{ "source": "https://letterduck.com/downloads/email-pricing-dataset", "license": "Free to use with attribution to letterduck.com", "checked": "August 2026", "providers": [ { "slug": "letterduck", "name": "LetterDuck", "homepage": "https://letterduck.com", "pricing_url": "https://letterduck.com/#pricing", "category": "email-workspace", "as_of": "August 2026", "free_tier": "none (waitlist)", "plans": [ { "plan": "The plan", "monthly_usd": 50, "annual_monthly_usd": null, "unit": "per domain, flat", "limits": "Unlimited addresses, contacts, newsletters, deliverability managed" } ], "math": { "seats_1": 50, "seats_5": 50, "seats_10": 50, "subs_500": 50, "subs_1000": 50, "subs_5000": 50, "subs_10000": 50, "math_notes": "" }, "honest_wins": [], "honest_losses": [], "notable_facts": [], "sources": [] }, { "slug": "google-workspace", "name": "Google Workspace", "homepage": "https://workspace.google.com", "pricing_url": "https://workspace.google.com/pricing", "category": "workspace-suite", "free_tier": "none, 14-day free trial only; no free business plan (the legacy free G Suite edition closed to new signups in 2012)", "plans": [ { "plan": "Business Starter", "monthly_usd": 8.4, "annual_monthly_usd": 7, "unit": "per user / month", "limits": "30 GB pooled storage per user, custom-domain Gmail, 100-participant Meet, limited Gemini (Gmail only), max 300 users" }, { "plan": "Business Standard", "monthly_usd": 16.8, "annual_monthly_usd": 14, "unit": "per user / month", "limits": "2 TB storage per user, 150-participant Meet with recording, Gemini across Gmail/Docs/Meet, max 300 users" }, { "plan": "Business Plus", "monthly_usd": 26.4, "annual_monthly_usd": 22, "unit": "per user / month", "limits": "5 TB storage per user, 500-participant Meet with attendance tracking, Vault/eDiscovery, enhanced security, max 300 users" } ], "math": { "seats_1": 7, "seats_5": 35, "seats_10": 70, "subs_500": null, "subs_1000": null, "subs_5000": null, "subs_10000": null, "math_notes": "Seat math uses the cheapest sensible paid plan: Business Starter at $7/user/month effective on the annual plan ($7 / $35 / $70 at 1/5/10 seats). The landing page's comparison plan, Business Standard, is $14/user/month annual, so 10 people = $140/month, the landing's '$14 per user, 10-person, annual billing' claim is VERIFIED correct as of August 2026. Flexible (month-to-month) billing runs exactly 20% higher: $8.40 / $16.80 / $26.40 per user for Starter/Standard/Plus. Enterprise is quote-only (no published price). Subscriber fields are null: Workspace is per-seat, not per-contact.", "public_note": "Business Starter at $7 per user per month on annual billing. Business Standard is $14 and Business Plus $22. Month-to-month billing costs 20 percent more." }, "honest_wins": [ "Full productivity suite, not just email: Docs, Sheets, Drive, Calendar, Meet, and (since Jan 2025) Gemini AI are bundled into every Business plan at no extra per-feature cost", "Gmail's spam filtering and inbound deliverability infrastructure are best-in-class, and the ecosystem of third-party integrations, admin controls, SSO, and device management is unmatched", "Generous per-user storage on mid tiers (2 TB on Standard, 5 TB on Plus) that covers file storage and backup, not just mailboxes", "Up to 30 free email aliases per user, so one paid seat can answer at many addresses on the domain" ], "honest_losses": [ "Per-seat pricing compounds: every teammate who needs a mailbox is another $7-$22/month, and you cannot mix editions on one domain, if a few people need a Standard/Plus feature, every seat must upgrade", "January 2025 Gemini bundling raised prices roughly 17% across the board (Business Standard annual went $12 to $14/user) whether or not you wanted AI; Google has now raised prices in 2019, 2023, and 2025", "The 'annual' plan is a 12-month commitment (billed monthly but owed for the full year); avoiding the commitment via the Flexible plan costs exactly 20% more per user", "No bulk/newsletter sending: Gmail caps outbound at ~2,000 recipients/day and mass marketing email violates policy, so a newsletter still requires a separate paid tool on top of Workspace" ], "notable_facts": [ "Jan 16, 2025: Google bundled Gemini into all Business plans and raised prices about $2/user/month (Business Standard annual $12 to $14; flexible $14.40 to $16.80); existing subscriptions migrated to the new pricing no sooner than March 17, 2025, and the ~$20/user standalone Gemini add-on was discontinued", "Current US pricing (verified August 2026, unchanged since the Jan 2025 revision): Starter $7, Standard $14, Plus $22 per user/month on annual billing; Flexible monthly billing is exactly 20% higher at $8.40 / $16.80 / $26.40", "All Business editions cap at 300 users; beyond that requires quote-only Enterprise plans with no published price", "Rebrand history: Google Apps became G Suite in 2016, then Google Workspace in October 2020; price increases followed in 2019, 2023, and 2025", "Google's own pricing page geo-serves local currency by IP (e.g., EUR pages show a different structure: monthly-only billing with a 10% first-20-users/12-month intro discount), so US and EU published price structures differ" ], "sources": [ "https://workspace.google.com/pricing (live official page; geo-served EUR from this network, tier structure and limits confirmed)", "https://www.larksuite.com/en_us/blog/google-workspace-pricing (US prices stated current as of July 1, 2026)", "https://www.name.com/blog/google-workspace-pricing (US prices stated current as of January 1, 2026)", "https://9to5google.com/2025/01/15/google-workspace-price-increase-2025/ (Jan 2025 Gemini price-increase announcement, effective dates)", "https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/getting-started/editions/compare-business-editions (official edition limits: 30 GB/2 TB/5 TB storage, 100/150/500 Meet participants, 300-user cap)" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "microsoft-365", "name": "Microsoft 365 Business", "homepage": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business", "pricing_url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/microsoft-365-plans-and-pricing", "category": "workspace-suite", "free_tier": "none (1-month free trial only; free Office web apps for consumers do not include custom-domain business email)", "plans": [ { "plan": "Business Basic (no Teams)", "monthly_usd": 6.48, "annual_monthly_usd": 5.4, "limits": "Custom-domain email, 1 TB OneDrive, web and mobile Office. No Teams." }, { "plan": "Business Basic", "monthly_usd": 8.4, "annual_monthly_usd": 7, "unit": "per user / month", "limits": "Web and mobile Office apps only (no desktop), Teams, 100 GB primary + 50 GB archive mailbox, 1 TB OneDrive per user, up to 300 users" }, { "plan": "Business Standard", "monthly_usd": 16.8, "annual_monthly_usd": 14, "unit": "per user / month", "limits": "Desktop Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook, Teams, 100 GB primary + 50 GB archive mailbox, 1 TB OneDrive per user, up to 300 users" }, { "plan": "Business Standard (no Teams)", "monthly_usd": 12.95, "annual_monthly_usd": 10.79, "limits": "Adds desktop Office apps. No Teams." }, { "plan": "Business Standard with Copilot", "monthly_usd": 23.5, "annual_monthly_usd": 23.5, "unit": "per user / month (annual, paid yearly; no month-to-month shown)", "limits": "Business Standard plus Copilot Business AI; up to 300 users" }, { "plan": "Business Premium", "monthly_usd": 26.4, "annual_monthly_usd": 22, "unit": "per user / month", "limits": "Standard plus Intune, Defender for Business, Entra ID P1, 1.5 TB archive mailbox; up to 300 users" }, { "plan": "Business Premium with Copilot", "monthly_usd": 32, "annual_monthly_usd": 32, "unit": "per user / month (annual, paid yearly; no month-to-month shown)", "limits": "Business Premium plus Copilot Business AI; up to 300 users" }, { "plan": "Apps for business", "monthly_usd": 10, "annual_monthly_usd": 10, "unit": "per user / month (annual, paid yearly)", "limits": "Desktop Office apps + 1 TB OneDrive only; NO business email, no Teams" } ], "math": { "seats_1": 7, "seats_5": 35, "seats_10": 70, "subs_500": null, "subs_1000": null, "subs_5000": null, "subs_10000": null, "math_notes": "Headline seat math uses Business Basic at $7.00/user/mo annual (1/5/10 seats = $7/$35/$70), the plan a buyer sees first and the one our prose compares. Microsoft ALSO sells (no Teams) editions created by the EU unbundling remedy and listed on the US site: Business Basic (no Teams) $5.40 and Business Standard (no Teams) $10.79, both retaining the custom-domain Exchange mailbox. For an email-only buyer $5.40 is the true floor (1/5/10 = $5.40/$27/$54), and it is disclosed in the plan table and public note rather than used as the headline, so the dataset and the page prose cannot disagree. If desktop Office is required, Business Standard is $14.00 annual. LANDING PAGE CORRECTION: the landing copy says $14.50 per person for ten; that is wrong at any point. Business Standard was $12.50 before July 1, 2026 and is $14.00 now. Month-to-month runs 20% higher; an annual commitment paid monthly adds 5% (since April 1, 2025). Verified against microsoft.com compare-all-microsoft-365-business-products, 2026-08-08.", "public_note": "Business Basic at $7 per user per month on annual billing. Microsoft also sells a (no Teams) edition at $5.40 that keeps the custom-domain mailbox, which is the cheaper floor if you do not need Teams. Business Standard, which adds desktop Office, is $14. Month-to-month costs 20 percent more." }, "honest_wins": [ "Full desktop Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook (Standard and up): still the de facto business document standard no email-only workspace can match", "It is a whole collaboration suite, not just email: Teams, SharePoint, 1 TB OneDrive per user, and 100 GB Exchange mailboxes with shared mailboxes and aliases included", "Business Premium bundles serious security tooling (Intune device management, Defender for Business, Entra ID P1) that would cost far more bought separately", "Copilot AI is now bundled into permanent Standard/Premium bundle SKUs at a steep discount versus the old $30/user enterprise Copilot add-on" ], "honest_losses": [ "Across-the-board price hike on July 1, 2026: Business Basic +16% ($6 to $7), Business Standard +12% ($12.50 to $14), Apps for business +21% ($8.25 to $10): the second broad increase in four years", "Billing traps stack up: month-to-month costs 20% more than annual (Basic $8.40 vs $7.00), and since April 1, 2025 even an annual commitment paid monthly carries a 5% surcharge", "Microsoft's pricing pages now foreground the pricier 'with Copilot' bundles ($23.50/$32 per user); the classic $14 Business Standard is easy to miss, and the SKU matrix (Teams/no-Teams, Copilot/no-Copilot) is