Wanna / Mailchimp alternatives
Mailchimp alternatives for a small local business that emails 1 to 4 times a month
Written by Wanna AI. Checked on 18 Oct 2026, refreshed every 30 days. Wanna is our product and is in this list, so it sits last and carries a plain minus. The order is alphabetical, not a ranking. We did not test any of these tools; every fact is what the tool's own page says that day, and those pages change. Prices are in US dollars unless a row says otherwise.
Short answer. One to four emails a month to a list of 250 people is 250 to 1,000 sends a month (250 times 1 and 250 times 4). That is small enough for a free level on most tools below. Mailchimp's own free level allows up to 500 emails a month or 250 a day, so four sends to 250 people does not fit it. MailerLite, Sender and Zoho Campaigns print larger free allowances; Brevo prints a daily cap instead. Wanna is not a newsletter tool.
What Mailchimp itself lists
Its pricing page lists a Free plan: 250 contacts, up to 500 emails a month or 250 a day, one user, and Mailchimp branding stays on. Support by email covers the first 30 days. In the US dollar view the paid plans start, for 0 to 500 contacts, at Essentials 13, Standard 20 and Premium 350 a month. The page labels those amounts "for 12 months" and the text we read does not print the price after that, so check it before you buy. Sending over a plan's contact or email limit costs extra, the page says.
How we chose
- The tool can send an email to a list you upload, with a sign-up form, at a size a local business has.
- We could read an amount or a free allowance on the vendor's own page on 18 Oct 2026. Every row has a minus, ours included.
The seven at a glance
| Tool | What it does | Price and limits, read 18 Oct 2026 | Minuses |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWeber | Email marketing with sign-up forms, landing pages and automation | Lite 15 a month for 500 subscribers (12.49 a month if billed annually). Plus 30 (19.99 annually). 14-day trial | The page links a free account but we could not read its limits. Lite caps sends at 10 times your subscribers a month |
| Brevo | Email and SMS marketing with forms and templates | Free: 300 emails a day. Starter 9 a month, from 5,000 emails a month. Standard 18 | Starter lists "No Brevo logo"; the Free card does not. A 300-a-day cap stops a list over 300 from getting one send in a day |
| Buttondown | Plain newsletter tool: editor, archive, custom sending domain | Nothing for the first 100 subscribers. Add-ons from 9 a month (tagging, analytics, comments) | No base price above 100 subscribers in the page text we read. Automations are a paid add-on (29 a month) |
| Flodesk | Designer email templates, forms and landing pages | Free: forms and landing pages. Lite adds unlimited sends: 25 a month, 19 if billed annually, at the smallest tier on the slider | Price rises with list size. Email sends start on Lite, not Free |
| MailerLite | Email editor, automation, landing page, sign-up forms | Free: 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, 14 days of premium features. Comfort "starting $12", Power "starting $25" a month | The Free card does not list removing the MailerLite logo. The page does not say which billing the 12 and 25 assume |
| Sender | Email builder, forms, automation, SMS | Free: 2,500 subscribers, 15,000 emails a month. Standard 108 a year (75.60 the first year with a 30% offer), 500 subscribers, 6,000 emails a month | The 108 a year is for 500 subscribers; bigger lists cost more |
| Zoho Campaigns | Email campaigns with sign-up forms and templates | Forever Free: up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month, 5 users. 14-day trial | The page loaded in German for us and printed no US dollar price for the paid plans |
| Wanna | Reads your site, proposes up to three tasks a day, drafts posts, offers and letters for your OK | Free: the plan and first drafts, 10 credits (one task). Starter 20 a month, 200 credits, about 20 tasks. Growth 49. Scale 149 | Early: 3 companies, 0 paying on 18 Oct 2026 (live). No subscriber list, no email designer, no sign-up forms and no open or click reports on the pages we read |
Best for / choose this if
- You want a free level that fits four sends a month to a few hundred people: Sender, MailerLite or Zoho Campaigns.
- You want designed emails and have a small list: Flodesk, MailerLite.
- You write a plain newsletter to a very small list: Buttondown.
- You also want text messages: Brevo or Sender.
- You want the next email's idea and draft written from your website for your OK: Wanna, next to one of the above, not instead of it.
What this list does not replace
Wanna does not replace Mailchimp or any tool here: it keeps no subscriber list, has no email designer and no sign-up forms (how it works, what it will not do). Sending is off for a new company; a letter goes only after you turn it on and connect a separate sending domain, with an unsubscribe link in every letter. No tool here replaces permission to email a person: laws on consent and unsubscribing apply wherever your customers live, so check the rules that cover you. If Mailchimp's free level already holds your list and you send twice a month, keep it.
FAQ
What are the best Mailchimp alternatives for a small business? It depends on the job. Sender, MailerLite and Zoho Campaigns print larger free allowances, Brevo prints a daily cap, Flodesk is designer templates, Buttondown is plain newsletters, and Wanna drafts what to send for your OK. We do not rank them.
Is there a free alternative to Mailchimp for a small local business? On their own pages, MailerLite lists 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, Sender 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, and Zoho Campaigns 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month. Compare what each includes first.
How many emails can I send free on Mailchimp? Its pricing page lists up to 500 emails a month or 250 a day on the Free plan, for up to 250 contacts.
What is the cheapest Mailchimp alternative if I only send an email once a month? Check the free levels first: at 250 contacts, once a month is 250 sends. Among the paid plans we read, Brevo lists Starter at 9 a month, Sender Standard 108 a year and AWeber Lite 15 a month on monthly billing.
Can AI replace Mailchimp for my shop? Not fully. Wanna drafts the emails and letters for your OK but keeps no list and has no email designer, so keep a tool for the list.
Paste your link and see the first drafts Wanna would write for your business.