Scoring sheet
How we scored the best email newsletter services for small businesses
Every score in The best email newsletter services for small businesses comes from this sheet: the tools we considered, the scale for each criterion, and the evidence and date behind each score.
This page shows the working behind the best email newsletter services for small businesses: the field, the criteria and weights, what each score means, and every score with the source behind it.
Everything here comes from desk research: each vendor's US pricing page (or the price service the page loads), help center and terms. We did not send email through any of these services. Kit's pricing page didn't show us its monthly prices above 1,000 subscribers, and Constant Contact's refused automated reads, so some of their prices come from dated third-party listings, marked where they appear. All facts were read on October 21, 2026, except Moosend's, read on October 22.
The question and the reader
The question, in the reader's words: "What's the best email newsletter service for a small business?" People also ask which is cheapest ("Mailchimp vs MailerLite vs Brevo: which is cheapest for a small business list?"), which free plan is best, and what a small shop should use for a monthly newsletter. We asked four AI models (GPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, through their APIs with web search on) those four questions in October 2026, which gave 16 answers. Those answers and the pages they cite built the field below.
The reader runs a shop, studio, practice or local business and wants to send a newsletter, monthly or weekly, plus a welcome email to new signups, without paying more than they need to as the list grows. They are not a creator selling paid subscriptions and not an online store that needs cart and browse-abandonment flows; those readers need different tools (see the field).
Must-haves
A service had to pass all four to be scored. These are filters, not criteria.
- Built for sending newsletters and campaigns to a list you own, not around an online store's order data or a creator's paid publication.
- Sold self-serve to any small business, with prices published on its site.
- Monthly billing you can cancel.
- Sends from your own domain, with SPF and DKIM authentication available on a paid plan.
The field
| Service | Named in the 16 AI answers | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | 16 | Scored |
| Mailchimp | 15 | Scored |
| Brevo | 13 | Scored |
| Kit | 7 | Scored |
| Constant Contact | 6 | Scored |
| Sender | 5 | Scored |
| Omnisend | 4 | Not scored: built around an online store, with its flows and reports tied to store platforms such as Shopify, so it fails must-have 1. A store that sells online should compare it with Klaviyo and Shopify Email |
| EmailOctopus | 2 | Scored |
| ActiveCampaign | 2 | Scored |
| HubSpot | 2 | Not scored: email marketing comes inside HubSpot's CRM, priced per seat. Starter is $20 a month per seat ($7 for new customers on a limited offer) with 1,000 marketing contacts, and the pricing page we read doesn't list the price of more marketing contacts, so we couldn't cost it at 2,500 and 10,000 contacts like the rest |
| Square Marketing | 1 | Not scored: works only for businesses that use Square's point of sale, so it fails must-have 2 for a business without one |
| GetResponse | 1 | Scored |
| AWeber | 1 | Scored |
| Zoho Campaigns | 1 | Scored |
| Klaviyo | 1 | Not scored: built around online store data (orders, products, browsing), so it fails must-have 1 |
| Shopify Email | 1 | Not scored: works only for Shopify stores, so it fails must-haves 1 and 2 for a business without one |
| beehiiv | 1 | Not scored: a publishing platform for creators building a paid or ad-supported newsletter, so it fails must-have 1 |
| Substack | 1 | Not scored: a publishing platform where writers sell paid subscriptions, so it fails must-have 1 |
| Systeme.io | 1 | Not scored: an all-in-one funnel and course builder for online sellers, so it fails must-have 1 |
| Moosend | 0 | Scored: not named in the answers, but emailvendorselection.com, one of the pages they cite most, calls it the best for small businesses |
Criteria and weights
These were set before any service was scored.
| Criterion | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 35 | What the cheapest plan with no vendor branding and an automated welcome email costs a month, billed monthly, at 2,500 and 10,000 contacts, sending one campaign a week |
| Free plan | 20 | How big a list the free plan can email in one go, whether it allows weekly sending and a welcome email, and whether support lasts beyond the first month |
| Small-business features | 25 | On the plan scored for cost: automation, signup forms and pop-ups, landing pages, segments or tags, A/B testing, a second user, live help and guided domain authentication |
| Billing rules | 20 | Whether unsubscribed contacts still count toward the price, what happens when you go over a limit, and whether you can export every contact with its status when you leave |
Why these weights: the reader's main fear is overpaying as the list grows, so cost counts most, and it is measured where a growing small business lands (2,500 and 10,000 contacts) rather than at the entry price. Many small businesses start free, so the free plan counts for 20. Features count for 25 because a welcome email, a signup pop-up and a second user are what a shop actually uses; we don't score features a newsletter rarely needs (ecommerce flows, SMS, CRM). Billing rules count for 20 because they are where a cheap headline price turns expensive: paying for people who unsubscribed, overage fees, or a list you can't take with you.
