The Best Email Tool for Under 500 Subscribers (Without the Migration Regret)

Under 500 subscribers almost everything is free, so the real choice is the upgrade cliff and the exit cost. Here is the right pick by use case.

Under 500 subscribers, almost every email platform is free or close to it. So cost today is the wrong thing to optimize for. The decision that actually matters is the one you cannot see yet: which "free" tier quietly forces a paid upgrade the moment you cross 501 contacts, which one cripples automation while it counts subscribers, and which one will cost you a week of broken deliverability to leave when you outgrow it.

The roundups that rank for this search list free contact counts and stop there. They almost never tell you the dollar figure at the first paid cliff, they treat the under-500 slot like a permanent home instead of a one-time decision, and most of them have not been updated since Flodesk retired its $38 flat-unlimited plan in December 2025. I picked tools for myself and for clients across this exact range, migrated a few lists I regretted, and the verdict below is built for your future 5,000-subscriber self, not your current free-tier one. The right answer depends on what you are building, so I resolve it by use case at the end instead of crowning one winner.

Disclosure: Some links in this article are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The under-500 decision is not about price, it's about the cliff and the exit

Email is still the highest-ROI channel a small operator has. Litmus puts the return at $36 for every $1 spent, higher than any other channel, which is exactly why the tool you commit to at zero subscribers matters more than it feels like it should. A 300-person list that you own and email well is worth more than a 30,000-follower account on a platform that can throttle you tomorrow.

At this size your list is also your best-performing list you will ever have. The overall average email open rate across industries sits around 19.21%, and small, high-intent lists like an under-500 one typically run well above that average because the people on them actually asked to hear from you. One caveat: Apple Mail Privacy Protection now auto-marks emails as opened, so reported open rates are inflated. Weight clicks and replies over opens when you judge whether a tool is actually delivering.

None of that is the trap. The trap is the cliff. Most free tiers are structured so the upgrade hits right when you are gaining momentum, and the jump is rarely small. The second trap is the exit. Moving a list between platforms means re-warming your sending reputation, rebuilding automations, and re-importing subscribers who then have to re-confirm on some platforms. That is the migration regret this guide is built to prevent.

What to look for in a sub-500 email tool

I ranked every tool below on three things the generic roundups skip, plus the basics. If a platform fails the first three, the free contact count is irrelevant.

• What the free tier actually includes. Not just the contact ceiling. Does free give you automation, sequences, segmentation, and signup forms, or does it gate the parts that make email work and leave you with a glorified broadcast button?
• The exact dollar cliff at 501, 1,001, and 2,501 subscribers. The specific plan name and monthly price you jump to when you cross each threshold. This is the number that decides whether you can grow in place.
• Migration cost out. How painful it is to leave. Platforms that own your audience, force re-confirmation on import, or lock automations into proprietary formats carry a hidden exit tax.
• Deliverability and sending model. Whether it is a true email service provider or a pay-per-send relay with a daily cap.
• Fit for what you are building. A pure newsletter, a course or product business, and an automation-heavy funnel each want a different tool. One size does not fit here.

