Email Marketing Software Pricing Compared: Costs at 1K, 10K & 50K Contacts
Email marketing tools advertise a starting price, but the real bill depends on how many contacts you hold and how the vendor counts them. This guide puts six platforms on the same footing by reading each vendor’s own pricing calculator at 1,000, 10,000 and 50,000 contacts, then explains what the numbers leave out. Here is what to know about email marketing software pricing before you decide.
How much does email marketing software cost?
For a list of 1,000 contacts, expect roughly $15 to $60 a month on mainstream plans. At 10,000 contacts mid-tier plans run from about $90 to $190, and at 50,000 contacts it runs from about $265 to more than $700 a month depending on the platform and plan.
- Cheapest at small sizes: MailerLite, Brevo and Omnisend Standard.
- Cheapest at 50,000 contacts in our table: Mailchimp Standard ($265.33) and MailerLite Comfort ($319).
- Most expensive per contact: Klaviyo and the top tiers of ActiveCampaign and Omnisend Pro.
These are list prices, not quotes, and the plans are not equivalent. The cheapest line is not automatically the best fit.
All figures below were read from each vendor’s own pricing page or calculator on 6 November 2026, in US dollars. Always confirm the current price before you buy.
Email marketing software pricing: email marketing pricing at 1K, 10K and 50K contacts
| Platform and plan | 1,000 contacts | 10,000 contacts | 50,000 contacts | Billing basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite Comfort | $19/mo | $89/mo | $319/mo | Subscribers |
| MailerLite Power | $39/mo | $129/mo | $389/mo | Subscribers |
| Omnisend Standard | $20/mo | $132/mo | $413/mo | Contacts |
| Omnisend Pro | $59/mo | $150/mo | $715/mo | Contacts |
| Mailchimp Standard | $29.99/mo | $87.67/mo | $265.33/mo | Contacts |
| Klaviyo Email | $30/mo | $150/mo | $720/mo | Active profiles |
| ActiveCampaign Plus (annual billing) | $49/mo | $189/mo | $609/mo | Contacts |
| ActiveCampaign Pro (annual billing) | $79/mo | $375/mo | $969/mo | Contacts |
| Brevo Starter (email volume, assumes 4 sends/mo) | $9/mo | $46/mo | Not offered at 200K emails; Professional starts at $499/mo | Emails sent |
Prices checked 6 November 2026 on vendor pricing pages. Mailchimp shows the regular rate, not the 50% first-year promotion. Omnisend regular rates are our calculation from the three-month price shown before its 30% discount. MailerLite shows monthly billing; annual billing is 10% cheaper. ActiveCampaign prices assume annual billing. Mailchimp bands: 501 to 1,500 contacts, 5,001 to 10,000, and 40,001 to 50,000.
The plans in this table are not like for like. Mailchimp Standard, MailerLite Comfort and Omnisend Standard are mid-tier plans with automation. ActiveCampaign Pro and Omnisend Pro include more advanced features. Klaviyo has one email plan scaled by profiles, with SMS billed separately.
How each vendor counts what you pay for
| Vendor | What the bill scales with | Sending limit pattern | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | Contacts in bands | Free 500 sends, Essentials 5,000 to start, Standard 6,000 at the first band | Overages apply if you exceed contacts or sends; the 50% promotion lasts 12 months |
| Klaviyo | Active profiles | Email sends are 10 times active profiles | Free plan: 250 profiles, 500 sends; SMS and add-ons billed separately |
| Brevo | Emails sent per month | Plans start at 5,000 emails | Free forever plan; plan price rises with volume, not list size |
| MailerLite | Subscribers | Comfort sends 10 times subscribers; Power is unlimited | Free: 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails |
| Omnisend | Contacts | Standard is 12 times contacts; Pro is unlimited (fair use) | SMS only on Pro, per-message rates from $0.007 |
| ActiveCampaign | Contacts in bands | Pro includes 12,000 sends at 1,000 contacts | Plan prices shown are billed yearly |
Sources: vendor pricing pages, 6 November 2026.
The most important distinction is list-based versus volume-based pricing. Most platforms charge by how many people are on your list. Brevo charges mainly by how many emails you send, which can be cheaper for a large list you email rarely and more expensive for a small list you email daily.
Which pricing model fits your business?
MailerLite or Brevo
Low entry prices and useful free plans. See our free email marketing software guide.
