry price, self-serve signup, and prices that usually rise with your subscriber or contact count. Every price comes from the vendor's own pricing page. These tools are for opted-in lists, not cold email.

For small teams: see every small team friendly sales tool (free plan or free trial, self-serve, $50/mo or less) and your first sales tool stack for under $100/month.

How this list works: Substack (free to publish, revenue share on paid subscriptions) first, then ordered by lowest listed paid entry price. Entry prices are quoted at each vendor's smallest list size, so compare at your own subscriber count. Pricing verified against vendor pages (latest check 2026-11-12). No placement here is paid. Methodology.

Affiliate links: we may earn a commission; it never affects rankings. Disclosure

Black Friday 2026: Kit has a confirmed, vendor-published deal. See verified Black Friday & Cyber Monday deals (codes, dates and sources).

Tool	What it is	Priced by	Price (vendor-published)	Free plan	Channels
Substack	Newsletter, podcast and community publishing platform that is free to use and takes 10% of revenue when you charge for subscriptions.	10% of paid subscriptions	Free to publish, no matter how many subscribers; if you turn on paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of each subscription payment, plus Stripe fees (2.9% + $0.30 per US card payment and 0.7% Stripe Billing on recurring payments); optional custom domain one-time $50; no monthly plans	Yes	email
Moosend Visit Moosend ↗	Low-cost email marketing and automation platform with landing pages, sign-up forms and an AI writer.	Contacts	Pro $9/mo paying monthly, $7/mo billed annually (save 20%) or 15% off biannual, as shown for its smallest contact tier; price rises with contacts; Moosend+ (larger lists, transactional email, dedicated IPs, SSO) by quote; 30-day free trial, no card (unlimited sends for up to 1,000 contacts)	—	email
Brevo	Email, SMS and WhatsApp marketing platform with a built-in sales CRM (formerly Sendinblue).	Emails sent per month	Marketing plans billed annually (10% off): Starter $8.08/mo ($9 monthly, from 5,000 emails/mo), Standard $16.17/mo ($18), Professional $449.08/mo ($499, from 150,000 emails); Enterprise from $2,499/mo; Sales CRM add-ons: Sales Essentials $27.92/mo, Sales Advanced $58.50/user/mo	—	email, sms
Constant Contact	Email and SMS marketing for small businesses, with automations, sign-up forms and event tools.	Contacts	Billed annually: Lite $10.20/mo, Standard $29.75/mo, Premium from $68/mo (price depends on contacts); prepaying 12 months saves up to 15%; SMS add-on from $10/mo for Lite and Standard (500 messages included on Premium); sends over the allowance $0.002 each; 30-day money-back guarantee	—	email, sms
MailerLite	Email marketing platform with newsletters, automations, landing pages and sign-up forms, plus an MCP server for AI assistants.	Subscribers (from 500)	Priced by subscribers (shown for 500): Free $0 (250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo, 2 user seats); Comfort $10.80/mo billed yearly ($129.60/yr; $12 monthly, 5,000 emails/mo); Power $22.50/mo billed yearly ($270/yr; $25 monthly, unlimited monthly emails); prices rise with subscribers; 14-day free trial, no card	Yes	email
AWeber Visit AWeber ↗	Email marketing platform for small businesses and creators, with automations, landing pages, sign-up forms and an AI writing assistant.	Subscribers (from 500)	Priced by subscribers (shown for 500): Lite $12.50/mo billed annually ($15 monthly; 1 email list, 3 landing pages, 3 automations, 3 users); Plus $20/mo billed annually ($30 monthly; unlimited lists, landing pages, automations and users, removes AWeber branding); Plus at 1,000 subscribers $45/mo monthly ($450/yr); 100,000+ subscribers by quote; optional Done For You setup shown at $79 (limited-time, list $599); 14-day free trial	—	email
Mailchimp	Email marketing platform with automations, audience management and basic CRM features.	Contacts	Free plan (limited features); paid plans start at Essentials $13/mo, Standard $20/mo and Premium $350/mo, rising with contacts; 15% off on 10,000+ contacts; 14-day Standard trial; pay-as-you-go email credits also sold; overages apply above contact or send limits	Yes	email, sms
Ghost	Open-source publishing platform for newsletters, membership sites and paid subscriptions, sold as hosted Ghost(Pro) plans.	Members (from 1,000)	Ghost(Pro) hosted plans priced by members (shown for 1,000): Starter $15/mo billed yearly ($18 monthly; website, email newsletter, free custom domain); Publisher $29/mo yearly ($35 monthly; 3 staff users, paid subscriptions, custom themes, 8,000+ integrations); Business $199/mo yearly ($239 monthly; 15 staff users, 10,000 members); Custom plans via sales; "no payment fees"; free trial	—	email
ActiveCampaign Visit ActiveCampaign ↗	Email marketing and marketing automation platform with CRM and sales automation features.	Contacts (from 1,000)	Marketing plans billed yearly for 1,000 contacts: Starter $15/mo, Plus $49/mo, Pro $79/mo, Enterprise $145/mo ("starts at"; prices rise with contacts); free trial; 30-day money-back guarantee	—	email, sms
GetResponse	Email marketing platform with automations, landing pages, webinars and course tools for marketers and small businesses.	Contacts (from 1,000)	Priced by list size (shown for 1,000 contacts), unlimited monthly sends: Starter $19/mo monthly ($15.58/mo paid annually), Marketer $59 ($48.38), Creator $69 ($56.58); Enterprise custom; 12-month prepay saves 18%; Free account with a GetResponse badge and limited features; 14-day free trial of premium features	Yes	email
Kit Visit Kit ↗	Email marketing and newsletter platform for creators (formerly ConvertKit), with automations, landing pages, paid newsletters and digital product sales.	Subscribers (from 1,000)	Priced by subscribers (shown for 1,000): Free $0 up to 10,000 subscribers; Creator $33/mo billed yearly ($390/yr, pay yearly saves 17%); Pro $66/mo billed yearly, shown at $50/mo ($593) for the first year in a limited-time offer; unlimited email sends on every plan; 14-day free trial of Creator and Pro, no card; 30-day refund	Yes	email
beehiiv	Newsletter platform with a website, paid subscriptions, ad network monetization, automations and referral tools.	Subscribers (from 1,000)	Priced by subscribers (shown for 1,000): Free $0 forever (up to 2,500 subscribers); Lite $49/mo billed yearly ($59 monthly, up to 100,000 subscribers); Pro $95/mo billed yearly ($109 monthly, up to 250,000, removes branding); Enterprise custom; unlimited email sends; 0% take on paid subscriptions; free trial on Lite and Pro, no card	Yes	email

