Best Email Marketing Software in 2026: Free, Hosted and Self-Hosted Tools

The best email marketing software depends on who is sending. Kit, beehiiv and Buttondown are built for creators and newsletter writers, MailerLite, Brevo and Mailchimp serve small businesses, Klaviyo and Omnisend are designed around online stores, and Listmonk is the pick for teams that want to run the software on their own server.

This guide groups the picks by sender type, then covers what free plans actually include. If you are leaving Mailchimp in particular, the Mailchimp alternatives guide goes into reasons and migration. The table shows each pick's pricing model, free options and licence.

How we picked the best email marketing software

Every pick lets you collect subscribers, design and send campaigns and see results. Enlisted records whether each hosted product has a free plan or a trial and what its pricing model is, and for open-source tools it checks the licence, self-hosting support and GitHub activity. Cold outreach tools and developer-only transactional senders are a different job and sit under "More email tools" below. Features come from vendor sites and directory data, not from running campaigns. For the method, see how Enlisted ranks tools, and for the full list, browse the email marketing category.

Best email marketing software for creators and newsletters

Writers need a clean editor, a subscriber list and a way to be paid. These four differ mostly in whether they bundle a website and how much they try to monetize for you.

1. Kit: best for creators who want a free plan that scales to a large list

Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is an email marketing and audience platform for creators. It covers sending to an audience and managing subscribers on a hosted platform with nothing to install.

Enlisted's pricing data lists a free plan sized for a much larger list than most competitors' free tiers, with paid Creator and Pro plans above it and a trial. Prices rise with list size, so check the vendor's page for the current limits and features. See the Kit listing.

• Best for: creators and newsletter writers who expect their list to grow.
• Watch out for: it is closed source, hosted only, and paid pricing rises with subscriber count.

2. beehiiv: best for writers who want a website, growth tools and paid subscriptions

beehiiv is a newsletter platform where writers compose and send issues, publish them on a built-in website and use growth tools such as a referral program. It supports paid subscriptions and advertising options for monetization.

Because the site and the newsletter share one system, a separate blog is optional. It has a free plan and is used by independent writers, media startups and brands running editorial newsletters. See the beehiiv entry.

• Best for: independent writers and small media brands focused on audience growth.
• Watch out for: it is built for publishing, so online stores that need purchase-triggered flows should look at Klaviyo or Omnisend below.

3. Buttondown: best for Markdown writers and developers

Buttondown is a newsletter tool where independent writers compose in Markdown, send or schedule issues and keep a public archive. It has an API for custom integrations and handles subscriber list management.

Enlisted lists a free plan for a small number of subscribers and paid tiers above it that scale with list size, plus optional add-ons. See the Buttondown page.

• Best for: developers and writers who like Markdown and want an API.
• Watch out for: its listing describes writing, archiving and list management rather than visual campaign design or store-based segmentation.

4. Ghost: best open-source platform when the newsletter is part of a publication

Ghost is an open-source publishing platform that combines a blog, newsletters, memberships and paid subscriptions. You can use the Ghost(Pro) managed service or self-host on Node.js, and it is MIT-licensed. The best CMS platforms guide shows how it fits among website platforms.

Where Kit and beehiiv are email-first, Ghost is the website first, with newsletters sent to the people who subscribe to it. Enlisted lists Ghost(Pro) as paid with a trial and no free plan.

• Best for: publishers who want to own a site, newsletter and memberships together.
• Watch out for: it is not a general marketing automation tool, and a self-hosted install needs a bulk-mail provider, as Ghost's own docs state.

Best email marketing software for small businesses

Small businesses usually want templates, a simple automation builder and reasonable pricing. These four are hosted platforms with different centers of gravity.

5. Mailchimp: best-known all-rounder with templates and many integrations

Mailchimp is an email and SMS marketing platform with automations, templates, AI tools, audience management and reporting for small and mid-size businesses. It lists a large integration catalogue, including Shopify, and lead generation tools.

Enlisted lists a free plan, with paid Essentials, Standard and Premium plans that scale with contact count and a Premium trial. The pricing page highlights introductory discounts for the first year, so compare regular rates, too. See the Mailchimp page and the Mailchimp alternatives page.

• Best for: small businesses and non-profits that want one familiar tool for campaigns and follow-ups.
• Watch out for: paid pricing follows your contact count, and there is no self-hosted version.

6. MailerLite: best simple editor with landing pages for small teams

MailerLite is an email newsletter and automation tool with an AI-assisted drag-and-drop editor, landing pages and a simple website builder. Automations can fire on subscriber behavior, and the product adds email notifications triggered by activity on a site or app.

It has a free plan with a small subscriber allowance, a trial of paid features and paid plans that rise with subscriber count. See the MailerLite listing or MailerLite alternatives.

• Best for: newsletter writers and small teams that want a clean editor, landing pages and basic automation.
• Watch out for: paid pricing scales with subscribers, and it is hosted only.

7. Brevo: best for email, SMS and a CRM in one account

Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, is an engagement platform that combines email and SMS campaigns, marketing automation, a built-in CRM, live chat and transactional messaging by email, SMS and WhatsApp. Integrations include Shopify, WordPress and Stripe.

Enlisted lists a free-forever plan, with paid plans priced by email volume. Brevo prices by email volume, where Mailchimp and MailerLite price by contacts or subscribers, so compare both models against how often you send. See the Brevo page, and the HubSpot alternatives guide for its CRM side.

