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Free newsletter platforms: 74 free plans compared
74 of the 237 newsletter platforms in this directory have a free plan that can send a newsletter. 11 more are free and open source if you host them yourself. Every limit below is the vendor's own wording, last checked 2026-11-08.
Largest free plans by list size
The 10 free plans that include the most subscribers or contacts. A big list cap can still come with a low monthly send limit, so read the full limit.
| Platform | Subscribers or contacts | Free plan limit | Paid from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mailrelay | 20,000 | Free plan: 80,000 emails/mo, up to 20,000 contacts, support included | EUR 48/mo (100,000 emails); prepaid packs from EUR 40 |
| Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | 10,000 | Free Newsletter plan, up to 10,000 subscribers | $39/mo (Creator, at 1,000 subscribers); subscriber-based |
| E-goi | 5,001 | Free plan (5001 Plan), up to 5,001 contacts (15,000 emails/mo); free NGO plan | EUR 8.92/mo (Base, 500 contacts, monthly); up to 25% off on longer billing periods |
| weMail | 3,000 | Free Forever plan, up to 3,000 subscribers (weMail branding; own sending service required) | $99/yr (Starter, 1 site, billed annually); contact-based pricing also shown from $15/mo (3k to 10k contacts) |
| beehiiv | 2,500 | Free Launch plan, up to 2,500 subscribers | $49/mo (Lite, billed yearly; $59/mo billed monthly) at up to 1,000 subscribers; tiered by subscriber count |
| EmailOctopus | 2,500 | Yes, up to 2,500 subscribers / 10,000 emails/mo | $9/mo (Pro, billed yearly); scales with subscriber count |
| Sender | 2,500 | Yes, up to 2,500 subscribers / 15,000 emails/mo | $9/mo billed monthly or $5.40/mo billed annually (Standard, up to 500 subscribers, 6,000 emails/mo); subscriber-based |
| Zoho Campaigns | 2,000 | Free plan: 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails/mo | $3/mo (Standard, billed annually) |
| Systeme.io | 2,000 | Free plan: 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails | $17/mo (Startup) |
| Laposta | 2,000 | Free plan, up to 2,000 contacts (12,000 emails/mo, Laposta mention in every email) | EUR 210/yr subscription (about EUR 17.50/mo, excl. 21% VAT, priced by active contacts); or mail credits from EUR 9 per send, no subscription |
Free plans with no subscriber cap (9)
These state no list-size limit. The limit is somewhere else: monthly sends, branding, or a fee on paid subscriptions.
| Platform | Free tier | Paid from | API | MCP server | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Substack | Free to publish, no subscriber cap | No monthly fee; 10% of paid subscription revenue plus Stripe fees | Yes docs | Community | Writers making money doing the work they believe in |
| Sendloop | Free plan, unlimited subscribers (100 emails/mo included; sending pauses at the allowance) | $29/mo (Starter, 25,000 emails/mo, unlimited subscribers) | Yes docs | No | Small businesses wanting simple email marketing |
| Beacons | Free plan, 50 email sends/mo, unlimited contacts | $10/mo monthly or $8.33/mo billed annually (Creator, 500 email sends/mo); unlimited sends from Creator Plus at $30/mo | ? | ? | Creators who want a link-in-bio store and newsletter in one |
| Direct Mail | Free plan, up to 150 emails/mo (unlimited contacts) | $20/mo (Unlimited plan, 500 contacts, monthly); scales with contact count; or $20 for 1,000 pay-per-email credits | Yes docs | No | Mac users sending newsletters from a desktop app |
| Hashnode | Free plan includes blog and newsletter (Hashnode states no subscriber limits) | $5/mo per seat (Pro, custom domain, GraphQL API, MCP access, no branding) | Yes | Official | Developer blogs that want posts emailed to subscribers |
| Jetpack Newsletter | Free plan, unlimited subscribers and sends (fair usage policy); 10% fee on paid-newsletter revenue plus Stripe fees | $29/mo billed monthly or $348/yr ($23/mo) billed yearly (Jetpack Pro, 2% fee on paid subscriptions) | Yes docs | Official | WordPress bloggers sending posts by email |
| Mail Mint | Free plugin (download from vendor, also on WordPress.org); vendor comparison lists unlimited contacts and emails, with abandoned-cart and advanced automations paid only | $75/yr billed annually (Starter, 1 site; listed as a sale price, regular $149.99) | ? | ? | WooCommerce stores that want email inside WordPress |