Comparison at a glance

Tool	Best For	Pricing (first paid cliff)	Free Tier	Try it
beehiiv	Pure newsletters you plan to monetize	$0 to 2,500; ~$49/mo after	2,500 subs, unlimited sends	Try beehiiv
Kit (ConvertKit)	Creators who want the default	$0 to 10,000; ~$25/mo after	10,000 subs, weak free automation	Read review
MailerLite	Cleanest free 500 with real features	$0 to 500; ~$10/mo after	500 subs, 12,000 emails/mo	Read review
GetResponse	Automation-heavy from day one	$0 to 500; ~$19/mo at 501	500 subs, 2,500 emails/mo	Try GetResponse
Systeme.io	Course and digital-product sellers	$0 to 2,000; $27/mo after	2,000 contacts, funnels, courses	Try Systeme.io
Brevo	High contact storage, low daily send	Free contacts; ~$9/mo to lift cap	100k contacts, 300 emails/day	Read review
Flodesk	Designers who want template-led email	No free tier; $25/mo (Lite, 1,000)	30-day trial only since Dec 2025	Try Flodesk
Mailchimp	The incumbent to avoid at this size	$0 to 500; ~$13/mo after	500 contacts, 1,000 sends/mo	Read review
AWeber	Legacy users, classic upgrade trap	$0 to 500; ~$15/mo (Lite)	500 subs, then it jumps	See GetResponse instead
Substack	Writers testing paid subscriptions	Free; 10% cut on paid subs	Unlimited subs and sends	beehiiv vs Substack
Omnisend	Ecommerce stores with SMS needs	$0 to 250 contacts; ~$16/mo after	250 contacts, 500 emails/mo, SMS	Try Omnisend
Kartra	The all-in-one you graduate INTO	No real free tier; $89/mo	Trial only, not a sub-500 pick	Try Kartra

The full free-only breakdown lives in our full breakdown of the best free email marketing tools. Below, each tool gets the practitioner verdict: what the free tier really buys, the exact cliff, and the one limitation worth knowing before you commit.

beehiiv: best free tier for pure newsletters you plan to monetize

beehiiv

Best for: A writer or operator building a pure newsletter who wants the option to monetize through ads, paid subscriptions, or referrals without re-platforming.

Try beehiiv · Read the full review

beehiiv gives you 2,500 subscribers free with unlimited sends, which is the most generous newsletter-specific free tier on this list. It was built by ex-Morning Brew operators, so the monetization rails (ad network, boosts, paid tiers, referral program) are native rather than bolted on. For someone whose plan is "grow the list, then make money from the list," that fit is real, not a sales line.

Key features:

• 2,500 subscribers and unlimited email sends on the free plan
• Built-in ad network and boosts to monetize before you hit scale
• Referral program and recommendation network for organic list growth
• Web archive and SEO-friendly post pages for each issue

Pricing: Free to 2,500 subscribers. The Scale plan runs about $49/month and unlocks higher subscriber tiers plus features like polls and a built-in survey form. Crossing the 2,500 line is the cliff, and it is one of the gentler ones because you usually have revenue by then.

Limitation: beehiiv is a newsletter platform, not a marketing suite. Its behavioral automation is thin compared to Kit or GetResponse, so if you need branching sequences triggered by purchases or tags, this is not the tool. It sends newsletters extremely well and does little else.

If your product is the newsletter itself, beehiiv is the tool I would commit to at zero subscribers and not look back. Start a free beehiiv account here and you have runway to 2,500 before money enters the conversation.

Kit (ConvertKit): the creator default, and why its free automation disappoints

Kit (ConvertKit)

Best for: Creators who want the platform everyone else uses and a generous free contact ceiling, as long as they accept that real automation is paywalled.

Read the Kit review · Kit vs beehiiv compared

Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is the default name in the creator space and its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, which sounds unbeatable. The catch is what free does not include. Visual automations and sequences, the features Kit is actually known for, are gated behind the paid Creator plan. On free you get broadcasts and basic forms, which is a smaller tool than the brand reputation implies.

Key features:

• Up to 10,000 subscribers on the free plan
• Unlimited landing pages and signup forms
• Broadcast (one-time) email sends included free
• Creator network and Sparkloud-style recommendations for growth

Pricing: Free to 10,000 subscribers for broadcasts only. The Creator plan, which unlocks sequences and visual automations, starts around $25/month at 1,000 subscribers and scales from there. The cliff here is not subscriber count, it is the feature wall you hit the day you want a real welcome sequence.

Limitation: The free automation is the disappointment. If your strategy depends on automated nurture from day one, you are effectively on a paid platform immediately, which erases the "free to 10,000" advantage. For a pure broadcast newsletter, the free tier holds up. Kit is not an affiliate partner of ours, and I would still tell a friend the same thing.