• Best for: small businesses that want campaigns and transactional email in the same account.
• Watch out for: its breadth is more than a newsletter-only writer needs.

8. ActiveCampaign: best for behavior-based automation tied to a CRM

ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation platform with email campaigns, a built-in sales CRM, SMS and WhatsApp messaging and transactional email. Its site says it targets growing businesses and lists a large catalogue of app integrations.

Enlisted lists it as paid, and the vendor advertises a free trial rather than a permanent free plan. See the ActiveCampaign entry.

• Best for: businesses that want automated nurture sequences connected to sales data.
• Watch out for: there is no free plan, and automation-heavy platforms take longer to set up than a plain newsletter tool.

Best email marketing software for ecommerce

Stores need email that reacts to shopping behavior: abandoned carts, post-purchase follow-ups and segments built from order history. Both tools below connect to store platforms, and the best ecommerce platforms guide covers the stores themselves.

9. Klaviyo: best for stores that segment by purchase and browsing data

Klaviyo is a marketing platform that sends email and SMS using ecommerce store data, now positioned as a B2C CRM with AI agents. Stores segment customers from order and browsing data and build campaigns and automated flows such as abandoned cart and post-purchase messages. It also lists WhatsApp, RCS and mobile app messaging, reviews and analytics.

Enlisted lists a free plan limited by active profiles and monthly emails, with paid email and email-plus-SMS tiers. See the Klaviyo page.

• Best for: online stores that want store data driving every segment and flow.
• Watch out for: it is built around ecommerce data, so a store-less newsletter gains little from it.

10. Omnisend: best for stores that combine email, SMS and web push

Omnisend is an email and SMS automation platform for online stores, with integrations for Shopify and WooCommerce. It adds web push messaging, automation flows triggered by shopper behavior and AI-built signup forms, plus AI insights on audience trends.

Enlisted lists a free plan with monthly send and contact limits, and paid Standard and Pro plans priced by contacts, so list prices are not stated on the page. See the Omnisend listing.

• Best for: small and mid-size stores running cart abandonment and welcome flows.
• Watch out for: it is store-focused and hosted only, and you will need to confirm paid pricing on the vendor's site.

Best self-hosted and open-source email marketing software

Open-source email software gives you control over your list and data and removes the per-subscriber platform fee. It does not remove sending costs, because someone still has to deliver the mail.

11. Listmonk: best lightweight self-hosted newsletter and list manager

Listmonk is a self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager shipped as a single Go binary with PostgreSQL storage, a web dashboard and campaign management. It is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and installs with Docker or as a plain binary. Mail goes out through an SMTP server you configure.

Enlisted lists no hosted version from the project. See the Listmonk page and the live card for release activity.

• Best for: technical teams that want to send to a large list without a per-subscriber platform fee.
• Watch out for: you run the server and connect a sending provider, so deliverability setup is your job.

12. Mautic: best open-source marketing automation platform

Mautic is open-source marketing automation software that covers email campaigns, contact segmentation and multi-channel marketing, and lets you keep everything in your own database. It is closer to a self-hosted marketing suite than to a newsletter app.

Its licence is listed as "Other", and managed hosting through partners is a paid service. See the Mautic entry.

• Best for: marketing teams with technical help that want automation journeys they control.
• Watch out for: setup is heavier than for a list manager, and you still need a way to send email at volume.

Other self-hosted options: Notifuse adds a visual MJML builder, A/B tests and automation flows, phpList is AGPL-3.0 and manages queue throttling and bounces, Plunk is an AGPL-3.0 email platform for transactional mail and campaigns, and Sendy is a proprietary self-hosted app sold for a one-time fee that sends through Amazon SES. For the delivery layer, Postal is an MIT-licensed mail platform you can run on your own servers.

Is there free email marketing software?

Yes, in three forms, and each has a catch.

• Free hosted plans: Kit, MailerLite, Brevo, Mailchimp, beehiiv, Buttondown, Klaviyo and Omnisend list one. The caps differ: some limit subscribers or contacts, Klaviyo limits active profiles and monthly emails, and Omnisend limits monthly emails and contacts. Brevo advertises a free-forever plan, and Kit's free plan is aimed at larger lists than the others.
• Free software you host: Listmonk, phpList, Plunk, Notifuse and Mautic have no licence fee for the self-hosted version, though some have paid editions, and you pay for servers and sending.
• Free trials: ActiveCampaign, GetResponse and Moosend offer trials rather than free plans.

Check which features the free tier leaves out, because some plans omit parts of the workflow: Flodesk's free plan, for example, covers forms and landing pages but not sending. Read the limits against your list size, and plan for the day you outgrow them.

More email tools

• GetResponse: email, autoresponders, landing pages and webinars from one platform.
• Mailjet: marketing campaigns plus transactional email through APIs.
• Constant Contact: small business campaigns with templates, event promotion and surveys.
• Flodesk: design-led email for creators, though its free plan covers forms and landing pages rather than sending.
• Customer.io and Braze: event-driven, multichannel messaging for product and engagement teams.
• lemlist, Instantly and Smartlead: cold outreach tools, a different job from newsletters and campaigns.
• Substack: a hosted publishing platform for writers who want subscriptions without managing a site.

How to choose the best email marketing software

Start with how you collect subscribers and how you will be paid back: a newsletter business, a store and a service company need different tools. Test two free plans against your real list size, check what the free tier removes, and only then compare paid pricing. Any self-hosted choice should come with a budget for a sending service and time for domain authentication and bounce handling.