| Patreon | Free to start; posts and emails to unlimited contacts at no cost | 10% of income earned on Patreon, plus payment processing, currency conversion and payout fees | Yes docs | ? | Creators combining a free newsletter with paid memberships |
| Sequenzy | Free plan, 2,500 emails/mo with unlimited contacts (emails carry a Sequenzy footer) | $19/mo (Pro, 15,000 emails/mo); scales with email volume up to 5M/mo; monthly or annual billing | Yes docs | Official | SaaS teams wanting campaigns, lifecycle and transactional email in one tool |
All 74 free newsletter plans
| Platform | Free tier | Paid from | API | MCP server | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv | Free Launch plan, up to 2,500 subscribers | $49/mo (Lite, billed yearly; $59/mo billed monthly) at up to 1,000 subscribers; tiered by subscriber count | Yes docs | Official | Newsletters, podcasts, and community in one platform |
| Substack | Free to publish, no subscriber cap | No monthly fee; 10% of paid subscription revenue plus Stripe fees | Yes docs | Community | Writers making money doing the work they believe in |
| Mailchimp | Free plan, up to 250 contacts (500 sends/mo, max 250/day) | $13/mo (Essentials, 500 contacts); scales with contact count | Yes docs | Official | Email and SMS marketing minus the learning curve |
| BigMailer | Free Startup plan, up to 1,000 contacts (bring-your-own Amazon SES) | $7.50/mo per 5,000 contacts (Business Lite); contact-count based | Yes docs | No | Email marketing for agencies and multi-brand teams |
| Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | Free Newsletter plan, up to 10,000 subscribers | $39/mo (Creator, at 1,000 subscribers); subscriber-based | Yes docs | Official | Email-first operating system for creators |
| EmailOctopus | Yes, up to 2,500 subscribers / 10,000 emails/mo | $9/mo (Pro, billed yearly); scales with subscriber count | Yes docs | No | Budget-friendly, simple email marketing |
| Klaviyo | Yes, up to 250 active profiles / 500 emails/mo | $20/mo (email, up to 500 profiles); active-profile based | Yes docs | Official | Ecommerce/B2C brands running email + SMS on customer data |
| Omnisend | Yes, 250 contacts / 500 emails/mo | $16/mo billed monthly (Standard, 500 contacts, 6,000 emails/mo); $11.20/mo if 3 months are paid upfront (30% off); contact-based | Yes docs | Official | Ecommerce email + SMS |
| Benchmark Email | Free plan, up to 500 contacts (1,000 emails/mo) | $12/mo billed monthly, $10/mo on annual billing (Pro, 500 contacts, sends up to 10x contact count); contact-based | Yes docs | Official | Small businesses wanting powerfully simple email |
| Sender | Yes, up to 2,500 subscribers / 15,000 emails/mo | $9/mo billed monthly or $5.40/mo billed annually (Standard, up to 500 subscribers, 6,000 emails/mo); subscriber-based | Yes docs | Official | Growing small businesses on a budget |
| Sendloop | Free plan, unlimited subscribers (100 emails/mo included; sending pauses at the allowance) | $29/mo (Starter, 25,000 emails/mo, unlimited subscribers) | Yes docs | No | Small businesses wanting simple email marketing |
| Mailjet | Free plan: 6,000 emails/mo (200/day) | $9/mo (Starter, 8,000 emails/mo) | Yes docs | Official | Teams sending marketing and transactional email together |
| Postmark | Free developer plan: 100 emails/mo, never expires | $15/mo (Basic, 10,000 emails) | Yes docs | Official | Developers needing fast, reliable transactional email |
| SendPulse | Free plan: 500 subscribers, 15,000 emails/mo | $9.60/mo billed annually ($115.20/yr) (Standard, up to 500 subscribers) | Yes docs | Official | Multichannel marketing (email, SMS, chatbots) on a budget |
| Zoho Campaigns | Free plan: 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails/mo | $3/mo (Standard, billed annually) | Yes docs | Official | SMBs already in the Zoho ecosystem |
| Brevo | Free plan: 300 emails/day | $9/mo (Starter) | Yes docs | Official | SMBs wanting all-in-one marketing plus CRM |
| HubSpot Marketing Hub | Free marketing tools, email up to 2,000 sends/mo | $20/mo/seat (Starter; $7/mo/seat new-customer promo) | Yes docs | Official | Marketing teams on an all-in-one CRM platform |
