Email Marketing Pricing: Per Contact vs Per Send
Published · updated · 4 min read
Key takeaways
- Per-contact pricing grows with your list whether or not you email it.
- Per-send pricing grows with volume, so a big list you email rarely is cheap.
- Mailchimp's free tier covers 500 contacts; Essentials starts around $13/mo.
- Brevo prices by sends (free 300/day, Starter from $9/mo), not by contacts.
- Kit is free up to 10,000 subscribers; beehiiv is free up to 2,500.
- Importing an old list is the most expensive thing you can do on per-contact pricing.
The ranking at a glance
| # | Tool | Pricing | Twinover Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kit (ConvertKit) | freemium | 8.6 |
| 2 | beehiiv | freemium | 8.5 |
| 3 | Brevo | freemium | 8.4 |
| 4 | Mailchimp | freemium | 8.3 |
The two billing models
Per-contact pricing means you pay for rows in your database. Per-send pricing means you pay for messages you actually deliver. A 20,000-person list emailed once a quarter is nearly free on a per-send platform and expensive on a per-contact one; a 2,000-person list emailed daily is the reverse.
- Per contact: Mailchimp, Kit, beehiiv — cost tracks list size
- Per send: Brevo — cost tracks how much you email
- Free tiers exist on both models, but the caps are measured differently
Why lists are expensive and emails are cheap
Under per-contact pricing, every subscriber you imported three years ago still counts against your tier, including the ones who never open anything. This is the trap: a list bought at a conference or an old spreadsheet import can quietly push you into a higher tier before you send a single message.
What the free tiers actually include
Mailchimp is free to 500 contacts. Brevo is free for 300 emails a day. Kit is free to 10,000 subscribers, which is unusually generous for a creator platform. beehiiv is free to 2,500 subscribers and adds growth tooling. The practical difference is whether the cap is on your database or on your output.
- Cap on contacts: Mailchimp 500, Kit 10,000, beehiiv 2,500
- Cap on sending: Brevo 300 emails per day
- Automation and segmentation are frequently gated above the free tier
The cost of growing
Per-contact pricing is a staircase, and each step up is a jump rather than a slope: crossing a threshold costs the same whether you exceed it by one subscriber or by a thousand. Per-send pricing is smoother, but it means an unexpected campaign — a launch, a big list push — shows up on next month's bill.
What else you are buying
Beyond delivery, platforms differ in what sits around the email. beehiiv includes an ad network and referral tooling for growing a newsletter. Brevo bundles SMS, WhatsApp and a simple CRM. Kit is built around selling products to subscribers. Mailchimp's value is its integration breadth and analytics.
How to choose without guessing
Write down two numbers: subscribers you have, and emails you plan to send per month. Multiply the second by your list size to get monthly sends. If that number is small relative to your list, a per-send platform is cheaper today and next year. If you send constantly and your list is young, a generous free contact tier is the better deal.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is my email marketing bill going up when nothing changed?
- On per-contact pricing, your bill follows the number of stored subscribers, not how often you send. An import, a duplicate, or an old list you never cleaned can push you into a higher tier on its own.
- Which email platform is free for the biggest list?
- Kit is free up to 10,000 subscribers, which is the most generous contact cap in this group. beehiiv is free to 2,500 subscribers and Mailchimp to 500 contacts. Brevo's free plan is measured by sending volume — 300 emails per day — rather than list size.
- Is per-send pricing always cheaper?
- No. It suits a large list you email occasionally. If you send to everyone constantly, per-send costs climb with volume while a per-contact plan stays flat, so a small, active list is usually cheaper on contact pricing.
- Do I have to pay for automation?
- Usually, yes. Welcome sequences and behavioural automations are commonly reserved for paid tiers even when the free plan lets you store the subscribers. Check the automation limit before you commit to a free plan.