Mailchimp is where most small businesses start, and where many stop enjoying email. The product is fine. The bill is the problem: pricing is tied to contact count, so every subscriber you win makes next month more expensive, whether you email them or not.
If your list is growing and your budget is not, here are the honest alternatives that charge a flat or predictable price in 2026, including our own product, clearly labeled.
Why contact-count pricing hurts small senders
Contact-based pricing has a quiet trap: you pay for your whole list, not for what you send. A boutique with 5,000 subscribers who emails twice a month pays the same as one emailing daily. Worse, most tools count unsubscribed and inactive contacts toward your tier unless you clean them manually.
- Your bill grows automatically. A good signup month raises the price of every following month.
- Zombie contacts cost real money. People who never open still count toward your tier.
- Features sit behind higher tiers. The AI and automation features usually start where the pricing gets painful.
The flat-price alternatives
1. SendMerlin (yes, ours)
SendMerlin charges $29 a month for up to 2,500 subscribers and $59 for up to 10,000, with every feature included on every plan: AI campaign ideas, drafted campaigns, a pre-send check, plain-language reports, and one-click English and Polish versions. You send from your own domain, and GDPR double opt-in is the default. If you want email marketing that tells you what to send instead of assuming you know, that is exactly the gap we built for. We are new; the trade-off is that Mailchimp has a decade more integrations.
2. Brevo
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) prices by emails sent, not contacts stored, and its free tier allows 300 emails a day. For large lists that send rarely, that model is genuinely cheap. The interface covers a lot beyond email (SMS, chat, CRM), which is either a bonus or clutter depending on your taste.
3. Sendy
Sendy is a one-time $69 self-hosted PHP app that sends through Amazon SES at roughly $0.10 per thousand emails. Unbeatable economics if you are comfortable running your own server, keeping it patched, and living without modern conveniences. Most shop owners are not, and there is no AI, no built-in double opt-in flow polish, and no support to call.
4. MailerLite
MailerLite still prices by contacts, but its ladder is gentler than Mailchimp's and the free tier (1,000 subscribers) is generous. A fair pick if you want a familiar model at a lower price rather than a different model.
5. Buttondown
Buttondown is a lovely indie tool for plain-text newsletters. Flat-ish pricing, markdown writing, minimal analytics. Great for writers; too spartan for product campaigns with images, offers, and bilingual sends.
Price comparison at a glance
| List size | Mailchimp* | Brevo | SendMerlin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,500 subscribers | $45 to $75 / mo | from ~$25 / mo (by volume) | $29 flat |
| 10,000 subscribers | $100 to $140 / mo | from ~$32 / mo (by volume) | $59 flat |
*Publicly listed 2026 pricing for comparable audience sizes; exact amounts vary by tier and promotion.
How to choose
- You want the cheapest possible sending and you are technical: Sendy on your own server.
- You have a big list and send rarely: Brevo's volume pricing fits.
- You want Mailchimp, just cheaper: MailerLite.
- You write a newsletter, nothing more: Buttondown.
- You want flat pricing plus an AI that tells you what to send, in English and Polish: that is SendMerlin.
Frequently asked questions
Does Mailchimp have a free plan in 2026?
There is a limited free tier for very small lists, but it caps sends, keeps Mailchimp branding in your footer, and excludes most automation and AI features.
Is switching email tools risky for deliverability?
A new sending setup warms up gradually, so expect throttled volumes in the first weeks. Tools that send from your own verified domain, like SendMerlin, let the reputation you build stay yours.
Can I migrate my Mailchimp list?
Yes. Export your audience as CSV from Mailchimp and import it into the new tool. Only migrate subscribed contacts; importing people who unsubscribed violates GDPR and most tools' terms.