Kit earns its reputation once you pay. On the free tier it is a holding pattern, so go in knowing the Creator-plan upgrade is coming. The ConvertKit alternatives breakdown covers who beats it at each price point.

MailerLite: the cleanest free 500, and exactly when it gets expensive

MailerLite

Best for: Anyone who wants a clean, full-featured free tier with real automation and a genuinely good editor, and who is fine staying under 500 contacts for now.

Read the MailerLite review · MailerLite alternatives

MailerLite quietly cut its Forever Free plan from 1,000 subscribers down to 500, so any guide still telling you "free 1,000" is stale. As verified on the MailerLite pricing page, the free plan now covers 500 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails, with full feature access including automation, segmentation, and a landing-page builder. That feature depth on free is still the cleanest on this list. The contact ceiling is just lower than it used to be.

Key features:

• 500 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails on Forever Free
• Automation builder and advanced segmentation included free
• Drag-and-drop editor plus landing pages and signup forms
• Clean deliverability reputation and a usable free analytics suite

Pricing: Free to 500 subscribers. The Growing Business plan starts around $10/month and lifts you past the 500 cap with unlimited monthly emails. The cliff effectively sits at 501 now, not 1,001, which matters if you are choosing between MailerLite and a tool with a higher free ceiling like beehiiv or Systeme.io.

Limitation: The free ceiling drops at 501 subscribers, earlier than the old 1,000 limit many people still expect. The upgrade is cheap at $10/month, but if your plan is to blow past 500 fast, a higher free ceiling elsewhere buys you more runway before any payment. MailerLite is not an affiliate partner of ours.

For a small operator who values a clean editor and real automation over a big free ceiling, MailerLite is the most pleasant tool here to actually use. Just budget for the $10/month jump near 500 rather than 1,000.

GetResponse: full funnel on the free 500, what the paid cliff buys you

GetResponse

Best for: An operator who wants automation, landing pages, and funnels working from day one and is comfortable paying about $19/month the moment they cross 500 contacts.

Try GetResponse · Read the full review

GetResponse is the most full-funnel free tier on this list. Per the GetResponse pricing page, free covers 500 contacts and 2,500 emails per month, and it includes a website builder, landing pages, and signup forms. For a solo operator who wants to test a real funnel before paying, that is more under-the-hood than beehiiv or MailerLite hand you free.

Key features:

• 500 contacts and 2,500 monthly emails on the free plan
• Landing pages, website builder, and signup forms included free
• Autoresponders and basic automation available without paying
• Webinar and ecommerce features on higher tiers as you scale

Pricing: Free to 500 contacts and 2,500 emails. The moment you cross 501 subscribers you move to the Starter plan at about $19/month ($15.58 on annual billing), which unlocks full marketing automation and removes the send cap. That Starter price is the cliff, and it buys you the automation builder and unlimited sends that the free 2,500-email cap restricts.

Limitation: The 2,500-email monthly cap on free is tight. With 400 subscribers you can only email your whole list about six times a month before you run out, so an active newsletter cadence pushes you to the ~$19/month plan faster than the contact count alone suggests. See the Systeme.io vs GetResponse comparison if all-in-one matters more than send volume.

If you want a funnel and automation tested before you spend a dollar, GetResponse is the most complete free starting point, and the Starter jump to about $19/month is reasonable for what it unlocks. Open a free GetResponse account here.

Systeme.io: the most generous free all-in-one (funnels, courses, email)

Systeme.io

Best for: Course creators and digital-product sellers who want email, sales funnels, checkout, and a course area in one free account instead of stitching tools together.

Try Systeme.io · Read the full review

Systeme.io has the most generous free all-in-one tier I have tested. Free gives you 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails, one sales funnel, a course area, and checkout. For someone selling a $49 ebook or a small course, that means you can run the entire business, list and product and payment, without paying until 2,000 contacts. No other free tier here bundles the money-making pieces.