Not scored: deliverability. Whether your email lands in the inbox depends mostly on your own list and your domain's authentication, and we found no current independent inbox-placement test with a published method: EmailToolTester, whose tests were the most cited, stopped publishing them in August 2026, saying seed-list tests had become unreliable. We score what you can control instead: guided domain authentication (in Small-business features) and bounce and complaint handling, which the page describes. Ease of use is not scored either: we didn't use the editors ourselves.
What each score means
Cost as your list grows
The cost score comes from one number: the monthly price at 2,500 contacts plus the monthly price at 10,000 contacts, sending four campaigns a month, on the cheapest plan with no vendor branding in emails and an automated welcome email, billed monthly, before tax and before any first-year discount.
Score = 10 minus (that sum minus $60) divided by 20, kept between 0 and 10 and rounded half up to one decimal. So $60 or less scores 10, each extra $20 costs a point, and $260 or more scores 0. A 7 is $120 combined; a 4 is $180.
Free plan: the sum of four parts, up to 10
| Part | Points |
|---|---|
| A. The biggest list the free plan can send one newsletter to in a single day | 4: 2,500 or more. 3: 1,000 to 2,499. 2: 500 to 999. 1: under 500. 0: no free plan |
| B. Weekly sending to that list fits the monthly send allowance | 2: four or more campaigns a month. 1: two or three. 0: fewer |
| C. An automated welcome email on the free plan | 2: yes. 0: no |
| D. Support beyond the first month on the free plan | 2: yes, by email, chat or phone. 0: none, community forums only, or not documented |
What a 10 looks like: a list of 2,500 or more emailed weekly, a welcome email, and real support. A 5: a small list (under 500) with weekly sending and a welcome email but no support. A 0: no free plan.
Small-business features: the sum of eight parts, up to 10
| Part | Points |
|---|---|
| A. Automation | 2: multi-step sequences of 10 steps or more. 1: a welcome email or a short sequence (one workflow, or fewer than 10 steps). 0: none |
| B. Signup forms | 2: embedded forms and pop-ups. 1: embedded forms only |
| C. Landing pages | 1: included |
| D. Segments or tags | 1: included |
| E. A/B testing of at least subject lines | 1: included |
| F. A second user | 1: two or more users included in the price |
| G. Live help | 1: chat or phone support on that plan |
| H. Guided domain authentication | 1: automatic DNS setup with your domain provider (such as Entri or Domain Connect), or a DMARC record supplied for you along with SPF and DKIM |
A part scores only when the vendor's own pages show it on the plan scored for cost.
Billing rules: the sum of three parts, up to 10
| Part | Points |
|---|---|
| A. Unsubscribed contacts and the price | 4: the vendor says unsubscribed contacts don't count toward the plan's limit. 2: the vendor doesn't say, or they count only toward a storage cap on some tiers. 0: the vendor says they count, or counts every contact added in the month |
| B. Going over a limit | 3: you move to the next tier at its published price (or sending pauses until you choose), and the plan moves back down by itself when your list shrinks. 2: as 3, but moving back down is up to you. 1: overage fees at a published rate. 0: overage fees at a rate the pricing page doesn't publish |
| C. Leaving | 3: you can export every contact, including unsubscribed and bounced ones, with their status. 1: export of active contacts only, or the status of exported contacts isn't documented. 0: no self-serve export |
Scores
All facts read on October 21, 2026. Prices are USD, billed monthly, before tax.
