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Introduction
Almost every “best email marketing software” list online is written around the same five or six household names, and most of them — ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact — get more expensive the moment your contact list grows past a few thousand people. That’s fine if budget isn’t a concern. For a lot of small businesses and solo marketers, it is.
There’s also a second, quieter problem: “email marketing” tool is increasingly a misleading label. Several of the biggest names in this space have expanded into full CRM and customer-engagement suites, while others have stayed narrowly focused on email and newsletters. Picking the wrong category of tool means either overpaying for a CRM you don’t need, or hitting a wall when you need basic sales-pipeline or helpdesk functionality your “email tool” was never built for.
This article compares five tools — EngageBay, ActiveCampaign, Kit, Constant Contact, and GetResponse — on pricing, what’s actually included at the entry tier, and what each one is really built for.
Bottom Line Up Front
If you want email marketing bundled with a full CRM, sales pipeline, and helpdesk — without paying ActiveCampaign or HubSpot prices — EngageBay is the strongest value pick here. Its free plan supports up to 15 users, and its entry paid tier (Basic, $14.99/user/month) undercuts every contact-based competitor on this list once your list grows past a couple thousand contacts.
If deep marketing automation (branching logic, detailed behavioral triggers) is your top priority and budget is secondary — ActiveCampaign has the most mature automation engine here, though pricing scales quickly with your contact count — confirm current per-tier contact limits before committing VERIFY.
If you’re a solo creator or newsletter writer, not a business selling products — Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is built specifically for that use case, with a genuinely usable free plan up to 10,000 subscribers.
If you want the simplest, most traditional small-business email tool — Constant Contact offers straightforward entry plans built specifically for this use case.
If you want webinars, sales funnels, and landing pages bundled with email — GetResponse’s Creator plan ($56.58/month) combines all three in one subscription, without paying ActiveCampaign or HubSpot prices for separate tools.
To be clear: this article isn’t built to make EngageBay look artificially better than it is. It’s built to make the actual pricing structure of each tool visible before you commit, since that’s the part every vendor’s own pricing page tends to obscure.
How We’re Comparing These Tools
1. What “email marketing” actually means for each tool. Some of these are pure email/newsletter tools. Others, like EngageBay, are full CRM and customer-engagement suites where email is one module among several. We call this out explicitly, since it changes who each tool is really for.
2. How pricing scales as your list grows. Contact-based pricing (ActiveCampaign, Kit) and feature-tier pricing (GetResponse, where higher tiers unlock automation, funnels, and webinars rather than just more contacts) behave very differently as your audience grows. We compare the entry tier price, but the scaling behavior matters more for most buyers.
3. What’s actually included at the entry paid tier, not the enterprise tier vendors tend to lead with on their marketing pages.
Comparison Table
Pricing reflects rates at the time of writing and is subject to change. Always check each company’s official pricing page before signing up.
Detailed Comparison
EngageBay — Best Overall Value
EngageBay positions itself explicitly as an affordable alternative to HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, and Zoho — bundling email marketing, marketing automation, a sales CRM, helpdesk, and live chat into one platform rather than selling them as separate products or add-ons.
| Free plan | Up to 15 users, 250 contacts, core email and CRM features |
| Basic | $14.99/user/month |
| Growth | $64.99/user/month |
| Pro | $119.99/user/month |
Independent review aggregates (G2, Capterra, and others) put EngageBay’s average rating around 4.7/5, with reviewers consistently pointing to affordability and breadth of bundled features as the standout strengths — helpdesk and live-chat tools that competitors typically sell as separate add-ons are included here. For a business that wants CRM, email, and basic support tooling without juggling three separate subscriptions, that bundling is the core value proposition.
The same reviews note real trade-offs: advanced reporting isn’t as deep as dedicated enterprise CRMs, the integration marketplace is smaller than ActiveCampaign’s or HubSpot’s, and the mobile app is generally considered less polished than the desktop product. The free plan’s 250-contact cap will also be a hard limit for anyone past the very early stage.
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ActiveCampaign — Most Powerful Automation
ActiveCampaign’s pricing is entirely contact-based: Starter runs $15/month billed annually (or $19/month billed monthly) for 1,000 contacts, with Plus at $49/month, Professional at $79/month, and Enterprise at $145/month at the same 1,000-contact baseline. There is no free plan, but a 14-day free trial is available on every tier.
The tool’s core strength is automation depth — branching logic, behavioral triggers, and a large integration library (1,000+ tools) that goes well beyond basic autoresponders. The tradeoff is that pricing climbs quickly as your contact list grows, and several add-on features (CRM pipelines, SMS, custom reporting) can push the real bill above the advertised tier price — confirm current add-on pricing directly with ActiveCampaign VERIFY.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — Best for Solo Creators
Kit’s free Newsletter plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited emails, forms, and landing pages — though only a single automation is included. The paid Creator plan starts at $33/month billed annually ($39/month billed monthly) for 1,000 subscribers, scaling up with list size. Creator Pro starts at $66/month billed annually and adds advanced reporting, subscriber scoring, and a newsletter referral system.
It’s worth noting that Kit’s pricing rose significantly in a September 2025 update — the Creator plan moved from $15/month to $33/month, a jump of roughly 120%. If you’re comparing older reviews or pricing guides, treat any Kit pricing published before late 2025 as outdated.
