The best email marketing tool for UK small businesses: an honest comparison.

If you are a UK small business owner looking for the cheapest way to start sending emails: use MailerLite. It is free up to 500 subscribers, easy to use and cheap to upgrade. If you would rather start with something more powerful that you will not outgrow, there is a better answer at the end.

I set up email marketing for clients every month: salons in Twickenham, restaurants in Richmond, service businesses across London. People always ask the same thing: "There are dozens of tools, which one should I pick?"

The honest answer is that most small businesses are choosing between the same four: MailerLite, Klaviyo, Brevo and Mailchimp. The others are too niche, too expensive or built for a different kind of business. So this guide compares those four, with a clear "if this, pick that" at the end.

One change in the last year affects the recommendation: Mailchimp cut its free plan in January 2026, from 500 to 250 contacts, and it no longer includes automation. If your plan was "start with Mailchimp because it is free", that is no longer the smart move. More on that below.

The four tools we are comparing

Before the head to heads, here is a one line summary of each:

• MailerLite: simple, affordable, made for small businesses. Free up to 500 subscribers, paid plans from $10 a month.
• Klaviyo: built for online shops, with deep Shopify integration. Expensive but powerful. Free up to 250 contacts, paid from $20 a month.
• Brevo (formerly Sendinblue): a French company with unusual pricing based on how many emails you send, not how many contacts you have. Free with a 300 a day sending cap, paid from $9 a month.
• Mailchimp: the big name that used to be the default, now with some unpopular changes. Free up to just 250 contacts with no automation, paid from $13 a month.

What they really cost in 2026

Here is what each one costs as of May 2026. Prices are in US dollars because that is how all four bill. To convert to pounds, multiply by roughly 0.8.

Free plans

• MailerLite: 500 subscribers, 12,000 emails a month, automation included. (Reduced from 1,000 subscribers in September 2025.)
• Klaviyo: 250 profiles and only 500 emails a month in total. Very restrictive.
• Brevo: up to 100,000 contacts stored, but a cap of 300 emails a day.
• Mailchimp: 250 contacts, 500 emails a month, no automation, no scheduling and no A/B testing.

Cheapest paid plans, for about 500 subscribers

• MailerLite Growing Business: $10 a month, unlimited emails, full automation.
• Brevo Starter: $9 a month, 5,000 emails a month, unlimited contacts.
• Mailchimp Essentials: $13 a month, 5,000 emails a month, but no multi step automation. You need Standard at $20 a month for that.
• Klaviyo Email: $20 a month, unlimited emails.

MailerLite vs Klaviyo: which one wins?

This is the comparison I see most, and the answer is simple: they are built for different businesses. The real question is whether you run an online shop.

Pick MailerLite if you run a local service business (salon, clinic, restaurant, trade), a course or digital product business, a newsletter or a small B2B company. You want to send campaigns and welcome emails without learning a complex platform, and cost matters.

Pick Klaviyo if you run a Shopify, WooCommerce or BigCommerce store with real sales volume. You need segments based on what people buy, abandoned basket emails, post purchase sequences and predictive analytics, and you can afford $30 to $150 or more a month as your list grows.

The honest reality: Klaviyo is overkill for most UK small businesses, and the cost climbs fast. At 1,000 contacts you pay $30 a month, and at 10,000 you pay $150 a month, before any SMS or other add ons. MailerLite at the same list sizes is roughly half that.

But if you run an online shop, Klaviyo's Shopify integration is genuinely the best there is. Serious direct to consumer brands use it for a reason.

MailerLite vs Brevo: which one wins?

This comes down to how you pay. The two use completely different pricing models, and depending on your situation one will be much cheaper.

MailerLite charges by subscribers. The more people on your list, the more you pay, whether you email them or not.

Brevo charges by emails sent. You can store 100,000 contacts for free and only pay when you send.

That matters more than it sounds. Two real examples:

• A yoga studio with 800 members on its list, sending one newsletter a month. MailerLite charges for 800 subscribers, about $15 a month. Brevo sees 800 emails a month, well inside the free plan. Brevo wins.
• A small business with 400 subscribers, sending 3 emails a week. That is about 4,800 emails a month, over Brevo's free cap, so you would need the $9 Starter plan. MailerLite is free up to 500 subscribers. MailerLite wins.

So: big list, occasional emails, pick Brevo. Smaller list, frequent emails, pick MailerLite.

One more point in Brevo's favour: it is a French company with EU servers and is GDPR friendly out of the box. MailerLite is also GDPR compliant, with an EU company in Lithuania, but Brevo's data location is more clearly in the EU.

MailerLite vs Mailchimp: which one wins?

A year ago this was close. In 2026 it is not. MailerLite wins on almost everything that matters to a small business.