| MailPoet | Free Starter plan: up to 500 subscribers, 5,000 emails/mo | $8/mo (Creator at 500 subscribers, uses your own sending service; Business with MailPoet Sending Service $10/mo); billed monthly, subscriber-based | Yes docs | No | WordPress/WooCommerce sites sending email from WP |
| Mailgun | Free plan: 100 emails/day | $15/mo (Basic, 10,000 emails/mo) | Yes docs | Official | Developers sending transactional email via API |
| Elastic Email | Free plan: up to 1,000 contacts, 3,000 emails/mo | $29/mo (Starter, up to 2,500 contacts; contact-based) | Yes docs | Official | Budget-focused senders wanting marketing tools plus an email API |
| MailerLite | Free plan: up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo | $12/mo (Comfort; subscriber-based) | Yes docs | Official | Solopreneurs and small businesses on a budget |
| Buttondown | Free for first 100 subscribers | $9/mo (subscriber-based) | Yes docs | Community | Indie writers wanting a minimal, API-first newsletter |
| Loops | Free plan: up to 1,000 contacts, 4,000 sends/mo | $49/mo (contact-based; unlimited sends) | Yes docs | Official | SaaS teams sending product, marketing, and transactional email |
| Acumbamail | Free plan: 2,000 emails/mo, up to 250 subscribers | EUR 24/mo (Basic, 20,000 emails/mo, billed monthly); annual billing 20% less | Yes docs | Community | Email + SMS campaigns for SMEs and agencies |
| CleverReach | Free Lite plan: 250 recipients, 1,000 emails/month | EUR 15/mo | Yes docs | Community | GDPR-compliant newsletters for SMEs |
| FluentCRM | Free core plugin on WordPress.org; Pro adds advanced features | $103/yr single-site license (reg. $129/yr) | Yes docs | Official | Email marketing automation inside WordPress |
| MailBluster | Free Starter plan: 3,000 emails one-time, MailBluster branding | $60/yr Pro (per brand) + $0.60 per 1,000 emails | Yes docs | Community | Sending bulk email at low cost via Amazon SES |
| MailerSend | Free: 500 emails/mo (card required, not charged) | $7/mo billed monthly or $6.30/mo billed yearly ($75.60/yr) (Hobby, 5,000 emails/mo) | Yes docs | Official | Transparent pricing from side projects to agencies |
| Mailmeteor | Free Hobby plan: 50 emails/day, 500 emails/month | $5.99/mo (Starter, per user) | No | Community | Sales, marketing, and recruiting outreach from Gmail |
| Mailrelay | Free plan: 80,000 emails/mo, up to 20,000 contacts, support included | EUR 48/mo (100,000 emails); prepaid packs from EUR 40 | Yes docs | No | High-volume sending on a free plan |
| Mailtrap | Free: 4,000 sends/mo (150/day) plus 50 sandbox test emails/mo | $15/mo (Email API Basic, 10,000 emails) | Yes docs | Official | Testing and sending in one platform |
| OneSignal | Free plan: 10,000 email sends/month (plus unlimited mobile push) | $19/mo (Growth: 20,000 email sends included, then $1.50 per 1,000) | Yes docs | Official | Product teams wanting push, email, and SMS in one platform |
| Paragraph | Free forever plan: hosted blog and newsletter, 2,500 newsletter emails/mo, 1 team member | $167/mo (Launch, billed yearly at $1,999/yr; $199/mo billed monthly), 25,000 newsletter emails/mo | Yes docs | Official | Early-stage startups and founder-led teams |
| Resend | Free: 3,000 emails/mo (100/day), 3 domains | $20/mo (Pro, 50,000 emails) | Yes docs | Official | Developer-first transactional email |
| Seguno | Free Starter plan up to 250 subscribers | $35/mo | No | Official | Shopify merchants who want email marketing inside the Shopify admin |
| Selzy | Free plan: 1,000 emails/mo to 100 contacts | $7.50/mo (Lite, up to 100 contacts) | Yes docs | Official | Small businesses starting with email |
| SendFox | Free plan: 1,000 contacts, 3,000 sends/mo | $29 one-time (Lifetime); Pro from $19/mo | Yes docs | Official | Affordable email marketing for content creators |
| SmartrMail | Free plan up to 200 active subscribers (3 emails per subscriber/mo, up to 600 emails/mo) | $10/mo base + $0.0125 per active subscriber (Essential); priced on active subscribers | Yes docs | Community | Ecommerce stores wanting simple automated product emails |
| SMTP2GO | Free: 1,000 emails/mo (200/day, 25/hr) | $10/mo (Starter, 10,000 emails) | Yes docs | Official | Reliable delivery with hands-on support |
| Systeme.io | Free plan: 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails | $17/mo (Startup) | Yes docs | Official | Launching an online business with one tool |
