Best Free Email Marketing Software (Yes, Really Free)

Email marketing is not dead. It is the single highest-ROI channel most businesses have. But paying $30-100/month before you have an audience makes no sense.

The good news: there are real, permanent free plans that let you build a list, send campaigns, and set up automations without spending anything. Not 14-day trials. Not "free with your credit card on file." Actually free.

I tested every major email marketing platform and found 12 tools with genuine free plans worth using. Here is what each one actually gives you.

The Quick Comparison

Tool	Free Subscribers	Monthly Sends	Automation	Their branding on your emails?
Kit	10,000	Unlimited	1 workflow	No
Brevo	100,000 stored	~9,000 (300/day)	Yes (2K contacts)	Yes
Sender	2,500	15,000	Full	Yes
EmailOctopus	2,500	10,000	Basic	Yes
Systeme.io	2,000	Unlimited	1 rule + 1 workflow	No
HubSpot	1,000	2,000	Limited	Yes
Loops	1,000	4,000	Full	Yes
MailerLite	500	12,000	Yes	No
Benchmark Email	500	2,500	Lite	No
Omnisend	250	500 (+SMS/Push)	Full	Yes
Mailchimp	250	500	No	Yes
Buttondown	100	~30	No	No

Now let us break down each one.

Kit

Best for: Creators, writers, podcasters, and anyone building an audience.

Kit has the most generous subscriber limit on this list: 10,000 subscribers with unlimited email sends on the free plan. That is not a typo.

What you get for free:

• 10,000 subscribers
• Unlimited email broadcasts
• Unlimited landing pages and signup forms
• Audience tagging and segmentation
• 1 visual automation workflow
• Sell digital products and subscriptions

Limitations:

• Only 1 automation workflow
• No A/B testing
• No deliverability reporting
• Single user only

The verdict: If you are a creator building an audience, Kit is the obvious choice. 10,000 subscribers for free is extraordinary. The ability to sell digital products without upgrading makes it even better.

Brevo

Best for: Businesses with large contact lists but moderate send volume.

Brevo lets you store up to 100,000 contacts for free. The catch is a daily send limit of 300 emails, which works out to roughly 9,000 emails per month.

What you get for free:

• 100,000 contact storage
• 300 emails per day
• Drag-and-drop email editor with templates
• AI content generator
• Advanced segmentation
• Signup forms
• Marketing automation (limited to 2,000 contacts entering automations)

Limitations:

• 300 emails/day hard cap
• Brevo branding on emails
• Automation limited to 2,000 contacts
• Account must be approved before sending

The verdict: If you have a large list but send infrequently (like a monthly newsletter), Brevo is ideal. The 100,000 contact limit is unmatched. Just know the daily cap means you cannot blast your whole list at once.

Sender

Best for: Small businesses wanting the most features for free.

Sender is the tool most people have never heard of, and it might have the best overall free plan on this list. 2,500 subscribers, 15,000 emails per month, and full automation with no feature restrictions.

What you get for free:

• 2,500 subscribers
• 15,000 emails per month
• Full email automation with premade workflows
• Landing pages
• Signup forms and popups
• Transactional email support
• Drag-and-drop email builder
• Unlimited segmentation

Limitations:

• Sender branding on forms, popups, and newsletters

The verdict: The most feature-complete free plan available. Full automation, transactional email, and generous limits. The only trade-off is branding. If you are a small business getting started with email marketing, Sender is hard to beat.

EmailOctopus

Best for: People who want something simple that just works.

EmailOctopus keeps things straightforward: 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month with a clean, no-nonsense interface.

What you get for free:

• 2,500 subscribers
• 10,000 emails per month
• 3 landing pages
• Signup forms
• Basic automations
• Reporting (retained for 30 days)

Limitations:

• EmailOctopus branding on emails
• Support only for the first 30 days
• 30-day report retention
• 3 landing page limit

The verdict: If you want email marketing without the complexity, EmailOctopus is refreshing. It does not try to be everything. It sends emails well, has decent automation, and stays out of your way.

Systeme.io

Best for: Solopreneurs who want email marketing, funnels, courses, and a website in one tool.

Systeme.io is not just an email marketing tool. It is an all-in-one business platform. The free plan gives you 2,000 contacts with unlimited emails, plus sales funnels, an online course, a blog, and a custom domain.

What you get for free:

• 2,000 contacts
• Unlimited emails
• 3 sales funnels
• 1 blog with unlimited posts
• 1 online course
• 1 custom domain
• 1 automation rule and 1 workflow
• Coupon codes
• Unlimited file storage

Limitations:

• 3 sales funnels only
• 1 automation rule and 1 workflow
• 1 course and 1 blog
• No A/B testing

The verdict: If you are a solopreneur who needs more than just email, Systeme.io packs an absurd amount into the free plan. Email marketing, funnels, courses, and a blog all in one place. You could run an entire small business on the free tier. The trade-off is that each individual feature is not as deep as a dedicated tool, but the breadth is unmatched.

HubSpot

Best for: Businesses that want email marketing tied into a full CRM.

HubSpot is known for its CRM, but it also includes free email marketing. The free plan gives you 1,000 marketing contacts and 2,000 emails per month, all connected to HubSpot's CRM where you can track every interaction.

