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The Best Mailchimp Alternatives in 2026 (Email Marketing)

Tolodora Editorial Team

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Published Jul 6, 2026·Last updated Jul 6, 2026·2 min read
The Best Mailchimp Alternatives in 2026 (Email Marketing)

Mailchimp helped make email marketing mainstream, but its pricing scales steeply with list size, and many users find better value or features elsewhere. Whether you want cheaper sending, stronger automation, or a creator-focused tool, there's a great alternative.

These all send newsletters and marketing emails with automation; they differ on price, automation depth, and audience focus.

We rated every pick on four things — pricing and value, functionality, ease of use, and support. Here's the rundown.

Mailchimp logo

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MailerLite logo

MailerLite

4.5/ 5 overall
Pricing
9.2/10
Functionality
8.8/10
Ease of use
9.4/10
Support
8.8/10

What I like

Clean, easy, and affordable, with a generous free tier that includes automation, landing pages, and a website builder.

Best for

Small businesses and creators who want great value and simplicity.

MailerLite is the value-and-simplicity champion: a lovely editor, automation, landing pages, and forms, with a free plan up to a healthy subscriber count and low paid pricing. For most people leaving Mailchimp over cost or complexity, it's the easy recommendation.

Brevo logo

Brevo

4.4/ 5 overall
Pricing
9.0/10
Functionality
9.0/10
Ease of use
8.6/10
Support
8.4/10

What I like

Email plus SMS, automation, and a light CRM, priced by emails sent (not contacts) — so big lists don't blow up your bill.

Best for

Businesses with large lists who want email plus SMS and a CRM affordably.

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) charges by email volume rather than subscriber count, which is a big saving for large lists. It bundles email, SMS, automation, and a basic CRM, with a free tier. A strong, cost-effective Mailchimp alternative for growing audiences.

Kit (ConvertKit) logo

Kit (ConvertKit)

4.4/ 5 overall
Pricing
8.4/10
Functionality
8.8/10
Ease of use
9.0/10
Support
8.8/10

What I like

Built for creators — clean automation, tagging, landing pages, and monetization tools, with a free tier for small lists.

Best for

Creators, bloggers, and newsletter writers who want audience-focused email.

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is the creator's email tool: simple but powerful automation, subscriber tagging, landing pages, and features to sell products and paid newsletters. If your email is about growing and monetizing an audience, it's a focused Mailchimp alternative with a free plan.

ActiveCampaign logo

ActiveCampaign

4.2/ 5 overall
Pricing
7.4/10
Functionality
9.6/10
Ease of use
8.2/10
Support
8.6/10

What I like

Best-in-class automation and a built-in CRM — sophisticated, behavior-based journeys that go far beyond basic newsletters.

Best for

Businesses that want advanced marketing automation and sales CRM together.

ActiveCampaign is the automation powerhouse: complex, conditional customer journeys, segmentation, and a sales CRM, all deeply integrated. It's more advanced (and a step up in learning curve) than Mailchimp, ideal for businesses that want serious automation.

Klaviyo logo

Klaviyo

4.2/ 5 overall
Pricing
7.2/10
Functionality
9.4/10
Ease of use
8.4/10
Support
8.6/10

What I like

The e-commerce email and SMS leader — deep Shopify integration, behavioral segmentation, and revenue-focused automations.

Best for

Online stores that want data-driven email and SMS marketing.

Klaviyo is built for e-commerce: it plugs into your store (especially Shopify) and uses shopping behavior to power highly targeted email and SMS flows — abandoned carts, win-backs, and more. For online stores, it's a far more powerful Mailchimp alternative.

Constant Contact logo

Constant Contact

4.3/ 5 overall
Pricing
7.6/10
Functionality
8.4/10
Ease of use
9.0/10
Support
9.0/10

What I like

Beginner-friendly with excellent support, event marketing, and a wide feature set for small businesses.

Best for

Small businesses and nonprofits that value ease of use and strong support.

Constant Contact is a long-standing, approachable email marketing tool with great customer support, event and survey tools, and solid deliverability. It's especially popular with small businesses and nonprofits that want a friendly, well-supported Mailchimp alternative.

The verdict

Want the best value all-rounder? MailerLite or Brevo. Powerful automation and CRM? ActiveCampaign. Creator and newsletter focus? Kit (ConvertKit). E-commerce email? Klaviyo.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free Mailchimp alternative?

MailerLite and Brevo both have generous free tiers with automation included. Brevo's free plan is based on daily email volume rather than list size, which can suit growing lists.

Which alternative is cheapest as my list grows?

Brevo (priced by emails sent, not subscribers) and MailerLite are typically much cheaper than Mailchimp as your list grows, since Mailchimp charges by subscriber count.

Which alternative is best for e-commerce?

Klaviyo is the leader for e-commerce email and SMS, with deep Shopify integration and powerful segmentation based on shopping behavior.

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