Key features:

• 2,000 contacts and unlimited emails on the free plan
• Sales funnel builder plus checkout and order bumps included free
• Online course hosting and a member area on free
• Basic email automation and tagging without paying

Pricing: Free to 2,000 contacts. The Startup plan is $27/month and lifts you to 5,000 contacts with multiple funnels and more automation. The cliff at 2,000 is soft, because by the time you have 2,000 contacts and are selling products, $27 is trivial against revenue.

Limitation: The interface and email editor feel dated next to MailerLite or Flodesk, and the deliverability is solid but not class-leading. You are trading polish for an unbeatable free feature set. For a product seller, that is usually the right trade. For a pure design-led newsletter, it is not.

If you are selling anything digital under 500 subscribers, Systeme.io is the free tier I would pick because it removes the need to buy a separate checkout or course tool. Create a free Systeme.io account here.

Brevo: 'free 100k contacts' is a send-cap trap, read the fine print

Brevo

Best for: Operators who want to store a large contact database cheaply and send low volume, or who prefer a pay-as-you-send model over per-contact pricing.

Read the Brevo review · See the full free-tier breakdown

Brevo advertises a free plan with up to 100,000 stored contacts, which is the headline that lands it on every roundup. The fine print is the send cap: free is limited to 300 emails per day. Brevo prices on emails sent, not contacts stored, so the "100k contacts" number is close to meaningless for an active sender. With 400 engaged subscribers and a daily 300 cap, you cannot even email your whole list in one push without splitting it across days.

Key features:

• Up to 100,000 stored contacts on the free plan
• 300 emails per day send cap on free
• Automation, SMS, and a basic CRM included
• Transactional email and API access for developers

Pricing: Free contact storage with a 300-emails-per-day cap. The Starter plan begins around $9/month and lifts the daily cap with a monthly send allowance. Because pricing is send-volume based, your real cost depends on how often you email, not how many contacts you hold.

Limitation: The 300-per-day send cap is the trap. For anyone running a normal newsletter cadence, the free plan is unworkable past a couple hundred subscribers, so treat the "100k contacts" claim as marketing. Brevo is not an affiliate partner of ours, and the send model is genuinely useful for transactional or pay-per-send use cases, just not for broadcast newsletters.

Brevo fits a specific operator: someone storing a big list and sending rarely, or sending transactional email through an app. For a creator publishing weekly, the send cap makes it the wrong free pick.

Flodesk: the $38 unlimited era is over, here's what replaced it

Flodesk

Best for: Designers, photographers, and brand-led creators who want the best-looking templates in the category and will pay a flat-ish rate for that polish.

Try Flodesk · Read the full review

Flodesk's famous selling point was its $38/month flat-rate unlimited plan, the same price whether you had 100 or 100,000 subscribers. That era is over. Per the Flodesk pricing page, the flagship $38 flat-unlimited plan was retired for new members on December 2, 2025, replaced by tiered pricing that now starts at $25/month (Lite) for up to 1,000 subscribers. Any guide still promising "Flodesk unlimited for $38" is selling you a plan you can no longer buy.

Key features:

• Best-in-class email templates and design-led editor
• Tiered pricing starting at $25/month (Lite) for up to 1,000 subscribers
• Workflows for automation and a checkout add-on for selling
• 30-day free trial, no permanent free tier

Pricing: No permanent free plan, only a 30-day trial. New pricing starts at $25/month (Lite) for up to 1,000 subscribers since the December 2, 2025 retirement of the $38 flat-unlimited plan. For a sub-500 operator this means Flodesk is a paid choice from the start, not a free one.

Limitation: The retirement of flat-unlimited pricing removed Flodesk's single biggest reason to choose it for a fast-growing list. Its automation is still lighter than GetResponse or Kit, so you are paying primarily for design. If looks are not your differentiator, the value case is weaker than it was a year ago.

Flodesk still makes the prettiest emails in this category, and for a brand-led creator that polish converts. Just go in knowing it is a $25/month decision now, not a free one. Start a Flodesk trial here.