Constant Contact — Traditional Small-Business Email
Constant Contact’s three tiers are Lite (from $12/month), Standard (from $35/month), and Premium (from $80/month). There’s no free plan. It’s one of the longest-running dedicated email marketing platforms and is generally aimed at small businesses, nonprofits, and event-based marketers who want a straightforward, traditional email tool rather than a broader automation or CRM platform — feature-level detail per tier is unconfirmed for this article VERIFY.
GetResponse — Bundling Webinars, Funnels & Email in One Platform
GetResponse takes a different approach from the other tools here: instead of pricing by contacts or email volume alone, it bundles landing pages, sales funnels, and webinars into the same subscription — features usually sold as separate tools elsewhere.
Pricing is contact-based: Starter runs $15.58/month (billed annually, up to 1,000 contacts), Marketer at $48.38/month adds unlimited automation and sales funnels, and Creator at $56.58/month adds webinars and course hosting for up to 500 students. Enterprise pricing is available on request. There’s no free-forever plan, though a 14-day free trial is available.
On G2, GetResponse holds a 4.3/5 rating (1,140+ reviews); on Capterra, 4.2/5 (524+ reviews). Reviewers frequently point to the Automation Builder and the clarity of the pricing structure as standout strengths, along with responsive customer support. Some reviewers describe the tag management system as inefficient and the interface as a bit dated, and a minority of reviews describe difficulty getting a refund shortly after purchase — worth confirming GetResponse’s refund policy directly before committing.
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Which One Fits Your Situation
You want CRM, email, and basic helpdesk/live-chat in one affordable platform. EngageBay’s Basic plan ($14.99/user/month) or even its free tier is the strongest starting point on this list.
You need sophisticated, branching marketing automation and have budget for it. ActiveCampaign remains the deepest automation engine here, but plan for costs to climb as your list grows.
You’re a solo newsletter writer or content creator, not a business with a sales pipeline. Kit’s free plan (up to 10,000 subscribers) is hard to beat for this specific use case.
You want webinars, sales funnels, and landing pages bundled with email. GetResponse’s Creator plan combines all three into one subscription without paying ActiveCampaign or HubSpot prices for separate tools.
You want the most traditional, no-frills small-business email tool. Constant Contact is a reasonable, well-established choice if you don’t need deep automation or CRM features.
Important Drawbacks and Limitations
- Pricing models differ fundamentally across this list (per-contact, per-profile, per-email-sent, per-user) — a tool that looks cheap at your current list size can become the most expensive option as you grow. Model your actual 12-month cost, not just the entry price, before committing.
- EngageBay’s free plan is capped at 250 contacts, which most active email marketers will outgrow quickly.
- ActiveCampaign has real add-on and overage costs that aren’t visible on the headline pricing page — confirm the full cost structure before signing an annual contract.
- Kit’s 2025 price increase (roughly 120% on the Creator plan) is a reminder that “creator-friendly” pricing can change significantly — don’t assume older reviews reflect current costs.
- None of these tools are drop-in replacements for each other. An e-commerce brand choosing Kit is likely picking the wrong category of tool regardless of price.
Q: Which of these tools is cheapest for a small list under 1,000 contacts?
A: EngageBay’s free plan (15 users, 250 contacts) and Kit’s free plan (up to 10,000 subscribers) both offer genuinely usable free tiers at this size. GetResponse doesn’t have a free-forever plan, but its Starter tier starts at just $15.58/month with a 14-day trial to test it first.
Q: Is EngageBay actually a CRM, or an email tool?
A: Both — it’s built as an all-in-one platform combining email marketing, marketing automation, sales CRM, helpdesk, and live chat. If you only need email/newsletter functionality, a narrower tool like Kit or Constant Contact may be simpler.
Q: Do any of these have a genuinely free plan I can use long-term, not just a trial?
A: Yes — EngageBay and Kit both offer free tiers intended for ongoing use, not just a time-limited trial. ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact, and GetResponse do not offer a comparable free-forever plan.
Q: How much does pricing typically increase as my contact list grows?
A: This varies significantly by tool and is the single most important number to model before committing. Contact-based tools (ActiveCampaign, Kit) increase cost directly with list size; GetResponse’s tiers also unlock added features (automation, funnels, webinars) as you move up, not just more contacts. We’d recommend estimating your list size 12 months out and pricing each tool against that number, not your current list size.
Final Decision Guide
Do you need CRM and sales-pipeline features alongside email, not just email alone? If yes, EngageBay’s bundled approach is likely to save you money compared to buying a CRM and an email tool separately.
Is deep automation logic your top priority, and do you have budget to match? ActiveCampaign is the strongest fit, but model contact-based cost growth carefully.
Are you a solo creator publishing a newsletter, not running a business with customers to manage? Kit is purpose-built for this and its free tier is generous.
Do you want webinars, sales funnels, and landing pages bundled with your email tool? GetResponse’s Creator plan ($56.58/month) bundles all three — compare it against paying for separate tools before deciding.
There’s no single best email marketing tool on this list — there’s a best fit for what kind of business you’re running and how your list is likely to grow. Match the pricing model to your actual usage pattern, not just the entry-tier price, before you commit to a year-long contract.
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