Omnisend or Klaviyo
Both are built around store data. Omnisend is usually cheaper; Klaviyo goes deeper. See Klaviyo vs Omnisend.
Mailchimp Standard
Lowest mid-tier price at 10,000 and 50,000 contacts in our table, with broad integrations.
ActiveCampaign or HubSpot
Higher prices, but deeper automation. Compare in our marketing automation pricing guide.
Email marketing software pricing: how to estimate your own cost before you commit
- Count active contacts. Remove bounces, long-inactive subscribers and duplicates before you migrate, since most vendors bill by list size.
- Decide how often you send. Multiply list size by sends per month and compare with each plan’s limit.
- List the features you cannot live without. Automation depth, A/B testing and seats often decide the plan tier.
- Add SMS and add-ons. If you will send texts, model per-message costs.
- Check price at 2x your list. Growth is the usual source of bill shock, so look one band up.
You can also use the PreferWise price estimator for per-user software, though contact-based pricing like this needs the vendor’s own calculator.
Annual Cost at 1K, 10K and 50K Contacts
Monthly figures hide the number that decides a budget. The table multiplies the entry paid plan we recorded for each tool by twelve. Mailchimp uses its Standard regular rate, Klaviyo its email plan, Omnisend Standard, MailerLite Comfort on yearly billing, and ActiveCampaign Starter (Plus at 50,000, where Starter was not listed) billed yearly. All figures are from official pricing pages read on 6 November 2026.
| Tool | 1,000 contacts / year | 10,000 contacts / year | 50,000 contacts / year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp Standard | $360 | $1,052* | $3,184 |
| Klaviyo Email | $360 | $1,800 | $8,640 |
| Omnisend Standard | $240 | $1,584 | $4,956 |
| MailerLite Comfort | $205 | $961 | $3,445 |
| ActiveCampaign (Starter; Plus at 50K) | $180 | $1,788 | $7,308 |
*Mailchimp 10,000 assumes the top of the 5,001–10,000 band ($87.67/month); 10,001–15,000 is $140.74/month. Mailchimp’s 50% first-year promotion is excluded. Rounded to the nearest dollar.
At 1,000 contacts the spread is only a few hundred dollars a year, so features should decide. At 10,000 the cheapest option costs roughly half the dearest. At 50,000 the gap is more than five thousand dollars a year, and that is where a pricing decision becomes a business decision.
How Fast Each Bill Grows as Your List Grows
Cost at one list size tells you little about cost at the next. What matters is how steeply each tool’s price climbs when your list multiplies. Going from 10,000 to 50,000 contacts, a fivefold increase, the entry paid plans changed as follows:
| Tool | 10K / month | 50K / month | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Klaviyo Email | $150 | $720 | 4.8× |
| MailerLite Comfort (yearly) | $80.10 | $287.10 | 3.6× |
| Omnisend Standard | $132 | $413 | 3.1× |
| Mailchimp Standard | $87.67 | $265.33 | 3.0× |
Calculated from the recorded monthly rates above.
Klaviyo’s price rises almost in line with your list, which is the cost of its profile-based model. Mailchimp and Omnisend scale more gently. This is why a tool that looks expensive at 1,000 contacts can be the better long-term deal, and a cheap starter plan can become a problem at scale. If you expect to double your list in the next year, model both today’s price and next year’s.
Sending Limits: The Second Half of Every Price
Contact count is only one meter. Each plan also caps how many emails you can send, and the caps differ in ways that change the real cost for frequent senders.
- Klaviyo: sends are ten times your active profiles.
- Omnisend Standard: sends are twelve times your contacts; Pro is unlimited under fair use.
- MailerLite Comfort: sends are ten times your subscribers; Power is unlimited.
- Mailchimp Standard: sends are twelve times the top of your contact band.
- ActiveCampaign Enterprise: sends are fifteen times contacts; lower plans have their own caps.
- Brevo: priced by emails sent rather than contacts, so a large list you mail rarely can cost less than on contact-priced tools.
If you mail a 10,000-person list daily you will send about 300,000 emails a month. That exceeds a ten-times allowance and approaches or passes a twelve-times allowance, which is when a “cheap” plan stops being cheap. Match the plan to your real cadence, not just your list.