EmailOctopus: total 9.3
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 9.8 | Pro: $20 a month at 2,500 contacts and $44.50 at 10,000 ($10 at 500, $94.50 at 25,000), from the price data the pricing page loads, which also sets the send allowance at 10 emails per contact on each tier. $64.50 combined |
| Free plan | 10 | 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month (free plan help article): 4 + 2. Up to three automations of five steps, triggered by a new contact: 2. "Ongoing email support" on the free plan, chat for the first 30 days (pricing FAQ): 2 |
| Small-business features | 9 | Pro, from the pricing page's feature comparison: sequences of up to 650 steps (2); "pop-up and inline forms" (2); unlimited landing pages (1); up to 50 tags and segmentation on fields and activity (1); no A/B testing listed (0); unlimited users (1); priority chat and email support (1); Domain Connect for Cloudflare and Vercel, and a DMARC record generated on verification (domain verification article) (1) |
| Billing rules | 8 | "All your unsubscribes do not count towards the subscriber limit"; hard bounces and complaints are marked unsubscribed automatically (how contacts are counted): 4. Moves you up a tier when the list grows, prorated, and an "Optimise plan pricing" setting moves you back down automatically (how pricing works): 3. Export makes a ZIP of selected contacts with their fields (bulk actions); whether unsubscribed contacts' status is included isn't documented: 1. A contact on two lists counts twice |
Sender: total 9.2
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 8.2 | Standard: $27 a month at 2,500 subscribers and $69 at 10,000 ($9 at 500, $149 at 25,000), from the plan data the pricing page loads. Sends 12 times the subscriber limit. $96 combined |
| Free plan | 10 | 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month with no daily limit (free plan page): 4 + 2. Email automation with unlimited steps on Free (same page): 2. 24/7 email and chat support on Free (same page): 2 |
| Small-business features | 10 | Standard, from the free plan page's comparison table: unlimited automation steps (2); signup forms and pop-ups (2); unlimited landing pages (1); advanced segmentation and unlimited groups (1); email A/B testing (1); three users (1); 24/7 email and live chat (1); setup guide that gives you the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records and checks them (SPF, DKIM and DMARC guide) (1) |
| Billing rules | 9 | Active subscribers are everyone stored "minus those that have unsubscribed, bounced, or reported spam" (active vs unique subscribers): 4. Over the limit, sending stops until you upgrade; with auto-renew on, the plan moves up at renewal (when you exceed plan limits): 2. CSV export filtered by status (active, bounced, unsubscribed) with a subscription status column (export contacts): 3 |
MailerLite: total 7.5
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 6.9 | Comfort, the cheapest plan that removes the MailerLite logo: $33 a month at 2,500 subscribers and $89 at 10,000 ($12 at 500, $179 at 25,000), from the pricing page data. Sends 10 times the tier. $122 combined |
| Free plan | 5 | Since June 16, 2026: 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, down from 500 and 12,000 (free plan update FAQ): 1 + 2. Three automations of five steps: 2. Community support only after 14 days of email and chat (support options): 0 |
| Small-business features | 9 | Comfort, from the pricing page's comparison table: 50 automations of up to 100 steps (2); embedded forms and pop-ups (2); 10 landing pages (1); unlimited segments and groups (1); email A/B testing (1); three users (1); email support, with live chat only on Power or 50,000+ subscribers (0); automatic DNS setup for partner domain providers (domain authentication) (1) |
| Billing rules | 9 | "Unsubscribed and Bounced contacts don't count toward your limit"; any address active at any point in the billing cycle counts (plan and billing): 4. Over the subscriber limit, the plan moves up a tier automatically; over the send limit it moves up and returns at renewal (same page); moving down for a smaller list is up to you: 2. Export to CSV can cover active, unconfirmed, unsubscribed, bounced and complained subscribers (export subscribers): 3 |
Zoho Campaigns: total 7.3
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 9.7 | Standard: $17 a month at 2,500 contacts and $49 at 10,000 ($4 at 500, $86 at 25,000), from the price list the pricing page loads. Unlimited emails. $66 combined. Zoho doesn't say whether it adds its own branding to emails on any plan, so Standard is taken as the cheapest plan with automation |
| Free plan | 6 | 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month, no daily limit (pricing page FAQ): 3 + 1 (three campaigns a month). No automated workflows on Forever Free (plan comparison): 0. Email and phone support on Free (plan comparison): 2 |