By comparison, MailerLite's free plan includes 500 subscribers, 12,000 emails a month and full automation. The paid Growing Business plan starts at $10 a month with automation, unlimited emails and support around the clock.

Mailchimp also counts unsubscribed contacts towards your bill unless you archive them by hand, a quiet way of inflating the price that catches many people out. MailerLite does not do this.

The honest case for staying on Mailchimp is the cost of moving. If you have years of email history, integrations, templates and segments set up, switching takes a day or two of work. That is the only real reason to stay.

Brevo vs Mailchimp: which one wins?

Brevo wins on price and features. Mailchimp wins on brand recognition and the number of integrations.

For a typical UK small business choosing between the two: Brevo's free plan stores 100,000 contacts, Mailchimp's stores 250. Brevo's $9 Starter plan covers 5,000 emails a month. Mailchimp's $13 Essentials plan covers 5,000 emails a month, but without automation. For automation like Brevo's, you need Mailchimp Standard at $20 a month.

That is not a small difference. Over a year, choosing Brevo over Mailchimp Standard saves around £100, with more flexibility on contacts.

The case for Mailchimp over Brevo: you use a tool that only connects to Mailchimp, which a few still do, or your team already knows Mailchimp. Otherwise Brevo is better value.

Feature comparison at a glance

Here is the side by side, focused on what matters to a small business owner choosing a tool:

Which one fits your UK business?

A quick guide by the kinds of businesses we usually work with:

Salons, clinics, beauty and fitness studios

Pick MailerLite. You do not need anything fancy. You need to send offers, appointment reminders and a monthly update. MailerLite does this well and stays cheap as your list grows. Use the free plan until you reach 500 subscribers, then upgrade for $10 a month.

Restaurants, cafés and food businesses

Pick MailerLite or Brevo. MailerLite if you email regularly, such as weekly specials or events. Brevo if you have a big list but only email for special occasions, like Christmas or a new menu.

Tradespeople: plumbers, electricians, builders

Pick MailerLite. To be honest, most tradespeople do not need email marketing. They need a good website, Google reviews and a strong Google Business Profile. But if you want to send the occasional update or service reminder, MailerLite's free plan covers it.

Online shops on Shopify or WooCommerce

Pick Klaviyo. This is where Klaviyo earns its price. The Shopify integration gives you abandoned basket emails, post purchase sequences, segments by lifetime value and predictive analytics. Nothing else comes close for online retail. Start free and upgrade when you pass 250 contacts.

B2B service businesses and consultancies

Pick MailerLite if budget is tight, Encharge if it is not. MailerLite handles newsletters and simple nurture sequences fine. But if you want emails triggered by what people do, such as the pages they visit, plus lead scoring and a link to your sales pipeline, Encharge is the better tool. More below.

Course creators, coaches and digital products

Pick MailerLite. The best balance of price and capability. Its landing pages and digital product sales, on paid plans, cover most of what course creators need without a separate platform.

If you want to start properly, not just cheaply: Encharge

Everything above assumes you want the cheapest option that works. If you would rather start with something more powerful and easier to use from day one, the answer changes.

For our clients, and for ourselves, we use Encharge.

Encharge does everything MailerLite does, from campaigns and newsletters to sign up forms and automations, with much more powerful triggers underneath. You can send emails based on what someone does on your website, score leads, build proper customer journeys and connect to a sales pipeline. That is the kind of thing you would otherwise need ActiveCampaign or HubSpot for.

The interface is also easier than MailerLite once you are past the first hour, with less clutter and a better visual flow builder. So why is it not the headline recommendation? One reason only: there is no free plan. If you want to try email with no budget, MailerLite is the right call. If you have already decided email matters and want a tool you will not outgrow, Encharge is the better choice.

For M4TRIX DEV clients: you can set Encharge up yourself, or we can do it for you. Either way, we have partner pricing that is hard to beat. We do not publish the rate, so get in touch and we will send you the numbers if it sounds like a fit.

Our top pick for doing it yourself: MailerLite

If you have read this far and still cannot decide, here is the simple answer: start with MailerLite.

It is free up to 500 subscribers, which is plenty to start. The paid plan is the cheapest serious option at $10 a month, the interface is the friendliest of the four, and the free plan includes proper automation, which is increasingly rare.

The only reasons not to start with MailerLite:

• You run a Shopify or WooCommerce store with real revenue: pick Klaviyo.
• You have a huge list you rarely email: pick Brevo.
• You are already on Mailchimp and your setup is too valuable to move: stay on Mailchimp.
• You want something more powerful that you will not outgrow: pick Encharge.

Otherwise, start a free MailerLite account and you will be sending your first campaign within an hour.

Got questions about your own setup? Email info@m4trixdev.com and I am happy to take a look.

Written by

Matteo Beroldo

Founder of M4TRIX DEV. Over 20 years at GSK and Nestlé, now helping small businesses get found online and win more clients. About us