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MailerLite alternatives: cheaper options at 1k–25k subscribers (2026)
Last verified against official pricing pages · USD, monthly billing, excluding tax
Prices change often. Every price here was checked against the platform's official pricing page on the date shown, but plans, promos and taxes vary. Always confirm on the official site before you buy or switch. Not financial advice.
MailerLite's free plan shrank from 1,000 subscribers to 500 (between the August 1 and September 17, 2025 captures of its pricing page) and then to 250 (by July 3, 2026). Paid plans are now Comfort and Power, priced by subscriber tier.
Short answer
- With automations, 5,000 subscribers: MailerLite Comfort costs $49/mo. Cheapest alternative: Buttondown Paid (usage-based) at $29/mo (saves $20/mo, $240/yr).
- Basic newsletter, 5,000 subscribers: MailerLite Comfort costs $49/mo. Cheapest alternative: Kit Free at $0/mo (saves $49/mo, $588/yr).
- Paid newsletter (5% pay $8/mo, fees included), 5,000 subscribers: MailerLite Comfort costs $196/mo. Cheapest alternative: Kit Free at $145/mo (saves $51/mo, $612/yr).
Try Buttondown Try EmailOctopus (paid link)
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Recently flagged: Kit: 25% off the first year of Pro on annual billing (limited-time offer) (20 Oct 2026) · beehiiv renames plans and raises prices (Scale → Lite, Max → Pro) (1 Oct 2026)
All alternatives at 5,000 subscribers (with automations)
MailerLite Comfort: $49/mo. Cheapest fitting plan on each platform, monthly billing. Diff = monthly cost compared with MailerLite (− = cheaper).
Not available or not verified for this scenario: Ghost, Substack, HubSpot.
Cheapest alternative at each list size
With automations
MailerLite plan used: Comfort.
| Subscribers | MailerLite | Cheapest alternative | Saving /mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $19 | EmailOctopus $0 Free, limited | $19 |
| 2,500 | $33 | EmailOctopus $0 Free, limited | $33 |
| 5,000 | $49 | Buttondown $29 Paid (usage-based) | $20 |
| 10,000 | $89 | EmailOctopus $44.50 Pro | $44.50 |
| 25,000 | $179 | Brevo $82 Starter, limited | $97 |
Basic newsletter
MailerLite plan used: Comfort.
| Subscribers | MailerLite | Cheapest alternative | Saving /mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $19 | beehiiv $0 Free | $19 |
| 2,500 | $33 | beehiiv $0 Free | $33 |
| 5,000 | $49 | Kit $0 Free | $49 |
| 10,000 | $89 | Kit $0 Free | $89 |
| 25,000 | $179 | Substack $0 Free + 10% of paid revenue | $179 |
Paid newsletter (5% pay $8/mo, fees included)
MailerLite plan used: Comfort.
| Subscribers | MailerLite | Cheapest alternative | Saving /mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $48.40 | Kit $29 Free | $19.40 |
| 2,500 | $106.50 | Kit $72.50 Free | $34 |
| 5,000 | $196 | Kit $145 Free | $51 |
| 10,000 | $383 | Kit $290 Free | $93 |
| 25,000 | $914 | Ghost $904 Publisher | $10 |
Cheapest plan on each platform that covers the list size and needs. Paid totals = plan + platform cut + Stripe card fees (2.9% + $0.30 per payment, estimate) + Stripe's 0.7% Billing fee on recurring payments where confirmed (beehiiv, MailerLite, Ghost, Buttondown, Substack, AWeber and Flodesk); not added for GetResponse (not confirmed); Kit's 3.5% + $0.30 is all-in. How we model fees. "limited" = feature capped on that plan.
Switching? MailerLite → Buttondown cost · MailerLite → EmailOctopus cost · Rank all platforms for your needs · MailerLite Free plan (2026): now 250 subscribers, down from 1,000
What you'd give up
Cost isn't everything. What MailerLite does well, from its official pages: Budget-conscious senders who want automations, landing pages and their own domain at a low monthly price.
- Free plan is small: 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month. source
- Comfort allows sending up to 10× your subscriber tier per month; Power has unlimited sending (fair use). source
- Paid newsletters run through your Stripe account on Comfort or Power, with 0% MailerLite commission. source
FAQ
What is the cheapest MailerLite alternative?
With automations at 5,000 subscribers: Buttondown Paid (usage-based) at $29/mo vs MailerLite $49/mo. Basic newsletter at 5,000 subscribers: Kit Free at $0/mo vs MailerLite $49/mo. Paid newsletter (5% pay $8/mo, fees included) at 5,000 subscribers: Kit Free at $145/mo vs MailerLite $196/mo. Monthly billing, prices verified 2026-10-20.
Is MailerLite more expensive than the alternatives?
For a newsletter with automations, at least one tracked platform is cheaper than MailerLite at 5 of the 5 list sizes we checked (1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000). Cheaper is not always better: check the features you need on each platform page.
How much would I save by switching from MailerLite?
Use the migration cost calculator with your own list size. At 5,000 subscribers (with automations), the cheapest alternative saves $20 a month.
Sources
- beehiiv pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Kit pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- MailerLite pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Ghost pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Buttondown pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Substack pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- EmailOctopus pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Brevo pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Mailchimp pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- AWeber pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Constant Contact pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- ActiveCampaign pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- GetResponse pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Flodesk pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Sender pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Moosend pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Klaviyo pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Omnisend pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Shopify Email pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Mailjet pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- SendPulse pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- HubSpot pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
- Stripe pricing (card-fee estimate)
- Stripe Billing pricing (0.7% on recurring payments)
More: Brevo alternatives · Sender alternatives · Moosend alternatives · Flodesk alternatives · GetResponse alternatives · Mailjet alternatives · all alternatives pages · MailerLite pricing · best platform by use case · cheapest by list size