Free Kit alternatives
Kit's free plan is the most generous here by subscriber count: 10,000, where Mailchimp gives 250. The catch is in the second column — one basic visual automation, because sequences are the paid product.
Free tiers below, ranked by what you can actually ship on, with the limit that stops you first named in every row.
The limit that bites first
Kit wins on subscriber count by a distance. Read the third column before deciding that settles it.
| Provider | Free tier | What stops you first | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | Up to 10,000 subscribers with one basic visual automation | One basic visual automation — sequences are the paid product | Permanent |
| Sender | 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, with automation included | Volume, eventually. Automation, landing pages and forms are all included | Permanent |
| Email Bump | 5,000 contacts and 5,000 emails a month | A 'Powered by Email Bump' badge on marketing footers. No daily cap; domains and seats unlimited | Permanent |
| EmailOctopus | 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, with EmailOctopus branding | EmailOctopus branding on every send, 30-day reports, 1 user, 1 form | Permanent |
| beehiiv | Up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited email sends | No ad network, no paid subscriptions and no Send API on the free plan | Permanent |
| Buttondown | Up to 100 subscribers | 100 subscribers, and automations are a $29/mo add-on | Permanent |
| Brevo | 300 emails a day, forever, with contact storage into the tens of thousands | 300 a day is a hard daily wall that doesn't roll over | Permanent |
| MailerLite | 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, 2 seats, 3 automations | 250 subscribers and 3 active automations | Permanent |
| Zoho Campaigns | 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and 5 users | Volume — but 5 users, where most free plans allow one | Permanent |
| Mailchimp | 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, capped at 250 a day, 1 seat | 250 a day, which bites before the 500-a-month limit does | Permanent |
| Benchmark Email | 500 contacts and 2,500 sends a month, 1 user, 1 domain | 500 contacts, 1 user and 1 sending domain | Permanent |
| Flodesk | A free plan with forms, landing pages and segmentation | Forms and landing pages, but sending needs a paid plan | Permanent |
| Omnisend | 250 contacts, 500 emails a month and 500 web push notifications | 250 contacts — an evaluation allowance, not a plan | Permanent |
| listmonk, Mautic, Keila, Sendy | Free or one-time licence | The software costs nothing; your sending provider and your time still do | Self-hosted |
From each vendor's own pricing page. Free tiers change more often than paid ones — check before you commit a launch to one.
How to read these, after 10,000 free subscribers
Subscribers or sequences — rarely both. Kit's free plan is enormous on subscribers and allows one automation. Sender inverts that: 2,500 subscribers with workflows included. Decide which ceiling you'd rather live under before comparing anything else.
Broadcast limits. Kit's free broadcasts are unlimited, which is unusual. Several plans below cap monthly sends at a multiple of your list, so a large free subscriber count elsewhere doesn't always mean you can email them.
Branding. Kit reserves branding removal for Creator. EmailOctopus, Loops and Email Bump also brand free-plan email; MailerLite and Sender don't. Worth a look if the newsletter is the product.
Subscribers or automation — free plans rarely give both
Kit gives 10,000 subscribers and one automation. Sender gives 2,500 subscribers and full workflows. MailerLite gives 250 subscribers and three automations. Email Bump gives 5,000 contacts with unlimited flows and segments.
So the question is which constraint you'd rather have. A newsletter with a large list and no sequences is exactly what Kit's free plan is built for, and nothing here beats it for that. A small list running a five-step onboarding programme is the opposite shape, and Kit's free tier can't do it at all.
Worth noting that Kit's free plan also includes unlimited landing pages, forms and email broadcasts — so the ceiling really is automation specifically, not the product generally.
Kit alternatives, asked and answered
Is Kit's free plan really 10,000 subscribers?
Yes, and it's the most generous subscriber allowance in this comparison by a distance. It includes unlimited broadcasts, landing pages and forms.
The limit is one basic visual automation. Sequences and unlimited automations arrive on Creator at $33/mo.
What is the best free Kit alternative?
If you need automation on a free plan, Sender — 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 monthly emails with workflows included. Or Email Bump: 5,000 contacts with unlimited flows, live segments and a transactional API.
If you want a bigger free tier for pure publishing, beehiiv gives 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sending and a hosted website.
Does Kit brand free-plan emails?
Branding removal is listed as a Creator-plan feature, so the free tier carries it. EmailOctopus, Loops and Email Bump all do the same on their free plans.
MailerLite and Sender don't brand free-plan email, which is worth knowing if that matters to you.
5,000 contacts, unlimited flows, free
Multi-step flows with triggers, waits and branches on the free plan — plus live segments, campaigns and a transactional API on the same key.