MailerLite free plan explained (2026): limits, the 14-day trial and when to upgrade
Exactly what MailerLite’s Free plan includes, how its 250-subscriber and 2,500-email limits are counted, what happens when you hit them, and which features need Comfort or Power. Everything here comes from MailerLite’s own pricing and help pages.
By the Creator Mail Stack team · Updated October 7, 2026
Quick answer: is MailerLite free?
Yes. MailerLite has a $0 Free plan for up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, with no credit card needed to sign up (checked October 7, 2026).
What you get: 2 seats, 3 automations of up to 5 steps, 1 website, 1 landing page, 3 signup forms and 1 digital product or booking. The MailerLite logo stays on.
The hard limits: over 250 subscribers, sending pauses until you upgrade or trim your list. At 2,500 emails, sending pauses until you upgrade or the month resets. You’re never charged unless you choose to upgrade.
Needs a paid plan: paid newsletters, recurring subscriptions, RSS campaigns, custom domains and removing the logo all need Comfort (from $12/month at up to 500 subscribers) or Power (from $25/month).
Our take: a good, low-risk start for a launch list, not a long-term free home for a growing newsletter.
What the MailerLite Free plan includes
Here’s Free next to the two paid plans, taken from the plan cards and comparison table on MailerLite’s pricing page. MailerLite renamed its paid plans on June 16, 2026: Growing Business became Comfort and Advanced became Power, so older articles may use the old names.
Feature
Free
Comfort
Power
Price
$0
From $12/month ($10.80 billed yearly)
From $25/month ($22.50 billed yearly)
Subscribers
Up to 250
Up to 200,000
Up to 200,000
Monthly emails
2,500
10× the top of your tier (5,000 at up to 500)
Unlimited (fair use)
User seats
2
3
Unlimited
Active automations
3, up to 5 steps each
50, up to 100 steps
Unlimited, up to 100 steps, multiple triggers
Websites and landing pages
1 website and 1 landing page
10
Unlimited
Active signup forms
3
10
Unlimited
Digital products and bookings
1
5
Unlimited
MailerLite logo
Stays on
Can be removed
Can be removed
Paid newsletters and recurring subscriptions
No
Yes
Yes
RSS campaigns and auto resend
No
Yes
Yes
Custom domains for sites and pages
No
Yes
Yes
Support
Live chat for the first 14 days, then community and knowledge base
24/7 email
24/7 live chat and email
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Source: MailerLite’s pricing page and its pricing.md, checked October 7, 2026, in USD. Prices may be subject to applicable taxes.
Also included on Free
MailerLite’s comparison table marks these as included on every plan, Free too:
All three email editors (drag & drop, Simple and custom HTML) and your own templates.
Unlimited groups, tags and dynamic segments.
Embedded forms, pop-ups and promotion pop-ups, with form A/B testing, and email A/B testing.
A website with a blog section, SEO tools and password-protected pages. MailerLite’s Free plan FAQ says the Free website can have up to 5 pages.
Stripe, Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, e-commerce triggers, and more than 100 other integrations.
Pre-built templates, the API, MCP and webhooks are “limited” on Free, and you can’t send email through the API or MCP.
Subscribers: each unique, active email address counts once, even if it sits in several groups or segments. Unsubscribed and bounced contacts don’t count.
Emails: every campaign and automation email counts; a campaign to 200 people uses 200 of your 2,500.
Reset date: on Free, the email allowance resets each month on the date you registered your account. Paid plans reset on the billing date.
Feature limits (automations, forms, websites, landing pages, products) count only active or published items. Drafts don’t count, so you can keep extras unpublished.
What 2,500 emails means in practice. By our arithmetic, 2,500 emails is 10 sends to a full 250-person list each month. A weekly newsletter to 250 people uses 1,000 to 1,250 emails a month (4 or 5 issues), which leaves room for a welcome automation. Sending twice a week to a full list uses 2,000 to 2,500, right up against the cap.
What happens at 250 subscribers or 2,500 emails
MailerLite’s June 16, 2026 update cut Free from 500 to 250 subscribers and from 12,000 to 2,500 monthly emails. Its Free plan FAQ spells out what happens at each limit.
If you go over 250 subscribers
Sending campaigns, running automations and adding subscribers (by hand, through the API or through integrations) are paused.
Your forms and landing pages keep collecting signups, without showing visitors any error.
Nothing is deleted, and you’re not charged unless you choose to upgrade.
To start sending again, upgrade to Comfort or Power, or get back under 250. MailerLite’s Clean up inactive tab helps with the second option. By default it lists subscribers inactive for the last 6 months who received more than 10 emails, and you can unsubscribe or delete them in bulk.
If you hit 2,500 emails in a month
Campaign and automation sending pauses. You can upgrade, or wait for the limit to reset on your next monthly registration date.
If you go over a feature limit
Publish a fourth form, say, and the account enters a restricted state: no creating, activating or editing automations, forms, sites or products, and no sending or imports. Existing forms and pages keep working. Deactivate items to get back under the limit, or upgrade.
Compare MailerLite plans and pricesAffiliate link: if you buy a paid MailerLite plan through it, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The 14-day trial vs the Free plan
Every new MailerLite account starts with a 14-day premium trial. It’s applied the moment you register, with no payment method or plan purchase needed. Per MailerLite’s trial help article:
Same size limits as Free: up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails (test emails don’t count) and 2 users.