Substack: free forever, but you pay with a 10% cut and your audience

Substack

Best for: Writers who want zero setup, unlimited free sending, and a built-in discovery network, and who are testing whether readers will pay before committing to owned infrastructure.

beehiiv vs Substack · Substack alternatives

Substack is free forever with unlimited subscribers and unlimited sends, and there is no upgrade cliff at all. The cost is structural. Substack takes a 10% cut of any paid subscription revenue, and more importantly it owns the discovery layer and the relationship. Your readers exist inside Substack's network, and migrating off means re-establishing your sending reputation and often losing the recommendation traffic that grew the list. The exit tax here is the highest on this list.

Key features:

• Unlimited subscribers and unlimited sends, free
• Built-in paid subscriptions and the Notes discovery network
• Recommendation engine that drives organic subscriber growth
• Zero setup, publish in minutes with no infrastructure

Pricing: Free to publish with no contact ceiling. Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue plus payment processing fees. There is no per-subscriber cost, so the "cliff" is the revenue share, which only applies once you monetize.

Limitation: You do not fully own your audience or your growth. Substack's network can send you subscribers, and it can stop. The 10% cut compounds as you scale, and migrating to an owned platform later costs you the discovery traffic. Substack is not an affiliate partner of ours, and for many writers the free reach is still worth the trade early on.

Substack is the right call to validate a paid-newsletter idea with zero friction. If it works, plan your move to owned infrastructure before the 10% cut on real revenue starts to hurt.

The incumbents to avoid under 500: Mailchimp and AWeber

These two have the strongest brand recognition and the weakest case for a new under-500 operator. Logo recognition is exactly the wrong reason to pick a tool you will migrate off of in six months.

Mailchimp

Best for: Almost no one starting today. Included because it is the name new creators reach for first, and the one I most often help people leave.

Read the Mailchimp review · When it's actually time to leave Mailchimp

Mailchimp's free plan is one of the stingiest here: 500 contacts and a 1,000-monthly-send cap, with Mailchimp branding on your emails and limited automation. The bigger problem is the cliff. Mailchimp's paid tiers escalate quickly as your list grows, and it has a documented history of price increases. You start free, then pay more per contact than nearly any competitor as you scale.

Key features:

• 500 contacts and 1,000 monthly sends on free
• Mailchimp branding on free-plan emails
• Basic automation, with the useful workflows paywalled
• Large template library and broad integrations

Pricing: Free to 500 contacts and 1,000 sends. Paid plans start around $13/month for the Essentials tier and climb steeply as contacts grow. The send cap on free is so low that an active list hits it well before the 500-contact ceiling.

Limitation: The 1,000-send monthly cap on free is the real ceiling, not the 500 contacts, and the per-contact cost as you scale is among the highest in the category. Mailchimp is not an affiliate partner of ours. The Mailchimp price-increase timeline lays out why the long-run cost is the issue.

Mailchimp is the incumbent to avoid at this stage. If you are already on it, the migration guides below will save you money. If you are not, do not start here.

AWeber

Best for: Legacy AWeber users. Not a tool I would recommend a new sub-500 operator commit to.

Try GetResponse instead · Compare the free tiers

AWeber is the classic name people reach for, and its pricing has fallen behind newer tools. Per the AWeber pricing page, AWeber is free up to 500 subscribers, and its cheapest paid tier is Lite at about $15/month. The free tier itself is fine and full-featured, and at about $15/month the Lite plan is priced in line with MailerLite at $10 or GetResponse at about $19. The problem is that you are paying it for a product that is no longer ahead of the field.

Key features:

• Free until 500 subscribers, full features included
• Autoresponders, landing pages, and signup forms
• Solid deliverability and long-standing reputation
• Large template library and AMP email support

Pricing: Free to 500 subscribers, then about $15/month for the Lite plan once you cross 501. (The $19.99 figure some guides cite is a different, higher annual tier, not the entry price.) The free tier exists mainly to funnel you onto a paid plan, and that paid plan buys less than newer rivals at the same money.