| Wix Email Marketing | 200 free emails/month (with Wix branding) | Paid Email Marketing plans (Essentials, Core, Advanced) upgraded in-dashboard; prices not published on Wix help pages | Yes docs | Official | Professional campaigns that drive site traffic |
| YAMM (Yet Another Mail Merge) | Free plan: up to 20 recipients/day | $3/mo billed annually at $36/yr (Pro, personal gmail.com accounts); annual billing only; EUR 3/mo in listed EU countries | No | No | Freelancers, educators, and small businesses merging from Sheets |
| Action Network | Free tools for grassroots activists (limits not listed) | From $15/mo (Movement, $1.25 per 1,000 emails; first 12,000 emails/mo covered by the minimum; monthly) | Yes docs | No | Progressive campaigns and advocacy groups |
| AcyMailing | Free Starter plan, 500 emails/mo (forever) | EUR 2.40/mo billed yearly or EUR 3/mo monthly (Essential, 4,000 emails/mo tier); VAT by location | Yes docs | No | Joomla and WordPress site newsletters |
| Audienceful | Free plan, up to 1,000 contacts (1 user, 1 automated flow) | $29/mo billed yearly (Essentials, 3,000 contacts); monthly-billed price not listed; scales with contact count | Yes docs | Official | Small teams wanting newsletters plus AI-agent access |
| Beacons | Free plan, 50 email sends/mo, unlimited contacts | $10/mo monthly or $8.33/mo billed annually (Creator, 500 email sends/mo); unlimited sends from Creator Plus at $30/mo | ? | ? | Creators who want a link-in-bio store and newsletter in one |
| Bird Email | Free plan, 1,000 emails/mo (50/day), 1 sending domain | From $15/mo deposit (Email Startup; $0.40 per 1,000 transactional emails charged from balance) | Yes docs | Official | Developers sending transactional and broadcast email |
| Buy Me a Coffee | Free; no monthly fee; unlimited emails to fans | No monthly plan; 5% transaction fee on earnings | ? | ? | Creators emailing supporters and members of a tip or membership page |
| Cakemail | Free plan, up to 500 contacts (6,000 emails/mo) | $19/mo billed monthly (Premium, 500 contacts, 7,500 emails/mo); scales with contact count | Yes docs | Official | Small businesses wanting Canadian data residency |
| Cerkl Broadcast | Free plan (Foundations), 5,000 email sends/mo and 3 communicator seats | Custom quote (Foundations+, priced by audience size; annual agreements typical) | Yes docs | No | Free internal email for small comms teams |
| Curated | Free plan, up to 1,500 subscribers (all features) | $39/mo (1,501 to 2,500 subscribers, monthly); scales with subscriber count | Yes docs | No | Link-roundup and curated editorial newsletters |
| Cyberimpact | Free plan, up to 250 contacts | CAD 25/mo billed monthly (Basic, 250 contacts); scales with contact count | Yes docs | Community | Canadian senders who need CASL compliance |
| Direct Mail | Free plan, up to 150 emails/mo (unlimited contacts) | $20/mo (Unlimited plan, 500 contacts, monthly); scales with contact count; or $20 for 1,000 pay-per-email credits | Yes docs | No | Mac users sending newsletters from a desktop app |
| E-goi | Free plan (5001 Plan), up to 5,001 contacts (15,000 emails/mo); free NGO plan | EUR 8.92/mo (Base, 500 contacts, monthly); up to 25% off on longer billing periods | Yes docs | No | SMBs needing email plus SMS and push on a free tier |
| Ecomail | Free plan, up to 200 contacts (200 emails/mo) | CZK 150/mo billed annually or CZK 250/mo monthly (Profi, up to 500 contacts, excl. 21% VAT); scales with active contacts | Yes docs | Official | Czech and Slovak e-commerce newsletters |
| Emailit | Free plan, 3,000 credits/mo (up to 100 emails/day, 3 sending domains) | $25/mo billed monthly or $20/mo billed yearly (Pro, 100,000 credits/mo, audiences up to 50,000); pay as you go $2 per 10,000 credits | Yes docs | Official | Developers wanting one EU-hosted API for transactional email and newsletters |
| EngageBay | Free plan, up to 250 contacts (1,000 branded emails), up to 15 users | $12.99/user/mo (Marketing Bay Basic, 500 contacts, 2,500 branded emails); $11.95 billed yearly, $11.04 billed every two years | Yes docs | Official | Small businesses wanting a cheap all-in-one CRM with email |
| Flocknote | Free plan, up to 40 members (Starter, unlimited email and texting) | $10/mo (Starter, 41 to 50 members, monthly); scales with member count; Complete from $75/mo | ? | No | Churches and parishes emailing members |
