Two budget email tools with opposite trade-offs: EmailOctopus has the bigger free list and lower prices; MailerLite has more tools, including paid newsletters.
By the Creator Mail Stack team · Updated October 4, 2026
Quick verdict
Pick EmailOctopus if you run a free newsletter and want to stay on a free plan for longer. Its free plan holds 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, against MailerLite Free’s 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails. By our arithmetic, that’s 10× the subscribers and 4× the sends.
Pick MailerLite for the wider toolset: a website builder, RSS campaigns and paid newsletters on Comfort or Power. It stays our “Best budget email marketing” pick.
On price, EmailOctopus Pro is lower at every list size we could compare: $10 vs $12 a month at up to 500 subscribers, $13.50 vs $19 at up to 1,000, and $20 vs $33 at up to 2,500 (each vendor’s published monthly-billing prices, October 4, 2026).
Don’t pick EmailOctopus for a paid newsletter. Its pricing page doesn’t cover paid subscriptions; MailerLite’s pricing comparison table lists “Send paid newsletters” and “Sell recurring subscriptions” on Comfort and Power (not Free), and its paid-newsletter feature page offers subscriptions from Comfort.
How we made this comparison. We compared vendor pricing pages. Every MailerLite figure comes from mailerlite.com/pricing (plan cards, price slider, comparison table and FAQ), with paid newsletters and the trial cross-checked on MailerLite’s paid newsletters page and trial help article, and every EmailOctopus figure from its pricing page and features page, all checked October 4, 2026, in USD. We don’t buy or trial the tools ourselves, and we left out anything the vendors’ pages don’t state.
Side-by-side
Dimension
MailerLite
EmailOctopus
Free plan subscribers
Up to 250
Up to 2,500
Free plan sends
2,500 emails/month
10,000 emails/month
Free plan extras and caps
3 automations (5 steps each) · 1 website & 1 landing page · 3 signup forms · 2 user seats · community support
1 landing page and 1 form · 1 user · reports kept 30 days · email support, plus chat for the first 30 days
Free trial of paid features
14-day trial of premium features for new accounts, no credit card (trial capped at 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails)
No free trial; EmailOctopus suggests starting on the free plan
Starting paid price (up to 500 subscribers)
Comfort $12/month billed monthly, or $10.80/month billed yearly
Pro $10/month billed monthly, or $9/month billed yearly
Pro $20/month (monthly billing) at 1,001–2,500, 25,000 emails/month
Yearly billing discount
“Save 10%”
“Save 10%”
Paid newsletters
Yes, on Comfort and Power (send paid newsletters, sell recurring subscriptions)
Not covered on its pricing page
Branding removal
Comfort and Power remove the MailerLite logo
Pro removes EmailOctopus branding
Website builder
Yes (1 website on Free, 10 on Comfort, unlimited on Power)
Not listed; landing pages only
Users
2 seats on Free, 3 on Comfort, unlimited on Power
1 on Free, unlimited on Pro
Nonprofit discount
30% on paid plans
20% lifetime
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Sources: mailerlite.com/pricing and emailoctopus.com/pricing, both checked October 4, 2026, in USD. MailerLite says its prices may be subject to applicable taxes. EmailOctopus’s slider doesn’t give us a monthly email allowance for its 501–1,000 tier, so we left that cell out.
Strengths and watch-outs
Our pick · Best budget email marketing
MailerLite Wider toolset, small free plan
Strengths
Paid newsletters and recurring subscriptions on Comfort and Power
Website builder, RSS campaigns and auto-resend on paid plans
Watch-outs
Free plan: 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month
Going over 250 on Free locks sending until you upgrade or remove subscribers
Costs more than EmailOctopus Pro at each tier we compared
MailerLite Free covers up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month and 2 user seats. It includes 3 automations of up to 5 steps, 1 website, 1 landing page, 3 signup forms and all three email editors. The MailerLite logo stays on.
EmailOctopus Starter covers up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, with no time limit and no credit card. You get 1 landing page, 1 form and 1 user. Emails carry EmailOctopus branding, and reports are kept for 30 days.
The contrast in one line: MailerLite Free gives you more tools on a small list. EmailOctopus Free gives you a bigger list with fewer tools.
What happens when you outgrow free. MailerLite’s pricing FAQ says that when a free account goes over 250 active subscribers, sending (campaigns and automations) is locked until you upgrade or remove subscribers. EmailOctopus’s FAQ says that if your list grows past your plan, it moves you to the plan that fits and emails you when that happens.
Both tools price paid plans by list size, and both show “Save 10%” for yearly billing. These are the tiers both pricing pages publish, on monthly billing:
Subscribers
MailerLite Comfort
MailerLite Power
EmailOctopus Pro
Up to 250
Free plan covers it ($0)
—
Free plan covers it ($0)
Up to 500
$12/month (5,000 emails)
$25/month (unlimited emails)
$10/month (10,000 emails)
Up to 1,000
$19/month (10,000 emails)
$39/month
$13.50/month (501–1,000)
Up to 2,500
$33/month (25,000 emails)
$49/month
$20/month (1,001–2,500; 25,000 emails)
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Sources: MailerLite pricing slider (Comfort and Power, monthly billing; Comfort billed yearly is $10.80, $17.10 and $29.70 a month) and EmailOctopus pricing slider, both checked October 4, 2026. Comfort sends 10× the top of your tier; Power is unlimited (fair use).