Paid features to try: RSS campaigns, auto resend, multiple automation triggers, paid newsletters and recurring subscriptions, the AI writing assistant and smart sending, plus 24/7 live chat.
Not in the trial: custom domains, removing the logo, unlimited sending or users, and a dedicated IP.
When it ends: the account reverts to Free. Nothing is deleted, but paid features switch off, and any automation with multiple triggers stops until you upgrade to Power.
Buying early: if you buy Comfort or Power during the trial, the trial ends and your paid plan starts.
If you send from a custom-domain email, MailerLite only lets you skip domain authentication during the trial, so authenticate before day 14.
What needs Comfort or Power
Upgrade when you need one of these. MailerLite’s comparison table puts them on Comfort and Power only:
Paid newsletters and recurring subscriptions, sold through MailerLite’s Stripe integration.
Removing the MailerLite logo from newsletters, landing pages and websites.
RSS campaigns to email new blog posts automatically, and auto resend.
Custom domains and custom code on your website and landing pages.
The AI writing assistant, smart sending, multivariate testing, the preference center and email support.
Power only: unlimited monthly emails, unlimited seats, multiple automation triggers, 24/7 live chat and partner discounts.
What Comfort and Power cost by list size
Subscribers (up to)
Comfort, monthly
Comfort, billed yearly (per month)
Comfort emails/month
Power, monthly
Power, billed yearly (per month)
500
$12
$10.80
5,000
$25
$22.50
1,000
$19
$17.10
10,000
$39
$35.10
2,500
$33
$29.70
25,000
$49
$44.10
5,000
$49
$44.10
50,000
$69
$62.10
10,000
$89
$80.10
100,000
$129
$116.10
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
USD, from the price data on MailerLite’s pricing page and MailerLite’s pricing.md, checked October 7, 2026. Yearly billing saves 10%. Power emails are unlimited, subject to fair use. Prices may be subject to applicable taxes. Tiers above 10,000 subscribers are in MailerLite pricing.
How upgrading works. Account settings → Plan and billing → Upgrade, then pick Comfort or Power at your list size. On a paid plan, MailerLite moves you up a tier automatically when you pass your limit, with a notice first. Nonprofits get 30% off; only one discount applies at a time.
The first paid step. At 251 to 500 subscribers, Comfort costs $12 a month, or $10.80 billed yearly. By our arithmetic, that’s $129.60 a year on yearly billing.
Who the Free plan suits, and who it doesn’t
Good fit Start on Free if…
You’re launching a newsletter and expect fewer than 250 subscribers for a while.
You want a welcome email or short onboarding sequence from day one. Free includes 3 automations.
You want to try the editors, forms and website builder before paying.
You’re selling one digital product or taking bookings on a small scale.
Poor fit Look elsewhere (or pay) if…
You already have more than 250 subscribers to import.
You want to charge for your newsletter from the start. That needs Comfort or Power.
You need your own domain on your site, no MailerLite logo, or RSS-to-email.
You send several times a week. 2,500 emails goes fast on a full list.
If you need a bigger free list:EmailOctopus’s free Starter plan covers 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, with its branding on emails and 1 landing page and 1 form. Its pricing page lists landing pages and forms but no website builder, and it doesn’t cover paid subscriptions (checked October 7, 2026). Referral link: if you sign up and pay, you get $15 off your first payment and we may earn a $15 account credit.Kit’s free plan goes up to 10,000 subscribers but has no visual automations. For the details, see MailerLite vs EmailOctopus and Kit vs MailerLite.
FAQ
Is MailerLite free?
Yes. The Free plan costs $0 for up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, with no credit card needed (checked October 7, 2026).
Is MailerLite free forever?
MailerLite’s pricing page lists Free at $0 per month and doesn’t set a time limit. When the 14-day trial ends, your account drops to Free rather than closing. Over 250 subscribers, though, sending pauses until you upgrade or remove subscribers.
What are the MailerLite free plan limits?
250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, 2 user seats, 3 active automations of up to 5 steps, 1 website (up to 5 pages) and 1 landing page, 3 active signup forms and 1 digital product or booking, with the MailerLite logo on, and live chat support for the first 14 days, then community support.
What happens if you go over 250 subscribers on MailerLite Free?
Campaigns, automations and new subscriber imports are paused until you upgrade or get back under 250. Forms keep collecting signups, nothing is deleted, and you aren’t charged unless you choose to upgrade.
Can you run a paid newsletter on MailerLite’s free plan?
No. Paid newsletters need Comfort (from $12/month) or Power (from $25/month), though you can try them during the 14-day trial. Free does let you sell 1 digital product or booking.
Can you remove the MailerLite logo on the free plan?
No. MailerLite’s help center says removing the logo is a paid feature on Comfort and Power, and the trial doesn’t include it either.
MailerLite help: Free plan update FAQ: Free plan limits, how subscribers and emails are counted, what happens over the limits (checked October 7, 2026)
Kit pricing page: Kit free plan subscriber limit (checked October 7, 2026)
MailerLite is a trademark of its owner. We run Creator Mail Stack independently, and it is not endorsed by MailerLite. We’re in MailerLite’s affiliate program, as described in the disclosure. Found something out of date? Tell us.
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