Mailchimp alternatives for creators in 2026: 6 tools compared
The best Mailchimp alternatives for creators, compared on price, automations, and selling: Eden, Kit, beehiiv, MailerLite, Substack, and Brevo. Checked October 2026.
Mailchimp is a strong pick for online shops: 300+ integrations, ready-made shop automations, and a name every tool connects to. Creators leave because it bills for unsubscribed contacts, the Essentials plan only allows 4 steps in a flow, prices jump by contact band, and it's built for shops, not courses or coaching. The best alternative for creators who sell their own products is Eden, which puts sales emails next to the store and checkout. Kit is the best all-round creator email tool, beehiiv is best for growing a newsletter, MailerLite is the cheapest, Substack is best for writers, and Brevo is best if you send a lot to a small list.
This guide is for creators on Mailchimp now, or choosing their first email tool. Full disclosure: we make Eden, which is first on this list. Eden is not a full newsletter platform, and we say where another tool is the better pick. Prices were checked on each company's site in October 2026.
What Mailchimp does well, and why creators leave
Mailchimp connects to almost everything. It lists 300+ integrations, has landing pages and forms on every plan, and offers pre-built shop automations like abandoned cart on paid plans. If you run an online shop on a platform Mailchimp supports, it does a lot for you.
Why creators leave:
- You pay for people who left. Mailchimp counts subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed contacts toward your bill, according to its own help page on pricing plans. You have to clean your list to keep the bill down.
- Essentials flows stop at 4 steps. A real welcome sequence plus a sales push needs more than that, which means Standard.
- Prices go up in bands. Essentials is $26.50 a month at 1,000 contacts, $75 at 3,000, and $110 at 10,000. Standard is $45, $100, and $135.
- It's built for shops. Courses, coaching, and digital downloads aren't what Mailchimp is designed around.
- The free plan is small. 250 contacts, 500 sends a month, no scheduling, and automations only as a preview.
The short version
| Platform | Best for | Free plan | At 10,000 contacts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eden | Creators selling their own products | No email on Free | $108/mo broadcasts, $158/mo with sequences |
| Kit | Creators who want automations | Up to 10,000 subscribers | Creator $116/mo ($1,390/yr) |
| beehiiv | Growing a newsletter | Up to 2,500 subscribers | Lite $139/mo ($119/mo billed yearly) |
| MailerLite | Low price with automations | 250 subscribers, 3 automations | Comfort $89/mo ($80.10/mo billed yearly) |
| Substack | Writers with a paid newsletter | Free, 10% of paid subscriptions | Free |
| Brevo | Sending a lot to a small list | Up to 300 emails a day | Priced by emails sent, from $9/mo |
| Mailchimp | Online shops (for reference) | 250 contacts, 500 sends a month | Essentials $110/mo, Standard $135/mo |
Card processing (usually 2.9% + 30¢ per US payment) applies wherever you take money.
1. Eden
Eden is a creator store with email built in. Products, checkout, and emails share one list, so each email knows who bought what.
What it does well:
- Contacts fill in on their own. Buyers, free product claims, signups on your page, form and quiz answers with the email box ticked, and people who start checkout but don't buy.
- Sequences built for selling. Start a sequence when someone buys or claims a product, signs up, starts checkout and leaves, gets a tag, or their membership ends. Each email can skip people who own a product, clicked earlier, or have a tag.
- Buyers stop getting pitched. Give a sequence a product to sell, and anyone who buys it leaves the sequence.
- Checkout recovery for your own products. Mailchimp's abandoned cart is for online shops. Eden's works on your courses, coaching, and downloads.
- You only pay for people who are subscribed. One flat list size price covers the whole list, and it counts subscribed contacts only. People who unsubscribe never get another email, even if you import them again.
- No setup. Emails go out from your store handle on Eden's sending address. Eden checks uploaded addresses, stages your first big send, and watches bounces and spam reports.
Where it falls short: no A/B tests, no visual branching automation builder, no sending from your own domain, and far fewer integrations than Mailchimp. It sells paid newsletters but has no public web archive. Sequences need Pro.
Price: Starter $29/mo (broadcasts, 250 contacts, 5,000 sends a month). Pro $79/mo adds sequences and checkout recovery. A list size add-on covers bigger lists: $15/mo at 1,000 contacts, $79/mo at 10,000. Selling costs 5% per sale, and Eden takes no extra fee on email. See Eden vs Mailchimp.
Best for: creators who sell courses, coaching, or downloads and want emails tied to sales.
2. Kit
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is built for creators. The free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited landing pages, forms, broadcasts, tags, and selling digital products.
