MailerLite review: plans, limits and who it fits

MailerLite review: who it fits and what it costs

MailerLite is email marketing software for creators and small businesses that want newsletters, automations, signup forms and landing pages in one tool, and it starts free for up to 250 active subscribers. An active subscriber is a unique email address with the Active status; unsubscribed and bounced contacts do not count.

Comfort is $12 a month, billed monthly, at 500 subscribers, or $10.80 a month, billed yearly ($129.60 a year). Power is $25 a month, billed monthly, or $22.50 a month, billed yearly ($270.00 a year), at the same count. The four plans are Free, Comfort, Power and Enterprise; Growing Business and Advanced are the retired names for Comfort and Power. The MailerLite pricing guide has the other list sizes.

What the Free, Comfort and Power plans include

An automation is a trigger plus steps that send emails or move subscribers on their own.

• Automations: 3 on Free, 50 on Comfort, unlimited on Power. Multiple triggers on one automation, up to 3, are on Power only.
• Signup forms: 3 on Free, 10 on Comfort, unlimited on Power. Pop-ups and email A/B testing are on every plan.
• Websites and landing pages: 1 website and 1 landing page on Free, 10 pages and sites in total on Comfort, unlimited on Power.
• Seats: 2 on Free, 3 on Comfort, unlimited on Power.
• From Comfort up: logo removal, custom domains, paid newsletters, RSS campaigns and a preference center.

In its favor, e-commerce triggers and the integrations with Stripe, Shopify and WooCommerce are on every plan, and MailerLite takes no cut of digital product sales.

MailerLite limitations: sending caps, seats, support and account review

• Sending caps. Comfort sends 10 times the top of its subscriber tier each month, so 5,000 emails at the 500 tier. A paid account that passes its subscriber or email limit is upgraded to the next tier and the card on file is charged, per the Terms of Use.
• Free past 250 subscribers. Sending campaigns, running automations and adding subscribers all pause, while forms and landing pages keep collecting.
• Active-item caps. Limits count active items only, and drafts do not count. A Comfort account over a limit cannot create, activate or edit that item type until it is back under.
• Seats. Comfort stops at 3 seats; only Power has unlimited seats.
• Support. Free has community support, Comfort has 24/7 email support, and Power adds 24/7 live chat.
• Account review. MailerLite reviews a new account before it can send, and its Terms of Use say a disapproval email may follow if something looks suspicious. The service is for commercial use only.
• Transactional email. Receipts and password resets go through MailerSend, a sister product billed separately.

Poor fits are a personal list, which the Terms of Use rule out, a team that needs more than 3 seats on Comfort, and a list already above 250 that wants to stay on Free. The is MailerLite legit guide covers the account review further.

Refunds, cancellation and the 14-day trial

Every new MailerLite account starts with a 14-day trial of premium features, with no credit card required, and the account drops back to the MailerLite free plan afterward with nothing deleted. The trial covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails and leaves out seven paid features, including unlimited sending, custom domains and logo removal.

MailerLite lists no money-back guarantee and refunds no unused time on monthly or yearly plans. Canceling stops renewal, and the plan runs to the end of the period already paid. After that the account drops to Free. Warning: custom domains must be removed from landing pages and websites before the cancellation can start, and a list above 250 active subscribers must be cut before the downgrade to Free works.

Who should pick Kit, Brevo or Mailchimp instead

Pick a rival over MailerLite in three cases:

• Kit (formerly ConvertKit) for a free list of up to 10,000 subscribers. At 1,000 subscribers its Creator plan is $39 a month, billed monthly, against MailerLite Comfort at $19 a month, billed monthly.
• Brevo for a price set by emails sent rather than by contacts. Starter is $9 a month, billed monthly, from 5,000 emails a month; Comfort at 500 subscribers sends 5,000 emails a month for $12 a month, billed monthly.
• Mailchimp for 5 seats. At up to 500 contacts, Standard is $20 a month, billed monthly, with 5 seats, against Comfort at $12 a month, billed monthly, with 3 seats.

The MailerLite alternatives table sets seven rivals side by side, with their free plans.