March 27, 2026
Email Marketing Tool Pricing Guide: Mailchimp vs ConvertKit vs Beehiiv vs ActiveCampaign
Free tiers are shrinking. Contact-based pricing is under attack. AI is now table stakes. Here's exactly what each tool costs and who it's built for.
At-a-Glance Pricing
| Tool | Free Plan | Entry Paid | Pricing Model | AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | 250 contacts | $13/mo | Per contact | Intuit Assist |
| Kit (ConvertKit) | 10K subscribers | $39/mo | Per subscriber | Minimal |
| Beehiiv | 2,500 subs | $49/mo | Per subscriber | Strong |
| ActiveCampaign | None | $15/mo | Per contact (incl. inactive) | Deep (Pro+) |
Mailchimp — From $13/mo
Free plan reduced again in January 2026 — now just 250 contacts and 500 monthly emails. That's down from 2,000 contacts in 2022. Cumulative 20-30% price increases since the Intuit acquisition.
At 5,000 contacts, expect to pay $75-100/mo depending on your plan. At 10,000 contacts, the Standard plan costs ~$135/mo. Premium jumps to $390/mo at that same contact count.
The billing trap: Mailchimp counts subscribed, unsubscribed, AND non-subscribed contacts toward your limit. That inactive contact from 2019? You're paying for them.
Best for: Small businesses already in the Intuit ecosystem (QuickBooks). Intuit Assist ties financial data to email campaigns — a unique advantage no competitor can match. Still dominates with 60-72% market share.
Kit (ConvertKit) — From $39/mo
Best free plan in the market: 10,000 subscribers with unlimited emails, forms, and landing pages. Deliverability is excellent at 99.8%. The catch: paid plans saw a ~35% increase with the 2024 rebrand, and a significant price hike in September 2025 had some users paying up to 4x more.
Creator plan starts at $39/mo for 1,000 subscribers. At scale, Creator Pro runs $807/mo for 95K subscribers. Annual billing saves ~16%.
The AI problem: Kit's AI is limited to subject line generation and a support chatbot. Every competitor is shipping AI content generation, campaign builders, and automation assistants. If they don't close this gap in 2026, creator loyalty alone won't be enough.
Best for: Creators, bloggers, and newsletter operators who want the best free tier and great deliverability. The Creator Network for cross-promotion and built-in commerce features (sell subscriptions and digital products) make it a strong choice for solo operators.
Beehiiv — From $49/mo
Fastest feature velocity in the space. In the last year alone: AI website builder (screenshot-to-site), podcast hosting, newsletter translation, AI social helper, commission-free digital product sales, and Link in Bio.
Free tier (Launch) gives you 2,500 subscribers with unlimited emails. Scale plan at $49/mo unlocks monetization, surveys, A/B testing, and AI. Max at $109/mo adds white-label and priority support.
Key differentiator: 0% revenue commission vs Substack's 10% cut. 55,000+ creators, 35 billion emails sent, $25M+ in publisher revenue in 2025.
Best for: Newsletter businesses that want to monetize (ads, paid subscriptions, digital products) without giving up a revenue cut. Beehiiv is building a full creator operating system that competes with Substack, WordPress, and Patreon simultaneously.
ActiveCampaign — From $15/mo
No free plan. Starter at $15/mo for 1,000 contacts (annual). But the real costs pile up fast: Plus is $59/mo, Pro is $99/mo. At 10,000 contacts, you're looking at $149-$589/mo depending on tier.
Hidden costs: CRM pipelines ($68+/mo), SMS ($16.83+/mo), custom reporting ($159/mo). Legacy users are seeing 30-63% annual price hikes. Since November 2025, they charge for ALL contacts including inactive — bounces, unsubscribes, unconfirmed.
The upside: Most powerful automation engine in this group — not close. 7 AI features on Pro plan including AI Campaign Builder and AI Automation Builder with natural language. If you need complex multi-step automations with branching logic, nothing else competes.
Best for: B2B teams and e-commerce operators who need sophisticated automation workflows. Budget for Pro tier ($99+/mo) to access the AI features that make it worthwhile.
What You'll Pay at 10,000 Subscribers
| Tool | Entry Plan | Mid Plan | Top Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | ~$100/mo | ~$135/mo | ~$390/mo |
| Kit | ~$119/mo | ~$167/mo | — |
| Beehiiv | $49/mo | $109/mo | Custom |
| ActiveCampaign | $149/mo | $189/mo | $375/mo |
Annual billing where available. ActiveCampaign includes inactive contacts in count.
3 Trends Reshaping Email Marketing Pricing
- Contact-based pricing is dying. Beehiiv's unlimited sends and flat tiers prove alternatives work. Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign making per-contact pricing worse (counting inactive contacts) only accelerates the shift.
- AI is now table stakes. Content generation, send-time optimization, automation builders — if your tool doesn't have these, you're at a disadvantage. Kit is the clearest example of what happens when you fall behind.
- Free tiers are bifurcating. Mailchimp/ActiveCampaign shrink free plans to push conversions. Kit/Beehiiv keep them generous to build network effects. Where a platform sits tells you everything about their growth strategy.
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Published by Flankr. Pricing data sourced from official pricing pages, press releases, and product changelogs as of March 2026.