Picks by team size

Team size	Our pick	Why this starting point	Price (vendor-published)
Solo founder	MailerLite	MailerLite has a free plan for 250 subscribers (2,500 emails/mo, 2 user seats) and Comfort is $10.80/mo billed yearly at 500 subscribers. If you only need a free newsletter, Kit's free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers and Substack is free to publish (it keeps 10% only if you charge for subscriptions). Moosend Pro is the lowest listed paid entry price at $7/mo billed annually.	Priced by subscribers (shown for 500): Free $0 (250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo, 2 user seats); Comfort $10.80/mo billed yearly ($129.60/yr; $12 monthly, 5,000 emails/mo); Power $22.50/mo billed yearly ($270/yr; $25 monthly, unlimited monthly emails); prices rise with subscribers; 14-day free trial, no card
2–5 people	ActiveCampaign Visit ActiveCampaign ↗	ActiveCampaign Starter is $15/mo billed yearly for 1,000 contacts and adds marketing automation plus CRM and sales automation features, which suits a small team that wants email and a simple CRM in one place. GetResponse Starter is $15.58/mo billed annually at 1,000 contacts, and AWeber Plus is $20/mo billed annually at 500 subscribers with unlimited users.	Marketing plans billed yearly for 1,000 contacts: Starter $15/mo, Plus $49/mo, Pro $79/mo, Enterprise $145/mo ("starts at"; prices rise with contacts); free trial; 30-day money-back guarantee
6–20 people	GetResponse	GetResponse Marketer is $48.38/mo billed annually at 1,000 contacts (Creator is $56.58) and includes automations, landing pages, webinars and course tools. ActiveCampaign Plus is $49/mo billed yearly for 1,000 contacts if you want more automation. Prices rise with list size, so check the tier for your actual contact count.	Priced by list size (shown for 1,000 contacts), unlimited monthly sends: Starter $19/mo monthly ($15.58/mo paid annually), Marketer $59 ($48.38), Creator $69 ($56.58); Enterprise custom; 12-month prepay saves 18%; Free account with a GetResponse badge and limited features; 14-day free trial of premium features

These are starting points based on published prices and plan limits, not paid placements. Open each tool page for every plan and the date we checked it. See all small team friendly sales tools and your first sales tool stack for under $100/month.

Prices for these 12 tools change often. Get verified pricing changes and new tools in one free weekly email.

FAQ

What is the cheapest email marketing tool for a small business?

On published entry prices: Moosend Pro is $7/mo billed annually ($9 monthly), Brevo Starter $8.08/mo billed annually, Constant Contact Lite $10.20/mo billed annually, MailerLite Comfort $10.80/mo billed yearly at 500 subscribers, AWeber Lite $12.50/mo billed annually at 500 subscribers and Mailchimp Essentials from $13/mo. MailerLite, Kit, beehiiv, Mailchimp, GetResponse and Substack also have a free way to start.

Can I use these tools for cold email?

No. Newsletter and email marketing platforms require opted-in subscribers. For outbound prospecting, use a cold email tool with separate sending mailboxes; see our cold email software for small business list and the guide to setting up cold email on a budget.

Which tool is best if I also want a paid newsletter?

Substack is free to publish and keeps 10% of paid subscription revenue plus Stripe fees. beehiiv Lite is $49/mo billed yearly with 0% take on paid subscriptions. Ghost(Pro) Publisher is $29/mo billed yearly at 1,000 members and Ghost says there are no payment fees (your payment processor still charges its own). Kit Creator is $33/mo billed yearly at 1,000 subscribers and supports paid newsletters.

Where can I see more small-business tools?

See all small team friendly sales tools, the starter sales stack under $100/month, and our newsletter platform and Mailchimp alternatives roundups.

Compare tools from this list

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