Best email marketing for small business (2026): 6 tools compared

Quick verdict: the right email tool for your business

• Our pick · Best value MailerLite for most shops and service businesses: low prices from 500 to 10,000 subscribers, automations, a website builder, store integrations and 3 seats on Comfort.
• Best for local businesses and events Constant Contact if you run events or want to call someone: live phone and chat support and event registration with payments on every plan, plus a 30-day free trial.
• Best for CRM and sales automation ActiveCampaign for B2B and sales-led businesses: deep automation, contact scoring and deal pipelines through a CRM add-on.
• Best for SMS and transactional email Brevo if you need marketing email, SMS and order or password emails in one account, priced by how much you send.
• Budget pick · Simple newsletters EmailOctopus if you just need to email customers cheaply: free up to 2,500 subscribers.
• Mailchimp mainly if you already use it or rely on one of its integrations.

This page is for small businesses: local shops, restaurants, studios, service firms, online stores and B2B companies emailing customers and leads. If you’re a creator building an audience, our best newsletter tools for creators roundup fits better; if this is your first email tool of any kind, start with best email marketing for beginners.

What small businesses should compare

A shop or service business usually cares less about paid newsletters and more about these six things, so they’re what we compared on each vendor’s pages:

• Who counts toward the price. Most tools bill by contacts, but they count differently. Paying for unsubscribed or bounced contacts adds up when your customer list is years old.
• SMS. Appointment reminders and flash sales often work better by text. Some tools include SMS; others sell it as an add-on, or not at all.
• CRM. If you sell to other businesses, you may want deals and pipelines next to your email.
• Store integrations. Shopify and WooCommerce connections let you email based on what customers buy.
• Support channels. Phone and live chat matter when nobody on your team is an email marketer.
• Seats. How many people can log in without paying extra.

Prices at 500, 2,500 and 10,000 contacts

Each cell shows the monthly price / the per-month price on yearly or prepaid billing for the entry plan that fits that list, from each vendor’s pricing page today. Free plans are noted where they cover the list.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

USD, checked October 7, 2026 on each vendor’s pricing page (sources below). Constant Contact’s second figure is its 12-month prepay price. Brevo prices by monthly email volume; in its plan builder, 5,000 emails include 500 contacts, 10,000 include 1,500, 15,000 include 2,500 and 20,000 or more include up to 500,000. Mailchimp’s page shows monthly prices; it offers annual plans only on Standard and Premium from 10,000 contacts, through sales. At 10,000 contacts its calculator also showed 15% off for the first 12 months ($93.50 a month on Essentials), then the $110 shown. ActiveCampaign’s smallest tier is 1,000 contacts.

How many emails those prices include, by our arithmetic: MailerLite Comfort, Constant Contact Lite, ActiveCampaign Starter and Mailchimp Essentials allow about 10× your contact tier each month, so roughly 25,000 sends at 2,500 contacts. EmailOctopus Pro includes 25,000 at 2,500 and 100,000 at 10,000. Brevo’s cheap 10,000-contact price covers only 2 emails per contact a month; a weekly email to 10,000 people needs about 40,000 sends, which Brevo prices at $46 ($41.42 yearly).

Small-business features compared

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

For a shop, studio or service business that mainly emails customers, MailerLite covers the essentials for less than Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp from 2,500 contacts up, and matches Constant Contact Lite’s $12 at 500 on monthly billing while including more (3 seats and 50 automations, against Lite’s 1 user and 1 automation template). Comfort includes 50 automations, a website builder and landing pages, signup forms, Shopify and WooCommerce integrations with ecommerce triggers, 3 seats and 24/7 email support. It bills on active subscribers, so unsubscribed and bounced contacts don’t push you into a higher tier.

• Price: Comfort $12/month at up to 500 subscribers, $33 at 2,500 and $89 at 10,000, or 10% less billed yearly. Power, with unlimited seats and 24/7 live chat, starts at $25/month. Every tier is in our MailerLite pricing guide.
• Watch-outs: no SMS on its pricing page, no deal pipelines, and transactional emails go through its sister product, MailerSend. Free has community support only after the 14-day trial.
• Nonprofits: 30% off paid plans.