| Hashnode | Free plan includes blog and newsletter (Hashnode states no subscriber limits) | $5/mo per seat (Pro, custom domain, GraphQL API, MCP access, no branding) | Yes | Official | Developer blogs that want posts emailed to subscribers |
| Icegram Express | Free Lite plugin (1 site, summary reports, forum support) | $99/yr (Max, flat annual price) | ? | No | WordPress and WooCommerce store newsletters |
| Jetpack Newsletter | Free plan, unlimited subscribers and sends (fair usage policy); 10% fee on paid-newsletter revenue plus Stripe fees | $29/mo billed monthly or $348/yr ($23/mo) billed yearly (Jetpack Pro, 2% fee on paid subscriptions) | Yes docs | Official | WordPress bloggers sending posts by email |
| Laposta | Free plan, up to 2,000 contacts (12,000 emails/mo, Laposta mention in every email) | EUR 210/yr subscription (about EUR 17.50/mo, excl. 21% VAT, priced by active contacts); or mail credits from EUR 9 per send, no subscription | Yes docs | No | Dutch organizations and municipalities sending newsletters |
| LinkedIn Newsletters | Free for LinkedIn members (LinkedIn Help says all members can create a newsletter; no price stated) | None published (no paid newsletter tier stated) | ? | ? | Professionals growing a subscriber base inside LinkedIn |
| Mail Mint | Free plugin (download from vendor, also on WordPress.org); vendor comparison lists unlimited contacts and emails, with abandoned-cart and advanced automations paid only | $75/yr billed annually (Starter, 1 site; listed as a sale price, regular $149.99) | ? | ? | WooCommerce stores that want email inside WordPress |
| Maileroo | Free plan, 3,000 outbound emails/mo (2 sending domains) | $10/mo (Basic, 25,000 emails/mo), billed monthly | Yes docs | No | Low-cost transactional email sending |
| Noptin | Free plugin version available (limits not listed on pricing page) | $59.60/yr (Personal, 1 site, sale price; regular $149/yr) | Yes docs | No | WordPress bloggers sending post notifications |
| Odoo Email Marketing | Free plan: Email Marketing as your one app, unlimited users (Odoo Online) | US$31.10 or US$38.90/user/mo (Standard, all apps; the page does not label which price is yearly and which monthly); first-year promo shown at US$24.90 | Yes docs | Community | Odoo users adding newsletters to their ERP |
| Patreon | Free to start; posts and emails to unlimited contacts at no cost | 10% of income earned on Patreon, plus payment processing, currency conversion and payout fees | Yes docs | ? | Creators combining a free newsletter with paid memberships |
| Payhip | Free Forever plan, all features including email marketing, 5% transaction fee | $29/mo (Plus, 2% transaction fee); Pro $99/mo (no transaction fee); billed monthly | Yes docs | ? | Digital product sellers who want basic email updates without another tool |
| rapidmail | Free plan, up to 10 contacts (first send to up to 2,000 recipients free) | From EUR 15/mo (Essential, up to 500 contacts, monthly); or EUR 20 per send of 500 emails | Yes docs | No | German-speaking SMBs sending newsletters |
| Sequenzy | Free plan, 2,500 emails/mo with unlimited contacts (emails carry a Sequenzy footer) | $19/mo (Pro, 15,000 emails/mo); scales with email volume up to 5M/mo; monthly or annual billing | Yes docs | Official | SaaS teams wanting campaigns, lifecycle and transactional email in one tool |
| Steady | Free to use; free newsletter subscribers supported; you pay only when you earn | No subscription fee; 10% commission on earnings plus payment provider fees and VAT | Yes docs | No | European creators selling memberships with a newsletter |
| VBOUT | Free plan, 500 emails/mo, 1 seat | $50/mo (Starter) on the plan cards; the comparison section lists Starter at $199/mo; yearly billing saves 10% | Yes docs | No | Agencies wanting white-label marketing automation |
| weMail | Free Forever plan, up to 3,000 subscribers (weMail branding; own sending service required) | $99/yr (Starter, 1 site, billed annually); contact-based pricing also shown from $15/mo (3k to 10k contacts) | Yes docs | No | WordPress sites sending via their own SES or SMTP |
Free and open source or self-hosted (11)
No license fee. You run the software yourself and bring your own sending service.