Limitation: The Lite plan at about $15/month is priced fine, but you get less for it than rivals at the same money, and AWeber has not kept pace with newer tools on automation or editor quality. AWeber is not an affiliate partner of ours, and there is no review of it on this site, so I am pointing you to better-fitting options rather than a thin recommendation.

If you are choosing today, the price gap is narrow and the wrong thing to decide on. AWeber's Lite plan is actually the cheaper entry at about $15/month, but it is the more limited tool. For a funnel-and-automation operator, GetResponse is the stronger pick on free-tier depth and features, even though its Starter plan runs a few dollars more at about $19/month.

Quick-reference: free tier limits and the first paid cliff, side by side

The single table the roundups never give you. Free-tier ceiling on the left, the exact subscriber number where free ends, and the dollar amount you jump to.

Tool	Free tier ceiling	Free ends at	First paid cliff
beehiiv	2,500 subs, unlimited sends	2,501 subs	~$49/mo (Scale)
Kit (ConvertKit)	10,000 subs, broadcasts only	When you need automation	~$25/mo (Creator, at 1k)
MailerLite	500 subs, 12,000 emails/mo	501 subs	~$10/mo (Growing Business)
GetResponse	500 contacts, 2,500 emails/mo	501 subs	~$19/mo (Starter)
Systeme.io	2,000 contacts, unlimited sends	2,001 contacts	$27/mo (Startup)
Brevo	100k contacts, 300 emails/day	When daily cap bites	~$9/mo (Starter)
Flodesk	30-day trial only	End of trial	$25/mo (Lite, to 1,000)
Mailchimp	500 contacts, 1,000 sends/mo	501 contacts or 1,000 sends	~$13/mo (Essentials)
AWeber	500 subs, full features	501 subs	~$15/mo (Lite)
Substack	Unlimited subs and sends	No cliff	10% of paid revenue
Omnisend	250 contacts, 500 emails/mo	251 contacts	~$16/mo (Standard)

Honorable mentions: EmailOctopus, Sender, Omnisend

Three more worth a line because they each beat the big names on a specific axis.

EmailOctopus

Best for: Cost-conscious operators who want the cheapest path to scale once they outgrow free.

See it in the free-tier breakdown · Zero to 1,000 subscribers

EmailOctopus is free to 2,500 subscribers with 10,000 monthly sends, a high free ceiling, and its paid scaling is the cheapest here at roughly $40/month for 10,000 contacts. It is no-frills by design, which is the point. EmailOctopus is not an affiliate partner of ours.

Limitation: Automation and segmentation are basic, so it suits broadcast senders more than funnel builders. If you want the lowest long-run cost and simple sends, it is hard to beat.

Sender

Best for: Operators who want surprisingly full automation on a generous free tier.

See the free-tier breakdown · How the newsletter platforms compare

Sender gives 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 monthly sends free, with automation included rather than paywalled. That send allowance is higher than most tools on this list, and the free automation is more capable than Kit's. Sender is not an affiliate partner of ours.

Limitation: Smaller brand and a thinner integration ecosystem than the incumbents. For a solo operator who values send volume and free automation, that is a fine trade.

Omnisend

Best for: Ecommerce stores that need email and SMS in one tool from the start.

Try Omnisend · Read the full review

Omnisend is ecommerce-first, with SMS built into the platform and pre-built automations for cart abandonment and order follow-ups. The free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 emails per month, the smallest free tier here, because it is aimed at stores that monetize fast rather than newsletter writers. If you sell physical products, the SMS-plus-email combo is the draw.

Key features:

• 250 contacts and 500 monthly emails on free, plus SMS credits
• Pre-built ecommerce automations (cart abandonment, post-purchase)
• Native Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce integrations
• Product picker that pulls live catalog data into emails

Pricing: Free to 250 contacts and 500 emails. The Standard plan starts around $16/month and scales by contact count, lifting the send cap and adding more automation. The free tier is tight, so an active store crosses the 251-contact cliff quickly.

