Mailchimp dominated email marketing for years, but since its acquisition by Intuit, pricing has increased while features have become more complex. Many businesses are switching to simpler, more affordable, or more powerful alternatives.
| Feature | Mailchimp | ConvertKit (Kit) | Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) | MailerLite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Tier Limit | 500 contacts | 10K subscribers | 300 emails/day | 1K subscribers |
| Automation | Good | Visual builder | Advanced | Basic |
| Landing Pages | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SMS Marketing | Add on | No | Built in | No |
| E commerce | Shopify, WooCommerce | Built in commerce | Shopify, WooCommerce | Shopify, WooCommerce |
| A/B Testing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Creator focused email platform with simple automation and landing pages.
Built specifically for creators with visual automation builder and commerce features
All in one marketing platform with email, SMS, and chat.
Combines email, SMS, WhatsApp, and chat in one platform
Clean and affordable email marketing with generous free tier.
One of the most generous free tiers with a beautifully simple interface
Advanced email automation with CRM and sales pipeline built in.
The most powerful automation builder in the email marketing space
Newsletter platform built for growth with referral programs and monetization.
Built in referral programs, ad network, and premium subscription tools
Mailchimp's free tier shrank to just 500 contacts, pushing small businesses to paid plans earlier.
The platform has become bloated with CRM and website building features that most email marketers do not need.
Pricing increases significantly as your subscriber list grows compared to alternatives like MailerLite.
ConvertKit is significantly better for newsletter creators because it was built specifically for that use case. Its tagging system, visual automation builder, and creator commerce features are more aligned with what newsletter writers need compared to Mailchimp's broader approach.
ConvertKit offers a free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers, which is by far the most generous. MailerLite offers 1,000 subscribers with access to most features. Both free plans are more useful than Mailchimp's 500 contact limit.
ActiveCampaign can replace Mailchimp and offers significantly more powerful automation. It includes a built in CRM and sales pipeline that Mailchimp charges extra for. The main trade off is that ActiveCampaign has no free tier and a steeper learning curve.
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Take the QuizLast updated: April 2026