MailerLite Free Plan Cut in Half: Best Alternatives for 2026

TL;DR: MailerLite reduced its free plan from 1,000 to 500 subscribers in September 2025—joining Mailchimp in a broader industry trend of shrinking free tiers. For organizations that outgrew these limits, Groupmail offers the best combination of simplicity, human support, and nonprofit pricing (30% discount on all paid plans). EmailOctopus provides the most generous free tier at 2,500 contacts. If you're staying under 500 contacts and want affordable automation, MailerLite's paid plans starting at $10/month still represent solid value.

If you've been using MailerLite's free plan to send updates to your members, you may have received an unwelcome email in late 2025: your free account now supports half as many contacts. This wasn't a glitch—MailerLite deliberately cut their free tier from 1,000 to 500 subscribers, pushing growing organizations toward paid plans earlier than expected.

Disclosure: We're the team behind Groupmail—simple email software for organizations since 1996. We'll be upfront about where we fit and honest about alternatives.

What Changed with MailerLite's Free Plan

MailerLite announced that starting September 23, 2025, the subscriber limit on their Free plan would drop from 1,000 to 500 contacts. The monthly email limit of 12,000 remained unchanged, but for organizations with growing lists, the contact ceiling became the constraint.

Here's what happens if you're over the new limit: sending stops. Your scheduled emails won't go out, automations pause, and you can't manually add new subscribers. Your forms and landing pages continue collecting signups, but those new contacts sit in limbo until you either pay or delete enough people to drop below 500.

The timing matters. Many organizations experience natural list growth over years—a church adds new families, a PTA gains members as children enroll, an association slowly expands. Accounts that comfortably fit within 1,000 contacts suddenly find themselves hitting a paywall.

💡 Tip: Before switching platforms, export your MailerLite contacts as a CSV file. Go to Subscribers → Export. This ensures you won't lose data during any transition.

Why Free Email Plans Keep Shrinking

MailerLite isn't alone. The entire email industry has been tightening free tiers over the past several years.

Mailchimp reduced its free plan from 2,000 to 500 contacts and cut monthly sends from 10,000 to 1,000. They also removed automation from the free tier entirely. Buttondown limits free accounts to just 100 subscribers. Even generous platforms like EmailOctopus have held steady rather than expanding.

The business logic is straightforward: free users cost money to support (servers, deliverability infrastructure, customer service) without generating revenue. As venture capital funding tightens and profitability becomes the priority, these costs get scrutinized. The result is smaller free tiers and earlier pressure to upgrade.

For nonprofits, schools, churches, and associations operating on tight budgets, these changes create real friction. A tool that worked fine for years suddenly requires a credit card.

What Organizations Actually Need from Email Tools

Before evaluating alternatives, it helps to clarify what you're actually looking for. Most organizations sending member updates need far less than what complex platforms offer.

Essential features for member communication:

• Simple editor for creating newsletters without design expertise
• Contact management with basic list organization
• Scheduling to send at convenient times
• Basic reporting showing opens and clicks
• Reliable delivery to inboxes (not spam folders)

Features most organizations don't need:

• Multi-branch automation workflows
• E-commerce integrations and product recommendations
• A/B testing across dozens of variables
• Predictive analytics and AI segmentation
• SMS and WhatsApp marketing

The mismatch between what email platforms offer and what organizations need explains why tools like Mailchimp feel overwhelming. They're built for e-commerce marketers running sophisticated campaigns—not the volunteer coordinator who needs to tell 300 families about next week's bake sale.

Key Takeaway: The best email tool for your organization is one that does what you need without charging for features you'll never use.

6 Best MailerLite Alternatives for Organizations

1. Groupmail

Best for: Organizations wanting simplicity, human support, and quick setup Pricing: Free (500 contacts) | Starter €25/month | 30% nonprofit discount Website: groupmail.io

Groupmail takes a deliberately different approach from platforms chasing feature parity with Mailchimp. Instead of adding complexity every year, we've focused on removing friction for organizations that just want to send member updates.

Setup takes about 10 minutes. There's no mandatory onboarding wizard or training videos. You import your contacts, create an email, and send. The interface makes immediate sense, which matters when your volunteer coordinator changes annually and nobody has time to learn a complex system.

What sets Groupmail apart is the BYOSMTP model. Rather than relying on shared sending infrastructure, you connect your own email service like SendGrid or Amazon SES. This typically improves deliverability since emails come from your domain, and it keeps costs predictable as your list grows.

