5 Constant Contact alternatives in 2026: pricing, free plans and who each one suits

Constant Contact is a solid choice for many small businesses and nonprofits. Every plan comes with live phone and chat support, event registration and social posting, and its 30-day money-back guarantee lowers the risk of trying it. But it isn't the right fit for everyone, and the reasons are usually visible on its own pricing page: no free plan, tight limits on the entry plan, and custom automation reserved for the top tier.

This guide starts with those limits, so you can tell whether they affect you, then compares five alternatives using the same fields for each. Every fact about Constant Contact and the alternatives comes from the vendors' own pricing pages and help centers, read in October 2026. One of the five, EterMail, is our product; we say so where it appears.

Why people look for a Constant Contact alternative

These points come from Constant Contact's own pricing page as of October 2026. Whether they matter depends on how you use email.

• There is no free plan. Constant Contact offers a free trial with no card required, then plans start at $12/month (Lite), $35/month (Standard) and $80/month (Premium) for the smallest contact tier. Prepaying for 12 months saves up to 15%. If you have a small list and no budget, a free plan elsewhere may be enough.
• The entry plan is narrow. Lite includes 1 user, 1 automation template, 1 custom segment and basic reporting. Email scheduling and subject line A/B testing start on Standard.
• Custom automation is Premium-only. Standard adds 3 automation templates, an AI campaign builder and resend to non-openers. Custom automations, ecommerce automation templates and ecommerce segmentation need Premium.
• Send limits and overages. Monthly sends are capped at 10x your contacts on Lite, 12x on Standard and 24x on Premium. Above that, Constant Contact charges $0.002 per extra send ($2 per 1,000).
• SMS is US-only. Constant Contact's SMS marketing is available to paid-plan customers in the US only.
• The nonprofit discount needs prepayment. Nonprofits get 20% off when prepaying six months or 30% off for 12 months, but no discount on monthly billing.

If none of these bother you, and you value phone support and built-in event tools, Constant Contact may still be your best option. Our Mailchimp vs Constant Contact comparison goes deeper on that choice.

Constant Contact alternatives at a glance

All five have a permanent free plan, which addresses one of the most common reasons people look beyond Constant Contact. The differences are in what each one charges for and who it's built for.

1. Mailchimp

Best for: small businesses that want a well-known all-round tool, a free start and more automation on a mid-tier plan.

Pricing model: contacts and plan tier, with a monthly send limit of 10x (Essentials), 12x (Standard) or 15x (Premium) your contact limit. Mailchimp's help center says subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts all count toward your total; archived, cleaned and deleted contacts don't. Its pricing page currently shows first-year introductory prices, so check your own tier there.

Free plan or trial: Free plan for up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month (250 a day), with one seat and no automation flows. A 14-day trial of Essentials or Standard is available; a card is required.

Automation: none on Free, flows of up to 4 steps on Essentials, and up to 200 flows on Standard and Premium.

Where it beats Constant Contact: a real free plan, and multi-step automation on its middle plan rather than its top one. Generative AI features are included at no extra cost on Standard and Premium.

Where Constant Contact is better: live phone support on every plan (Mailchimp offers phone support on Premium) and built-in event registration.

2. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

Best for: businesses with a large list they email occasionally, and teams that also need transactional email such as order confirmations.

Pricing model: monthly email volume. As of October 2026, Starter is from $9/month and Standard from $18/month, both starting at 5,000 emails a month; Professional is from $499/month including up to 150,000 emails. At the lowest volume tiers there is also a contact cap (Brevo's pricing data lists 500 contacts at 5,000 emails a month); from 20,000 emails a month, Starter and Standard allow up to 500,000 contacts.

Free plan or trial: Free plan with up to 300 emails a day once your account is approved, no card required.

Automation: Brevo lists marketing automation from Standard; Starter includes advanced segmentation and forms that can trigger a follow-up email. Standard adds unlimited multi-step workflows, A/B testing and web and event tracking.

Where it beats Constant Contact: transactional email features (API, SMTP relay, webhooks) on all plans, a generous free plan, and volume-based pricing that suits big lists.

Where Constant Contact is better: phone support from the entry plan (Brevo's starts on Professional), unlimited users on Premium, and built-in event tools.

For a head-to-head, see Mailchimp vs Brevo.

3. MailerLite

Best for: small businesses, creators and nonprofits that want a simple, low-cost newsletter tool with solid automation.

Pricing model: active subscribers and send volume. MailerLite says unsubscribed and bounced subscribers don't count. As of October 2026, Comfort starts at $12/month and Power at $25/month. Comfort includes 10x the top of your subscriber tier in monthly emails; Power has no fixed monthly email cap, subject to MailerLite's fair use policy. Annual billing saves 10%, and MailerLite offers nonprofit discounts.

Free plan or trial: Free plan for up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month and 2 user seats. Every new account gets 14 days to try premium features, no card required.

Automation: the Free plan includes automations (3 active, 5 steps each). Comfort allows 50 active automations; Power has unlimited automations with multiple triggers.

Where it beats Constant Contact: a free plan that includes automation, and a lower starting price for a paid plan with multivariate testing, auto-resend and an AI writing assistant.

Where Constant Contact is better: live phone support (MailerLite offers email support on Comfort and 24/7 live chat on Power), built-in event payments and social posting.