| Platform | Free tier | Paid from | API | MCP server | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keila | Free self-hosted (open source); no free cloud plan | EUR 8/mo (Keila Cloud XS, 2,000 emails/mo) | Yes docs | Community | Privacy-conscious newsletters powered by open source |
| Listmonk | Free and open source, self-hosted | Free (open source) | Yes docs | Community | Performance and features in a single binary |
| Postal | Free and open source (self-hosted, MIT license) | None; self-hosted, infrastructure costs only | Yes docs | No | Self-hosted SendGrid/Mailgun alternative |
| BillionMail | Free and open source (self-hosted, AGPLv3) | No paid plan; no monthly fees (you run your own server) | ? | No | Technical teams wanting to run their own mail server and newsletter sender |
| Dittofeed | Free and open source (self-hosted, MIT) | $75/mo (Cloud Pro, 10,000 unique users/mo included, then per-user overage); 14-day free trial | Yes docs | No | Product teams wanting a self-hostable Customer.io-style tool |
| Mautic | Free and open source (self-hosted); 14-day free hosted trial | EUR 247.50/mo billed annually or EUR 275/mo quarterly (Managed Mautic Essential by Dropsolid, up to 50K emails and 50K contacts/mo) | Yes docs | Community | Self-hosted marketing automation without per-contact fees |
| The Newsletter Plugin | Free plugin on WordPress.org (self-hosted); vendor FAQ states no limit on subscribers or newsletters | $69 one-time (Essential license, 1 site, includes 1 year of updates and support) | Yes docs | ? | Free self-hosted newsletters on WordPress |
| Notifuse | Free self-hosted (up to 3 workspaces, community support); paid licence key from $290/yr unlocks extra features | $16/mo (Cloud, EU-hosted, starting price; tier limits not stated on the page) | Yes docs | No | Teams wanting a self-hosted newsletter platform under their control |
| phpList | Free and open source (self-hosted); hosted Forever Free account (limits not stated) | $1/mo (hosted 1$ Plan, 9,000 messages, up to 3,000 subscribers); pay-per-subscriber from $8/mo (500 subscribers) | Yes docs | No | Low-cost or self-hosted bulk newsletters |
| Plunk | Free plan, 1,000 emails/mo with Plunk branding; free and open source (self-hosted) | $0.001 per email, pay as you go (no base fee) | Yes docs | Official | Developers wanting transactional plus broadcast email |
| useSend | Free and open source (self-hosted, AGPL-3.0; you pay AWS SES directly) | $10/mo (Cloud, includes 25,000 transactional or 10,000 marketing emails), then $1 per 1,000 marketing emails; billed monthly | Yes docs | No | Developers wanting a self-hostable Resend-style platform with campaigns |
Free plans with a catch (12)
These vendors list a free plan, but it does not send newsletters, it expires, it needs another paid product, or its limits are not confirmed. Listed so nobody signs up expecting a free newsletter tool.
