Data
Email marketing pricing: the true 12-month cost at 1,000, 10,000 and 50,000 contacts
What seven email and SMS tools cost over 12 months at 1,000, 10,000 and 50,000 contacts, computed from each vendor's own pricing page, with add-ons, fees and the date each price was read.
Cheapest plan at each size
- At 1,000 contacts the cheapest verified plan is ActiveCampaign Starter at $180.00 for 12 months (billed yearly).
- At 10,000 contacts the cheapest verified plan is Brevo Starter at $497.04 for 12 months (billed yearly); it is priced by email volume, so this assumes 4 sends per contact a month (40,000 emails/month). The cheapest plan priced by contacts is MailerLite Comfort at $961.20.
- At 50,000 contacts the cheapest verified plan is Beehiiv Lite at $2,988.00 for 12 months (billed yearly).
12-month cost by plan
| Plan | Priced by | 1,000 contacts | 10,000 contacts | 50,000 contacts | Add-ons and fees | Verified | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ActiveCampaign Enterprise | contacts | $1,740.00billed yearly | $7,068.00billed yearly | $14,028.00billed yearly | AI credits included, more sold at checkout; Enterprise email sends = 15x contact limit | verified 2026-10-20 | activecampaign.com |
| ActiveCampaign Plus | contacts | $588.00billed yearly | $2,268.00billed yearly | $7,308.00billed yearly | AI credits included, more sold at checkout; Enterprise email sends = 15x contact limit | verified 2026-10-20 | activecampaign.com |
| ActiveCampaign Pro | contacts | $948.00billed yearly | $4,500.00billed yearly | $11,628.00billed yearly | AI credits included, more sold at checkout; Enterprise email sends = 15x contact limit | verified 2026-10-20 | activecampaign.com |
| ActiveCampaign Starter | contacts | $180.00billed yearly | $1,788.00billed yearly | not offeredStarter | Only available on plans with 25,000 contacts or less | AI credits included, more sold at checkout; Enterprise email sends = 15x contact limit | verified 2026-10-20 | activecampaign.com |
| Beehiiv Lite | contacts | $588.00billed yearly | $1,428.00billed yearly | $2,988.00billed yearly | 0% take on paid subscriptions; Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction applies; free plan up to 2,500 subscribers | verified 2026-10-20 | beehiiv.com |
| Beehiiv Pro | contacts | $1,140.00billed yearly | $2,388.00billed yearly | $4,788.00billed yearly | 0% take on paid subscriptions; Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction applies; free plan up to 2,500 subscribers | verified 2026-10-20 | beehiiv.com |
| Brevo Professional | contacts | price not shown on the vendor's page (checked 2026-10-20) | price not shown on the vendor's page (checked 2026-10-20) | price not shown on the vendor's page (checked 2026-10-20) | SMS credit sold separately (price by volume and destination); remove-Brevo-branding add-on shown at $10.80/month on Starter | checked 2026-10-20 | brevo.com |
| Brevo Standard | contacts | price not shown on the vendor's page (checked 2026-10-20) | price not shown on the vendor's page (checked 2026-10-20) | price not shown on the vendor's page (checked 2026-10-20) | SMS credit sold separately (price by volume and destination); remove-Brevo-branding add-on shown at $10.80/month on Starter | checked 2026-10-20 | brevo.com |
| Brevo Starter | email volumeassumes 4 sends per contact a month | $183.00billed yearly | $497.04billed yearly | price not shown on the vendor's page (checked 2026-10-20) | SMS credit sold separately (price by volume and destination); remove-Brevo-branding add-on shown at $10.80/month on Starter | verified 2026-10-20 | brevo.com |
| Klaviyo Email | contacts | $360.00billed monthly | $1,800.00billed monthly | $8,640.00billed monthly | SMS (US toll-free) $0.01 + carrier fees per send; Composer add-on $20/month; free plan = 250 active profiles, 500 sends/month | verified 2026-10-20 | klaviyo.com |
| Mailchimp Essentials | contacts | $318.00billed monthly | $1,320.00billed monthly | $4,620.00billed monthly | SMS add-on (Essentials), SMS+MMS add-on (Standard, Premium); overages apply if contact or send limit is exceeded; 15% off for 12 months on 10,000+ contacts (promo, not used in the 12-month cost); Premium includes 4 onboarding sessions | verified 2026-10-20 | mailchimp.com |
| Mailchimp Premium | contacts | $4,200.00billed monthly | $4,200.00billed monthly | $9,780.00billed monthly | SMS add-on (Essentials), SMS+MMS add-on (Standard, Premium); overages apply if contact or send limit is exceeded; 15% off for 12 months on 10,000+ contacts (promo, not used in the 12-month cost); Premium includes 4 onboarding sessions | verified 2026-10-20 | mailchimp.com |
| Mailchimp Standard | contacts | $540.00billed monthly | $1,620.00billed monthly | $5,400.00billed monthly | SMS add-on (Essentials), SMS+MMS add-on (Standard, Premium); overages apply if contact or send limit is exceeded; 15% off for 12 months on 10,000+ contacts (promo, not used in the 12-month cost); Premium includes 4 onboarding sessions | verified 2026-10-20 | mailchimp.com |
| MailerLite Comfort | contacts | $205.20billed yearly | $961.20billed yearly | $3,445.20billed yearly | free plan = 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month; Enterprise custom above 200K | verified 2026-10-20 | mailerlite.com |
| MailerLite Power | contacts | $421.20billed yearly | $1,393.20billed yearly | $4,201.20billed yearly | free plan = 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month; Enterprise custom above 200K | verified 2026-10-20 | mailerlite.com |
| Omnisend Pro | contacts | $708.00billed monthly | $1,800.00billed monthly | $8,580.00billed monthly | SMS from $0.007/SMS (US, by volume; $50 = 5,882 SMS); account expert free from $400/month; 30% off the first 3 months when paid upfront | verified 2026-10-20 | omnisend.com |
| Omnisend Standard | contacts | $240.00billed monthly | $1,584.00billed monthly | $4,956.00billed monthly | SMS from $0.007/SMS (US, by volume; $50 = 5,882 SMS); account expert free from $400/month; 30% off the first 3 months when paid upfront | verified 2026-10-20 | omnisend.com |
Per-message and transaction fees
How these numbers are built
- 12-month cost = the lower of 12 x the monthly list price and the yearly total (plus any onboarding fee; none was shown).
- Promotions (Omnisend 30% off the first 3 months, Mailchimp 15% off 12 months) are listed as add-ons and not used in the cost.
- Brevo Starter is priced by monthly email volume, not contacts: each cell is the smallest Starter tier that covers the contacts at 4 sends per contact a month.
- Omnisend shows a 3-months-upfront total; its list monthly price = that total / 3.
- ActiveCampaign shows only billed-yearly prices.
- Every price was read from the vendor's own pricing page on the date shown; most of these pages are JavaScript price widgets, read in a browser.
"Price not shown on the vendor's page" means the price could not be read from that page on the date given; the plan stays listed and the cell is not filled with a guess. "Not offered" means the vendor's page says the plan is not sold at that size. Each row's link goes to the page the price was read from. Cite a row with its anchor, for example https://marketingrating.com/data/email-marketing-pricing/#activecampaign-enterprise.