Under 2,500 subscribers, almost nobody should pay for email marketing. Several vendors give away a free plan that covers this size, but the plans cap different things. Some cap contacts, some cap emails sent per month, and a few cap both. The question is not which is cheapest, because they are all free. It is which cap you hit first, and that depends on how often you send as much as how long your list is. Limits were read on October 29, 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Multiply subscribers by sends per month and compare the result to each plan’s send cap. A contact cap you sit under and a send cap you blow past are the same wall.
- EmailOctopus, Sender and beehiiv hold 2,500 subscribers free. beehiiv has no send cap. Kit holds 10,000.
- Mailchimp and MailerLite cap contacts at 250, a tenth of this range. Moosend has only a 30-day trial.
- EmailFig is free to 4,000 contacts on both plan families, no card. Kit’s free plan holds more contacts than ours.
Free plan contact and send caps
Each figure comes from the vendor’s pricing page, in USD.
| Tool | Contact cap | Send cap | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| EmailFig, managed | 4,000 | 10,000 emails/mo | Ongoing plan |
| EmailFig, BYOS | 4,000 | None (you pay Amazon) | Ongoing plan |
| Kit¹ | 10,000 | Unlimited | Ongoing plan |
| beehiiv | 2,500 | Unlimited | Ongoing plan |
| Sender | 2,500 | 15,000 emails/mo | Ongoing plan |
| EmailOctopus | 2,500 | 10,000 emails/mo | Ongoing plan |
| Zoho Campaigns | 2,000 | 6,000 emails/mo | Ongoing plan |
| Brevo | Not stated on the page | 300 emails/day | Ongoing plan |
| Moosend | 1,000 | Unlimited | 30-day trial, no card |
| MailerLite | 250 | 2,500 emails/mo | Ongoing plan |
| Mailchimp | 250 | 500 emails/mo or 250/day | Ongoing plan |
¹ Kit’s pricing page blocked automated reads on October 29. The figures are from our September 2026 read and match what third-party reviews report.
Mailchimp and MailerLite cap contacts at 250. A list past that needs a paid plan from either, however rarely you send. Moosend has no ongoing free plan: its trial covers up to 1,000 contacts for 30 days, and the cheapest paid Pro plan is $9 a month at 500 contacts. Zoho Campaigns holds 2,000 contacts, close to this range but not all of it.
That leaves EmailFig, Kit, beehiiv, Sender and EmailOctopus as plans that cover a full 2,500-subscriber list. The other axis separates them.
Which cap you hit first
Take a list of 2,000 subscribers. Emails a month is subscribers times sends:
| How often you send | Emails a month | Plans that still hold |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly (4 sends) | 8,000 | EmailFig managed, EmailOctopus, Sender, Kit, beehiiv |
| Twice a week (8 sends) | 16,000 | Kit, beehiiv, EmailFig BYOS |
| Daily (30 sends) | 60,000 | Kit, beehiiv, EmailFig BYOS |
At 16,000 emails a month, Sender’s 15,000 cap is gone in the last days of the month, and EmailOctopus and EmailFig’s managed plan stopped at 10,000 earlier. Brevo’s 300 emails a day throttles harder: one campaign to 2,000 people takes almost seven days to clear, before the next can start.
Only uncapped plans keep up with frequent sending. Kit and beehiiv remove the send cap on their free plans. EmailFig’s BYOS free plan does too, because Amazon bills those emails and there is nothing for us to ration.
Do the multiplication for your own list before picking a tool. A “biggest free tier” claim that does not ask how often you send is guessing for you.
Where EmailFig sits
Free to 4,000 contacts on both plan families, no card. That clears Sender, EmailOctopus and beehiiv at 2,500, Zoho at 2,000, and Mailchimp and MailerLite at 250. It does not clear Kit, whose free plan holds 10,000 subscribers and has no send cap. On contacts alone, Kit’s free tier is bigger than ours. Under 2,500 subscribers neither contact cap binds you, so the send cap is what separates the tools.
On managed sending, the free plan is capped at 10,000 emails a month, the same as EmailOctopus. Connect your own Amazon SES account and the cap disappears, as it does on Kit and beehiiv. Platform sending or your own Amazon SES covers the tradeoff, and BYOS adds an AWS setup that Kit does not.
If a list under 10,000 with light automation is the whole problem, Kit’s free plan solves it with less setup than ours.
What happens when you outgrow 2,500
Prices at exactly 2,500 subscribers, monthly billing, read on the same day:
| Tool | Paid plan at 2,500 subscribers |
|---|---|
| EmailFig | Free (4,000 contacts). Past that, $15 at 5,000 (BYOS $10) |
| EmailOctopus Pro | $20 |
| MailerLite Comfort | $33 |
| Mailchimp Essentials | $49 |
| beehiiv Lite | $79 |
Brevo’s Starter plan starts at $9 a month but is priced by emails sent, not contacts. Moosend has no 2,500 step; its 3,000-contact Pro plan is $32.
That is a different list size and a different post. The comparison at 5,000 subscribers picks up the paid ladder, and the full comparison across list sizes covers 5,000 and up. What matters here is knowing which free cap you are up against before you outgrow it.
Instagram DM Automation for Email List Growth
Email marketing platforms help creators manage their subscribers, but growing an email list requires capturing leads from multiple channels. Instagram is another valuable source, especially for creators and small businesses with an engaged audience.
InstantDM helps businesses automate Instagram conversations through comment-to-DM automation, keyword-triggered messages, and Story reply automation. Creators can automatically send newsletter signup links, collect email addresses from interested followers, and turn Instagram engagement into email subscribers without manually responding to every interaction.
For creators looking to grow their newsletter without relying only on website signup forms, Instagram DM automation provides an additional channel for attracting and capturing subscribers.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the biggest free email marketing plan for under 2,500 contacts?
Kit’s free plan holds up to 10,000 subscribers with no send limit. Among plans built for this size, EmailOctopus, Sender and beehiiv each hold 2,500 free, and EmailFig holds 4,000 on both plan families.
Does Mailchimp’s free plan cover 2,500 contacts?
No. Mailchimp’s free plan caps at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. A list near 2,500 needs Essentials at $49 a month, or Standard at $60.
Is Moosend actually free?
Not on an ongoing basis. Moosend offers a 30-day trial with no card, covering up to 1,000 contacts and unlimited sends. After that, Pro starts at $9 a month for 500 contacts.
How many emails can I send free to a 2,000-contact list?
It depends on the send cap, not the contact cap. EmailOctopus and EmailFig’s managed free plan stop at 10,000 emails a month. Sender stops at 15,000. Brevo sends 300 a day. Kit, beehiiv and EmailFig BYOS have no send cap.
Do free plans remove the vendor’s branding?
Not on the ones checked. EmailFig, EmailOctopus and Sender keep their branding on free-plan emails, and beehiiv removes its own only on Pro. Sender’s pricing page says the branding comes off on paid plans.
For EmailFig’s own free plan, see how pricing works. Free tiers compared goes deeper on contact caps against send caps at every size.