The 30% nonprofit discount applies to all paid plans, and the Starter plan at €25/month (€17.50 after discount) stays under typical board-approval thresholds. When you have questions, you talk to real humans who know the product—not chatbots or ticket queues.

The trade-off is intentional simplicity. You won't find sophisticated automation workflows or dozens of integrations. If you need those, look at MailerLite or Brevo. But if you want to send updates without becoming an email marketing expert, Groupmail delivers exactly that.

Key Takeaway: Groupmail is purpose-built for organizations that want to send member updates without the learning curve. The nearly 30-year track record and human support provide peace of mind that newer tools can't match.

2. MailerLite (Paid Plans)

Best for: Organizations wanting affordable automation features Pricing: Free (500 contacts) | Growing Business $10/month | 30% nonprofit discount Website: mailerlite.com

Despite the free plan reduction, MailerLite remains a strong option—especially on paid tiers. The Growing Business plan at $10/month for 500 subscribers includes unlimited emails, newsletter templates, and removes the MailerLite branding. For organizations with 1,000+ contacts, costs scale reasonably: $15/month for 1,000 subscribers, $25/month for 2,500.

The 30% nonprofit discount matches the best in the industry. For a small church with 1,500 members, that drops the monthly cost from $15 to about $10.50—quite affordable for reliable email infrastructure.

MailerLite's automation features are genuinely useful without being overwhelming. You can create welcome sequences, schedule recurring newsletters, and segment contacts based on behavior. The drag-and-drop editor is clean and modern.

One consideration: MailerLite requires approval during signup. You'll need to verify your organization before sending, which typically takes 1-2 business days. This gatekeeping helps maintain their strong deliverability reputation, so it's a reasonable trade-off.

3. EmailOctopus

Best for: Budget-conscious organizations prioritizing maximum free contacts Pricing: Free (2,500 subscribers, 10,000 emails/month) | Pro $9/month | 20% nonprofit discount Website: emailoctopus.com/pricing

EmailOctopus offers the most generous free tier in this comparison: 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month. For organizations that prioritize stretching every dollar, this is hard to beat.

The Pro plan starts at $9/month and removes EmailOctopus branding, extends report history, and unlocks unlimited automations. The 20% lifetime nonprofit discount applies once verified—slightly less generous than MailerLite's 30%, but the lower base price often makes it competitive.

The platform intentionally keeps things simple. There's no landing page builder, no website feature, no SMS marketing. EmailOctopus does email, does it well, and doesn't charge for extras you didn't ask for. For organizations that already have a website and just need newsletter capability, this focus is refreshing.

One note: the free plan includes EmailOctopus branding on your emails and limits report history to 30 days. If you need to reference historical data for grant reporting or board updates, you'll want the Pro tier.

4. Brevo (Formerly Sendinblue)

Best for: Organizations sending many emails to fewer contacts Pricing: Free (300 emails/day, unlimited contacts) | Starter $9/month | 15% nonprofit discount (Enterprise only) Website: brevo.com/pricing

Brevo takes a fundamentally different approach to pricing: instead of charging by contact count, they charge by email volume. The free plan allows unlimited contacts but limits you to 300 emails per day (about 9,000 per month).

For organizations with large membership databases but infrequent sending, this model can be advantageous. A professional association with 5,000 members sending a monthly newsletter fits comfortably within free limits. The same organization would pay $30-50/month on contact-based platforms.

The downside: Brevo's nonprofit discount (15%) only applies to Enterprise plans, which start at $10,000/year. Smaller organizations won't see special pricing, though the base rates are reasonable. The Starter plan at $9/month for 5,000 emails removes the daily limit and Brevo branding.

Brevo also includes CRM features, SMS marketing, and WhatsApp campaigns on higher tiers. If you're looking for an all-in-one platform and plan to grow into these features, Brevo offers a path. For organizations that just need email, the extra capabilities may feel like unnecessary complexity.

5. Buttondown

Best for: Minimal text-focused newsletters Pricing: Free (100 subscribers) | Basic $9/month | 50% nonprofit discountWebsite: buttondown.com/pricing

Buttondown is refreshingly different. Built by a solo developer for writers and creators, the platform strips away everything unnecessary. If your organization primarily sends text-based updates without fancy templates or images, Buttondown is worth considering.