Limitation: The 250-contact free ceiling is the lowest in this guide, and the tool is overkill for a pure newsletter with no store behind it. For ecommerce, the built-in SMS earns the small free tier. See the ecommerce email guide for the full store stack.

If you are running a Shopify or WooCommerce store under 500 subscribers, Omnisend is the right starting point because email and SMS live in one place. Start a free Omnisend account here.

And the one you graduate INTO: Kartra

Kartra is on this list to be honest about what it is not. It has no real free tier and starts at $89/month, so it is not a sub-500 pick. It is the all-in-one (email, funnels, courses, checkout, membership, helpdesk) that an operator graduates into once a business is generating revenue and the patchwork of free tools becomes the bottleneck. Mentioning it at the under-500 stage only to dismiss it keeps this list honest. When you cross into real revenue and want one system instead of six, Kartra is worth a look then, and you can read the full Kartra review here.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free email marketing tool for under 500 subscribers?

The right answer changes with what you are building, which is why a single crowned winner misleads people. For a pure newsletter you plan to monetize, beehiiv is best because it is free to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends. For a course or digital-product seller, Systeme.io wins because its free tier includes funnels and checkout up to 2,000 contacts. For automation-heavy funnels, GetResponse gives the most complete free tier before its cliff of about $19/month at 501 contacts.

Which free email tier lets me grow the furthest before paying?

On raw subscriber count, Kit (ConvertKit) goes to 10,000 but only for broadcasts, with automation paywalled. For a usable free tier with real features, beehiiv (2,500 subs, unlimited sends) and Systeme.io (2,000 contacts, unlimited sends) give the most runway. MailerLite now caps free at 500 subscribers, down from its old 1,000, so it ends sooner than many guides claim.

What happens to my cost when I cross 500 subscribers?

The jump varies by tool, and none of them are small. GetResponse moves you to about $19/month ($15.58 on annual billing) at 501, AWeber to about $15/month (the Lite plan), MailerLite to about $10/month, and Mailchimp to roughly $13/month for Essentials. beehiiv and Systeme.io do not charge at 500 at all because their free tiers run to 2,500 and 2,000 contacts respectively, which is why they are the better picks if you expect to grow fast.

Is Flodesk still $38/month for unlimited subscribers?

No. Flodesk retired its $38 flat-rate unlimited plan for new members on December 2, 2025. It now uses tiered pricing that starts at $25/month (Lite) for up to 1,000 subscribers, and there is no permanent free tier, only a 30-day trial. Any guide still quoting "$38 unlimited" is out of date.

Should I just use Mailchimp since everyone knows it?

Brand recognition is the wrong reason to pick an email tool. Mailchimp's free plan is one of the stingiest at 500 contacts and 1,000 monthly sends, and its per-contact cost as you scale is among the highest in the category. For a new under-500 operator, MailerLite, beehiiv, or GetResponse all offer more for less. If you are already on Mailchimp, see when it's actually time to leave Mailchimp and how to migrate email platforms without losing deliverability.

Next steps

Pick the tool that fits what you are building, not the one with the biggest logo. If your product is the newsletter, start a free beehiiv account and grow to 2,500 before money is even a question. If you are selling a course or digital product, Systeme.io runs your list, funnel, and checkout free to 2,000 contacts. If you want automation working from day one, GetResponse gives you the most complete free tier and a reasonable jump to about $19/month at 501. And if a clean editor matters most and you are fine under 500, MailerLite at $10/month past the cap is the most pleasant to use.

Whatever you choose, you are making this decision once for your future 5,000-subscriber self. Choose for the cliff and the exit, not the free tier you are on today. If you want the wider context, start with our best email marketing tools hub for the full by-use-case breakdown, read the playbook for getting from zero to your first 1,000 subscribers next, and browse the full marketing tools directory to see how every platform here stacks up across categories.