What ten email platforms charge at your volume
Two billing models price the same list very differently. Enter your numbers — every figure is dated and sourced, and where a price isn't published, this page says so instead of guessing.
Facts verified 2026-08-29 — corrections: hello@emailfast.dev
Email pricing splits into two models that price the same list very differently. Send-billed platforms — SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, EmailJS, Brevo — charge for the emails you actually deliver. Contact-billed platforms — Mailchimp, Kit, beehiiv, Klaviyo — charge every month for the size of your list, whether you email it or not, with sends as an allowance on top. Substack charges neither: publishing is free, and it takes a share of reader revenue instead. Which model costs less depends entirely on how often you send to how many people — so this page prices your numbers under each model, on that model's own basis.
Price your volume
The URL tracks your inputs, so a scenario can be shared as a link. Rows are grouped by billing model, never ranked. A competitor figure is always the smallest tier published at or above your volume — past a provider's last published point this table says "not published" rather than guessing.
| Platform | At your volume | Verified |
|---|
How to read these numbers
- Survey method: All figures scraped live from each provider's own US pricing page (interactive calculators/sliders driven in a real browser). Promo/intro discounts excluded; regular monthly-billing prices recorded. Data points that could not be verified on the provider's public page are omitted and listed in 'unverified'.
- Between published points nothing is interpolated: the calculator shows the smallest published tier at or above your volume, and past a provider's last published point it says not published instead of extrapolating.
- Not published is a finding, not a dodge: each section below lists every figure we could not verify, alongside the provider's own note about what is missing.
- Billing bases differ, so the calculator never forces one number: send-billed platforms meter delivered email, contact-billed platforms meter list size (often with a send allowance), and Substack takes a revenue share.
- Our stake, declared: we make Email Fast. Check every figure against the linked source pages; corrections go to hello@emailfast.dev under our corrections policy, and the method lives at claims methodology.
Platforms that bill per email sent
You pay for delivered email; your list size is free. The volumes below are each provider's own published points, at regular monthly-billing prices.
SendGrid (Twilio)
| Monthly emails | Price / month | Published as |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $19.95 | Essentials (50k band, smallest paid tier) |
| 50,000 | $19.95 | Essentials (starting price of 50k-100k band) |
| 100,000 | not published | Essentials top-of-band or Pro starting $89.95 — UNVERIFIED - exact 100k price not published; Pro 'starting at $89.95/mo' covers 100k |
| 500,000 | not published | Pro — UNVERIFIED - Pro band price at 500k not published on public page |
Where SendGrid (Twilio) is the better choice: Massive proven scale and deliverability infrastructure, the broadest SDK/integration ecosystem in email, marketing + transactional under one roof, and Twilio SMS/voice adjacency.
Detail: Forever-free plan no longer advertised: 'Free trial lets you send 100 emails/day for 60 days'. Public page publishes only 'starting at' prices per band: Essentials starting $19.95/mo for 50,000-100,000 emails/mo; Pro starting at $89.95/mo for 100,000-2,500,000 emails/mo (includes 1 dedicated IP, SSO, subusers); Premier custom. Exact per-volume prices within bands (e.g. Essentials at 100k, Pro at 300k/500k/700k) are no longer published on the public page - they surface only in the signup flow. 'Taxes and overages may apply' with no public overage rate.
Not published / not verified: Exact Essentials price at 100k sends; Pro per-volume prices (300k/500k/700k/1.5M/2.5M); Overage rates (page says 'overages may apply' without rates).
Figures verified 2026-08-29 on the SendGrid (Twilio) pricing page.
Mailgun (Sinch)
| Monthly emails | Price / month | Published as |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $15 | Basic (10k included) |
| 50,000 | $35 | Foundation (50k included) |
| 100,000 | $75 | Foundation (100k included; Scale same volume is $90) |
| 250,000 | $215 | Scale (250k included) |
| 500,000 | $400 | Scale (500k included) |
| 1,000,000 | $700 | Scale (1M included) |
Where Mailgun (Sinch) is the better choice: Developer-first API with best-in-class inbound parsing/routing, strong email validation product, and aggressive per-volume pricing at mid-to-high send volumes.
