Best Email Marketing Tools in 2026
Key takeaways
- Our top pick: GetResponse: Email plus funnels, landing pages, and webinars in one subscription.
- Brevo: Big lists on a budget: priced by emails sent, not contacts.
- MailerLite: Creators and small teams who want clean, simple email.
Quick comparison
| Product | Rating | Starting price | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GetResponseTop pick | ★★★★★ | From $19/mo | Email plus funnels, landing pages, and webinars in one subscription | Visit GetResponse |
| Brevo | ★★★★☆ | From $9/mo | Big lists on a budget: priced by emails sent, not contacts | Visit Brevo |
| MailerLite | ★★★★☆ | From $12/mo | Creators and small teams who want clean, simple email | Visit MailerLite |
Pricing checked Oct 21, 2026, always confirm current pricing and billing terms on the vendor's official site.
An email marketing tool has one job: send campaigns and automations to your list, and help that list grow. This roundup compares three platforms that actually do that job, GetResponse, Brevo, and MailerLite, on sending limits, automation depth, and what you really pay as your list grows. (SEO suites and design tools can support an email program, but they are not email platforms, and they are not on this list.)
The split is simple: GetResponse is the all-in-one, Brevo is the budget outlier with unusual pricing, and MailerLite is the one beginners stop outgrowing last because it never gets complicated.
The shortlist
| GetResponse | Brevo | MailerLite | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per list size | Per emails sent | Per subscriber count |
| Starts at | $19/mo | $9/mo (5,000 emails) | $12/mo (Comfort) |
| Best for | All-in-one marketing | Big lists, small budgets | Simplicity for creators |
Pricing checked 2026-10-21.
Methodology
We compared the three platforms on the things that decide email costs in real life: how pricing scales with your list, automation depth on entry plans, sending limits, and what is gated behind higher tiers, with every price confirmed on the vendor's official pricing page today. Each review cites independent small-business testing of these platforms. Our full process lives on the How We Test page.
Detailed reviews
GetResponse: the all-in-one that replaces three subscriptions
- Unlimited email sends on every paid plan
- Automation, sales funnels, and landing pages built in
- Webinars and courses on the Creator plan
- No free plan, 14-day trial only
- Starter plan allows just 1 automation workflow
GetResponse started as an email platform and grew into the marketing department of a small business: email campaigns and automation, landing pages, signup forms, sales funnels, and, on the Creator plan, webinars and online courses. Paid plans start at $19/month billed monthly ($15.58 on annual billing) for unlimited sends to 1,000 subscribers, confirmed on GetResponse's pricing page. There is no free plan, just a 14-day trial of premium features.
The fine print worth knowing: the Starter plan includes only one automation workflow, so serious automation starts at the Marketer tier ($59/month). If you will use the funnels and webinar tools, that is still cheaper than stacking separate subscriptions; if you only ever send a newsletter, you are paying for rooms you never enter, look at the other two.
Testing notes: assessed from official documentation and pricing pages; direct hands-on testing was not possible. Independent test data: Fit Small Business scored GetResponse 4.04/5 in its small-business roundup and named it best for tracking email campaign revenue, with strengths in landing pages, funnels, and automation at an affordable price.
Brevo: the pricing model everyone else is afraid of
- Pricing based on send volume, so large lists stay cheap
- Free plan with 300 emails/day and unlimited contacts
- Email, SMS, WhatsApp, and a CRM in one platform
- Automation is limited on the Starter plan
- Email-only support on lower tiers
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) breaks the industry's favorite rule: it charges for emails sent, not contacts stored. A list of 50,000 people you email twice a month costs the same as a list of 5,000, which makes Brevo the automatic shortlist for anyone whose list is large but whose sending is modest. The free plan includes 300 emails a day with unlimited contacts, and Starter begins at $9/month for 5,000 monthly emails, confirmed on Brevo's pricing pages. Around the email core sit SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, and a proper CRM.
The compromises live in automation: Starter's automation is limited (workflows capped at 2,000 contacts), and the fuller marketing automation, A/B testing, and send-time optimization start at Standard ($18/month). Support on lower tiers is email-only. If your strategy is "a few great campaigns a month to a big list," no one else here is close on price.
Testing notes: assessed from official documentation and pricing pages; direct hands-on testing was not possible. Independent test data: Fit Small Business scored Brevo 4.38/5 and named it best for combined email and SMS campaigns, praising the all-in-one channel mix for growing businesses.
MailerLite: the simple one, in the good way
- The easiest editor and dashboard of the three
- Free plan to start; Comfort from $12/mo with automations
- Websites, landing pages, and digital products included
- Free plan tightened to 250 subscribers
- Price climbs in steps as your subscriber count grows
MailerLite is what we recommend when someone says "I just want to send a nice newsletter without a learning curve." The editor is the cleanest of the three, the dashboard never buries the button you need, and the platform quietly includes websites, landing pages, signup forms, and selling digital products. The free plan covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month; the Comfort plan starts at $12/month (confirmed on MailerLite's pricing page) and adds automations, unlimited templates, an AI writing assistant, and smart sending.
Two honest warnings. The free plan used to be twice as generous, it was tightened in 2026, and pricing climbs in steps as your subscriber count grows, so a 10,000-subscriber list pays meaningfully more than the headline $12. Neither is a dealbreaker at these prices, but Brevo's volume model wins the very-large-list math.
Testing notes: assessed from official documentation and pricing pages; direct hands-on testing was not possible. Independent test data: Fit Small Business scored MailerLite 4.35/5 and named it best for bulk email marketing, consistently rating its ease of use at the top of the category.
Pick guide
- You want email, funnels, and webinars in one bill? GetResponse. From $19/month, unlimited sends, and room to grow into automation.
- Your list is big but you send sparingly? Brevo. Priced by volume from $9/month, the large-list bargain of email marketing.
- You want the tool your future self won't dread opening? MailerLite. Clean, capable, and from $12/month.
FAQ
How much should email marketing cost a small business?
For a list under a few thousand subscribers, $9–$19/month covers every platform here. Your real cost driver is list size: contact-based pricing (GetResponse, MailerLite) climbs as you grow, while Brevo's per-email pricing stays flat if you send infrequently.
Which platform is best for a complete beginner?
MailerLite. Its editor and dashboard are the simplest of the three, the free plan is enough to learn on, and nothing about the pricing requires a spreadsheet to understand.
Do I need automation on day one?
You need one automation: a welcome email (or short series) for new subscribers. All three platforms cover that on entry plans. Multi-branch journeys can wait until your list earns them, and that is when GetResponse's deeper automation starts to justify its tiers.
Can I switch platforms later?
Yes, subscribers export as CSV everywhere, and all three import them cleanly. Automations and templates do not transfer, so switching is an afternoon of rebuilding, not a data-loss event. Pick the platform that fits the next two years, not the next two months.
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The bottom line
- GetResponse Top pick: Email plus funnels, landing pages, and webinars in one subscription.
Check price - Brevo: Big lists on a budget: priced by emails sent, not contacts.
Check price - MailerLite: Creators and small teams who want clean, simple email.
Check price
