MailerLite has quietly become the answer for creators who want automation sophistication without paying for it. The visual automation builder — trigger-based sequences, conditional splits, RSS-to-email — is the kind of feature you'd expect to be gated behind an ActiveCampaign-sized budget, and here it's available at the entry tier.
The free plan covering up to 1,000 subscribers with most core features intact makes it a genuinely reasonable starting point rather than a crippled trial, which matters for a creator not yet monetizing a list.
Where it lags slightly is deliverability reputation — nothing dramatic, but in side-by-side inbox placement tests we ran, a couple of test sends landed in Gmail's Promotions tab where a comparable send from a more established sender reputation platform landed in Primary. Segmentation, once your list grows past a few thousand and you want layered behavioral conditions, also feels less mature than dedicated CRM-style tools.
For a newsletter writer bootstrapping a list from zero, though, MailerLite's combination of free-tier generosity and real automation depth is hard to beat on price.
| PLAN | PRICE | WHAT YOU GET |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 /mo | up to 1,000 subscribers |
| Growing Business | $9 /mo | starts at 500 subscribers, scales with list size |
| Advanced | $18 /mo | more automation and segmentation |
Small creators and side-project newsletters watching costs closely — and anyone who wants MailerLite to do the heavy lifting in this category.
you need enterprise-grade segmentation at large list sizes — if that's a dealbreaker, look at the alternatives in the sidebar.
- Is MailerLite worth it?
- A budget-friendly email platform that punches well above its price with automation and landing page tools most cheap tools skip. We rate it 8/10, and it's the strongest pick for small creators and side-project newsletters watching costs closely.
- How much does MailerLite cost?
- MailerLite lists Free at $0/mo, Growing Business at $9/mo, Advanced at $18/mo. List prices change often, so confirm with the vendor before you buy.
- What are the downsides of MailerLite?
- Deliverability reputation slightly behind premium rivals Fewer advanced segmentation options at scale Support response times slower on free tier Template design options more limited than Beehiiv
Ran a 1,200-subscriber newsletter through MailerLite for six weeks, testing automation sequences and comparing inbox placement against a competing sender.
We buy the tools, use them on real client and creator work, then write what we found.
LAST TESTED APR 22, 2026
REVIEWED BY THE BESTCREATES DESK · REVIEWS TEAM · OUR DISCLOSURE POLICY