What you get for free:

• 1,000 marketing contacts
• 2,000 emails per month
• Drag-and-drop email builder
• Email templates
• Contact management and CRM
• Forms and landing pages
• Live chat and chatbots
• Basic reporting dashboards

Limitations:

• HubSpot branding on emails
• 2,000 email/month cap fills up fast (a weekly newsletter to 600 people uses it all)
• Limited automation on free plan
• Marketing contacts vs. non-marketing contacts distinction can be confusing

The verdict: If you already use HubSpot CRM or plan to, the email marketing integration is seamless. Having your contacts, deals, and email campaigns in one place is powerful. But if you only need email marketing, the 2,000 email/month limit is tight compared to what Sender, Kit, or Brevo offer for free.

Loops

Best for: SaaS companies that need marketing and transactional email in one tool.

Loops is built specifically for software companies. It combines marketing emails and transactional emails (password resets, welcome emails, notifications) in a single platform.

What you get for free:

• 1,000 contacts
• 4,000 emails per 30-day rolling period
• All features included
• Marketing and transactional email
• Automation and sequences

Limitations:

• 4,000 email cap includes both marketing and transactional sends
• Loops branding on emails
• Big jump to paid ($49/month)

The verdict: If you are building a SaaS product, Loops is purpose-built for you. Having marketing and transactional email in one tool simplifies your stack. The free tier is enough to get your first few hundred users onboarded.

MailerLite

Best for: Small businesses and solopreneurs who care about design.

MailerLite has one of the cleanest interfaces in email marketing. The free plan gives you 500 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month, which is a generous send ratio.

What you get for free:

• 500 subscribers
• 12,000 emails per month
• Drag-and-drop editor
• Email automation builder
• 1 website (built-in website builder)
• 10 landing pages
• Signup forms and popups
• 1 digital product or booking

Limitations:

• 500 subscriber cap
• Single user seat
• Full support only for the first 14 days

The verdict: If design matters to you, MailerLite has the best editor on this list. The built-in website builder and digital product selling on a free plan are nice bonuses. The 500 subscriber cap is the main constraint.

Benchmark Email

Best for: Small businesses wanting AI-powered email creation.

Benchmark Email gives you 500 contacts and 2,500 emails per month with AI tools built into the free plan, including AI-generated headings, text, and images.

What you get for free:

• 500 contacts
• 2,500 emails per month
• AI writing tools (headings, body text, image generation)
• Drag-and-drop email builder
• Tagging and segmentation
• Detailed reporting
• Automation Lite (automated email series)
• Signup forms

Limitations:

• 500 contact cap
• Single user
• "Lite" automation (not the full suite)

The verdict: If you want AI help writing your emails without paying for a separate tool, Benchmark is worth trying. The AI features on a free plan are a real differentiator.

Omnisend

Best for: E-commerce businesses on Shopify or WooCommerce.

Omnisend is built for online stores. The free plan is small (250 contacts, 500 emails/month), but it includes something no other free plan offers: multi-channel marketing with email, SMS, and web push notifications.

What you get for free:

• 250 contacts
• 500 emails per month
• 60 free SMS credits per month
• 500 web push notifications per month
• All features included (workflows, segmentation, templates)
• Unlimited landing pages
• Popups and forms

Limitations:

• 250 contact and 500 email caps are low
• Omnisend branding on emails
• Designed to be outgrown quickly

The verdict: If you run an online store and want to test email + SMS + push notifications together, Omnisend is the only free option that covers all three channels. The limits are tight, but enough to test the waters.

Mailchimp

Best for: People who want a recognized brand name, though the free plan is no longer competitive.

Mailchimp used to have one of the best free plans in email marketing. That is no longer the case. Today, the free plan gives you 250 contacts and 500 emails per month with no automation.

What you get for free:

• 250 contacts (1 audience)
• 500 emails per month (250/day max)
• Pre-built email templates (limited selection)
• Basic reporting
• 1 user seat

Limitations:

• Very low 250-contact and 500-send caps
• No automation on free plan
• Mailchimp branding
• Limited template access

The verdict: Mailchimp is still a solid product, but the free plan has been cut repeatedly over the years. For the same limits, Omnisend gives you more features. For more subscribers, Kit, Sender, or Brevo are far more generous. Hard to recommend unless you specifically need the Mailchimp ecosystem.

Buttondown

Best for: Writers and bloggers who want the simplest possible newsletter tool.

Buttondown is an indie-built, privacy-focused newsletter platform. The free plan is tiny (100 subscribers), but the tool itself is beautifully minimal.

What you get for free:

• 100 subscribers
• Custom domain sending
• Rich text or Markdown editor
• Hosted newsletter archives
• Privacy-first approach

Limitations:

• 100 subscriber cap
• 1 email per day maximum
• No tagging, segmentation, or analytics
• No automation
• Single newsletter only

The verdict: Buttondown is for people who want to write and send, nothing more. If you are a writer or blogger starting a tiny newsletter and you value simplicity over features, it is a lovely tool. Not for marketing at scale.

So Which One Should You Pick?

Stop overthinking it. Here is the shortcut:

• Building a creator audience? Start with Kit. 10,000 free subscribers is unbeatable.
• Running an online store? Try Omnisend for multi-channel, or Sender for the best free features.
• Building a SaaS product? Loops combines marketing and transactional email.
• Need everything in one place? Systeme.io gives you email, funnels, courses, and a blog for free.
• Already using HubSpot CRM? Their free email marketing ties right into your contacts and deals.
• Large list, low send volume? Brevo stores 100,000 contacts for free.
• Want the most features for free? Sender gives you full automation, 2,500 subscribers, and 15,000 emails.
• Care about design? MailerLite has the best editor.
• Just want a simple newsletter? Buttondown or EmailOctopus.

Every tool on this list has a real free plan. Not a trial. Pick one, start building your list today, and upgrade when you actually need to. Not before.