| Small-business features | 7 | Standard, from the plan comparison: automated workflows with no step limit stated (2); signup forms (1; the comparison shows pop-up forms on Standard but the pricing page lists them under Professional, so we didn't count them); landing pages not listed (0); basic segmentation (1); A/B testing (1); up to 10 users (1); email, phone and in-product chat support (1); SPF and DKIM by manual DNS records, and "Zoho Campaigns doesn't generate the DMARC record for you" (sender authentication guide) (0) |
| Billing rules | 5 | Bounced contacts don't count toward the plan (contact management FAQ); unsubscribed contacts aren't addressed: 2. Over the limit, imports ask for consent to upgrade, or auto-upgrade if you enabled it (pricing and subscriptions FAQ): 2. Export of contacts with status not documented in the pages we read: 1 |
Kit: total 7.0
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 3.1 | Creator, the cheapest plan that removes Kit branding: $59 a month at 2,500 subscribers (the 3,000 tier) and $139 at 10,000 ($39 at 500, the 1,000 tier; $199 at 25,000). Kit's billing article gives $39 at 1,000 and $59 at 3,000; Kit's pricing page didn't show us monthly prices above 1,000 subscribers, so the 10,000 and 25,000 tiers are as reported by AudienceBench in October 2026. Unlimited sends. $198 combined |
| Free plan | 8 | Up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts (Kit Free plan): 4 + 2. Sequences and visual automations need a paid plan (same article): 0. Free requests are "answered in the order they're received within 24 hours" (same article): 2 |
| Small-business features | 10 | Creator, from the pricing page and the Creator vs Pro article: unlimited visual automations and sequences (2); inline, modal, slide-in and sticky-bar forms (2); unlimited landing pages (1); tags and segments (1); subject-line A/B tests (1); two users (1); 24/7 email and chat (1); automatic setup through Entri ("Set this up for me") for SPF, DKIM and DMARC (verified sending domain) (1) |
| Billing rules | 9 | "Only subscribers with the 'Confirmed' status count toward your billing total"; unsubscribed, bounced and complained subscribers don't (subscriber status): 4. "We automatically upgrade you to the next tier", prorated (billing article); moving down is up to you: 2. CSV export filtered by status, with a Status field (export subscribers): 3 |
Brevo: total 6.7
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 6.1 | Standard ($18 a month base), the cheapest plan with no Brevo logo whose automation covers the whole list. Starter is $9, but its automation is limited to 2,000 contacts (feature comparison), so it can't run a welcome email for lists above that, and its logo removal is an add-on (Brevo's price service lists $12 a month, its pricing help article $9), so at 500 contacts Starter without the logo costs more than Standard. Priced by monthly emails, and each tier caps stored contacts: 15,000 emails for up to 2,500 contacts, 20,000 emails and up for 500,000. Weekly to 2,500 contacts needs the 15,000-email tier: $49. Weekly to 10,000 is 40,000 emails: $89. Monthly sending costs $18, $49, $69 and $79 at 500, 2,500, 10,000 and 25,000; weekly $18, $49, $89 and $139 (from Brevo's public price service). $138 combined |
| Free plan | 7 | Stores 100,000 contacts but sends 300 emails a day (pricing help article), so one newsletter reaches 300 people a day: 1. About 9,000 emails a month, enough to email 300 people weekly: 2. Marketing automation for up to 2,000 contacts on Free (feature comparison): 2. Email support on every plan (feature comparison): 2 |
| Small-business features | 7 | Standard, from the feature comparison: unlimited marketing automation (2); forms, with pop-ups on Professional only (1); one landing page (1); segmentation (1); A/B testing (1); one user included, up to three at $12 a month each (0); email support only, phone on Professional (0); automatic domain setup that adds the Brevo code, DKIM and DMARC records (domain authentication) (1) |
| Billing rules | 7 | Sending isn't charged for blocklisted (unsubscribed or bounced) contacts (why not delete blocklisted contacts), but the three smallest tiers cap contacts stored, and Brevo doesn't say whether blocklisted contacts count toward that cap: 2. Reaching the cap moves you to the next tier automatically (pricing help article); downgrading means canceling and choosing a new plan: 2. CSV export with subscription status, including blocklisted contacts (export contacts): 3 |
Moosend: total 6.5
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 7.0 | Pro: $32 a month at 2,500 contacts (the 3,000 tier) and $88 at 10,000 ($9 at 500, $160 at 25,000), from the monthly prices in the pricing page's list-size selector. Unlimited sends. $120 combined. Moosend doesn't say on its pricing page or in its help center whether Pro emails carry its branding, so Pro, its only self-serve plan, is taken as the plan to compare |