EmailOctopus and Brevo can cost less, as the table shows, but with fewer seats, more limited automations or caps that depend on how often you send. That’s why we call MailerLite the best value rather than the cheapest.

Try MailerLite freeAffiliate link: we may earn a commission if you buy a paid MailerLite plan, at no extra cost to you.

Constant Contact describes itself as built for small businesses and nonprofits, and its plans back that up in two ways that matter locally. Every plan includes live phone and chat support (phone in the US and Canada, weekdays 8am–8pm ET and Saturdays 10am–6pm ET), and every plan can host events: registration forms, free or paid tickets, promo codes, check-in and payments through Stripe or PayPal.

• Price: Lite $12/month at up to 500 contacts, $50 at 2,500 and $120 at 10,000; Standard $35, $75 and $160. Prepaying 12 months saves 15%.
• Trial: 30 days with no credit card, but only 100 sends, and you can’t publish events or landing pages until you pay. New paying customers get a 30-day money-back guarantee on the first monthly payment, which you request by phone.
• Watch-outs: event tickets carry a Constant Contact fee (3.5% for events created on or after August 1) on top of Stripe or PayPal fees. Your tier follows the highest number of active contacts you’ve had, and deleting contacts doesn’t lower it. Lite includes 1 user and 1 automation template.
• Nonprofits: 20% off when you prepay 6 months, 30% off for 12 months.

More detail, including the full fee schedule, is in our Constant Contact guide.

Try Constant Contact freeAffiliate link: we may earn a commission if you buy a paid Constant Contact plan, at no extra cost to you.

If you sell to other businesses, or your sales team follows up on leads, ActiveCampaign is the strongest fit here. Every plan includes contact records, site tracking and Shopify, WooCommerce and Square integrations with abandoned-cart automation. Plus removes Starter’s 5-action cap on automations, adds landing pages and Stripe and PayPal, and unlocks the Pipelines and Sales Engagement add-ons for deals, pipelines, lead scoring and automated 1:1 sales emails.

• Price: Starter $19/month at 1,000 contacts ($15 billed yearly), $49 at 2,500 and $189 at 10,000. Plus is $59, $119 and $239 ($49, $95 and $189 billed yearly). The CRM add-ons cost extra, and the pricing page doesn’t show their prices. All tiers are in our ActiveCampaign pricing guide.
• Watch-outs: no free plan; accounts created since November 3, 2025 pay for every contact, including unsubscribed ones; and sends over your limit cost $0.005 each. Starter is for new customers only.
• Trial and refunds: a 14-day trial with no credit card, and a 30-day money-back guarantee for first-time paid subscribers.

For whether it suits your business beyond price, see our ActiveCampaign guide.

See ActiveCampaign pricingAffiliate link: we may earn a commission if you buy a paid ActiveCampaign plan, at no extra cost to you.

Online stores often need three kinds of messages: marketing emails, texts, and order or password emails sent by their website. Brevo puts all three in one account. Its pricing page says every plan includes transactional email (API and SMTP), and SMS and WhatsApp campaigns are priced by volume and destination. It also has a free Sales tier with 1 seat and up to 50 open deals.

• Price: Brevo prices by monthly email volume, not by contacts. Starter is $9/month for 5,000 emails, $25 for 15,000 and $46 for 40,000, about 10% less billed yearly. Standard, with unlimited automations and branding removed, starts at $18. For costs by list size and how often you send, see our MailerLite vs Brevo comparison.
• Free plan: 300 emails a day with no credit card.
• Watch-outs: on Free and Starter, multi-step automation is limited to 2,000 contacts; removing the “Sent by Brevo” sticker on Starter is a $10.80/month add-on; and phone support starts on Professional ($499/month).

If you only need to send a regular update or offer to your customers, EmailOctopus is hard to beat on cost: it’s free at 2,500 subscribers, and at 10,000 its $44.50 Pro tier includes 100,000 emails a month, where Brevo charges $46 for 40,000. The free plan covers 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month with no credit card. Pro is $10/month at up to 500 subscribers, $20 at 2,500 and $44.50 at 10,000, or about 10% less billed yearly, with unlimited users, landing pages and forms. Every tier is in our EmailOctopus pricing guide.