genuinely confusing to buy", "Per-seat pricing scales linearly with headcount, and all Business plans hard-cap at 300 users, after which you are pushed to costlier Enterprise SKUs" ], "notable_facts": [ "July 1, 2026: US price increases took effect, Business Basic $6.00 to $7.00/user/mo, Business Standard $12.50 to $14.00, Apps for business $8.25 to $10.00; Business Premium unchanged at $22.00. Existing customers keep old pricing until renewal (Microsoft licensing news, 2026 M365 packaging/pricing update)", "July 1, 2026: 'with Copilot' bundles became permanent SKUs, Business Standard with Copilot $23.50/user/mo and Business Premium with Copilot $32.00/user/mo, and Microsoft's plan-comparison pages now show these in place of the classic Standard/Premium tiers (which remain purchasable on the individual product pages)", "April 1, 2025: Microsoft added a 5% surcharge for paying annual-term subscriptions in monthly installments; true month-to-month billing runs 20% above annual (verified live: Basic $8.40 vs $7.00, Standard $16.80 vs $14.00, Premium $26.40 vs $22.00)", "Summer 2026 (June-August rollout): Business plans gained +50 GB mailbox storage (now 100 GB primary) plus Copilot Chat enhancements, positioned as justification for the price increase", "The standalone Copilot Business add-on was repriced at $21/user/mo (down from the $30 enterprise rate) with a promotional ~15% discount reported through December 31, 2026 (Microsoft Community Hub / partner reports)", "All Microsoft 365 Business plans are capped at 300 users; larger orgs must move to Enterprise (E-series) licensing" ], "sources": [ "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/microsoft-365-plans-and-pricing", "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/compare-all-microsoft-365-business-products", "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/microsoft-365-business-basic", "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/microsoft-365-business-standard", "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/microsoft-365-business-premium", "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/news/2026-m365-packaging-pricing-updates", "https://www.whoodentech.com/guides/microsoft-365-price-increase-2026", "https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoft365copilotblog/act-now-lock-in-current-pricing-on-microsoft-365-copilot-business-bundles/4502628", "https://www.massiveit.com/microsoft-365-subscription-updates" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "zoho-mail", "name": "Zoho Mail", "homepage": "https://www.zoho.com/mail/", "pricing_url": "https://www.zoho.com/mail/zohomail-pricing.html", "category": "email-hosting", "free_tier": "Forever Free plan: up to 5 users, 5 GB storage per user, custom email on 1 domain, web + mobile app access only (no IMAP/POP/ActiveSync, so no Apple Mail/Outlook/Thunderbird); available only in select data centers", "plans": [ { "plan": "Mail Lite (5 GB)", "monthly_usd": 1, "annual_monthly_usd": 1, "unit": "per user/month, annual billing ONLY (no monthly option)", "limits": "5 GB/user mailbox, 30 MB attachments (250 MB via Huge Attachments), IMAP/POP/ActiveSync, multiple domains, email routing" }, { "plan": "Mail Lite (10 GB)", "monthly_usd": 1.25, "annual_monthly_usd": 1.25, "unit": "per user/month, annual billing ONLY", "limits": "Same as Mail Lite but 10 GB/user mailbox" }, { "plan": "Mail Premium", "monthly_usd": 4, "annual_monthly_usd": 4, "unit": "per user/month, annual billing ONLY", "limits": "50 GB mail + 50 GB retention per user, 40 MB attachments (1 GB via Huge Attachments), archival/eDiscovery, email backup, S/MIME, white labeling" }, { "plan": "Workplace Standard", "monthly_usd": 4, "annual_monthly_usd": 3, "unit": "per user/month", "limits": "30 GB mail/user + 100 GB shared team storage (3-10 users, +10 GB per extra user), 500 MB Huge Attachments, full office suite (Writer/Sheet/Show/WorkDrive/Cliq/Meeting 100 participants)" }, { "plan": "Workplace Professional", "monthly_usd": 7, "annual_monthly_usd": 6, "unit": "per user/month", "limits": "100 GB mail + 100 GB retention per user, 1 TB shared team storage (3-10 users, +100 GB per extra user), 1 GB Huge Attachments, Meeting up to 1,000 participants / 10,000 viewers" } ], "math": { "seats_1": 1, "seats_5": 5, "seats_10": 10, "subs_500": null, "subs_1000": null, "subs_5000": null, "subs_10000": null, "math_notes": "Cheapest sensible paid plan = Mail Lite 5 GB at $1/user/month, billed annually only ($12/user/year up front). Seat math is linear: 1 seat = $12/yr, 5 seats = $60/yr, 10 seats = $120/yr. There is no monthly-billing option on Mail Lite or Mail Premium at all; Workplace tiers do offer monthly billing at a ~25-33% markup ($4 vs $3 Standard, $7 vs $6 Professional). All figures pulled 2026-08-07 from Zoho's own live pricing data feed (mail-pricing-val.json, USD column) that renders the pricing page.", "public_note": "Mail Lite at $1 per user per month, billed annually only ($12 per user per year, paid up front)." }, "honest_wins": [ "Cheapest credible custom-domain mailbox on the market: Mail Lite is $1/user/month ($12/user/year), roughly 1/7th of Google Workspace Starter", "Genuinely free custom-domain hosting for up to 5 users on the Forever Free plan, which almost no competitor still offers in 2026", "Workplace Standard at $3/user/month (annual) bundles a full office suite (docs, sheets, drive, chat, video meetings) for less than half of Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 equivalents", "Premium tier ($4/user/mo) includes compliance-grade features (retention, eDiscovery, S/MIME, backup) that cost far more elsewhere" ], "honest_losses": [ "Mail Lite and Mail Premium are annual-billing ONLY, verified in Zoho's live price feed as of Aug 2026 ('Yearly subscriptions only'); you must prepay 12 months per seat", "The free plan excludes IMAP/POP/ActiveSync entirely, so it only works in Zoho's own web and mobile apps; connecting Apple Mail or Outlook requires a paid seat", "Per-seat pricing means every additional address that needs its own real mailbox adds a recurring seat cost; costs scale linearly with team size across 2-5 projects", "Free tier is limited to a single domain and is 'available only in select data centers'; users also commonly report friction being upsold from Mail into the wider Zoho app ecosystem" ], "notable_facts": [ "Verified 2026-08-07 directly from Zoho's live pricing JSON (zohowebstatic.com mail-pricing-val.json, USD values): Mail Lite $1 (5 GB) / $1.25 (10 GB), Mail Premium $4, Workplace Standard $3 annual / $4 monthly, Workplace Professional $6 annual / $7 monthly, all per user", "Mail Lite secretly comes in two storage variants, 5 GB at $1 and 10 GB at $1.25 per user/month, a distinction most comparison articles miss", "Annual billing saves 25% on Workplace Standard ($4 to $3) and ~14% on Workplace Professional ($7 to $6); Mail-only plans have no monthly price to discount from", "Workplace Standard shared team storage is 100 GB pooled for teams of 3-10 users, then +10 GB per additional user (1 TB / +100 GB on Professional)", "The Forever Free plan (5 users, 5 GB each, 1 domain) still exists in August 2026 but is web/mobile-app only with no IMAP/POP/ActiveSync and is offered only in select data centers" ], "sources": [ "https://www.zoho.com/mail/zohomail-pricing.html", "https://www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/json/pricing/mail-pricing-val.json", "https://www.zoho.com/workplace/pricing.html", "https://aiproductivity.ai/pricing/zoho-mail/" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "mailchimp", "name": "Mailchimp", "homepage": "https://mailchimp.com", "pricing_url": "https://mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/", "category": "email-marketing", "free_tier": "250 contacts max, 500 email sends/month (250/day cap), 1 seat, Mailchimp branding; cut from 500 contacts / 1,000 sends in January 2026 (effective Feb 17, 2026)", "plans": [ { "plan": "Free", "monthly_usd": 0, "unit": "per month flat (max 250 contacts)", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "250 contacts, 500 sends/mo (250/day), 1 seat, 1 audience, Mailchimp branding; sending pauses at limit" }, { "plan": "Essentials", "monthly_usd": 13, "unit": "per month at 500 contacts (scales with contact tier)", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "Send limit 10x contacts/mo, 3 seats, 3 audiences, A/B testing, 4-step automation flows; 50% off first 12 months for new customers" }, { "plan": "Standard", "monthly_usd": 20, "unit": "per month at 500 contacts (scales with contact tier)", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "Send limit 12x contacts/mo, 5 seats, 5 audiences, up to 200-step flows, custom-coded templates, generative AI; 14-day free trial; 50% off first 12 months" }, { "plan": "Premium", "monthly_usd": 350, "unit": "per month at up to 10,000 contacts", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "Send limit 15x contacts up to 150,000/mo, unlimited seats and audiences, multivariate testing, predictive segmentation, phone/priority support; $620/mo at 25k contacts" } ], "math": { "seats_1": null, "seats_5": null, "seats_10": null, "subs_500": 13, "subs_1000": 26.5, "subs_5000": 75, "subs_10000": 110, "math_notes": "Cheapest sensible paid plan = Essentials, standard monthly billing (headline prices are monthly; the 50%-off promo lasts only 12 months so it is excluded). Tiers verified Aug 2026: Essentials $13 @ 500, ~$26.50 @ 1,000 (1,000 falls in the 501-1,500 tier; 2026 sources quote $26-$26.50), $45 @ 2,500, $75 @ 5,000, $110 @ 10,000. Standard for comparison: $20 / $45 / $60 / $100 / $135 at the same tiers - confirming the landing's 'Standard ~$100/mo at 5,000 contacts' claim. Premium is $350/mo flat up to 10,000 contacts. Official page notes annual plans exist 'for qualified customers' but publishes no per-tier annual prices, so annual fields are left null.", "public_note": "Essentials on monthly billing, the cheapest paid tier. Standard runs $20 to $135 across the same contact counts. First-year promotional discounts are excluded." }, "honest_wins": [ "Deep marketing automation the cheap tools lack: up to 200-step customer journeys, A/B and multivariate testing, predictive segmentation, and send-time optimization", "Large ecosystem: 300+ integrations, e-commerce store connections, and a mature template library plus built-in generative AI content tools", "Established sending infrastructure and analytics benchmarking that a self-hosted or flat-rate workspace has to build reputation for from scratch", "Seats scale generously on paid tiers (3 on Essentials, 5 on Standard, unlimited on Premium) with role-based access" ], "honest_losses": [ "Unsubscribed AND non-subscribed contacts count toward the billable