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MailerLite

The email tool most small businesses should buy instead of Mailchimp.

Facts verified AUGUST 2026 Visit MailerLite ↗

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MailerLite handles newsletters, automation, landing pages, forms and basic ecommerce email, priced on subscriber count. It is deliberately simpler than the market leaders and consistently cheaper at every list size, which makes it the sensible default for a business whose email requirement is "send a good newsletter and a few automated sequences".

MailerLite ranking and coverage

In Marketing
#2 of 14
Overall
#26 of 122 tied
Terms score
6.9 /10
Referenced here
5 pages

Cost position 7.7 · Portability 5 · Subscription flexibility 8 - Ranked on published terms only: entry price against category peers, portability and subscription flexibility, equally weighted. This is not a quality score.How the rank is calculated.

MailerLite: the short answer

Every line below is drawn from facts verified on 19 August 2026.

What it is
The email tool most small businesses should buy instead of Mailchimp
Best for
Small businesses and creators sending regular newsletters
Starts at
Free up to 250 subscribers; Comfort from $12/month at 500 subscribers
Free option
Free plan available, 14 days of premium features trial
Biggest strength
Consistently cheaper than Mailchimp at every list size modelled
Biggest drawback
Manual account approval, which rejects some legitimate use cases
Based on
Primary-source research, not hands-on use
Closest alternative
Mailchimp - Wider integration ecosystem, and materially more expensive at scale
True annual cost
from $144 a year on Comfort, the cheapest paid tier ($12 a month)

MailerLite at a glance

MailerLite at a glance - key facts verified August 2026
Best for Small businesses and creators sending regular newsletters, Teams wanting clean automation without a platform to learn, Anyone comparing costs at 10,000 subscribers and upward
Category Marketing, Ecommerce
Starting price Free up to 250 subscribers; Comfort from $12/month at 500 subscribers
Free plan Yes
Free trial 14 days of premium features
Pricing model subscription
Company MailerLite (UAB MailerLite)
Founded 2010
Headquarters Vilnius, Lithuania
Founders Ignas Rubežius
Platforms Web, iOS, Android
Public API Yes
Browser extension No
Mobile apps iOS + Android
Self-hosting No
Affiliate programme Affiliate programme advertised, paying recurring commission on referrals
Data source Vendor pricing page and public records
Last checked August 2026

MailerLite pricing

Prices below were read from the vendor's own pricing page on 19 August 2026. Pricing model: subscription. Free trial: 14 days of premium features.

MailerLite plans and prices, verified 19 August 2026
Plan Price Billing Notes
Free $0 per month Up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails, MailerLite branding
Comfort $12 per month $10.80 billed yearly at 500 subscribers. Unlimited monthly emails
Power $25 per month $22.50 billed yearly at 500 subscribers. Adds advanced features and support
Comfort at 10,000 subscribers $89 per month Read from the subscriber slider. $961.20 billed yearly
Comfort at 50,000 subscribers $319 per month Read from the subscriber slider. $3,445.20 billed yearly
Enterprise Custom Negotiated For very large lists and dedicated support

What MailerLite actually costs over a year

A monthly price is not the same thing as a monthly contract. These are the plans above resolved both ways, per seat or unit where the plan is charged that way. Where a vendor quotes only a yearly figure it is divided by twelve rather than left out, and the Quoted column says which figure the vendor actually publishes.

MailerLite annual cost by plan
PlanQuotedMonthlyOver 12 months
Comfortper month$12$144
Powerper month$25$300
Comfort at 10,000 subscribersper month$89$1,068
Comfort at 50,000 subscribersper month$319$3,828

Which MailerLite plan should you buy?

Recommended MailerLite plan by situation
Your situationRecommendedWhy
You have fewer than 250 subscribersFree250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails. Cut from 1,000 during 2026, so it is now a trial rather than a plan to sit on.
You want branding removed and unlimited sendsComfort$12 a month, or $10.80 billed yearly at 500 subscribers.
You need advanced features and priority supportPower$25 a month, or $22.50 billed yearly at 500 subscribers.
You are comparing options at 10,000 subscribersPrice MailerLite properly hereThis is where it beats Mailchimp most clearly, so run the comparison at your actual list size rather than the headline.
Your list is purchased or affiliate-heavyDo not use MailerLiteApproval is strict and accounts get rejected. Be honest about how the list was built.
You need ecommerce revenue attributionConsider Klaviyo insteadMailerLite does not model product and order data at that depth.