What it does well: sequences and unlimited visual automations on Creator, subject line A/B tests, 100+ app integrations on Creator, and no sending limits. Kit charges 3.5% + 30¢ per sale, card processing included.
Where it falls short: the free plan has no sequences or automations, and its abandoned checkout is for Shopify, Fourthwall, and Wix stores.
Price: Creator from $33/mo at 1,000 subscribers, $116/mo at 10,000. Pro from $66/mo. See Eden vs Kit.
Best for: creators who want strong automations and a big free plan.
3. beehiiv
beehiiv is built to grow a newsletter: an ad network, a referral program, a recommendation network, and 0% taken from paid subscriptions.
Where it falls short: automations and paid subscriptions start on Lite. Order bumps, upsells, and coaching need Pro. See beehiiv alternatives.
Price: Free up to 2,500 subscribers. Lite from $59/mo ($49 billed yearly) at 1,000. Pro from $109/mo ($95 billed yearly).
Best for: newsletters that want to grow and earn from ads.
4. MailerLite
MailerLite gives every paid plan the full feature set. You pay for list size and sending.
What it does well: the free plan includes 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, and 3 automations. Comfort adds 50 automations and A/B testing and removes the MailerLite logo. Power makes automations, digital products, and sending unlimited.
Where it falls short: the free plan is small, and selling is limited to 5 products or bookings on Comfort.
Price: Comfort from $12/mo at 500 subscribers, $19 at 1,000, $89 at 10,000. Power from $25/mo. About 10% off billed yearly.
Best for: small lists that want Mailchimp-style tools for less.
5. Substack
Substack is free to publish and takes 10% of paid subscriptions, plus Stripe's fee. You get a newsletter, a web archive, and Notes for discovery.
Where it falls short: there are no real automations, and 10% of paid revenue adds up. There's no official way for apps to add subscribers, though Eden adds signups to Substack through its desktop app or Chrome extension.
Price: free, 10% of paid subscriptions. See Substack growth strategy.
Best for: writers whose newsletter is the product.
6. Brevo
Brevo prices by how many emails you send, not how many contacts you store.
What it does well: the free plan sends up to 300 emails a day. Starter starts at $9 a month for 5,000 emails a month. Standard starts at $18 a month and adds marketing automation, A/B testing, a landing page, and removes the Brevo logo.
Where it falls short: it's built for businesses, with SMS, WhatsApp, and sales tools, not creator products. Automations need Standard.
Price: Free, Starter from $9/mo, Standard from $18/mo. 10% off billed yearly.
Best for: a small list you email often.
Which one should you pick?
- Pick Eden if you sell your own products and want emails that know who bought, recover lost checkouts, and stop pitching buyers.
- Pick Kit if you want visual automations and a free plan up to 10,000 subscribers.
- Pick beehiiv if you want to grow a newsletter and earn from ads.
- Pick MailerLite if you want the closest thing to Mailchimp for less.
- Pick Substack if you're a writer and the newsletter is the product.
- Pick Brevo if your list is small but you send a lot.
- Stay on Mailchimp if you run an online shop and depend on its integrations.
Where Eden falls short
Eden is a store with email, not a full email platform. It has no A/B tests, no branching automation builder, no RSS-to-email, no landing page builder beyond your store page and product pages, and no sending from your own domain. Starter includes 250 contacts before you add a list size, and sequences need Pro. If you want a newsletter with a public web archive, use Kit, beehiiv, or Substack, and connect it to Eden so buyers and signups land there too.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Mailchimp so expensive?
It bills by contact band and counts unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts toward your total. At 10,000 contacts, Essentials is $110 a month and Standard is $135. Cleaning out unsubscribed contacts can lower your bill.
What is the best free alternative to Mailchimp?
Kit. Its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, against Mailchimp's 250 contacts. beehiiv is free up to 2,500.
What is the cheapest Mailchimp alternative?
MailerLite, for most lists: $89 a month at 10,000 subscribers on Comfort, against $110 for Mailchimp Essentials. For a very small list that sends a lot, Brevo starts at $9 a month.
Can I move my Mailchimp contacts to Eden?
Yes. Export your audience and import it in Customers. Only import people who bought from you or agreed to hear from you. Eden checks each address before it gets an email and skips ones that would bounce. Imported people get broadcasts, not sequences. See the email marketing help article.
Does Eden replace my newsletter tool?
Not if you publish a newsletter. Eden sends sales emails. Keep your newsletter on Kit, beehiiv, GoHighLevel, or Substack, and Eden adds buyers and signups there too.
Want emails that sit next to your store and checkout? Start Eden free, claim your page, and send your first broadcast.