MailerLite

The Best-Kept Secret in Email Marketing

MailerLite was founded in 2010 in Vilnius, Lithuania. It's bootstrapped — no venture capital, no private equity buyouts. That independence shows in the pricing: they don't need to squeeze margins for investors. Over 1.5 million users across 180 countries. The team is remote-first and keeps the product lean and focused.

Free Plan That Actually Works

The free tier gives you 1,000 subscribers, 12,000 emails per month, automation workflows, landing pages, signup forms, and a website builder. No credit card. No catch. Compare that to Mailchimp's free plan (500 contacts, no automation) or ConvertKit's free plan (10,000 subscribers but no automation). MailerLite's free plan is the most balanced option for small businesses starting out.

Clean Interface, No Clutter

The dashboard is refreshingly simple. Three email editor options: drag-and-drop, rich text, or custom HTML. The drag-and-drop builder is genuinely smooth — elements snap into place, previews update instantly, mobile responsive by default. You won't find 200 features competing for attention. MailerLite does email marketing well and doesn't pretend to be a CRM or social media tool.

Website and Blog Builder

MailerLite includes a website builder. Not a landing page builder — an actual website builder with blog functionality, about pages, and custom domains. For creators or small businesses that need a simple web presence alongside email, this eliminates one more subscription. It's basic compared to WordPress, but it works.

Where MailerLite Has Limits

Advanced automation is limited. You get basic workflows with triggers and actions, but complex conditional branching, predictive sending, and dynamic content are either missing or basic. Reporting covers the essentials but doesn't offer the depth that data-driven teams need. E-commerce integrations exist but lack the revenue attribution of Drip or Klaviyo. The template library is decent but smaller than Mailchimp's.