Detail: Free plan: 100 emails/day. Volume selector on the pricing page repriced live: Basic $15 (10k incl.), Foundation $35 (50k incl.) / $75 (100k incl.), Scale $90 (100k) / $215 (250k) / $400 (500k) / $550 (750k) / $700 (1M). Foundation and Scale are 'free for 1 month' trials. Overages: from $1.80/1,000 (Basic), $1.30/1,000 (Foundation), $1.10/1,000 (Scale). Dedicated IP $59/mo. 2.5M+ = talk to sales. Prices shown are monthly billing in USD.
Figures verified 2026-08-29 on the Mailgun (Sinch) pricing page.
Postmark (ActiveCampaign)
| Monthly emails | Price / month | Published as |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $15 | Basic tier |
| 50,000 | $55 | Basic tier |
| 125,000 | $115 | Basic tier |
| 300,000 | $245 | Basic tier |
| 700,000 | $455 | Basic tier |
| 1,500,000 | $775 | Basic tier |
Where Postmark (ActiveCampaign) is the better choice: Best-in-class transactional deliverability reputation and delivery speed (separate transactional/broadcast message streams), superb developer experience, and a free tier that never expires.
Detail: Free developer tier: 100 emails/month, never expires. Calculator slider snaps to fixed ticks only: 10k/50k/125k/300k/700k/1.5M (no 100k or 500k stop) - 100k and 500k figures below use the smallest published tier that covers the volume. Three feature levels at every volume: Basic, Pro (+10%, e.g. $16.50 at 10k), Platform (+20%, $18.00 at 10k). Overage per 1,000 extra: Basic $1.80 ($1.70 at >=300k), Pro $1.30 ($1.25), Platform $1.20 ($1.15). Monthly billing only (no annual plans offered).
Not published / not verified: Exact 100k and 500k prices (calculator has no stop at those volumes).
Figures verified 2026-08-29 on the Postmark (ActiveCampaign) pricing page.
EmailJS
| Monthly emails | Price / month | Published as |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $30 | Professional (10k quota) |
| 50,000 | $80 | Business (50k quota) |
| 100,000 | $140 | Business (100k quota) |
| 200,000 | $200 | Business (200k quota, largest self-serve tier) |
| 500,000 | not published | Professional / Business — NOT OFFERED - largest self-serve quota is 200,000/mo at $200; beyond that is 'Contact us' |
Where EmailJS is the better choice: Sends email straight from client-side JavaScript with no backend at all - the fastest possible setup for contact forms and small apps, with a template editor built in.
Detail: Prices from the in-card quota sliders, monthly billing (yearly is 20% off). Free: 200 requests/mo. Personal: $9/mo for 2,000. Professional: $15/mo at 5,000, $30/mo at 10,000. Business: $40/mo at 25,000, $80/mo at 50,000, $140/mo at 100,000, $200/mo at 200,000. No overage billing - requests beyond quota are simply not processed (hard stop). No public tier above 200,000/mo ('Contact us'). A 'request' is one email send.
Not published / not verified: Any pricing above 200,000 requests/mo (not offered self-serve).
Figures verified 2026-08-29 on the EmailJS pricing page.
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
| Monthly emails | Price / month | Published as |
|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | $9 | Starter (entry price) |
| 150,000 | $499 | Professional (entry price) |
Where Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is the better choice: Closest big-name analogue to send-based pricing (audience size never billed on email plans), a genuinely useful free tier, and multichannel breadth (SMS, WhatsApp, chat, CRM) at SMB prices.
Detail: Brevo bills email plans by send volume, not audience size. Public page publishes only entry prices (monthly billing; yearly is -10%): Free $0 (300 emails/day once approved); Starter from $9/mo ('From 5,000 emails per month'); Standard from $18/mo (included volume not stated on page); Professional from $499/mo ('From 150,000 emails per month'); Enterprise custom ('1M+ contacts' positioning). Pay-as-you-go email credits also exist (1 email = 1 credit, credits never expire; amounts not listed on this page). Per-volume prices between the 'from' points (e.g. Starter at 10k/20k emails) are chosen at signup and not published on the pricing page - omitted rather than guessed.
