Email Marketing Cost Calculator
Move the sliders to match your list size and how many emails you send each month, then pick monthly or yearly billing. Prices update live.
500 · 1,000 · 2,500 · 5,000 · 10,000 · 25,000 · 50,000 · 100,000
1,000 · 2,500 · 5,000 · 10,000 · 25,000 · 50,000 · 100,000 · 250,000
Billing:
Prices checked 8 November 2026; promos change — confirm at checkout.
How to use the email marketing cost calculator
Step 1: move the Contacts slider to the number of contacts on your list. If you use Mailchimp, set it to every contact in your account, including unsubscribed ones, because Mailchimp bills for all of them. Step 2: move the Emails slider to how many emails you send each month, across all your campaigns and automations. Step 3: choose Monthly or Annual billing, then read the table. The cheapest plan for your settings is marked Cheapest, and the cost per 1,000 sends shows what each email really costs you.
Worked example: 500 contacts and 2,500 emails a month
Say you have 500 contacts and you send 2,500 emails a month. Mailchimp Essentials costs $13 a month, MailerLite Comfort costs $12, Brevo Starter costs $9, and Constant Contact Lite costs $12. Brevo Starter is the cheapest at $9 a month. Cost per 1,000 sends: Brevo $3.60, MailerLite $4.80, Mailchimp $5.20. Brevo wins here because it charges by emails sent, not by contacts, and 2,500 emails is a small volume. If you sent 10,000 emails a month to the same 500 contacts, the picture would change, because Brevo charges more as your volume rises while the contact-billed plans stay the same.
Contact-billed vs volume-billed
Mailchimp, MailerLite and Constant Contact charge by contacts. You pay for the size of your list, and how many emails you send does not change the price, as long as you stay inside your plan's monthly send limit. Brevo charges by emails sent. You pay for the volume you send, and the size of your contact list does not change the price. So Brevo usually wins at low volume, when you send rarely to a list of any size, and contact-billed tools win when you send a lot, because once your monthly sends pass the point where Brevo's price climbs above the contact-billed plans, the contact-billed plan costs less. That is the trade-off this calculator shows you, with your own numbers.
Free tiers
You can also start for free. Mailchimp's free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. MailerLite's free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 sends a month. Brevo's free plan covers 300 sends a day with no limit on contacts. Constant Contact has no free tier, only a 14-day free trial. A free plan is enough if your list is small and you send rarely; the moment you outgrow the free limits, the paid prices in the table apply.
A few things to know before you choose
MailerLite's Comfort plan used to be called Growing Business. The name changed before May 2025, and the prices in this calculator are the current ones. Brevo lets you hold up to 500,000 contacts on its Starter and Standard plans when you send 20,000 or more emails a month, so Brevo does not cap your list size for the list sizes this calculator covers. And remember that Mailchimp bills for every contact in your account, including unsubscribed contacts, so your bill is based on your total contact count, not on how many people open your emails. If you want a deeper comparison of the tools, read our Best Email Marketing Software for 2026 and the Mailchimp vs Constant Contact review.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest email marketing tool?
It depends on your list size and how much you send. For a small list that does not send much, Brevo is usually cheapest because it charges by emails sent: for 500 contacts and 2,500 emails a month, Brevo Starter costs $9 a month. For a big list that sends a lot, a contact-billed tool such as MailerLite or Constant Contact often costs less, because you pay for the list size and the sends are included. Move the sliders and look for the Cheapest marker to see which wins for your numbers.
What is the difference between contact-billed and volume-billed?
Contact-billed tools (Mailchimp, MailerLite and Constant Contact) charge by the number of contacts in your account. Volume-billed tools (Brevo) charge by the number of emails you send. If you send a lot of emails to a small list, contact-billed is usually cheaper. If you send rarely to a big list, volume-billed is usually cheaper.
How many emails can I send for free?
Mailchimp's free plan allows 500 sends a month to up to 250 contacts. MailerLite's free plan allows 2,500 sends a month to up to 250 subscribers. Brevo's free plan allows 300 sends a day with unlimited contacts. Constant Contact has no free plan, only a 14-day free trial.
Does Mailchimp charge for unsubscribed contacts?
Yes. Mailchimp bills for every contact in your account, including unsubscribed ones. Set the contacts slider to your total contact count, not just the people who are still subscribed, so the price you see matches your bill.
Are these prices current?
The prices were checked on 8 November 2026 on each vendor's pricing page, and the page is updated when they change. Promos change often, so confirm the price at checkout before you buy.