What these actually cost as your list grows
Every figure here was read off the vendor's own pricing page by working their own subscriber control, on 6 September 2026. Nothing is interpolated between tiers, and no currency is converted. Where a vendor does not publish a price at a size, the site says so rather than inventing one.
4 of the 9 platforms publish enough to chart. The rest quote a single starting price, which is not a ladder.
How long before you start paying?
A free plan is only free until you outgrow it. Put your numbers in and see how many months each one actually buys you.
At that rate, Kit gives you the longest free run: 8+ years before the first bill of $33/mo.
-
Kit 8+ years free to 10,000 then $33/mo -
beehiiv 22 months free to 2,500 then $43/mo -
EmailOctopus 22 months free to 2,500 then $9/mo -
Sender 22 months free to 2,500 then $7/mo -
Systeme.io 17 months free to 2,000 then $17/mo -
MailerLite Already over free to 250 then $12/mo -
Omnisend Already over free to 250 then $11.20/mo -
ActiveCampaign No free plan no free tier then A$23/mo -
GetResponse No free plan no free tier then €16/mo
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Start free on KitRunway uses each platform's own free subscriber cap and its own entry price. It does not try to predict the bill at every list size: most of these vendors publish those numbers only through a slider we cannot read reliably, and we would rather show you two real figures than five invented ones.
The price at 1,000 subscribers tells you almost nothing
These platforms sit within a few dollars of each other on a small list. They are nowhere near each other once it grows, and the one that looked cheapest at the start is rarely the one that stays cheapest.
The bill does not grow at the same rate
Monthly cost at each list size these vendors publish, in USD. At 25k subscribers the gap between Systeme.io and MailerLite is $769.20 a year.
See the same figures as a table
| Subscribers | beehiiv | MailerLite | Systeme.io |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | not published | $10.80 | Free |
| 1k | $43 | $17.10 | Free |
| 2.5k | $61 | $29.70 | $17 |
| 5k | $78 | $44.10 | $17 |
| 10k | $96 | $80.10 | $47 |
| 25k | $149 | $161.10 | $97 |
Read off each vendor's own pricing page on 6 September 2026. Sizes are the ones they publish, spaced evenly rather than to scale, and nothing is interpolated between them. Vendors that publish only a single price are not plotted, because two points are not a trend.
What it costs when your list grows
Prices read off each vendor's own pricing page, at the size you pick. Nothing here is converted between currencies or guessed at between tiers.
- Systeme.io $17/mo $204 a year Startup and up
- MailerLite $44.10/mo $529.20 a year Comfort
- beehiiv $78/mo $936 a year Scale
Not shown: GetResponse (does not publish prices in USD).
We may earn a commission on this link. It never affects the ranking.
See Systeme.io pricingChecked 6 September 2026. Prices are each vendor's own published figure at that exact list size. Where a vendor bills yearly by default we show the yearly rate and say so. We do not convert currencies: a vendor appears under a currency only if it publishes prices in it.
Still deciding which one?
Price is one input. Whether the free plan can automate a welcome sequence, and what happens to your list if you leave, matter more than a few dollars a month.