Not published / not verified: Starter/Standard prices at higher send volumes (10k/20k/40k/60k/100k) - selectable only at signup; Standard plan's included email volume; pay-as-you-go credit pack prices.
Figures verified 2026-08-29 on the Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) pricing page.
Platforms that bill by list size
You pay for stored contacts every month, emailed or not, and sending is an allowance on top — several platforms cap included sends as a multiple of your contact count; the detail under each table says how much.
Mailchimp (Intuit)
| Contacts | Price / month | Published as |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $45 | 501-1,500 |
| 5,000 | $100 | 2,501-5,000 |
| 10,000 | $135 | 5,001-10,000 |
| 25,000 | $310 | 20,001-25,000 |
| 50,000 | $450 | 40,001-50,000 |
| 100,000 | $800 | 75,001-100,000 |
Where Mailchimp (Intuit) is the better choice: Huge template library and brand recognition, an all-in-one marketing ecosystem (landing pages, ads, CRM-lite, automations), and the largest integration marketplace in small-business email.
Detail: Regular (non-promo) monthly prices recorded from the page's 'Then, starts at $X/month' figures; the headline price is a 'Save 15% on 10,000+ contacts for first 12 months' intro promo (e.g. 10k shows $114.75 promo / $135 regular). Contact bands: 1k falls in the 501-1,500 band, 5k in 2,501-5,000, etc. Send allowance: Standard = 12x contact count/month (e.g. 120,000 sends at 10k contacts). Overages apply if contact or send limit exceeded. Essentials is cheaper (10x sends) but was not priced at 100k on the page; Premium starts at $350/mo. Free plan: up to 250 contacts, 500 sends/mo. USD selected; multi-currency page.
Not published / not verified: Essentials price at 100k contacts (not shown at that band); exact overage rates.
Figures verified 2026-08-29 on the Mailchimp (Intuit) pricing page.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
| Contacts | Price / month | Published as |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $33 | Creator (Pro tier also captured) |
| 5,000 | $75 | Creator (Pro tier also captured) |
| 10,000 | $116 | Creator (Pro tier also captured) |
| 25,000 | $166 | Creator (Pro tier also captured) |
| 50,000 | $316 | 55,000 slider stop (45,000 stop is $266) |
| 100,000 | $566 | 105,000 slider stop (95,000 stop is $516) |
Where Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is the better choice: Creator-economy focus: visual automations, tagging/segmentation, the Creator Network cross-promotion/recommendations engine, and built-in paid-newsletter and digital-product monetization.
Detail: Monthly-billing prices from the pricing slider (annual billing is ~17% less, e.g. Creator 1k = $390/yr). Unlimited email sends on all plans. Free 'Newsletter' plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers (limited features). Slider stops nearest 50k are 45,000 ($266) and 55,000 ($316); nearest 100k are 95,000 ($516) and 105,000 ($566) - values below use the smallest published stop covering the size. Pro prices at same stops: 1k $66, 5k $116, 10k $158, 25k $233, 55k $433, 105k $733.
Not published / not verified: Exact 50,000 and 100,000 prices (slider has no stop at those sizes).
Figures verified 2026-08-29 on the Kit (formerly ConvertKit) pricing page.
beehiiv
| Contacts | Price / month | Published as |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $49 | Scale (Max tier also captured) |
| 5,000 | $89 | Scale (Max tier also captured) |
| 10,000 | $109 | Scale (Max tier also captured) |
| 25,000 | $169 | Scale (Max tier also captured) |
| 50,000 | $249 | Scale (Max tier also captured) |
| 100,000 | $329 | Scale (Max tier also captured) |
Where beehiiv is the better choice: Newsletter-growth machine: built-in recommendation network, boosts, and ad network for monetization, 0% take rate on paid subscriptions (Scale+), plus website/podcast hosting bundled.