The 50% nonprofit discount is the most generous in this comparison. The Basic plan at $9/month drops to $4.50 for verified 501(c)(3) organizations. Even the higher tiers with custom domains and advanced features become remarkably affordable.

The catch: Buttondown's free plan only supports 100 subscribers—too limiting for most organizations. And the platform intentionally lacks drag-and-drop editing, pre-built templates, and landing pages. You write in Markdown or plain text, and emails look like... emails. For some, that minimalism is the point.

Buttondown works well for newsletter-style communication: updates from the executive director, policy briefings, or member announcements. It's less suited for visually designed announcements with images, buttons, and formatted sections.

6. Mailchimp

Best for: Organizations needing maximum integrations Pricing: Free (500 contacts, 1,000 emails/month) | Essentials $13/month | 15% nonprofit discount Website: mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing

Mailchimp remains the most recognized name in email, and if integration with other tools is your priority, nothing else comes close. Salesforce, Eventbrite, WordPress, Squarespace, Shopify—if you use it, Mailchimp probably connects to it.

That said, Mailchimp has grown considerably more complex and expensive. The free plan now limits you to 500 contacts and 1,000 emails per month. Automation was removed from free accounts entirely in late 2025. And Mailchimp counts all contacts—including unsubscribed—toward your plan limits unless you manually archive them.

The 15% nonprofit discount applies to paid plans, but you must request it before purchasing and provide documentation (501(c)(3) letter for US organizations). The discount can't be combined with other offers or applied retroactively.

For organizations already deeply integrated with Mailchimp, switching may not be worth the effort. But for those evaluating options fresh, the combination of reduced free tier, complexity, and contact-counting policies makes alternatives more attractive than ever.

⚠️ Watch out: Mailchimp counts unsubscribed contacts against your plan limits. You might be paying for people who can't receive your emails.

Quick Comparison Table

Which Tool Is Right for You?

Choose Groupmail if: You want to send member updates without becoming an email marketing expert. The intentionally simple interface, human support, and 30% nonprofit discount make it ideal for organizations that value straightforward over sophisticated.

Choose MailerLite if: You need automation features at an affordable price. The 30% nonprofit discount and clean interface make it excellent for organizations ready to set up welcome sequences or automated reminders.

Choose EmailOctopus if: Budget is your primary constraint. The 2,500-subscriber free tier gives growing organizations runway before they need to pay anything.

Choose Brevo if: You have many contacts but send infrequently. The email-based (not contact-based) pricing can be economical for organizations with large databases.

Choose Buttondown if: You send text-focused updates and value simplicity over design. The 50% nonprofit discount makes it the most affordable paid option for qualifying organizations.

Choose Mailchimp if: You need integrations with specific tools (Salesforce, Eventbrite, etc.) that other platforms don't support. The complexity tax may be worth paying for ecosystem compatibility.

Making the Switch

If you decide to leave MailerLite for another platform, the migration process is straightforward.

Step 1: Export your contacts. In MailerLite, go to Subscribers → Export. Download as CSV.

Step 2: Export your templates. If you have custom email designs you want to preserve, save the HTML or take screenshots for reference.

Step 3: Sign up for your new platform. Most tools offer free tiers or trials, so you can explore before committing.

Step 4: Import your contacts. Upload the CSV file. Map fields (email, name, etc.) to match the new platform's structure.

Step 5: Recreate your signup forms. Update embedded forms on your website to point to the new platform.

Step 6: Test before going live. Send yourself a test email to verify everything works correctly.

The entire process typically takes 30-60 minutes. The hardest part is often updating embedded forms across your website—but even that is usually just swapping one code snippet for another.

Conclusion

MailerLite's free plan reduction follows a broader industry pattern. As email platforms mature and focus on profitability, free tiers shrink and paid plans become the expectation rather than the exception.

For organizations watching every dollar, this creates pressure to find the right balance between cost and capability. The good news: alternatives exist that prioritize simplicity over feature bloat, and most offer meaningful nonprofit discounts.

If you're affected by MailerLite's changes, now is a good time to evaluate whether your current tool still fits. The best email platform is one you can set up in minutes, use without frustration, and trust to deliver your messages reliably—without paying for features you'll never touch.

Ready to send your first update? Try Groupmail free – set up in 10 minutes, no credit card required. Built for organizations, not marketers.