The real money point: EmailOctopus’s free plan covers lists that would need a paid MailerLite plan. At 1,000 subscribers, EmailOctopus Starter is $0, while MailerLite needs Comfort at $19/month on monthly billing ($17.10/month billed yearly). At 2,500 subscribers it’s $0 against $33/month ($29.70 billed yearly). The trade: EmailOctopus branding, 30-day reports and a 10,000-email monthly cap (Comfort’s cap at the up-to-1,000 tier is also 10,000).
If you want to compare the paid plans directly, EmailOctopus Pro costs less at each published tier. By our arithmetic (not a vendor figure), on monthly billing that’s $2 less a month at up to 500 subscribers ($12 − $10), $5.50 less at up to 1,000 ($19 − $13.50) and $13 less at up to 2,500 ($33 − $20).
Creator features compared
Editors. MailerLite has three editors (drag & drop, custom HTML, simple) on every plan. EmailOctopus has a drag-and-drop editor and brand-colour templates; Pro adds full design control.
Automations. MailerLite’s visual automation builder is on every plan: 3 active automations on Free, 50 on Comfort and unlimited on Power, with multiple triggers on Power. EmailOctopus lists automated sequences on its features page.
Forms and pages. MailerLite: 3 forms and 1 landing page on Free, 10 of each on Comfort, unlimited on Power. EmailOctopus: 1 form and 1 landing page on Free, unlimited on Pro.
Segmentation. Both have tags and segments: MailerLite lists unlimited dynamic segments and interest groups on all plans; EmailOctopus lists fields, tags and segmentation.
Blog to email. MailerLite lists RSS campaigns on Comfort and Power. RSS isn’t among the EmailOctopus features we verified, so check with EmailOctopus if you need it.
Earning money. MailerLite lists paid newsletters and recurring subscriptions on Comfort and Power. EmailOctopus’s pricing page doesn’t cover paid subscriptions.
Gaps to weigh
MailerLite
The free plan is small, and going over 250 subscribers locks sending.
Paid newsletters, RSS campaigns, logo removal and custom domains for your pages all need Comfort or Power.
Comfort caps sends at 10× your tier (5,000 a month at up to 500 subscribers).
EmailOctopus
No publication website, app or network, and its pricing page doesn’t cover paid subscriptions.
Free emails carry EmailOctopus branding, and reports only last 30 days.
One form, one landing page and one user on Free.
The 10,000-email monthly cap on Free: by our arithmetic (not an EmailOctopus figure), roughly four weekly sends to 2,500 subscribers reach the 10,000 monthly cap (4 × 2,500 = 10,000), so a five-send month or a welcome sequence goes over it at that list size.
No free trial (pricing FAQ); EmailOctopus points you to the free plan instead.
Which should you choose?
Lean EmailOctopus if…
Your newsletter is free and you want to stay on a $0 plan past 250 subscribers.
You need campaigns, a form and a welcome sequence, not a website.
You want the lower paid price of these two at your list size, and unlimited users on the paid plan.
Lean MailerLite if…
You plan to charge for your newsletter or sell recurring subscriptions.
You want a website builder and RSS campaigns in the same tool.
You’d like to try premium features on a 14-day trial before paying.
It depends on what you need. EmailOctopus is better for a free newsletter on a budget: 2,500 free subscribers vs 250, and lower Pro prices at every tier we compared. MailerLite is better if you need paid newsletters or a website builder (October 4, 2026).
Is MailerLite free?
Yes. MailerLite Free covers up to 250 active subscribers and 2,500 emails a month; go over 250 and sending is locked until you upgrade or remove subscribers. New accounts also get a 14-day premium trial with no credit card. EmailOctopus’s free limit is 2,500 subscribers.
Does the MailerLite free plan include automation?
Yes, with limits: 3 active automations of up to 5 steps each. EmailOctopus lists automated sequences among its features.
Which is cheaper as my list grows?
EmailOctopus, at every tier both publish: on monthly billing, Pro is $10, $13.50 and $20 a month at up to 500, 1,000 and 2,500 subscribers, against MailerLite Comfort’s $12, $19 and $33.
Can I run a paid newsletter on either?
MailerLite lists paid newsletters and recurring subscriptions on Comfort and Power. EmailOctopus’s pricing page doesn’t cover paid subscriptions, so we don’t recommend it for paid newsletters.
Start on EmailOctopus’s free planReferral link: if you sign up and pay, you get $15 off your first payment and we may earn a $15 account credit.
https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing: Free, Comfort and Power plan cards, price slider by subscriber tier, full comparison table and pricing FAQ (checked October 4, 2026)
https://emailoctopus.com/features: editor, automations, forms, landing pages, segmentation, reports and integrations (checked October 4, 2026)
MailerLite and EmailOctopus are trademarks of their owners. We run Creator Mail Stack independently, and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by either company beyond the EmailOctopus referral relationship described in the disclosure. Found something out of date? Tell us.
Creator