What You Get for the Money at Each Tier
A price comparison without a feature comparison misleads. Here is what the entry paid tiers actually unlock, and what stays locked.
| Tool | Entry paid plan unlocks | Typical upgrade trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | Essentials: 3 seats, up to 4 flow steps; Standard: up to 200 flows, dynamic content | Need advanced automation or more seats |
| Klaviyo | Email plan with the full ecommerce data model | Adding SMS or high volume |
| Omnisend | Standard: custom workflows, 12× sends | Need SMS/MMS, unlimited sends, priority support |
| MailerLite | Comfort: 50 automations, 3 seats, 10 sites | Need unlimited automations, seats, live chat |
| ActiveCampaign | Starter: email and basic automation | Need CRM-style features, attribution, conditional content |
| Brevo | Starter from $9 for 5,000 emails | Need automation, A/B testing (Standard, $18) |
Feature summaries reflect the pricing pages read on 6 November 2026 and may change.
For deeper per-tool detail see our best email marketing software guide, and compare specific products in the comparison tool.
Before You Commit: A Pricing Checklist
Use this list on every vendor you shortlist. Each item has surprised someone.
- Does the quoted price assume annual billing, and what is the monthly-billing price?
- Is there a first-year or first-month promotion, and what is the regular rate afterwards?
- How are contacts counted: subscribed only, all profiles, or per audience?
- What happens if you exceed your send or contact allowance?
- Is SMS, a dedicated IP, branding removal or onboarding an extra cost?
- How many seats are included, and what does each additional seat cost?
- What does the next contact tier cost? Check the price at double your list.
- Can you downgrade or cancel mid-term, and is data export free?
If you want a personalised estimate, our price estimator is a starting point, though always confirm against the vendor’s live page.
Final verdict
Our take: At small list sizes, MailerLite, Brevo and Omnisend Standard are the least expensive ways to get real automation. At large list sizes, compare Mailchimp Standard and MailerLite Comfort against Klaviyo, Omnisend and ActiveCampaign, and remember that Klaviyo and the higher ActiveCampaign tiers are priced for data and automation depth. Compare plans at your expected list size a year from now, not today.
For the full picture of features and fit, read our best email marketing software guide.
Frequently asked questions
How much does email marketing software cost for 10,000 contacts?
In our table, about $87.67 a month for Mailchimp Standard, $89 for MailerLite Comfort, $132 for Omnisend Standard, $150 for Klaviyo or Omnisend Pro, and $189 to $375 for ActiveCampaign Plus or Pro (annual billing). Prices checked 6 November 2026.
Which email marketing software is cheapest?
MailerLite and Brevo have the lowest entry prices, and several vendors offer free plans. Cheapest depends on your list size, send volume and the features you need.
Is email marketing priced per contact or per email?
Most platforms price by contacts or subscribers. Brevo prices mainly by emails sent per month, which changes which tool is cheapest for large, infrequently emailed lists.
Do free email marketing plans exist?
Yes. Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Brevo, MailerLite, Omnisend and HubSpot all advertise free tiers with limits. See our free email marketing software guide.
Why does my bill increase when my list grows?
Most vendors move you into a higher pricing band as contacts increase. Some, like Klaviyo, jump sharply just above round numbers, so check the price at the next tier up.
Are the prices in this guide current?
They were read from vendor pricing pages on 6 November 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on the vendor site before purchase.
Which email marketing software is cheapest at 10,000 contacts?
Among the entry paid plans we compared, MailerLite Comfort on yearly billing was lowest at about $80 a month, with Mailchimp Standard around $88 at the top of its 5,001–10,000 band. Features and send limits differ, so check them before choosing on price alone.
Why does Klaviyo cost more at scale?
Klaviyo prices on active profiles and its email price rose from $150 a month at 10,000 to $720 at 50,000 in our recording. Its cost buys deep ecommerce data and segmentation, but the bill grows nearly in line with your list.
Do these prices include SMS?
No. SMS is billed separately or gated to higher plans on most tools, and rates vary by country and volume.
Still comparing options?
Use the PreferWise comparison tool to put tools side by side, or ask for a free shortlist. Listings are alphabetical, with no paid placement in the directory order.
How this guide was made: PreferWise compares public product pages, pricing pages and documentation. We did not independently lab-test deliverability or inbox placement, and plans change often, so confirm current pricing on the vendor site before buying. PreferWise may earn a commission if you sign up through some links on this page; that never changes how tools are ordered or scored. See our affiliate disclosure and how we rank.