| Free plan | 0 | No free plan: a 30-day trial with unlimited sends for up to 1,000 contacts (pricing page FAQ) |
| Small-business features | 9 | Pro, from the pricing page's plan comparison: multi-step automation workflows (2); subscription forms, with pop-up, inline, floating bar and fullscreen types (create a subscription form) (2); landing pages (1); segmentation, listed among the core features in the pricing FAQ (1); A/B testing (1); five team members (1); email and live chat support (1); SPF and DKIM records copied into your DNS by hand, and you create the DMARC record yourself (working with DNS records) (0) |
| Billing rules | 9 | Plans cap "unique active subscribers", and a contact on several lists counts once (subscription plans and credits); unsubscribing lowers the active count shown on the billing page (manage your plan): 4. Over the limit, campaigns don't send until you upgrade or pay with credits (billing FAQ), and downgrading is up to you, taking effect next cycle (manage your plan): 2. Export to CSV or Excel by status: all, active, unsubscribed, bounced or archived (work with email lists): 3 |
GetResponse: total 6.1
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 7.6 | Starter, which removes GetResponse branding: $29 a month at 2,500 contacts and $79 at 10,000 ($19 at 1,000, the smallest tier; $174 at 25,000), from the US offer links on the pricing page. Unlimited sends. $108 combined |
| Free plan | 4 | 500 contacts, with inactive contacts counted, and 2,500 messages a month (trying GetResponse): 2 + 2. After the 14-day trial you can't publish workflows and can send newsletters only (same article): 0. After the trial, no chat or email support (same article): 0 |
| Small-business features | 8 | Starter, from the pricing page's comparison table: welcome emails and one custom workflow of up to six elements (workflow templates by plan) (1); signup forms and unlimited pop-ups (2); unlimited landing pages (1); segmentation without tags (1); no A/B testing (0); three users (1); chat support (1); automatic authentication through Entri that adds DKIM, SPF and a DMARC policy (automatic authentication) (1) |
| Billing rules | 3 | Billing uses "the peak number of active subscribers during the billing month and the total number of contacts added within that billing month, regardless of what happens to those contacts after they are added" (how pricing works), and a contact on two lists counts twice: 0. Over the limit, a list extension fee equal to the difference to the next plan, charged monthly even on yearly plans (over the limit): 2. Export covers "active contacts" only (export contacts): 1 |
AWeber: total 5.9
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 3.5 | Plus, the cheapest plan that removes AWeber branding (Lite keeps it): $55 a month at 2,500 subscribers and $135 at 10,000 ($30 at 500, $250 at 25,000), from the tier table on the pricing page. Sends 12 times the tier. $190 combined |
| Free plan | 6 | 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails a month (AWeber Free): 2 + 2. One automation: 2. Support on Free not documented: 0 |
| Small-business features | 10 | Plus, from the pricing page: unlimited automations (2); signup forms including pop-ups (signup forms page) (2); unlimited landing pages (1); tagging and unlimited custom segments (1); email split testing (1); unlimited users (1); priority 24/7 support (1); automatic DKIM and DMARC setup for supported DNS providers (configure your sending address) (1) |
| Billing rules | 5 | Whether unsubscribed subscribers count isn't documented in the pages we read: 2. Going over the subscriber or send limit moves you up a tier automatically; "When you delete subscribers, your billing tier does not automatically adjust" (pricing FAQ): 2. The account export is a ZIP of subscribers and messages (backups); a CSV with each subscriber's status isn't documented: 1 |
Mailchimp: total 5.1
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 5.3 | Essentials, the cheapest plan that removes Mailchimp branding: $45 a month at 2,500 contacts and $110 at 10,000 ($13 at 500, $270 at 25,000), from the pricing page with its plan selector set to each size. New customers get 15% off for 12 months from 10,000 contacts. Sends 10 times the contact limit. $155 combined |
| Free plan | 2 | 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, at most 250 a day (pricing plans): 1 + 1. Automation flows are a "free preview" on Free, and single email automations start on Essentials (compare plans): 0. Email support for the first 30 days only (compare plans): 0 |
| Small-business features | 9 | Essentials, from compare plans: automation flows of up to four steps (1); forms and pop-up forms (2); landing pages (1); tags and basic segmentation (1); A/B testing (1); three seats (1); 24/7 email and chat support (1); automatic authentication through Entri (domain authentication) (1) |