contact total; you pay for people you legally cannot email unless you manually archive them (Mailchimp never archives automatically)", "Steep contact-tier ramp on the cheapest paid plan: $13/mo at 500 contacts becomes $75/mo at 5,000 and $110/mo at 10,000 (Standard: $100 and $135), with overage charges or paused sending when you cross a tier", "Free plan was gutted in January 2026 to 250 contacts and 500 sends/month (250/day) with Mailchimp branding, down from 500 contacts / 1,000 sends", "Send volume is chained to contact count (10x contacts/mo on Essentials, 12x on Standard), so frequent senders are pushed up-plan even with small lists; and it is outbound-only, so a mailbox/inbox still costs extra elsewhere" ], "notable_facts": [ "January 2026: Mailchimp cut the Free plan from 500 contacts / 1,000 sends to 250 contacts / 500 sends per month (250/day cap), effective February 17, 2026", "Billing counts subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed contacts toward the plan limit; manual archiving is the only way to stop paying for dead contacts (confirmed by multiple 2026 pricing analyses)", "As of August 2026 the live pricing page runs a new-customer promo of 50% off for the first 12 months (Essentials $6.50, Standard $10, Premium $175/mo intro), after which standard tier pricing applies", "Verified August 2026 tier prices (monthly billing): Essentials $13/$26.50/$45/$75/$110 and Standard $20/$45/$60/$100/$135 at 500/1,500/2,500/5,000/10,000 contacts; Premium $350/mo up to 10,000 contacts, $620/mo at 25,000", "Landing-page claim check: Standard at 5,000 contacts = $100/mo - CONFIRMED by three independent 2026 sources citing the live pricing page", "Overages: exceeding your contact or send limit triggers overage charges (add-on contact blocks) or paused sending; 15% nonprofit discount available on request" ], "sources": [ "https://mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/ (live page, fetched 2026-08-07)", "https://www.sendx.io/blog/mailchimp-pricing (updated July 2026)", "https://marketerschoice.com/mailchimp-pricing-2026/ (updated May 16, 2026)", "https://blog.groupmail.io/mailchimp-pricing-2026/ (tier table sourced from Mailchimp pricing page, March 2026)", "https://tinycommand.com/blogs/mailchimp-pricing-explained (tier facts cited from mailchimp.com/pricing, June 2026)" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "kit", "name": "Kit (formerly ConvertKit)", "homepage": "https://kit.com", "pricing_url": "https://kit.com/pricing", "category": "newsletter-platform", "free_tier": "Newsletter plan: $0 up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited email broadcasts, unlimited landing pages and forms, audience tagging/segmentation, digital product sales, but only 1 basic Visual Automation, no email sequences, no integrations, Kit branding stays on", "plans": [ { "plan": "Newsletter (Free)", "monthly_usd": 0, "annual_monthly_usd": 0, "unit": "flat, up to 10,000 subscribers", "limits": "Unlimited broadcasts, landing pages, forms; tagging; digital product sales; 1 basic automation; no sequences/integrations; Kit branding" }, { "plan": "Creator", "monthly_usd": 39, "annual_monthly_usd": 32.5, "unit": "at up to 1,000 subscribers", "limits": "Unlimited automations + sequences, integrations, A/B subject tests, branding removal, 24/7 support" }, { "plan": "Creator", "monthly_usd": 59, "annual_monthly_usd": 49.17, "unit": "at 1,001-3,000 subscribers", "limits": "Same features; price steps with list size" }, { "plan": "Creator", "monthly_usd": 89, "annual_monthly_usd": 74.17, "unit": "at 3,001-5,000 subscribers", "limits": "Same features; price steps with list size" }, { "plan": "Creator", "monthly_usd": 119, "annual_monthly_usd": 99.17, "unit": "at 5,001-8,000 subscribers", "limits": "Same features; price steps with list size" }, { "plan": "Creator", "monthly_usd": 139, "annual_monthly_usd": 115.83, "unit": "at 8,001-10,000 subscribers", "limits": "Same features; price steps with list size" }, { "plan": "Creator Pro", "monthly_usd": 79, "annual_monthly_usd": 65.83, "unit": "at up to 1,000 subscribers", "limits": "Adds Subscriber Signals, engagement scoring, insights dashboard, unlimited users, advanced A/B testing, Facebook custom audiences, referral system, priority support" }, { "plan": "Creator Pro", "monthly_usd": 139, "annual_monthly_usd": 115.83, "unit": "at 3,001-5,000 subscribers", "limits": "Same Pro features; price steps with list size" }, { "plan": "Creator Pro", "monthly_usd": 189, "annual_monthly_usd": 157.5, "unit": "at 8,001-10,000 subscribers", "limits": "Same Pro features; price steps with list size" } ], "math": { "seats_1": null, "seats_5": null, "seats_10": null, "subs_500": 32.5, "subs_1000": 32.5, "subs_5000": 74.17, "subs_10000": 115.83, "math_notes": "Creator plan (cheapest paid tier) on annual billing, which is exactly 10x the monthly price (2 months free, ~16.7% off): $390/yr up to 1,000 subs = $32.50/mo (covers both 500 and 1,000); $890/yr at 5,000 subs = $74.17/mo; $1,390/yr at 10,000 subs = $115.83/mo. On monthly billing the same sizes cost $39, $39, $89, and $139/mo. Note the free Newsletter plan technically covers all four sizes (up to 10k subs) but lacks automations, sequences, and integrations, so Creator is the cheapest sensible paid plan. Prices extracted from the live price table embedded in kit.com's pricing-page JS bundle, 2026-08-07.", "public_note": "Creator plan on annual billing, which costs ten times the monthly price. On monthly billing the same list sizes cost $39, $39, $89 and $139." }, "honest_wins": [ "Free Newsletter plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, landing pages, forms, and digital product sales - one of the most generous free tiers in email marketing", "Only unique, active subscribers count toward billing - unsubscribed and duplicate contacts are not billed (unlike Mailchimp, which bills unsubscribed contacts)", "Built-in creator monetization: paid newsletters, digital products, and tip jars plus the Creator Network cross-promotion/recommendation engine grow and monetize a list inside one tool", "Strong automation stack on paid tiers (unlimited visual automations and sequences, A/B subject testing) with a long-standing deliverability reputation" ], "honest_losses": [ "October 2025 price hike raised Creator from $29 to $39/mo at 1,000 subscribers (34%) with no grandfathering - existing customers moved to the new price on their first bill after October 15, 2025", "Steep tier cliffs as the list grows: crossing 1,000 subscribers jumps Creator $39 to $59/mo (+51%), crossing 3,000 jumps to $89, and by 10,000 subscribers it is $139/mo on monthly billing", "The free plan withholds the product's core value - automations beyond 1 basic one, email sequences, integrations, and branding removal all require the paid Creator tier", "Creator Pro roughly doubles the bill for analytics and team features ($189 vs $139/mo at 10,000 subscribers, monthly billing)" ], "notable_facts": [ "ConvertKit completed its rebrand to Kit in October 2024", "September-October 2025: Creator base price rose from $29 to $39/mo (new signups from Sept 8, 2025; existing customers on their first bill after Oct 15, 2025; no grandfathering)", "Live price table verified 2026-08-07 from kit.com's own pricing JS bundle: Creator $39/$59/$89/$119/$139 monthly for tiers capped at 1k/3k/5k/8k/10k subscribers; Creator Pro $79/$99/$139/$169/$189 for the same tiers; scales to $2,499/mo (Creator) at 500k", "Annual billing is exactly 10x monthly (2 months free, ~16.7% off): e.g. Creator at 5,000 subs is $890/yr ($74.17/mo effective) vs $89/mo billed monthly", "Landing-page claim confirmed: Creator at 5,000 subscribers is exactly $89/mo on monthly billing", "Many 2026 pricing roundups still show the stale pre-hike table ($29 at 1k, $79 at 5k) - do not trust third-party tables for Kit", "Free Newsletter plan was expanded to cover up to 10,000 subscribers in 2024; Kit states subscribers are only counted if unique and active, so unsubscribes are not billed" ], "sources": [ "https://kit.com/pricing (fetched live 2026-08-07; rendered prices $33/mo-$390/yr Creator and $66/mo-$790/yr Pro at 1,000 subs match the extracted table)", "https://kit.com/_next/static/chunks/3953-36f7a906be017d66.js (pricing page's own JS bundle containing the full creator/pro price arrays and the annual = 10x monthly formula; fetched 2026-08-07)", "https://www.audienceful.com/blog/convertkit-price-increase (October 2025 $29-to-$39 increase, no grandfathering, effective dates)", "https://thedataduel.com/articles/kit-pricing-breakdown-2026 (cross-check; its Creator table is stale pre-hike pricing, flagged accordingly)" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "beehiiv", "name": "beehiiv", "homepage": "https://www.beehiiv.com", "pricing_url": "https://www.beehiiv.com/pricing", "category": "newsletter-platform", "plans": [ { "plan": "Launch (free)", "monthly_usd": 0, "annual_monthly_usd": 0, "unit": "per month flat", "limits": "Up to 2,500 active subscribers, unlimited sends, website + podcast, custom domains, no automations, beehiiv branding stays, no Send API" }, { "plan": "Scale at 1,000 subs", "monthly_usd": 49, "annual_monthly_usd": 43, "unit": "per month at up to 1,000 subscribers", "limits": "Tiered by active subscriber count up to 100K; adds automations, ad network, 0% take-rate paid subscriptions, digital products, webhooks, 3 team seats, 3 publications" }, { "plan": "Scale at 2,500 subs", "monthly_usd": 69, "annual_monthly_usd": 61, "unit": "per month at up to 2,500 subscribers", "limits": "$729 billed annually" }, { "plan": "Scale at 5,000 subs", "monthly_usd": 89, "annual_monthly_usd": 78, "unit": "per month at up to 5,000 subscribers", "limits": "$940 billed annually" }, { "plan": "Scale at 10,000 subs", "monthly_usd": 109, "annual_monthly_usd": 96, "unit": "per month at up to 10,000 subscribers", "limits": "$1,151 billed annually; higher tiers: $169/mo at 25K, $249 at 50K, $289 at 75K, $329 at 100K (monthly billing)" }, { "plan": "Max at 1,000 subs", "monthly_usd": 109, "annual_monthly_usd": 96, "unit": "per month at up to 1,000 subscribers", "limits": "Adds branding removal, Send API, RSS-to-send, dynamic content, up to 10 publications, unlimited team seats, priority support" }, { "plan": "Max at 5,000 subs", "monthly_usd": 169, "annual_monthly_usd": 149, "unit": "per month at up to 5,000 subscribers", "limits": "$1,785 billed annually" }, { "plan": "Max at 10,000 subs", "monthly_usd": 219, "annual_monthly_usd": 193, "unit": "per month at up to 10,000 subscribers", "limits": "$2,313 billed annually; $289/mo at 25K, $379 at 50K, $419 at 75K, $459 at 100K (monthly billing)" }, { "plan": "Enterprise", "monthly_usd": null, "annual_monthly_usd": null, "unit": "custom pricing at 100K+ subscribers", "limits": "Custom quote only: dedicated IPs, account manager, SSO, custom publication limits" } ], "free_tier": "Launch plan: free up to 2,500 active subscribers with unlimited email sends, hosted website + podcast, custom domains, recommendation network, and API read access; excludes automations, Send API, and branding removal", "math": { "seats_1": null, "seats_5": null, "seats_10": null, "subs_500": 43, "subs_1000": 43, "subs_5000": 78, "subs_10000": 96, "math_notes": "Cheapest sensible paid plan = Scale, annual billing effective per-month (12% discount). Monthly-billing equivalents: $49 at 500-1,000 subs, $89 at 5,000, $109 at 10,000. Note the free Launch plan already covers 500-2,500 subscribers at $0, so subs_500/subs_1000 are only paid costs if you need Scale features (automations, monetization). Tiers bill on ACTIVE subscribers only (unsubscribed/inactive excluded) and the bill steps up automatically as the list crosses 1,000 / 2,500 / 5,000 / 10,000 / 25,000 / 50,000 / 75,000 / 100,000. Full matrix extracted from the live pricing widget Aug 7, 2026 and arithmetic-verified (annual totals = monthly x 12 x 0.88 exactly).", "public_note": "Scale plan on annual billing. On monthly billing the same list sizes cost $49, $49, $89 and $109. The free Launch plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers." }, "honest_wins": [ "Built-in audience growth machinery a plain email workspace can't match: the cross-newsletter recommendation network and paid Boosts marketplace acquire real subscribers", "Full monetization stack: ad network access, sponsorship storefront (Max), and paid subscriptions with a 0% platform take rate (only Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 applies)", "Bills on active subscribers only; unsubscribed and inactive contacts do not count toward your tier (support doc, updated Jun 22, 2026), unlike Mailchimp-style contact billing", "Genuinely generous free tier: up to 2,500 active subscribers with unlimited sends, plus hosted website and podcast, effectively a media-business-in-a-box" ], "honest_losses": [ "Steep free-to-paid cliff: nothing exists between $0 and Scale at $49/mo, and a free list crossing 2,500 active subscribers lands in the up-to-5,000 tier at $89/mo (monthly billing), roughly a $0 to $1,000+/yr jump", "2026 base-price increase (Scale $39 to $49/mo) that multiple Reddit users reported discovering on billing statements without direct notification", "Your bill steps up automatically as the active list crosses each tier threshold, e.g. Scale jumps $109 to $169/mo (55%) at 10,001 subscribers", "Newsletter-only: no shared inbox or two-way email workspace, no transactional email or SMS, and removing beehiiv branding requires Max at $109+/mo" ], "notable_facts": [ "Full live tier matrix (verified Aug 7, 2026, monthly billing): Scale $49/$69/$89/$109/$169/$249/$289/$329 and Max $109/$149/$169/$219/$289/$379/$419/$459 at 1K/2.5K/5K/10K/25K/50K/75K/100K subscribers; annual billing is exactly 12% less (e.g. Scale at 5K = $940/yr = $78/mo effective)", "Scale's entry price rose from $39/mo to $49/mo during 2026; user reports describe the increase as unannounced (spotted on billing statements)", "Both Scale and Max cap at 100,000 subscribers; beyond that only custom-priced Enterprise (dedicated IPs, SSO, account manager)", "beehiiv takes 0% of paid-subscription revenue (Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 still applies); unlimited email sends on every plan including free", "Only active subscribers count toward plan tiers, per beehiiv's support article 'Plan Types and Subscriber Plan Tier Pricing' (last updated Jun 22, 2026)", "Landing-page claim check: 'Scale ~$89/mo at 5,000 subscribers' is CONFIRMED for monthly billing (annual-billing effective price at 5,000 is $78/mo, $940 billed annually)" ], "sources": [ "https://www.beehiiv.com/pricing (fetched live Aug 7, 2026; full slider matrix extracted from the page's own pricing widget via headless Chrome and arithmetic-verified)", "https://www.beehiiv.com/pricing.md (beehiiv's own markdown mirror, generated 2026-08-06)", "https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/23874462928663-Plan-Types-and-Subscriber-Plan-Tier-Pricing (updated Jun 22, 2026)", "https://priceworld.com/blog/beehiiv-pricing-2026/ (Mar 2026, prices re-verified Jun 25, 2026; matched live matrix at low tiers)", "https://www.passivekit.com/beehiiv-pricing/ (Jul 2026; base tier matched, higher tiers diverged from live)", "https://www.sendx.io/blog/beehiiv-pricing-plans-costs-alternatives-for-newsletter-publishers-2026 and Reddit user reports (via search) documenting the $39-to-$49 Scale increase" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "substack", "name": "Substack", "homepage": "https://substack.com", "pricing_url": "https://substack.com/going-paid", "category": "newsletter-platform", "free_tier": "Everything: unlimited subscribers, posts, and email sends, hosted website, podcast/video hosting, Notes, recommendations network. Publishing is completely free until you enable paid subscriptions; there is no paid SaaS plan at all.", "plans": [ { "plan": "Free publishing", "monthly_usd": 0, "annual_monthly_usd": 0, "unit": "per publication, flat", "limits": "Unlimited subscribers, posts, and email sends; website, podcast and video hosting included; no fees of any kind until monetization is turned on" }, { "plan": "Paid subscriptions enabled (revenue share)", "monthly_usd": 0, "annual_monthly_usd": null, "unit": "10% of gross paid-subscription revenue + Stripe fees (2.9% + $0.30/transaction + 0.7% Stripe Billing recurring fee)", "limits": "No fixed fee ever; $5/mo minimum subscription price; founding tier must be priced above the annual plan; writer nets ~$4.02 of a $5/mo sub (~80%)" } ], "math": { "subs_500": 0, "subs_1000": 0, "subs_5000": 0, "subs_10000": 0, "seats_1": null, "seats_5": null, "seats_10": null, "math_notes": "Substack has no subscriber-based pricing: a free newsletter costs $0/mo at 500, 1k, 5k, or 10k subscribers (or 100k). Costs exist only as a revenue share on paid subscriptions. Per $5/mo paid sub (post-July-2024 creator): Substack 10% = $0.50 + Stripe 2.9% = $0.145 + $0.30 fixed + 0.7% Billing = $0.035 -> $0.98 total fees (19.6% all-in), writer nets ~$4.02. Per $10/mo sub: $1.66 fees (16.6%), nets $8.34. Per $50/yr annual sub: $7.10 fees (14.2%), nets $42.90. Scale example: 250 paid subs at $5/mo = $1,250 gross -> ~$245/mo in combined fees; at $5,000/mo gross revenue Substack's 10% alone is $500/mo, more than top flat-rate competitor plans.", "public_note": "Substack does not charge by subscriber. A free newsletter costs nothing at any size; the cost is 10 percent of paid subscription revenue plus payment processing." }, "honest_wins": [ "Zero fixed cost at any list size: no subscriber-tier pricing cliffs ever; a 50,000-subscriber free newsletter costs $0/mo while flat-rate email tools charge hundreds at that size", "Complete paid-subscription infrastructure (paywalls, Stripe billing, monthly/annual/founding tiers, comps) with zero setup and zero monthly fee; the platform earns only when the writer earns", "Built-in growth surfaces no standalone email tool has: the recommendations network, Notes, and the Substack app drive real organic subscriber acquisition", "Free full export of subscriber list and post archive, so lock-in is low despite the revenue share" ], "honest_losses": [ "All-in fees on a $5/mo subscription are ~19.6% ($0.98 of every $5: 10% platform + 2.9% + $0.30 + 0.7% Stripe Billing); the fixed 30 cents disproportionately punishes low prices and monthly billing", "The 10% cut never tapers: at $5,000/mo of paid revenue Substack's share alone is $500/mo, more than the priciest flat-rate plans at Ghost or beehiiv, and it keeps scaling from there", "The Stripe Billing pass-through quietly rose from 0.5% to 0.7% for creators who enabled payments after July 10, 2024, and grandfathered 0.5% pricing ended June 30, 2025, so by August 2026 effectively every paid publication pays 0.7%", "Minimum paid price is locked at $5/mo, custom domains cost a one-time $50 per publication, and email-marketing tooling is thin (no automations/sequences, limited segmentation or A/B testing)" ], "notable_facts": [ "The 10% platform fee has never changed since Substack launched paid subscriptions in 2017 (verified still in effect August 2026 via substack.com/going-paid: 'Writers keep 90% of their revenue minus credit card fees')", "July 10, 2024: the Stripe Billing recurring-fee pass-through rose from 0.5% to 0.7% for newly monetizing creators; existing paid publications kept 0.5% only until June 30, 2025", "Custom domain: one-time $50 fee per publication (no recurring charge; no sales tax/VAT applied on the fee)", "Substack Pro, the program of cash advances to recruited writers, was discontinued in 2023; Notes launched April 2023 and podcast/video hosting are included at no extra cost", "Take-home math (verified August 2026): $5/mo sub nets the writer ~$4.02 (19.6% total fees); $10/mo nets $8.34 (16.6%); $50/yr annual nets $42.90 (14.2%); annual billing dilutes the fixed $0.30 so effective fees fall as price and billing period rise", "Substack enforces a $5/mo minimum subscription price; founding-member tiers must be priced above the annual plan" ], "sources": [ "https://substack.com/going-paid", "https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037607131-How-much-does-Substack-cost", "https://www.beehiiv.com/blog/how-much-does-substack-cost", "https://gigmoneytips.com/substack-fees-2026/", "https://www.getpricepulse.com/companies/substack-pricing.html", "https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051222571-How-do-I-set-up-my-custom-domain-on-Substack" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "mailerlite", "name": "MailerLite", "homepage": "https://www.mailerlite.com", "pricing_url": "https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing", "category": "email-marketing", "free_tier": "Up to 250 active subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, 2 user seats, 3 active automations, 3 forms, 1 landing page, 1 website, 1 digital product; email + chat support only for the first 14 days", "plans": [ { "plan": "Free", "monthly_usd": 0, "annual_monthly_usd": 0, "unit": "per month flat", "limits": "250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo, 2 seats, 3 automations, 1 landing page, 1 website" }, { "plan": "Comfort (formerly Growing Business)", "monthly_usd": 12, "annual_monthly_usd": 10.8, "unit": "at 500 subscribers", "limits": "Emails = 10x tier ceiling (5,000/mo at this tier), 3 user seats, 50 automations, 10 forms, 10 landing pages/websites combined, 5 digital products, 24/7 email support" }, { "plan": "Comfort (formerly Growing Business)", "monthly_usd": 