Email is still one of the cheapest ways to turn casual visitors into repeat customers, and you don’t need a budget to get started. Several reputable platforms offer genuinely usable free plans — not just a 14-day trial — that let you build a list, design campaigns, and automate basic follow-ups at no cost.
The catch is that free tiers vary a lot in what they actually let you do, and several providers have trimmed their free limits over the past couple of years. This guide breaks down the best free options available right now, what each one actually includes, and how to pick the right one for where your business is today.
Quick Answer
For most small businesses, MailerLite or Sender offer the best balance of free features and list room, while Brevo is the strongest pick if you have a larger contact list but only need to email it occasionally — its free plan caps stored contacts at 100,000 (not unlimited) and limits daily sending separately. Mailchimp’s free plan has shrunk significantly and is now best suited to very small lists just getting started.
The Best Free Email Marketing Plans Compared
MailerLite’s free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, with two user seats, three automations, one landing page, one website, and access to its drag-and-drop editor and signup forms. It’s a solid starting point if you want automation (like a welcome sequence) without paying anything.
Sender’s free plan is one of the most generous available: up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, with no daily send cap, plus basic automation, landing pages, signup forms, and even transactional email. The trade-off is that free-plan emails carry Sender’s branding and you don’t get A/B testing or SMS.
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) splits its free limits differently than most tools: contact storage is capped at up to 100,000 contacts — it is not an unlimited-contact plan — while sending is capped at 300 emails per day, regardless of list size. Automation on the free plan is limited to workflows covering up to 2,000 contacts. That makes Brevo a good fit if you have a larger list but only need to reach it with occasional campaigns rather than daily sends.
HubSpot’s free marketing tools include 2,000 email sends per calendar month with HubSpot branding attached, bundled with its free CRM (useful if you want contact and deal tracking alongside email, not just a standalone sender). That 2,000 limit counts every send, not unique contacts, so a single campaign to 500 people with a few follow-ups can use up the whole month’s quota. It’s lighter on marketing automation than MailerLite or Sender unless you upgrade.
Mailchimp, once the default starter tool, now offers a much tighter free plan: 250 contacts and a cap of 500 emails a month (250 a day), with popup forms and a limited set of templates, and no automation included. It still works for a brand-new list, but you’ll likely outgrow it faster than the other options on this list.
How to Pick the Right One for Your Business
Start by counting your actual list size (or your realistic target for the next few months) and how often you plan to email. If you send weekly newsletters to a small but growing list, MailerLite or Sender give you more room before you have to upgrade. If you’re sitting on a bigger list of past customers or leads — up to Brevo’s 100,000-contact storage cap — that you only email occasionally, such as a monthly digest or seasonal promo, Brevo’s capped-sends model can stretch further.
If you already use (or want) a free CRM to track leads and deals, HubSpot’s bundled approach saves you from stitching two tools together, even though its free email volume is smaller. And if you’re testing the waters with your very first list and just want something simple, Mailchimp’s free plan is still functional, just expect to hit its limits sooner than the others.
Whichever tool you pick, check three things before committing: whether the free plan adds the provider’s branding to your emails (most do), whether automation is included or locked behind a paid tier, and whether you can export your contact list freely if you decide to switch later.
Tips / Common Mistakes
Don’t import an old, unverified contact list straight into a free account — most providers (Brevo and Mailchimp especially) will flag high bounce or spam-complaint rates and can suspend your account, even on the free tier. Clean your list first.
Watch your actual usage against the plan’s limit, not just the subscriber count. A small list that gets emailed daily can burn through a monthly send cap (like Mailchimp’s, HubSpot’s, or Brevo’s daily cap) much faster than a larger list emailed monthly.
Set up at least one automation — even a simple welcome email for new subscribers — before you start driving traffic to a signup form. Most free plans listed here include at least a few automations, and a first-touch email consistently outperforms no follow-up at all.
Don’t ignore the branding/footer requirement on free plans; if a professional look matters for your brand, factor the cost of removing it into your decision before you build your whole list on one platform.
Explore more: More marketing strategies for small business.
Free email marketing tools for small business FAQs
Is there a truly free email marketing tool with no catch?
Yes, but all of them cap something — either your subscriber count, your monthly or daily sends, or both, and most add the provider’s branding to your emails. MailerLite, Sender, Brevo, HubSpot, and Mailchimp all offer no-time-limit free plans with real limits rather than trials.
Which free email tool has the highest subscriber limit?
Brevo lets you store up to 100,000 contacts on its free plan — more than any other tool in this guide, though it is a capped limit, not unlimited — and sending is separately capped at 300 emails per day. For a tool with a higher free sending volume, Sender’s 2,500-subscriber, 15,000-email-a-month plan is the most generous.
Can I upgrade later without losing my list?
Yes — on every platform in this guide, upgrading to a paid plan keeps your existing contacts, campaigns, and automations intact. You’re just removing the sending caps and, usually, the branding.
Do free plans include marketing automation?
Most do in some limited form. MailerLite and Sender both include a handful of free automations (like welcome emails), Brevo’s free automation covers up to 2,000 contacts, while Mailchimp’s current free plan has no automation and HubSpot’s automation is mostly reserved for paid tiers.
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Images: Mailerlite.