Watch-outs: its pricing page lists no SMS, CRM or direct store integrations (stores connect through Zapier or Make), and the free plan keeps EmailOctopus branding with 30-day reports. Nonprofits get 20% off.

Visit EmailOctopusReferral link: if you sign up and pay, you get $15 off your first payment and we may earn a $15 account credit.

Mailchimp: if you already use it

Mailchimp is the name many small businesses know, with Shopify and WooCommerce in its integrations list, an SMS add-on in select markets and phone support on Premium. On price it’s hard to justify for a new list: Essentials is $13/month at 500 contacts, $45 at 2,500 and $110 at 10,000, all contacts count (including unsubscribed), and the free plan stops at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. If you’re weighing a move, see our Mailchimp alternatives.

Which tool fits your kind of business?

• Local shop, salon or restaurant: MailerLite if you’re comfortable with email support; Constant Contact if you want phone help or run events and classes.
• Service business (consultants, agencies, trades): MailerLite for newsletters and follow-up automations; ActiveCampaign if leads move through a sales process.
• Online store: MailerLite for Shopify or WooCommerce email at a low price; Brevo if you also want SMS and transactional emails; ActiveCampaign for deeper ecommerce automation.
• B2B company: ActiveCampaign with the Pipelines add-on, or Brevo’s Sales tier if you want a free start.
• Tight budget: EmailOctopus up to 2,500 subscribers free, or Brevo if you email a big list only once or twice a month.

FAQ

What is the best email marketing platform for a small business?

From features and prices, MailerLite is our best-value pick for most small businesses. Constant Contact is better for events and phone support, and ActiveCampaign for CRM and sales automation.

What is the best free email marketing for a small business?

EmailOctopus is free up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month. Brevo’s free plan sends 300 emails a day, and MailerLite’s covers 250 subscribers with automations and a website. Constant Contact and ActiveCampaign have free trials but no free plans.

How much does email marketing cost a small business?

At 2,500 contacts, entry plans in our table run from $0 (EmailOctopus Free) and $25 (Brevo Starter) to $49 (ActiveCampaign Starter) and $50 (Constant Contact Lite) a month on monthly billing, with MailerLite Comfort at $33.

Which email tools include SMS?

Constant Contact (US only; 500 messages a month included on Premium), Brevo (priced by volume and destination), and ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp as add-ons. MailerLite and EmailOctopus don’t list SMS on their pricing pages.

Is Constant Contact or Mailchimp better for a small business?

On monthly prices they’re close: Mailchimp Essentials is $13 at 500 contacts, $45 at 2,500 and $110 at 10,000, against Constant Contact Lite’s $12, $50 and $120. Constant Contact includes phone support and event tools on every plan and a 30-day trial with no card; Mailchimp’s trial asks for payment details, and its phone support is on Premium. We’d pick on support and events rather than price. Our Constant Contact vs Mailchimp comparison has every tier from 500 to 10,000 contacts.

Related

• Best email marketing for beginners
• Constant Contact guide
• ActiveCampaign guide · ActiveCampaign pricing
• MailerLite pricing · EmailOctopus pricing
• Mailchimp alternatives
• Constant Contact vs Mailchimp · MailerLite vs Brevo

Sources (checked October 7, 2026)

• MailerLite pricing page: Comfort and Power prices, seats, support, Shopify and WooCommerce, MailerSend, nonprofit discount
• Constant Contact pricing page and fee schedule: Lite and Standard prices by contact tier, prepay discount, users, SMS, integrations, events, trial, nonprofit discount
• Constant Contact support page: phone and chat hours
• Constant Contact knowledge base: billing and contact tiers, free trial, event payment fees
• Constant Contact money-back guarantee terms
• ActiveCampaign pricing page: plan prices by contact tier, users, integrations, support, add-ons
• ActiveCampaign help: plans and add-ons, which contacts count and send limits and overage
• Brevo pricing page and Brevo feature table: prices by email volume, Free plan, transactional email, SMS, seats, support, Sales packages
• Brevo WooCommerce integration page
• EmailOctopus pricing page: Free and Pro limits and prices, users, support, Zapier and Make
• Mailchimp pricing page and Mailchimp help: about pricing plans: Essentials prices, contact counting, SMS, seats, support, free plan, trial terms

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