19, "annual_monthly_usd": 17.1, "unit": "at 1,000 subscribers", "limits": "10,000 emails/mo (10x tier ceiling), 3 user seats" }, { "plan": "Comfort (formerly Growing Business)", "monthly_usd": 49, "annual_monthly_usd": 44.1, "unit": "at 5,000 subscribers", "limits": "50,000 emails/mo (10x tier ceiling), 3 user seats" }, { "plan": "Comfort (formerly Growing Business)", "monthly_usd": 89, "annual_monthly_usd": 80.1, "unit": "at 10,000 subscribers", "limits": "100,000 emails/mo (10x tier ceiling), 3 user seats" }, { "plan": "Power (formerly Advanced)", "monthly_usd": 25, "annual_monthly_usd": 22.5, "unit": "at 500 subscribers", "limits": "Unlimited emails (fair use), unlimited user seats, unlimited automations/forms/products, AI writing assistant, custom HTML editor, 24/7 live chat" }, { "plan": "Power (formerly Advanced)", "monthly_usd": 39, "annual_monthly_usd": 35.1, "unit": "at 1,000 subscribers", "limits": "Unlimited emails (fair use), unlimited seats" }, { "plan": "Power (formerly Advanced)", "monthly_usd": 69, "annual_monthly_usd": 62.1, "unit": "at 5,000 subscribers", "limits": "Unlimited emails (fair use), unlimited seats" }, { "plan": "Power (formerly Advanced)", "monthly_usd": 129, "annual_monthly_usd": 116.1, "unit": "at 10,000 subscribers", "limits": "Unlimited emails (fair use), unlimited seats" } ], "math": { "seats_1": null, "seats_5": null, "seats_10": null, "subs_500": 10.8, "subs_1000": 17.1, "subs_5000": 44.1, "subs_10000": 80.1, "math_notes": "Cheapest sensible paid plan = Comfort (the June 2026 rename of Growing Business), annual billing effective per-month (10% off monthly). Monthly-billing equivalents: $12 / $19 / $49 / $89. Power (formerly Advanced) at the same tiers: $22.50 / $35.10 / $62.10 / $116.10 annual-effective ($25 / $39 / $69 / $129 monthly). Tier boundaries are 'up to N': 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 8,000, 10,000... so 5,000 and 10,000 subscribers sit exactly on tier ceilings. Comfort caps sending at 10x the tier ceiling per month (e.g. 100,000 emails/mo at the 10K tier). Exact prices extracted August 7, 2026 from the pricing matrix embedded in mailerlite.com/pricing page source (USD array = [symbol, monthly, annual-effective]).", "public_note": "Comfort plan (renamed from Growing Business in June 2026) on annual billing. On monthly billing the same sizes cost $12, $19, $49 and $89." }, "honest_wins": [ "Genuinely cheap at small list sizes: $10.80/mo at 500 subscribers and $17.10/mo at 1,000 on annual Comfort, with automations, landing pages, and websites included on the cheapest paid plan", "Unsubscribed and bounced contacts do NOT count toward the billable subscriber total (unlike Mailchimp, which bills for unsubscribed contacts)", "Power plan includes unlimited user seats and unlimited monthly emails (fair use policy) - no per-seat pricing at any scale", "24/7 human email support on every paid plan and 24/7 live chat on Power, at price points where competitors gate support behind higher tiers" ], "honest_losses": [ "June 16, 2026 reprice raised paid tiers roughly 10-30% with no grandfathering: e.g. Advanced/Power at 1,000 subscribers jumped from $30 to $39/mo, and existing accounts are force-migrated to the new Comfort/Power plans at their next renewal starting August 13, 2026", "Free plan shrunk twice in under a year: 1,000 subscribers cut to 500 in September 2025, then to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails/mo (down from 12,000) in the 2026 update", "Cumulative subscriber counting: any address active at any point during a billing cycle counts toward the limit even if deleted before renewal, so pruning a list mid-cycle does not lower that cycle's bill", "Comfort's email allowance is capped at 10x the tier ceiling, and exceeding subscriber or sending limits triggers an automatic paid tier upgrade; tier jumps are steep (Comfort $49 to $69 to $89 crossing the 5K/8K/10K boundaries)" ], "notable_facts": [ "June 16, 2026: MailerLite repriced and renamed its paid plans - Growing Business became 'Comfort' and Advanced became 'Power', with increases of roughly 10-30% across subscriber tiers (signup URLs still use ?plan=growing and ?plan=advanced)", "Starting August 13, 2026, existing accounts move to the new Comfort/Power plans at their next renewal date; there is no grandfathering of old pricing", "Free plan was cut from 1,000 to 500 subscribers in September 2025, then to 250 subscribers / 2,500 emails per month in the 2026 update", "Annual billing is a flat 10% discount year-round; registered nonprofits get 30% off any plan", "Billing counts 'active' subscribers only (unsubscribed and bounced excluded), but uses a cumulative count within each billing cycle that resets on the billing anniversary", "Enterprise (custom pricing) starts at 200K+ subscribers; the top self-serve slider tier is 200K subscribers at $819/mo Comfort or $1,119/mo Power on monthly billing", "On paid plans, exceeding subscriber or email-sending limits triggers an automatic tier upgrade; feature overages instead block creating new items", "MailerLite also sells MailerSend (transactional email/SMS) on a separate pricing page, mailerlite.com/pricing-mailersend" ], "sources": [ "https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing (primary - full USD price matrix extracted from page source, fetched 2026-08-07)", "https://www.mailerlite.com/help/paid-plans-update-faq (migration timeline, plan mapping, discounts)", "https://www.audienceful.com/blog/mailerlite-price-increase (old vs new prices, free plan history)", "https://coldletter.com/blog/mailerlite-pricing/ (secondary cross-check of June 16, 2026 reprice date and 500-sub tier prices)" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "constant-contact", "name": "Constant Contact", "homepage": "https://www.constantcontact.com", "pricing_url": "https://www.constantcontact.com/pricing", "category": "email-marketing", "free_tier": "none - 14-day free trial only (no credit card required); no permanent free plan", "plans": [ { "plan": "Lite", "monthly_usd": 12, "annual_monthly_usd": 10.2, "unit": "per month at 500 contacts; scales with contact count", "limits": "1 user, 1GB storage, monthly send cap of 10x contacts, basic single-step automation only; $30 at 1,000 contacts, $50 at 2,500, $80 at 5,000, $120 at 10,000, $280 at 25,000 (monthly billing)" }, { "plan": "Standard", "monthly_usd": 35, "annual_monthly_usd": 29.75, "unit": "per month at 500 contacts; scales with contact count", "limits": "3 users, 10GB storage, send cap 12x contacts, adds segmentation, A/B subject testing, automation, scheduling; $55 at 1,000 contacts, $75 at 2,500, $110 at 5,000, $160 at 10,000, $310 at 25,000 (monthly billing)" }, { "plan": "Premium", "monthly_usd": 80, "annual_monthly_usd": 68, "unit": "per month at 500 contacts; scales with contact count", "limits": "Unlimited users, 25GB storage, send cap 24x contacts, advanced automation, custom segmentation, SEO/ads tools, first 500 SMS included; $110 at 1,000 contacts, $150 at 2,500, $200 at 5,000, $275 at 10,000, $425 at 25,000 (monthly billing)" } ], "math": { "seats_1": null, "seats_5": null, "seats_10": null, "subs_500": 10.2, "subs_1000": 25.5, "subs_5000": 68, "subs_10000": 102, "math_notes": "Lite plan (cheapest paid tier) at 12-month prepay effective price (15% off list): monthly-billing list prices are $12 (500 contacts), $30 (1,000), $80 (5,000), $120 (10,000). Prepay discount is 10% for 6 months, 15% for 12 months; Constant Contact publishes no separate per-tier annual price list. Lite is single-user with no segmentation/A/B testing; if those matter, Standard runs $35/$55/$110/$160 monthly ($29.75/$46.75/$93.50/$136 at 15% prepay) at the same sizes. Send allowance on Lite is 10x contacts/month; overages billed $0.002/email. Not per-seat pricing, so seat fields are null.", "public_note": "Lite plan at the 12-month prepay price, 15 percent below list. Monthly list prices are $12, $30, $80 and $120." }, "honest_wins": [ "Broader small-business marketing suite than a flat-rate email workspace: event management, social posting and ads, surveys, and SMS add-ons alongside email", "Live phone and chat support on every plan including the $12 Lite tier, rare at that price point", "One of the oldest ESPs (founded 1995) with long-established sender infrastructure and deliverability reputation", "Unsubscribed contacts do not count toward billable contacts (officially confirmed), and nonprofit prepay discounts reach 30%, among the most generous in the category" ], "honest_losses": [ "Contact-count pricing cliffs: Lite jumps 2.5x from $12 to $30/mo the moment you exceed 500 contacts, then to $50 above 1,000 - growth is punished in steps, not smoothly", "No permanent free plan, only a 14-day trial, while Mailchimp, Brevo, and MailerLite all keep free tiers", "Monthly send caps (10x contacts on Lite, 12x Standard, 24x Premium) with $0.002-per-email overage charges; resends to non-openers count against the cap", "Core features gated upward: segmentation, A/B testing, and multi-step automation require Standard ($35+ at 500 contacts); Lite is single-user with basic automation only, and add-ons like inbox preview ($10/mo) and SMS ($10/mo) cost extra" ], "notable_facts": [ "February 2023: Constant Contact replaced its Core/Plus lineup with the current Lite/Standard/Premium contact-tiered structure; base prices ($12/$35/$80 at 500 contacts) verified unchanged as of June 2026 secondary checks", "Send allowances scale as a multiple of contacts: 10x (Lite), 12x (Standard), 24x (Premium) per month; overage billed at $0.002 per email, with automated emails (welcome, abandoned cart) exempt (verified June 2026)", "Prepay discounts: 10% for 6-month, 15% for 12-month commitment; nonprofits get 20% (6-month) or up to 30% (12-month) (verified June 2026)", "Unsubscribed contacts do NOT count toward billable contacts - confirmed in official Constant Contact community answers (April 2025 and June 2026), contradicting a common claim in third-party reviews", "Above 50,000 contacts pricing goes custom; at 25,000 contacts monthly billing runs $280 (Lite) / $310 (Standard) / $425 (Premium) (verified June 2026)", "constantcontact.com/pricing is bot-gated (HTTP 403 to automated fetches as of August 2026); figures cross-verified against three independent sources updated June 16-30, 2026 with matching tier tables" ], "sources": [ "https://www.constantcontact.com/pricing", "https://www.sendx.io/blog/constant-contact-pricing", "https://www.omnisend.com/blog/constant-contact-pricing/", "https://www.sequenzy.com/pricing/constantcontact", "https://community.constantcontact.com/ask-the-community/post/are-we-charged-for-the-unsubscribed-contacts-we-have-in-constant-contact-B7yV85ZQViShguh" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "klaviyo", "name": "Klaviyo", "homepage": "https://www.klaviyo.com", "pricing_url": "https://www.klaviyo.com/pricing", "category": "email-marketing", "free_tier": "Up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends/month, plus