| Billing rules | 3 | "Subscribed, non-subscribed, and unsubscribed contacts all count toward your contact limit" (pricing tiers); you must archive them to stop paying: 0. Over the limit, Mailchimp bills "add-on contact blocks" whose price "depends on your plan and pricing tier" and isn't on the pricing page (additional charges): 0. Export of subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cleaned contacts as separate CSV files (export contacts): 3 |
Constant Contact: total 4.0
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 4.5 | Lite: $50 a month at 2,500 contacts and $120 at 10,000 ($12 at 500, $280 at 25,000), as reported by SendX in June 2026; Sequenzy's listing agrees at 500 and 5,000. Both are themselves email services that compete with Constant Contact. Constant Contact's pricing page refused automated reads. Lite sends 10 times the tier (send allowance). The Constant Contact logo shows in every email footer, and paying customers can ask Support to remove it (customize your footer). $170 combined |
| Free plan | 0 | No free plan: a 30-day trial capped at 100 email sends (free trial) |
| Small-business features | 5 | Lite, from third-party listings because the plan page was unreadable to us (Sequenzy; SendX): one automation template, enough for a welcome email (1); signup forms (1; pop-ups on Lite not confirmed); landing pages on paid plans (free trial article) (1); one custom segment plus lists (1); subject-line testing on Standard, not Lite (0); one user (0); chat and phone support, Monday to Saturday, not limited by plan on Constant Contact's help center (1); no automatic DNS setup or DMARC record found (0) |
| Billing rules | 6 | Unsubscribed contacts are "inactive" (active versus inactive contacts), and your tier is set by "the highest number of active email contacts" (how you're billed); bounced contacts stay active until you remove them: 4. Sends over the allowance cost $0.002 each (send allowance article): 1. Export with status not confirmed in pages we could read: 1 |
ActiveCampaign: total 2.6
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cost as your list grows | 1.1 | Starter: $49 a month at 2,500 contacts and $189 at 10,000 ($19 at 1,000, the smallest tier; $489 at 25,000), from the product catalog the pricing page loads. Sends 10 times the contact limit. $238 combined. ActiveCampaign doesn't say whether Starter emails carry its branding; its catalog gives Plus, not Starter, an entitlement it calls custom branding. If Starter does carry it, the plan to compare is Plus ($119 at 2,500, $239 at 10,000), which would score 0 |
| Free plan | 0 | No free plan, a 14-day trial (free trial page) |
| Small-business features | 5 | Starter, from the pricing page's comparison: multi-step automation limited to five actions per automation (1); standard and inline forms, no site messages (1); no landing pages (0); tags and limited segmentation (1); email A/B testing (1); one user (0); basic email and chat support (1); a custom mailserver domain, with no automatic DNS setup or DMARC record found (0) |
| Billing rules | 5 | Which contacts count isn't defined in the pricing page or terms: 2. At the monthly send limit, sending stops until the next period unless you turned on auto-upgrade (terms, section 5.4): 2. Export with status not documented in pages we could read (the help center refused automated reads): 1 |
The order
EmailOctopus 9.3, Sender 9.2, MailerLite 7.5, Zoho Campaigns 7.3, Kit 7.0, Brevo 6.7, Moosend 6.5, GetResponse 6.1, AWeber 5.9, Mailchimp 5.1, Constant Contact 4.0, ActiveCampaign 2.6. The site computes each total as the weighted average of the scores, rounded to one decimal place.
How close is the top? EmailOctopus leads Sender by about 0.1, and it comes from cost: EmailOctopus is $31.50 a month cheaper at 2,500 and 10,000 contacts combined, while Sender scores one point higher on both features (EmailOctopus lists no A/B testing) and billing rules. Moving five points of weight from cost to features, or from cost to billing rules, would put Sender first; four points would not. Billing period matters too: on yearly prices EmailOctopus is still the cheaper ($58.05 a month at the two sizes combined, with its 10% discount, against Sender's $76.80 after its 30% first-year offer drops to 20%), but both would sit at the top of the cost scale (10 and 9.2) and Sender would rank first, 9.52 to 9.35 before rounding. We score monthly prices because a small business starting out usually pays monthly. Treat the two as level unless price decides it for you.
Behind them, MailerLite's 7.5 rests on features and billing rules; its free plan shrank in June 2026 and its live chat starts on a higher plan. Zoho Campaigns is the cheapest at 500 and 2,500 contacts but is held back by its free plan's lack of automation and by gaps in what its help pages document.