Detail: Monthly-billing prices ('Billed monthly' toggle; default annual toggle shows ~12% less, e.g. $43/mo at 1k). Unlimited email sends on all plans. Launch (free) covers up to 2,500 subscribers. Slider stops: 1k/2.5k/5k/10k/25k/50k/75k/100k/100k+; 2,500 = $69, 75,000 = $289. Above 100k = Enterprise custom. Max tier at same stops: $109/$149(2.5k)/$169/$219/$289/$379/$419(75k)/$459.
Figures verified 2026-08-29 on the beehiiv pricing page.
Klaviyo
| Contacts | Price / month | Published as |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $30 | Email (Marketing) — 10,000 sends/month included |
| 5,000 | $100 | Email (Marketing) — 50,000 sends/month included |
| 10,000 | $150 | Email (Marketing) — 100,000 sends/month included |
| 25,000 | $400 | Email (Marketing) — 250,000 sends/month included |
| 50,000 | $720 | Email (Marketing) — 500,000 sends/month included |
| 100,000 | $1,380 | Email (Marketing) — 1,000,000 sends/month included |
Where Klaviyo is the better choice: Deepest ecommerce integration in the market (Shopify et al.), predictive analytics (CLV, churn risk), powerful behavioral segmentation, and revenue attribution built for online stores.
Detail: Billed on active profiles; every requested size is an exact published slider stop (50-stop calculator swept in full). Included email sends = 10x active profiles per month (e.g. 100,000 emails/mo at 10k profiles). Free plan: up to 250 profiles, 500 sends/mo. Slider continues to 150,000 profiles = $1,955; 150k+ = custom. SMS/mobile billed separately by usage. Monthly billing, USD.
Figures verified 2026-08-29 on the Klaviyo pricing page.
Substack: a revenue share, not a bill
Substack publishes no per-send or per-contact price because there isn't one: publishing is free at any list size. When paid subscriptions are switched on, Substack keeps 10% of each transaction, plus payment processing (Stripe: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction + 0.7% recurring billing fee). At zero reader revenue it costs nothing; at meaningful revenue, the share is the price.
Where Substack is the better choice: Zero cost until you earn, payments/infrastructure fully handled, and a real discovery network (recommendations, Notes, app) that actively grows subscriber bases.
Detail: 'Publishing is free on Substack - no matter how many subscribers you have.' When paid subscriptions are enabled: Substack takes 10% of each transaction, plus Stripe fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, plus 0.7% recurring-billing fee as of July 2024). No per-contact or per-send charges at any list size. Secondary source: https://substack.com/going-paid.
Figures verified 2026-08-29 on the Substack pricing page.
Where Email Fast stands
Our stake, declared: we make Email Fast. The numbers below are not part of the survey — they are the launch prices already published on our pricing page, repeated here so the comparison includes us. During early access they are published for transparency and may be refined before general availability; self-serve checkout opens at GA. We price sending — contacts and subscribers are never billed, at any list size.
| Plan | Price / month | Emails included | Overage per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2,500 | — |
| Starter | $9.90 | 20,000 | $0.90 |
| Creator | $39 | 100,000 | $0.65 |
| Growth | $79 | 300,000 | $0.55 |
| Scale | $249 | 1,500,000 | $0.35 |
The calculator's Email Fast figure is computed from this table: the cheapest published plan at your send volume, including overage where a plan has a published overage rate. Want to check it against your own numbers in practice? Apply for early access — sandbox keys run the full pipeline without sending real email.
Compare more than price
Price is one axis. The comparison hub covers the rest — where each platform genuinely wins, dated capability facts, and migration paths: SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, EmailJS, Mailchimp, Kit, beehiiv, Substack.
Every product name above is a trademark of its owner; Email Fast is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them. Figures were read from each provider's own public US pricing page on the dates shown, with promo and intro discounts excluded. Corrections: hello@emailfast.dev — errors get fixed and noted under our corrections policy.