a small mobile-messaging credit (pricing page shows $5 of mobile messages/mo; formerly 150 SMS/MMS credits) and 10,000 Composer credits. Full feature access (flows, segmentation), but email support only for the first 60 days; sending is blocked if you exceed either the profile or send limit.", "plans": [ { "plan": "Free", "monthly_usd": 0, "unit": "per month flat", "limits": "250 active profiles, 500 email sends/mo, email support first 60 days only", "annual_monthly_usd": null }, { "plan": "Email (251-500 profiles)", "monthly_usd": 20, "unit": "at 500 active profiles", "limits": "~5,000 email sends/mo (about 10x active profiles); mobile push included", "annual_monthly_usd": null }, { "plan": "Email (501-1,000 profiles)", "monthly_usd": 30, "unit": "at 1,000 active profiles", "limits": "~10,000 email sends/mo", "annual_monthly_usd": null }, { "plan": "Email (1,001-1,500 profiles)", "monthly_usd": 45, "unit": "at 1,500 active profiles", "limits": "~15,000 email sends/mo (this is the pricing page's default displayed total)", "annual_monthly_usd": null }, { "plan": "Email (to 5,000 profiles)", "monthly_usd": 100, "unit": "at 5,000 active profiles", "limits": "~50,000 email sends/mo", "annual_monthly_usd": null }, { "plan": "Email (to 10,000 profiles)", "monthly_usd": 150, "unit": "at 10,000 active profiles", "limits": "~100,000 email sends/mo", "annual_monthly_usd": null }, { "plan": "Email and SMS", "monthly_usd": 35, "unit": "at 500 profiles + minimum SMS credits", "limits": "Email plan + SMS credits; SMS minimum is $15/mo for 1,250 credits, credits priced per country/message type", "annual_monthly_usd": null } ], "math": { "subs_500": 20, "subs_1000": 30, "subs_5000": 100, "subs_10000": 150, "seats_1": null, "seats_5": null, "seats_10": null, "math_notes": "Cheapest sensible paid plan = Email plan, billed by active profile tier. The four sizes land exactly on tier boundaries: 251-500 = $20/mo, 501-1,000 = $30/mo, tier ending at 5,000 = $100/mo, tier ending at 10,000 = $150/mo. No annual billing discount exists on self-serve plans (help center: 'All Klaviyo plans are billed on a monthly basis'), so monthly = effective price. Each tier also caps email sends at roughly 10x active profiles/mo; exceeding either triggers auto-upgrade to the next tier at the next billing cycle.", "public_note": "Email plan, billed by active profile count. Klaviyo publishes no annual discount on self-serve plans, so monthly is the effective price." }, "honest_wins": [ "Suppressed/unsubscribed profiles are NOT billed (unlike Mailchimp): 'they are not included in your billable profile count once they are fully processed as suppressed', cleaning your list genuinely lowers the bill", "Best-in-class ecommerce depth: real-time storefront integrations, predictive analytics (CLV, churn risk), and revenue attribution on behavioral flows that a flat-rate email workspace doesn't attempt", "Free tier has full feature access (flows, segmentation, A/B testing) up to 250 profiles, a real trial of the product, not a crippled one", "Email, SMS/MMS, and mobile push run off one unified customer profile in the same platform" ], "honest_losses": [ "Feb 18, 2025 billing change forces your plan tier to match your active profile count: paid accounts auto-upgrade to the next tier at the start of the next billing cycle, ending the legacy loophole of staying on a cheaper tier as the list grew (widely reported bill jumps, some near 2x)", "No annual billing discount on any self-serve plan, monthly-only billing means the price ratchets up with every list-growth tier crossing ($20 at 500 profiles becomes $150 at 10,000)", "Send allowance is capped at roughly 10x active profiles per month; heavy senders hit auto-upgrade/overage ('flexible sending') prompts even if their list didn't grow", "Re-suppression lock: once you unsuppress a profile you cannot suppress it again for 90 days, keeping it billable for at least that period; free-plan email support ends after 60 days" ], "notable_facts": [ "Feb 18, 2025 (announced Jan 2025): Klaviyo began requiring the email plan tier to match or exceed active profile count, with automatic tier upgrades at the next billing cycle; optional auto-downgrade and 'flexible sending' (temporary upgrade during high-send periods, auto-downgrade after) settings were added", "Billing is by 'active profiles', any profile that can be emailed regardless of consent status; suppressed and unsubscribed profiles are excluded from the billable count (verified in Klaviyo help center, Aug 2026)", "As of Aug 2026 the pricing page sells a multi-product B2C CRM (Marketing, Service, Data + Analytics, Customer Agent, Composer credits); classic email pricing is the Marketing component, and the page's default configurator total displays USD 45 (the 1,001-1,500 profile tier)", "SMS is credit-based on top of the email plan: minimum $15/mo for 1,250 US SMS credits (Email and SMS bundle from $35/mo); credit cost varies by country and message type", "No annual-discount escape: Klaviyo help center states 'All Klaviyo plans are billed on a monthly basis' (self-serve), so unlike most rivals there is no ~10-20% annual-prepay saving", "Klaviyo has been public since September 2023 (NYSE: KVYO); the active-profile billing enforcement of Feb 2025 drew notable customer backlash in ecommerce communities" ], "sources": [ "https://www.klaviyo.com/pricing", "https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000976672", "https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/33136281415451", "https://www.omnisend.com/blog/klaviyo-pricing/", "https://www.retainful.com/blog/klaviyo-pricing" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "brevo", "name": "Brevo", "homepage": "https://www.brevo.com/", "pricing_url": "https://www.brevo.com/pricing/", "category": "email-marketing", "free_tier": "300 emails/day (about 9,000/mo), up to 100,000 stored contacts, 1 marketing seat, Brevo logo on every email; daily cap removed only on paid plans", "plans": [ { "plan": "Free", "monthly_usd": 0, "annual_monthly_usd": 0, "unit": "per month flat", "limits": "300 emails/day, 100k contacts, 1 seat, Brevo branding" }, { "plan": "Starter (5k emails/mo)", "monthly_usd": 9, "annual_monthly_usd": 8.08, "unit": "per month at 5,000 emails/mo", "limits": "5k emails/mo included, no daily cap, 1 marketing seat, Brevo logo removal costs $12/mo extra, no marketing automation" }, { "plan": "Starter (20k emails/mo)", "monthly_usd": 32, "annual_monthly_usd": 28.75, "unit": "per month at 20,000 emails/mo", "limits": "same Starter features; price = $9 base + $23 email-volume tier" }, { "plan": "Starter (100k emails/mo)", "monthly_usd": 82, "annual_monthly_usd": 73.75, "unit": "per month at 100,000 emails/mo", "limits": "top Starter volume tier" }, { "plan": "Standard (5k emails/mo)", "monthly_usd": 18, "annual_monthly_usd": 16.17, "unit": "per month at 5,000 emails/mo", "limits": "adds marketing automation, logo removal included, 1 landing page, up to 3 seats ($12/mo per extra seat)" }, { "plan": "Standard (20k emails/mo)", "monthly_usd": 69, "annual_monthly_usd": 62.08, "unit": "per month at 20,000 emails/mo", "limits": "$18 base + $51 volume tier; Standard scales to 500k emails/mo ($429/mo)" }, { "plan": "Professional", "monthly_usd": 499, "annual_monthly_usd": 449.08, "unit": "per month incl. 150,000 emails/mo", "limits": "10 marketing seats, 10 landing pages included; email volume scales to 10M/mo" }, { "plan": "Enterprise", "monthly_usd": 1000, "annual_monthly_usd": null, "unit": "custom quote (site shows 'Custom Price')", "limits": "sales-led; billing API placeholder $1,000/mo, real pricing negotiated" } ], "math": { "seats_1": null, "seats_5": null, "seats_10": null, "subs_500": 8.08, "subs_1000": 8.08, "subs_5000": 28.75, "subs_10000": 41.42, "math_notes": "Brevo bills by emails SENT per month, not contacts stored, so subscriber costs assume a weekly newsletter (4 sends/mo): 500 subs=2k emails, 1k subs=4k, 5k subs=20k, 10k subs=40k. Cheapest sensible paid plan = Starter on annual billing (10% off): base $97/yr covers up to 5k emails/mo ($8.08/mo effective); 20k emails = $97+$248=$345/yr ($28.75/mo); 40k emails = $97+$400=$497/yr ($41.42/mo). Monthly-billing equivalents: $9 / $9 / $32 / $46. Caveats: Starter shows the Brevo logo unless you pay +$12/mo, and has no marketing automation (that needs Standard, $18 base). All figures pulled 2026-08-07 from Brevo's live billing API (billing-v2.brevo.com, pricing_version=v5) that powers the brevo.com/pricing calculator.", "public_note": "Brevo bills by emails sent rather than contacts stored, so these figures assume a weekly send to the whole list. Starter plan on annual billing." }, "honest_wins": [ "Priced by email volume, not list size: storing a big list is free (even the Free plan holds 100,000 contacts), so low-frequency senders with large lists pay far less than on contact-billed tools", "Genuinely cheap entry: $9/mo ($8.08 annual) for 5,000 emails/mo with no daily cap, vs $20+ entry points at contact-billed competitors", "One account bundles email marketing, automation (Standard+), CRM, transactional email, SMS/WhatsApp, and web push, plus pay-as-you-go email credit packs for irregular senders", "Usable free tier for tiny senders: 300 emails/day and 100k contact storage without a credit card" ], "honest_losses": [ "Brevo logo on your emails unless you pay: removal is a $12/mo add-on on Starter and only included from Standard up (verified Aug 2026)", "Free plan cap is per DAY (300), not per month, so a single newsletter blast to even 1,000 subscribers cannot go out in one day without upgrading", "Feature gates climb fast: marketing automation and logo removal need Standard (2x Starter base), Starter is single-seat and Standard caps at 3 seats ($12/mo per extra seat), extra landing pages cost $24/mo per pack of 5, dedicated IP is $251/yr", "Plan-lineup churn makes third-party price info stale: the 'Business' tier was renamed 'Standard' and a $499 'Professional' tier was inserted in the v5 repricing, so pre-2026 reviews quote a structure that no longer exists" ], "notable_facts": [ "Verified 2026-08-07 against Brevo's live billing API (billing-v2.brevo.com/billing/api/v2, pricing_version=v5), the same endpoint the brevo.com/pricing calculator queries: Starter $9/mo incl 5k emails, Standard $18/mo incl 5k, Professional $499/mo incl 150k emails + 10 seats, Enterprise custom", "As of August 2026 the lineup is Free / Starter / Standard / Professional / Enterprise; the former 'Business' plan is now 'Standard' (the billing API still labels