| Platform | Free tier | Paid from | API | MCP server | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flodesk | Free plan for list-building only (forms/landing pages, no email sending) | $25/mo (Lite, up to 1,000 subscribers); subscriber-based | Yes docs | Official | Design-first email marketing for small businesses |
| Stripo | Free plan: 4 exports/mo, 5 test emails/day, 10 stored emails | $20/mo (Basic) | Yes docs | Official | Designing HTML email templates without code |
| Shopify Messaging | 10,000 free emails/month on any Shopify plan | Included with any Shopify plan; overage $1 per 1,000 emails past the free 10k | Yes docs | Official | Emails built for commerce |
| Bitrix24 | Free plan for 1-2 users (basic CRM); email marketing availability on Free not confirmed | From $49/mo billed annually or $69 billed monthly (Basic, 5 users); comparison table lists email marketing from 10,000 emails/mo, but the plan cards list email marketing under Professional ($199/mo billed annually, 100 users) | Yes docs | Official | Teams wanting CRM, collaboration and email in one suite |
| Doppler | Free plan: unlimited emails to 500 contacts for 90 days | From US$10/mo (Contacts plan, monthly, shown as 50% off for the first 6 months); Emails plan from US$134/mo; credits from US$15 | Yes docs | No | Spanish-speaking SMBs in Latin America |
| MailOptin | Free Lite version on WordPress.org with limited features (pricing page lists Newsletters only on Pro and Agency) | $289/yr billed annually (Pro, 3 sites, includes Newsletters and Email Automation); Standard $99/yr (1 site) covers lead generation only | ? | No | WordPress sites growing a list with opt-in forms |
| Pabbly Email Marketing | Free plan, up to 100 subscribers (page also labels it 'Try it free for 30 days') | $17/mo (Standard, 10,000 subscribers; plan card shows it as a discount from $19/mo, while the comparison table lists $14/mo) | Yes docs | No | Bulk sending through your own SMTP |
| Pagecord | Free Classic plan (no newsletter); 14-day Premium trial, no credit card | $4/mo monthly or $39/yr (Premium, email newsletter up to 250 subscribers) | Yes | No | Bloggers who want posts emailed to a small list |
| Pika | Free plan (Pika Pup) with no newsletter subscribers | $6/mo monthly or $5/mo billed annually (Pika Pro, up to 1,000 newsletter subscribers; more on request) | ? | ? | Writers who want a plain blog that doubles as a newsletter |
| Smore | Free trial, no credit card required (pricing page refers to a Free plan but lists no limits) | $99/yr (Basic, 5,000 email sends/mo, billed yearly) | ? | No | Teachers and schools sending family newsletters |
| tinyEmail | Free plan for Shopify stores only, up to 1,000,000 emails/mo, unlimited contacts; otherwise 7-day free trial | $65/mo billed monthly (15,000 emails/mo, unlimited contacts), or $52/mo billed annually ($624/yr); scales with email volume | Yes docs | Official | Shopify stores sending high email volume |
| Write.as | Free plan exists but has no newsletter, and free signups are currently closed | $6/mo billed annually or $9/mo monthly (Pro, newsletter up to 500 subscribers) | Yes docs | ? | Minimalist writers who want email subscribers |
Questions
What is the best free newsletter platform?
It depends on which limit you will hit first. By list size, the largest free plans in this directory are Mailrelay (20,000), Kit (formerly ConvertKit) (10,000), E-goi (5,001). 9 more state no list-size cap but limit something else, such as monthly sends or a cut of paid subscriptions. The tables on this page show each vendor's own wording.
Which newsletter platforms are free with no subscriber limit?
9 of the 74 free plans here state no subscriber or contact cap: Substack, Sendloop, Beacons, Direct Mail, Hashnode, Jetpack Newsletter, Mail Mint, Patreon, Sequenzy. Read the limit next to each one. Several cap monthly sends instead.
How many newsletter platforms have a free plan?
74 of the 237 platforms in this directory have a free plan that can send a newsletter. 11 more are free and open source or self-hosted, and 69 offer a free trial but no free plan.
Is free and open source the same as a free plan?
No. The 11 open source or self-hosted tools cost nothing to license, but you run the server and usually pay a sending service for delivery. A free plan is hosted by the vendor.
Not free, but close
69 more platforms offer a free trial with no free plan. The full comparison table lists all 237, and free vs paid newsletter platforms covers when paying is worth it.