> Brevo is the best all-in-one platform (email, SMS, WhatsApp, and CRM) and bills by emails sent, not contacts stored. Moosend is the best budget pick, giving you advanced automation and unlimited sends from about $7/month. Mailchimp is the most beginner-friendly, MailerLite has the most generous free plan, and Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is built for creators. Pick by how you send, not by brand name.

## Introduction

Most “best email tool” lists just restate each platform’s marketing page. This one does the part those lists skip: it explains why these tools cost wildly different amounts for the same list, shows which billing model wins for your sending pattern, and gives you a decision rule you can actually act on. Every figure was checked against the providers’ own pricing pages and independent review data at the time of writing.

## First, the thing that actually decides your bill: contact-based vs send-based pricing
Email platforms charge in one of two ways, and this single difference matters more than any feature list:

-   Contact-based (Mailchimp, MailerLite, Kit, Moosend): you pay for how many subscribers you store, and usually send unlimited (or very high) emails to them. Cost rises as your list grows, even if you rarely email it.
    
-   Send-based (Brevo): you pay for how many emails you actually send, and can store a large list cheaply. Cost rises with sending frequency, not list size.
    

The practical rule: if you hold a big list but email it infrequently (say, a 50,000-person list you mail once or twice a month), send-based billing is far cheaper. If you email a smaller list constantly (daily sequences, heavy ecommerce flows), contact-based billing is usually more predictable and often cheaper. Work out your own ratio of list size to monthly sends before you compare sticker prices — it flips which tool is “cheapest.”

## A worked example
Take a 20,000-contact list. Mail it twice a month and you send 40,000 emails — a send-based plan prices that on 40k sends while storing all 20k contacts cheaply. Now mail that same list a daily welcome sequence plus weekly campaigns and you might send 300,000+ emails a month — at which point a contact-based plan that includes unlimited sends to 20k contacts wins. Same list, opposite answer, purely because of send frequency. This is why a roundup that just lists “starts at $9” is useless without your usage.

## The 5 platforms at a glance
<table class="border-collapse border border-muted" style="min-width: 100px;"><colgroup><col style="min-width: 25px;"><col style="min-width: 25px;"><col style="min-width: 25px;"><col style="min-width: 25px;"></colgroup><tbody><tr class="border-b border-muted"><th class="border border-muted bg-muted px-2 py-1 text-left font-medium" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Platform</p></th><th class="border border-muted bg-muted px-2 py-1 text-left font-medium" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Best for</p></th><th class="border border-muted bg-muted px-2 py-1 text-left font-medium" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Billing model</p></th><th class="border border-muted bg-muted px-2 py-1 text-left font-medium" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Free option</p></th></tr><tr class="border-b border-muted"><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p><strong>Brevo</strong></p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>All-in-one (email+SMS+WhatsApp+CRM)</p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Send-based</p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Yes (~300/day)</p></td></tr><tr class="border-b border-muted"><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p><strong>Moosend</strong></p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Budget automation, pure email</p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Contact-based</p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>30-day trial</p></td></tr><tr class="border-b border-muted"><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p><strong>Mailchimp</strong></p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Beginners, brand familiarity</p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Contact-based</p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Yes (limited)</p></td></tr><tr class="border-b border-muted"><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p><strong>MailerLite</strong></p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Generous free tier, simplicity</p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Contact-based</p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Yes</p></td></tr><tr class="border-b border-muted"><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p><strong>Kit</strong></p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Creators &amp; newsletters</p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Contact-based</p></td><td class="border border-muted px-2 py-1" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Yes</p></td></tr></tbody></table>

### 1\. Brevo — Best all-in-one platform
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is a publicly traded, Paris-based platform used by 600,000+ businesses, bundling email, SMS, WhatsApp, automation, transactional email, and a built-in CRM. Its defining trait is send-based pricing, which makes it unusually cheap if you store a large list and email it infrequently. It rates roughly 4.5 on G2 and 4.4 on Trustpilot at the time of writing; the most common complaint is a strict, occasionally slow new-account validation process.

Best for multichannel senders and WordPress sites. You can [start with Brevo’s free plan here](aff:brevo). Full breakdown in our [Brevo review](/blog/brevo-review)

### 2\. Moosend — Best budget platform for automation
Moosend gives you advanced visual automation and unlimited sends from about $7/month — features most tools lock behind premium tiers. It rates 4.7 on G2 (700+ reviews), the highest of this group, though its Trustpilot score (~3.4) is dragged down by account-suspension complaints tied to aggressive anti-spam enforcement. It has no SMS, no built-in CRM, and far fewer integrations than the giants.

Best for budget-conscious, email-first teams. You can [try Moosend free for 30 days](aff:moosend). Full breakdown in our [Moosend review](/blog/moosend-review)

### 3\. Mailchimp — Best for beginners
The most recognised name, with a polished interface and huge template library. It bills by contact count, which gets expensive as your list grows, but it remains the gentlest on-ramp for first-time senders. Verify current pricing and contact tiers on Mailchimp’s site.

### 4\. MailerLite — Best generous free plan
Clean, simple, and known for one of the better free tiers in the category — a strong fit for newsletters and lean teams that want capability without complexity.

### 5\. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — Best for creators
Purpose-built for creators with tag-based subscriber management and monetisation features designed around an audience-first model. The natural pick for newsletter-led businesses.

## How to choose (decision framework)
-   Need SMS or WhatsApp alongside email, or a built-in CRM? Choose Brevo — it’s the only true multichannel option here.
    
-   Big list, infrequent sends? Choose Brevo for its send-based billing.
    
-   Email-only, tight budget, want serious automation? Choose Moosend.
    
-   Brand-new and want the easiest start? Mailchimp or MailerLite.
    
-   Creator monetising a newsletter? Kit.
    
-   Risk-sensitive about vendor stability? Note Moosend has changed owners twice since 2021 (now under Constant Contact) — covered in its review.
    

Most businesses should start on a free plan and only upgrade when they hit a real limit.

## Frequently asked questions
### What is the best email marketing platform in 2026?
There is no single best. Brevo is best all-in-one, Moosend is best budget automation tool, and Mailchimp, MailerLite, and Kit lead for beginners, free plans, and creators respectively.

### Is it cheaper to pay by contacts or by emails sent?
It depends on your ratio of list size to sends. Large list with infrequent sends favours send-based billing (Brevo). Smaller list with frequent sends favours contact-based billing with unlimited sends (Moosend, MailerLite).

### Which platform has the best deliverability?
All five are capable. Independent inbox-placement tests put most of them in the high-80s to low-90s percent range; results vary by provider and by Gmail/Outlook specifically. Treat any single “98%” marketing claim with caution.

### Which has the most generous free plan?
Brevo (high contact storage, ~300 emails/day) and MailerLite (generous overall free tier) are the strongest free options.