4. Klaviyo

Best for: ecommerce stores, especially on Shopify, that want automation and segments built on order and browsing data.

Pricing model: active profiles, meaning people you can reach. Klaviyo says unsubscribed and suppressed contacts don't count toward billing. Each tier includes a monthly email send capacity. SMS is billed separately as committed spend. Klaviyo's pricing page uses a plan builder rather than a fixed price list, so enter your profile count there.

Free plan or trial: Free plan for up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month, plus $5 of mobile messages and $5 of Composer (Klaviyo's AI agent) usage a month. Email support is included for the first 60 days on Free.

Automation: automated flows triggered by what customers do in your store. Klaviyo's Shopify integration brings customer profile and order data into Klaviyo and supports onsite tracking.

Where it beats Constant Contact: depth of ecommerce data, segmentation and automated flows. Constant Contact's ecommerce templates and segmentation are on Premium only.

Where Constant Contact is better: for non-ecommerce organizations, Constant Contact's events, social posting and phone support are a better fit. Klaviyo has more to learn. Our Klaviyo vs Mailchimp comparison explains the ecommerce side in detail.

5. EterMail (our product)

EterMail is our product, so read this entry with that in mind.

Best for: online stores, SaaS products and apps that want AI to draft their campaigns and flows, with a person approving every send by default.

Pricing model: per email, paid in credits. 1,000 credits cost $1; a marketing email costs 2 credits (about $2 per 1,000 emails) and a cold email 5 credits. AI features are billed by usage. Plans: Free $0, Starter $19, Growth $49, Pro $149 and Ultra $299. Top-ups of $10, $50 or $200 are valid for 365 days. See pricing.

Free plan or trial: Free plan with 1,000 credits a month and up to 1,000 contacts, no card. A 14-day trial of Growth includes 2,000 credits; a card is required, and nothing is charged if you cancel.

Automation: ready-made flows for welcome, browse abandonment, abandoned checkout, post-purchase and win-back, plus flows triggered by custom events from your app. AI drafts them from your brand, and by default you approve before anything sends. AI can also make the pictures: on-brand banners, or scenes built from your real product photo, with an optional short greeting.

Where it beats Constant Contact: a free plan, pricing that doesn't charge per contact, and cold outreach from your own Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or SMTP mailboxes, with a shared reply inbox.

Where Constant Contact is better: EterMail has no event registration, no SMS and no social posting, and it isn't listed in the Shopify App Store (stores connect with a read-only custom app). For a nonprofit that runs events, Constant Contact remains the better fit.

How to choose

Start from the reason you're leaving.

• "I don't want to pay yet." Mailchimp, Brevo, MailerLite and EterMail all have free plans. MailerLite's includes automations; Brevo's allows the most sending.
• "I need automation without paying for a top tier." MailerLite Comfort, Mailchimp Standard or Brevo Standard.
• "My list is big and I don't email it often." Price Brevo (billed by emails sent) or EterMail (billed per email). Contact-based tools charge for the whole list.
• "I run a Shopify store." Klaviyo is built for ecommerce; Mailchimp Standard is a lighter option. Our guide to email marketing for small businesses covers the flows to set up first.
• "I need order confirmations and password resets too." Brevo includes transactional email on every plan.
• "I need phone support and events." Stay with Constant Contact, or check whether your events tool connects to the alternative you choose.

Switching from Constant Contact

A move goes smoothly if you do it in this order:

1. Export your contacts with their subscription status. Bring over only people who are subscribed.
2. Set up your sending domain in the new tool: SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, and a from address on your own domain.
3. Rebuild your key emails (welcome email, newsletter template, event or order flows) before you cancel Constant Contact.
4. Start with your most engaged contacts for the first few sends, then widen to the full list.
5. Cancel once your first campaigns have gone out from the new tool.

An example of a short note to send from the new tool, so subscribers recognize you:

FAQ

What is better than Constant Contact?

It depends on what you need. Mailchimp and MailerLite have free plans and more automation on mid-tier plans. Brevo suits large lists and transactional email. Klaviyo goes deeper for ecommerce stores. Constant Contact remains strong if you want phone support and built-in events.

Is there a free version of Constant Contact?

No. Constant Contact offers a free trial with no credit card required, and paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. As of October 2026, plans start at $12/month for Lite.

Is Mailchimp cheaper than Constant Contact?

For very small lists, yes: Mailchimp's Free plan covers up to 250 contacts at no cost, while Constant Contact has no free plan. For paid plans it depends on your contact count and Mailchimp's current introductory offer, so compare both pricing pages with your own numbers. Remember that Mailchimp counts unsubscribed contacts until you archive them.

What is the cheapest alternative to Constant Contact?

All five alternatives here have a free plan. Among paid plans, as of October 2026, Brevo Starter starts at $9/month for 5,000 emails and MailerLite Comfort starts at $12/month. The cheapest option for you depends on your list size and how often you send.

What do nonprofits use instead of Constant Contact?

Many nonprofits look at Mailchimp, which offers nonprofits 15% off, and MailerLite, which offers nonprofit discounts and a free plan with automations. If you run events, check that your events or donation tool connects to the email tool you choose, since Constant Contact's built-in event tools won't come with you.