Verdict by who you are

  • Creator or small business sending newslettersYes

    Clean, cheap and pleasant, with the best templates at this price. The obvious first choice for straightforward sending.

  • Anyone at 10,000 subscribers comparing costsYes

    Materially cheaper than Mailchimp for the same job at that size.

  • Ecommerce brandNo

    No serious revenue attribution. Klaviyo or Omnisend instead.

  • Business with a bought listNo

    Approval is genuinely strict, and you will likely be rejected.

Should you buy MailerLite?

Buy MailerLite if…

  • Small businesses and creators sending regular newsletters
  • Teams wanting clean automation without a platform to learn
  • Anyone comparing costs at 10,000 subscribers and upward

Do not buy MailerLite if…

  • Complex B2B lifecycle marketing across several products
  • Ecommerce brands needing deep revenue attribution
  • Businesses with a purchased or affiliate-heavy list

Key features

  • Drag-and-drop email builder with a clean template set
  • Visual automation builder with behavioural triggers
  • Landing pages and signup forms included
  • Unlimited monthly emails on paid plans
  • A/B testing on subject lines and content
  • Ecommerce integration for abandoned cart and product blocks
  • Paid newsletter subscriptions with Stripe
  • Deliverability-focused onboarding and list hygiene tools

Integrations

  • Shopify and WooCommerce
  • WordPress
  • Stripe
  • Zapier and Make
  • MailerLite API

MailerLite screenshots

Captured by us in August 2026 at 1440px, unedited. Interfaces change, so these show the product as it looked on the date we verified this profile. Pricing pages are captured from a US vantage point, so the currency shown matches the USD figures recorded above.

MailerLite homepage, showing how the product presents itself
Homepage · August 2026
MailerLite pricing page, the page the prices we record were read from. Currency shown depends on the visitor's region
Pricing page · August 2026

Our assessment

MailerLite is the answer to a question a lot of businesses get wrong. They default to Mailchimp because they have heard of it, then pay two or three times more for capability they never use. MailerLite's automation builder is clean, unlimited monthly emails on paid plans removes a whole category of anxiety. The free tier was cut to 250 subscribers during 2026, which removes what used to be its strongest hook. The two real caveats are that account approval is manual and rejects list-purchased or affiliate-heavy use, and that reporting is thinner than the larger platforms. Neither matters to a business sending honest email to a list it built.

What works in MailerLite

  • Consistently cheaper than Mailchimp at every list size modelled
  • Unlimited monthly emails on paid plans
  • Clean automation builder that does not require training
  • Cheapest credible option at 10,000 subscribers and upward

What doesn't

  • Manual account approval, which rejects some legitimate use cases
  • Reporting is thinner than Mailchimp or Klaviyo
  • Fewer native integrations than the larger platforms
  • Not built for complex multi-product lifecycle marketing

EveryAny Decision Score

3 of these 8 dimensions are calculated from verified facts; the rest are our judgement, shown as a band rather than a figure unless something specific sits behind them. How each score works.

  • Cost position7.7/10

    derivedentry tier at $12 a month against a category median of $20 a month across 13 comparable tools

  • Portability5/10

    derivedpublic API

  • Subscription flexibility8/10

    derivedfree plan, free trial, subscription, monthly billing

  • Feature depthModerate

    editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it

  • Ease of learningVery high

    editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it

  • CollaborationModerate

    editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it

  • AI capabilityModerate

    editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it

  • Professional adoptionHigh

    editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it

What leaving MailerLite would cost

5/10 Lock-in

moderate lock-in

MailerLite scores on public API. Portability 5/10 ; lock-in is the inverse. How this is calculated.

MailerLite competitors and alternatives

Alternatives to MailerLite
Alternative Why you might pick it instead
Mailchimp Wider integration ecosystem, and materially more expensive at scale.
Brevo Better if you hold a large list and email it infrequently.
Kit The stronger choice for creators and paid newsletters.

