Guide

Best options under 2,500 subscribers

If your list is still under 2,500 people, you have more free and low-cost room than the mid-list crowd — but MailerLite’s 2026 Free plan no longer covers most of that range. This is a fit guide, not a ranking by commission.

More guides: Under 2,500 · MailerLite free alternatives · Beehiiv vs Substack vs Kit · Deliverability · Beehiiv → Kit · MailerLite → Kit

Start with what you actually need

A free plan is only a fit if it covers your subscriber count and how often you email the whole list. Four weekly issues on 2,000 people is 8,000 emails a month. Use the calculator at 2,500 and four sends for current published totals.

Free plans that can still cover a 2,500-person list

Beehiiv Free — official cap of 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends (pricing page, 14 November 2026). Paid subscriptions start on Lite, not Free. The official plan comparison table also shows custom domains starting on Lite.
Kit Free — official pricing-page plan data (14 November 2026) covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited sends. Automations and removing Kit branding are Creator-plan features. Paid subscriptions are available on Free, with Kit’s inclusive 3.5% + $0.30 payment fee.
EmailOctopus Free — 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails/month (official pricing.md, 14 November 2026). Four full-list sends at 2,500 people is 10,000 emails — you are exactly at the cap. A fifth send would require Pro.
Substack — no monthly platform fee. If you do not sell paid subscriptions, the published platform cost is $0. If you do, Substack keeps 10% of that revenue, plus Stripe fees.

Free plans that usually are not enough at this size

MailerLite Free — 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month as of 16 June 2026. Comfort at 2,500 subscribers is $33/month on the official pricing table (14 November 2026), with a 25,000-email send cap (10× the tier).
Mailchimp Free — 250 contacts and 500 emails/month. Essentials at 2,500 contacts is $45/month on Mailchimp’s official USD pricing table (14 November 2026).
GetResponse Free — 500 contacts and 2,500 newsletters a month. Starter at 2,500 is $29/month; paid newsletters need Creator.
Brevo Free — 300 emails per day. A 2,500-person weekly send does not fit. Starter is priced by email volume and contact caps.
Buttondown Free — first 100 subscribers. Paid usage-based pricing starts at $9/month at 1,000 subscribers (official pricing page, 14 November 2026).

Low-cost paid plans worth comparing

Ghost(Pro) Starter is $18/month up to 1,000 members and does not include paid subscriptions; Publisher at 2,500 members is $55/month (official pricing script, 14 November 2026), with 0% Ghost take and Stripe fees if you charge. Flodesk Email is a flat $46/month with unlimited subscribers, but paid checkouts need the $99 Everything plan. ActiveCampaign has no free plan; its Starter price at 2,500 was $49/month in a prior official-page read, plus $0.005 per email over the 10× send allowance, but those ActiveCampaign dollars could not be re-confirmed on 14 November 2026 and are marked unverified.

None of these picks is “best” for every list. If you need automations, a custom domain, or paid subscriptions, the cheapest free plan may not be usable. Re-run the calculator with those boxes checked, then confirm the official page.

Sources: official vendor pricing pages linked from js/data.js (re-checked 14 November 2026); MailerLite Free plan FAQ.