its category 'business' internally)", "Annual billing is a flat 10% discount on all self-serve plans (checkout toggle shows '(-10%)')", "Starter email-volume ladder (monthly billing, USD): 5k=$9, 10k=$17, 20k=$32, 40k=$46, 100k=$82; Standard: 5k=$18, 20k=$69, 100k=$139, 500k=$429", "Pay-as-you-go email credit packs (no monthly commitment): 5k=$32, 10k=$59, 20k=$95, 50k=$165, 100k=$275, 500k=$940, 1M=$1,600", "Add-on prices (Aug 2026): logo removal $12/mo (Starter only; free from Standard), extra marketing seat $12/mo ($10.80 annual), +5 landing pages $24/mo, dedicated IP $251/yr billed annually", "Sendinblue rebranded to Brevo in May 2023; some help-center and third-party content still uses the old name" ], "sources": [ "https://www.brevo.com/pricing/ (primary; page is JS-rendered, data extracted from its own backend)", "https://billing-v2.brevo.com/billing/api/v2/plans/all?vertical=marketing&pricing_version=v5¤cy=USD (live billing API powering the pricing page, fetched 2026-08-07)", "https://billing-v2.brevo.com/billing/api/v2/addons/pag/currency/USD and /plans/ip/currency/USD (credit packs, dedicated IP)", "https://www.sendx.io/blog/brevo-pricing-plans-costs-alternatives-2026 (secondary cross-check, updated 2026-06-22; matches API on every overlapping number)" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "buttondown", "name": "Buttondown", "homepage": "https://buttondown.com", "pricing_url": "https://buttondown.com/pricing", "category": "newsletter-platform", "free_tier": "$0 for your first 100 subscribers: rich text or Markdown editor, custom-domain sending, hosted newsletter archives, scheduling, API + SMTP access. Higher-tier features can be bolted on as paid add-ons.", "plans": [ { "plan": "Free", "monthly_usd": 0, "annual_monthly_usd": null, "unit": "per month flat", "limits": "Up to 100 subscribers; custom-domain sending, hosted archives, scheduling, Markdown, API, SMTP" }, { "plan": "Basic", "monthly_usd": 9, "annual_monthly_usd": null, "unit": "per month flat, up to 1,000 subscribers", "limits": "Up to 1,000 active subscribers; adds tags, paid subscriptions, analytics, RSS-to-email, attachments, comments, surveys, concierge migration" }, { "plan": "Standard", "monthly_usd": 29, "annual_monthly_usd": null, "unit": "per month flat, up to 5,000 subscribers", "limits": "Up to 5,000 active subscribers; adds automations, multiple newsletters, custom-domain archives, webhooks, Zapier, transactional emails, sponsorships" }, { "plan": "Professional", "monthly_usd": 79, "annual_monthly_usd": null, "unit": "per month flat, up to 10,000 subscribers", "limits": "Up to 10,000 active subscribers; adds whitelabeling, teams, dedicated IP, naked mode" }, { "plan": "Advanced", "monthly_usd": 139, "annual_monthly_usd": null, "unit": "per month flat, up to 20,000 subscribers", "limits": "Up to 20,000 active subscribers; all Professional features. Above 20k: $239 to 40k, $319 to 60k, $379 to 80k, $459 to 100k, then Enterprise (contact)" } ], "math": { "seats_1": null, "seats_5": null, "seats_10": null, "subs_500": 9, "subs_1000": 9, "subs_5000": 29, "subs_10000": 79, "math_notes": "Pricing is a pure step function over ACTIVE subscriber count with inclusive caps, extracted from the pricing page's own price-selection code (find(count <= tier.subscriber_count)) on 2026-08-07: 500 and 1,000 subs both land on Basic $9/mo (cap is inclusive at exactly 1,000); 5,000 subs = Standard $29/mo; 10,000 subs = Professional $79/mo. One subscriber over a cap jumps to the next tier (1,001 -> $29; 5,001 -> $79; 10,001 -> $139). No annual-billing toggle or advertised annual discount exists on the current pricing page, so annual columns are null and monthly = effective price. Seats are null because Buttondown is not per-seat; team access is a Professional-tier feature (or +$79/mo add-on). Prices assume sending at most one email per day to the full list.", "public_note": "Priced in steps by active subscriber count. No annual discount is offered, so monthly is the effective price." }, "honest_wins": [ "Genuinely free full-featured start: $0 to 100 subscribers including custom-domain sending, hosted archives, and API + SMTP access even on the Free plan", "Bills only active subscribers: unsubscribed and cleaned contacts stop costing money, unlike all-contacts billing at Mailchimp-style providers (pricing FAQ, verified Aug 2026)", "Cheap flat published tiers for the category ($9 to 1k, $29 to 5k, $79 to 10k) with no percentage cut of paid-subscription revenue (Buttondown itself contrasts this with Substack's 10% take)", "A-la-carte add-ons let a small list buy one higher-tier feature (e.g. analytics +$9/mo, automations +$29/mo) instead of a full plan jump; developer-friendly with Markdown, API, SMTP, and webhooks" ], "honest_losses": [ "Hard pricing cliffs at tier caps: subscriber 1,001 more than triples the bill ($9 -> $29/mo), 5,001 nearly triples it again ($29 -> $79/mo), and 10,001 takes it to $139/mo", "No advertised annual-billing discount: the pricing page and its checkout flow are monthly-only as of Aug 2026", "All prices assume at most one email per day to the entire list; sending more requires contacting Buttondown to negotiate custom usage-based pricing (pricing FAQ, Aug 2026)", "Team seats and whitelabeling are gated to the $79/mo Professional tier (or +$79/mo as add-ons), and automations / multiple newsletters / custom-domain archives cost +$29/mo below Standard" ], "notable_facts": [ "Verified 2026-08-07 from the live pricing page's structured data and price-selection JavaScript: Free $0 to 100 subs; Basic $9/mo to 1,000; Standard $29/mo to 5,000; Professional $79/mo to 10,000; Advanced $139/mo to 20,000; then $239 to 40k, $319 to 60k, $379 to 80k, $459 to 100k; Enterprise (contact) above. Schema marks these prices valid until 2026-12-31", "Charges only for ACTIVE subscribers; unsubscribed contacts are not billed (pricing FAQ, Aug 2026)", "A-la-carte feature pricing: individual features added for +$9, +$29, or +$79/mo matching the tier that includes them (e.g. tagging/analytics/paid subscriptions +$9, automations/multiple newsletters/custom-domain archives +$29, whitelabeling/teams +$79) - visible on the pricing page Aug 2026", "50% discount for registered 501(c)(3) non-profits on proof of registry (pricing FAQ, Aug 2026)", "Sending-volume assumption baked into pricing: at most one email per day to the whole subscriber base, otherwise custom usage-based pricing applies (pricing FAQ, Aug 2026)", "Current tier structure dates to the May 13, 2022 repricing (buttondown.com/blog/2022-05-13-repricing); founded 2017, self-funded and profitable per its own FAQ", "Rebranded its primary domain from buttondown.email to buttondown.com in 2024", "No annual-billing option or discount is advertised on the pricing page as of Aug 2026; checkout links go straight to monthly Stripe subscriptions" ], "sources": [ "https://buttondown.com/pricing (primary: page schema.org offers + on-page FAQ + the site's own pricing JS with the tier table and step-function price selector, fetched 2026-08-07)", "https://yoursolopreneurkit.com/blog/buttondown-pricing-2026 (secondary cross-check, published/updated March 2026: confirms $9/1k, $29/5k, $79/10k and the a-la-carte add-on model)", "https://buttondown.com/blog/2022-05-13-repricing (history of the current pricing model)" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "ghost", "name": "Ghost(Pro)", "homepage": "https://ghost.org", "pricing_url": "https://ghost.org/pricing/", "category": "newsletter-platform", "free_tier": "none for Ghost(Pro) hosting, 14-day free trial on all plans, no credit card required; the Ghost software itself is open source (MIT) and free to self-host, but you supply your own server (~$5-20/mo VPS) and a bulk-email provider (Mailgun is the officially supported one) for newsletters", "plans": [ { "plan": "Starter", "monthly_usd": 18, "annual_monthly_usd": 15, "unit": "per month flat, hard cap 1,000 members", "limits": "1,000 members max (free+paid combined), 1 staff user, 1 newsletter, official Ghost themes only, NO paid memberships (removed July 2025), unlimited email sends" }, { "plan": "Publisher (1,000 members)", "monthly_usd": 35, "annual_monthly_usd": 29, "unit": "per month at 1,000 members; scales with member count", "limits": "3 staff users, custom themes, paid subscriptions with 0% transaction fees, 8,000+ integrations, advanced analytics, unlimited email sends" }, { "plan": "Publisher (5,000 members)", "monthly_usd": 75, "annual_monthly_usd": 63, "unit": "per month at 5,000 members", "limits": "same Publisher features; annual price is $756/yr" }, { "plan": "Publisher (10,000 members)", "monthly_usd": 105, "annual_monthly_usd": 88, "unit": "per month at 10,000 members", "limits": "same Publisher features; annual price is $1,056/yr; scales to $274/mo annual at 100k members" }, { "plan": "Business", "monthly_usd": 239, "annual_monthly_usd": 199, "unit": "per month flat up to 10,000 members; scales above", "limits": "15 staff users, priority support, 0% transaction fees; flat $199/mo annual through 10k members, then $266 (25k), $333 (50k), $399/mo (100k); +$50/mo add-ons for custom SSL or managed subdirectory" }, { "plan": "Custom", "monthly_usd": null, "annual_monthly_usd": null, "unit": "contact sales (required over 100,000 members)", "limits": "unlimited members and staff users, custom pricing via concierge" } ], "math": { "seats_1": null, "seats_5": null, "seats_10": null, "subs_500": 15, "subs_1000": 15, "subs_5000": 63, "subs_10000": 88, "math_notes": "Annual billing, cheapest plan that fits the member count. 