Price it at your real list size

MailerLite charges on subscriber count, and every published figure is quoted against a specific tier. The prices above are at 500 subscribers, which almost certainly is not you. Use the slider on the pricing page at your actual number, then do the same on Mailchimp’s page. The gap widens as the list grows, and at 10,000 to 25,000 subscribers it is usually the largest single saving available in a small business software stack.

Unlimited emails is the underrated part

Several competitors cap monthly sends as well as contacts, which means a business that wants to email its list weekly rather than monthly hits a limit unrelated to list size. MailerLite’s paid plans remove that constraint, so send frequency becomes an editorial decision rather than a billing one.

Manual approval catches people out

New accounts are reviewed by a human before sending is enabled, and MailerLite declines accounts it judges high-risk: purchased lists, aggressive affiliate marketing, some crypto and adult categories. This is why its deliverability is good, and it is also a genuine operational risk if you are migrating urgently. Apply and get approved before you cancel your current provider.

Comfort or Power?

Comfort at $12 covers newsletters, automation, landing pages and unlimited sends, which is the whole product for most businesses. Power at $25 adds the more advanced features and priority support. Start on Comfort; the upgrade is trivial and the downgrade is not always.

Where to look instead

If you send infrequently to a very large list, Brevo prices on sends rather than contacts and inverts the economics. If you sell products and want revenue attributed to individual flows, Klaviyo is worth its premium. And if you are a writer with a paid newsletter, Kit is built for exactly that.

MailerLite questions, answered

Is MailerLite worth it?
MailerLite is the answer to a question a lot of businesses get wrong.
How much does MailerLite cost?
Free up to 250 subscribers; Comfort from $12/month at 500 subscribers. The cheapest paid tier we recorded is Comfort, published at $12 a month, which works out at $12 a month or $144 over a year. Verified against the vendor's pricing page.
Does MailerLite have a free plan or free trial?
MailerLite has a free plan. A free trial is available: 14 days of premium features.
What is the best MailerLite alternative?
It depends on the job. Mailchimp: Wider integration ecosystem, and materially more expensive at scale. Brevo: Better if you hold a large list and email it infrequently. Kit: The stronger choice for creators and paid newsletters.
Can I self-host MailerLite?
No. MailerLite is a hosted service only, so your data lives on the vendor's infrastructure.

What this profile is based on

Every claim below is about our work, not about MailerLite. A "no" is recorded rather than omitted, because the difference between a tested review and careful desk research is the reader's to weigh. How we research a profile.

  • Prices read from the vendor : yes

    Read from MailerLite's own pricing page on 19 August 2026

  • Plans and terms recorded : yes

    6 rows, each with its billing period

  • Original screenshots : yes

    2 captured by us: homepage, pricing page

  • Sources cited and dated : yes

    1 primary source, each with the date it was read

  • Product used first-hand : no

    Not tested. This profile is desk research from primary sources

  • Alternatives used first-hand : no

    None, so comparisons here rest on published facts rather than use

  • Vendor contacted : no

    Not contacted for this profile

Where MailerLite appears on this site

5 other pages here reference MailerLite. Every one is listed below, so the figure can be checked rather than taken.

Counts pages on this site that name the product by choice - buyer guides, articles, deal records and other profiles. Category and directory indexes list everything automatically and are not counted.

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Provenance and freshness

When each fact was last checked

  • Pricing ·
  • Plans ·
  • Free trial
  • Features
  • Platforms
  • Integrations
  • Affiliate programme
  • Company details

What has changed

  1. August 2026

    • Ladder re-measured by walking the subscriber slider; Comfort is $19 at 1,000, $89 at 10K and $319 at 50K, all unchanged
  2. August 2026

    • Correction: we had published the free tier as 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails. It is 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails, cut during 2026. The old figure had been live behind a verified stamp
    • Tier prices read by driving the subscriber slider: $19 at 1,000, $89 at 10,000, $319 at 50,000
    • Added plan picker and verdicts

Sources & verification

Facts on this page were read from the sources below on the dates shown. Where a vendor does not publish a figure, we record it as not disclosed rather than estimating it.

  1. MailerLite pricing - checked 19 August 2026
Reviewed by
EveryAny.One Editorial
Last verified
Last updated

Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and we will re-check it. Corrections are logged on the page.

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