If you looked at email tools last year, your notes are wrong now. In July 2026 MailerLite — long the budget-pick default — cut its free plan from 500 subscribers and 12,000 sends a month to 250 subscribers and 2,500 sends. Meanwhile Kit (the platform formerly called ConvertKit) hands out 10,000 subscribers free. That's a 40x gap between two 'free plans'. Here's the honest state of play.
Get Kit (free) if: you want the longest free runway that exists — up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited sends. The trade: Kit branding on emails, and just one automation, one form and one landing page on the free tier. For a small business sending a weekly letter, that's plenty for a year or more. It's the free tier we'd pick ourselves today.
Get Beehiiv (free) if: you're building a newsletter as a product — its Launch plan covers 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends, and the platform's referral/growth features are the best of the three when you outgrow free (Scale from ~$43/mo billed annually).
MailerLite now: still a polished, well-priced PAID tool (plans from roughly $10-12/mo) — but with a 250-subscriber free cap, its famous advantage is gone. Existing free accounts: check your dashboard against the new limits before your next send.
| Kit | 10,000 subscribers free, unlimited sends · 1 automation, 1 form, 1 landing page · Kit branding on emails · paid Creator from $33/mo (annual) at 1,000 subs when you need more automations and no branding |
| Beehiiv | 2,500 subscribers free (Launch), unlimited sends · newsletter-first feature set, referral program tools on paid · Scale from ~$43/mo (annual), Max from ~$96/mo |
| MailerLite | 250 subscribers / 2,500 emails per month free (since 1 July 2026; was 500 / 12,000) · 3 automations, 3 forms, 1 landing page · paid from ~$10-12/mo |
Send twice a week and the math gets real fast. At MailerLite's 250-subscriber cap you're already brushing the 2,500 monthly send limit (250 × ~9 sends). Beehiiv's 2,500 subscribers at the same cadence is ~22,500 sends — free. Kit at its ceiling would be ~90,000 sends a month — free. For a list you actually intend to grow, the free tiers are no longer comparable products.
Kit's free tier is a funnel, not a gift: one automation means your welcome sequence is it — no branching flows until you pay, and Creator at 1,000+ subscribers ($33/mo annual) is pricier than MailerLite's paid entry. Kit is betting you'll grow into paying more; take the free runway with eyes open.
Beehiiv's numbers assume annual billing — monthly billing runs higher; and its strength is newsletters specifically, not e-commerce flows.
MailerLite's change applies to existing accounts too — their help pages confirm the new limits roll out to everyone, so a 400-subscriber free list built last year now needs a decision.
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Build my free AI Stack →Effective 1 July 2026, MailerLite's free plan dropped from 500 subscribers and 12,000 emails/month to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/month, with caps of 3 automations, 3 forms and 1 landing page. MailerLite's own help pages confirm the change applies to existing free accounts as well.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit): up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited sends — versus Beehiiv's 2,500 (Launch) and MailerLite's 250. Kit's free tier limits you to one automation, one form and one landing page, with Kit branding on emails.
It's genuinely free at that scale, with unlimited sends. The catches: Kit branding on your emails, a single automation/form/landing page, and a paid tier (Creator, from $33/mo annual at 1,000 subs) that costs more than rivals' entry plans once you do upgrade. It's a growth funnel — a very generous one.
Starting from zero in 2026: Kit free for the longest runway, or Beehiiv free if you want newsletter-native growth features and plan to monetize the letter itself. MailerLite remains a good paid product, but its free tier no longer fits a list you intend to grow past 250 people.
| Claim | Source | Retrieved |
|---|---|---|
| MailerLite free plan from 1 July 2026: 250 subscribers / 2,500 emails/mo (was 500 / 12,000); 3 automations, 3 forms, 1 landing page; applies to existing accounts | mailerlite.com/help/free-plan-update-faq + emailoctopus.com pricing-update note | 2026-08-06 |
| Kit free plan: up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited sends; 1 automation / 1 form / 1 landing page; Kit branding | kit.com/pricing + 2026 plan breakdowns | 2026-08-06 |
| Kit Creator paid: from $33/mo annual ($39 monthly) at 1,000 subscribers | kit.com/pricing | 2026-08-06 |
| Beehiiv Launch free: up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends; Scale from ~$43/mo annual; Max from ~$96/mo annual | beehiiv.com/pricing + 2026 pricing reviews | 2026-08-06 |
| MailerLite paid plans from ~$10-12/mo | mailerlite.com/pricing | 2026-08-06 |
| Send-volume math (250×9 ≈ 2,250 vs caps) | Worklever calculation from the limits above — check our math | 2026-08-06 |