500 and 1,000 subs fit Starter ($180/yr = $15/mo) but ONLY if you never sell paid memberships, monetizing at any size forces Publisher ($29/mo at 1k). Starter hard-caps at 1,000 members, so 5k and 10k use Publisher annual tiers: $756/yr = $63/mo at 5,000 and $1,056/yr = $88/mo at 10,000 (member tiers are steps: 1k/2.5k/5k/7.5k/10k/25k/50k/75k/100k; you pay the tier at or above your count). All figures pulled from Ghost's live pricing data (pricing.min.js) 2026-08-07. Seats fields null: Ghost prices by members, not seats (staff users are a plan feature: 1/3/15).", "public_note": "Ghost(Pro) on annual billing, cheapest plan that fits the member count. Starter caps at 1,000 members and cannot sell paid memberships." }, "honest_wins": [ "0% transaction fees on paid memberships (Publisher and up): Ghost takes no cut of subscription revenue, vs Substack's 10%; only Stripe's processing fees apply", "Pricing counts members, not emails: unlimited newsletter sends with managed deliverability at every tier, plus a full website/CMS/blog, it replaces a site builder and a newsletter tool at once", "Fully open source (MIT): you can eject from Ghost(Pro) to self-hosting anytime and keep the entire site, content, themes, and member list, no platform lock-in", "Run by a non-profit foundation with grandfathered pricing: existing customers keep their old plan and price when Ghost raises prices (confirmed by staff after the July 2025 increase)" ], "honest_losses": [ "July 2025 restructure raised the entry price 67% ($9 to $15/mo annual) and stripped paid memberships AND 2 of 3 newsletters from Starter, new accounts must pay $29+/mo (Publisher) to earn a single dollar from subscribers", "Starter is a dead end: hard 1,000-member cap, 1 staff user, official themes only; crossing 1,000 members forces Publisher, where the 2,500-member tier is $46/mo annual, a 3x jump", "Publisher scales steeply with list size whether or not members pay: $29/mo at 1k becomes $88/mo at 10k and $141/mo at 25k (annual billing): free signups alone push you up tiers", "Self-hosting is free in license only: newsletters effectively require Mailgun (the only officially supported bulk-email path), plus a VPS and your own maintenance, with no official support channel" ], "notable_facts": [ "July 2025: Ghost(Pro) retired the old Starter/Creator/Team/Business lineup for Starter/Publisher/Business/Custom, Starter went from $9 to $15/mo annual, Creator ($25) became Publisher ($29), Team ($50) was folded away; existing customers were grandfathered on old pricing", "In the same July 2025 change, Starter lost paid-membership support entirely and dropped from 3 newsletters to 1; Ghost's pricing page now shows transaction fees as unavailable on Starter", "Verified from Ghost's live pricing data (ghost.org/js/pricing.min.js) on Aug 7, 2026: Publisher annual tiers run $348/yr (1k members) to $3,288/yr (100k); Business is flat $2,388/yr through 10,000 members, then $3,192 (25k) to $4,788/yr (100k); over 100,000 members requires contacting the concierge team", "Monthly billing costs ~17-20% more than annual: Starter $18 vs $15, Publisher $35 vs $29 (at 1k), Business $239 vs $199", "14-day free trial on all plans with no credit card required; full feature access during trial", "Business-plan-only add-ons: custom SSL certificate +$50/mo and managed subdirectory install (example.com/blog) +$50/mo", "Member tiers are steps (1k/2.5k/5k/7.5k/10k/25k/50k/75k/100k): at 5,001 members you pay the 7,500 tier price ($79/mo Publisher annual)" ], "sources": [ "https://ghost.org/pricing/", "https://ghost.org/js/pricing.min.js", "https://forum.ghost.org/t/updated-ghost-pro-pricing-july-2025-15-mo-starter-29-mo-publisher-199-mo-business/59090", "https://www.emailsoftwareinsights.com/reviews/ghost/pricing/", "https://typeflo.io/blog/ghost-pricing-plans" ], "as_of": "August 2026" }, { "slug": "sendgrid", "name": "SendGrid (Twilio)", "homepage": "https://sendgrid.com", "pricing_url": "https://www.twilio.com/en-us/products/email-api/pricing", "category": "transactional-api", "free_tier": "None since July 26, 2025. New accounts get only a 60-day free trial (100 emails/day, 100 contacts); after 60 days sending stops unless you upgrade to a paid plan ($19.95/mo Email API minimum, $15/mo Marketing Campaigns minimum).", "plans": [ { "plan": "Free Trial", "monthly_usd": 0, "unit": "per month flat, 60 days only", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "100 emails/day, 100 contacts, 1 teammate; sending stops entirely when the 60-day trial ends" }, { "plan": "Email API Essentials 50K", "monthly_usd": 19.95, "unit": "per month flat", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "50,000 emails/mo, 1 teammate, 2 event webhooks, no dedicated IP; overage $0.0013/email" }, { "plan": "Email API Essentials 100K", "monthly_usd": 34.95, "unit": "per month flat", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "100,000 emails/mo, 1 teammate, no dedicated IP; overage $0.0009/email" }, { "plan": "Email API Pro 100K", "monthly_usd": 89.95, "unit": "per month flat", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "100,000 emails/mo, dedicated IP included, up to 1,000 teammates, 5 event webhooks, 2,500 email validations/mo; overage $0.0011/email" }, { "plan": "Email API Pro 300K", "monthly_usd": 249, "unit": "per month flat", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "300,000 emails/mo; overage $0.0009/email" }, { "plan": "Email API Pro 700K", "monthly_usd": 499, "unit": "per month flat", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "700,000 emails/mo; overage $0.0008/email" }, { "plan": "Email API Pro 1.5M", "monthly_usd": 799, "unit": "per month flat", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "1,500,000 emails/mo; overage $0.0006/email (price via Mar-2026 secondary sheet; official selector is JS-gated)" }, { "plan": "Email API Pro 2.5M", "monthly_usd": 1099, "unit": "per month flat", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "2,500,000 emails/mo; overage $0.0005/email (price via Mar-2026 secondary sheet; official selector is JS-gated)" }, { "plan": "Marketing Campaigns Basic 5K", "monthly_usd": 15, "unit": "at 5,000 contacts (smallest paid tier)", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "5,000 stored contacts (unsubscribed count too) + 15,000 emails/mo, 1 teammate, no automation; overage $0.0040 per extra email/contact" }, { "plan": "Marketing Campaigns Basic 10K", "monthly_usd": 25, "unit": "at 10,000 contacts", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "10,000 contacts + 30,000 emails/mo; overage $0.0030 per extra email/contact" }, { "plan": "Marketing Campaigns Advanced 10K", "monthly_usd": 60, "unit": "at 10,000 contacts", "annual_monthly_usd": null, "limits": "10,000 contacts + 50,000 emails/mo, automation, dedicated IP access, 1,000 teammates; overage $0.0075" } ], "math": { "seats_1": null, "seats_5": null, "seats_10": null, "subs_500": 15, "subs_1000": 15, "subs_5000": 15, "subs_10000": 25, "math_notes": "Subscriber math uses Marketing Campaigns Basic, the product actually required for list-based newsletters (the transactional Email API is a separate purchase, $19.95/mo minimum, and manages no contact lists). Smallest paid contact tier is 5,000, so 500, 1,000, and 5,000 subscribers all pay the same $15/mo; 10,000 subscribers pay $25/mo. Trap: Basic's email-volume cap is low relative to contacts (15,000 emails/mo at the 5K tier, 30,000 at 10K), so a weekly newsletter to 5,000 subs (~21,700 emails/mo) adds ~$27/mo in $0.0040 overages, real cost ~$42/mo; weekly to 10,000 subs (~43,300 emails/mo) adds ~$40 in $0.0030 overages, real cost ~$65/mo. No annual billing discount exists; all prices are monthly billing (negotiated discounts only at $12k+/yr committed spend). Pro 1.5M ($799) and 2.5M ($1,099) are from a March 2026 secondary price sheet because the official page gates those steps behind a JS selector; all other figures confirmed on twilio.com pricing pages or by 2+ 2026-dated sources.", "public_note": "Marketing Campaigns Basic, the product needed for list newsletters. The smallest paid contact tier is 5,000, so smaller lists pay the same. Volume caps mean a weekly newsletter usually adds overage charges." }, "honest_wins": [ "Proven deliverability infrastructure at extreme scale: 200B+ emails/month, with expert deliverability services and insights available on Pro/Premier", "Best-in-class developer tooling for app-generated email: SMTP relay + REST API, official SDKs, event webhooks, and granular per-message analytics", "Pro at $89.95/mo includes a dedicated IP (additional IPs $30/mo), cheaper than assembling equivalent volume + dedicated IP on most rivals", "Per-email cost gets genuinely cheap at volume: down to $0.0005/email overage at the 2.5M tier, with Premier custom pricing above that" ], "honest_losses": [ "The forever-free plan (100 emails/day) is gone: retirement announced May 27, 2025, sending cut off July 26, 2025; new accounts get only a 60-day trial, then must pay $19.95/mo minimum or stop sending", "Transactional and newsletter are two separate products with two separate bills: Email API ($19.95+) and Marketing Campaigns ($15+) are signed up for and billed independently", "Marketing Campaigns bills stored contacts including unsubscribed ones, the smallest paid tier is 5,000 contacts (a 300-subscriber list pays the same $15 as a 5,000 one), and low email caps (15K emails/mo at the 5K tier) make weekly newsletters trigger $0.004/email overages", "No annual billing discount at all (monthly only; invoicing/discounts require ~$12k+/yr committed spend), and it is send-only: no inbox, no receiving, no mailbox hosting" ], "notable_facts": [ "May 27, 2025: Twilio announced retirement of SendGrid's free Email API and free Marketing Campaigns plans; existing free accounts kept access for 60 days and the free tier stopped sending entirely on July 26, 2025 (source: Twilio changelog)", "Post-2025 replacement is a 60-day free trial (100 emails/day, 100 contacts); there is no permanent way to use SendGrid for free anymore", "By 2026 the SendGrid brand is being absorbed into Twilio's site: sendgrid.com/pricing 301-redirects to twilio.com/en-us/sendgrid, with pricing living at twilio.com/en-us/products/email-api/pricing and /products/marketing-campaigns/pricing", "2026 price sheets show Email API Pro 700K at $499/mo where pre-2025 sheets listed $449, a quiet upper-tier increase that accompanied the free-tier retirement (Essentials entry price stayed $19.95)", "Overage fees per extra email (verified Aug 2026 on the official page): Essentials 50K $0.0013, Essentials 100K $0.0009, Pro 100K $0.0011 down to Pro 2.5M $0.0005; Marketing Campaigns Basic 5K charges $0.0040 per extra email or contact", "Marketing Campaigns contact tiers jump straight from the 100-contact trial to 5,000 contacts; there is no 500 or 1,000-contact tier", "Email validation is gated to Pro (2,500 free validations/mo) and Premier (5,000); additional dedicated IPs cost $30/mo", "Twilio acquired SendGrid in February 2019 for approximately $3B; recurring user complaints since include declining support quality on lower tiers" ], "sources": [ "https://www.twilio.com/en-us/products/email-api/pricing (official, fetched 2026-08-07)", "https://www.twilio.com/en-us/products/marketing-campaigns/pricing (official, fetched 2026-08-07)", "https://www.twilio.com/en-us/changelog/sendgrid-free-plan (official free-plan retirement notice)", "https://www.sendx.io/blog/sendgrid-pricing (updated 2026-03-27; full Pro tier table)", "https://www.emailsoftwareinsights.com/reviews/sendgrid/pricing/ (updated 2026-01-09)", "https://www.mailmodo.com/pricing-calculator/sendgrid-pricing/ (Marketing Campaigns Basic 5K/10K tiers)", "https://comparedge.com/tools/sendgrid/pricing (verified 2026-07-16)", "https://meraksystems.com/blog/2025/07/29/sendgrid-has-ended-its-free-tier-heres-what-it-means-for-your-website/ (free-tier cutoff date corroboration)" ], "as_of": "August 2026" } ] }