MailerLite Free Plan Update 2025: What It Means for You and Better Alternatives

Starting September 23, 2025, MailerLite is reducing its Free plan subscriber limit from 1,000 to 500. For small businesses, creators, and e-commerce stores that have been relying on MailerLite’s free plan, this change could disrupt their email marketing workflows.

Here’s what’s changing, what it means for MailerLite email marketing users, and what smarter alternatives you should consider.

What’s Changing in MailerLite’s Free Plan and Pricing?

The most important change is this: if your list goes above 500 subscribers, you won’t be able to send campaigns, run automations, or add subscribers manually unless you upgrade to a paid plan.

• Accounts under 500 subscribers → continue as usual, no disruption.
• Accounts over 500 subscribers → sending stops until you reduce your list or move to a paid plan.
• The email send limit of 12,000 per month remains unchanged.
• Forms, popups, and landing pages will still collect subscribers but if you pass 500, you’ll need to pay to email them.

This effectively lowers the entry-level limit for MailerLite pricing and pushes growing businesses toward paid tiers sooner than before.

Who Will Be Most Affected?

This MailerLite free plan update will impact:

• Small businesses and startups building lists quickly, who now face an earlier paywall.
• E-commerce stores with large seasonal or promotional campaigns.
• Newsletter creators who relied on the 1,000-subscriber allowance to grow their audience.

For these users, MailerLite email marketing becomes restrictive once the subscriber count crosses 500.

What Options Do Users Have?

If you’re on MailerLite’s Free plan, you can:

1. Stay under 500 subscribers by regularly cleaning inactive or low-quality contacts.
2. Upgrade to a paid plan to keep sending campaigns.
3. Explore alternatives that give more flexibility and scalability without subscriber caps.

MailerLite Email Marketing vs cmercury Free Plan

If you’re rethinking your options, here’s how MailerLite compares with cmercury a platform designed to grow with your business.

Feature	MailerLite Free Plan	cmercury Free Plan
Subscriber Limit	500 contacts	Unlimited contacts
Email Send Limit	12,000/month	6000/month
Advanced Features	Limited on Free	AI Subject Line Generator, SmartSend pacing, Deep Segments included
Scalability	Higher costs as subscriber count grows	Predictable costs; no penalty for list growth
Focus	Balanced between automations and campaigns	Deliverability-first, ROI-driven campaigns built for e-commerce and SMBs

With cmercury, you can store unlimited contacts and only pay for the emails you send. That means no surprise costs tied to list size, something that makes cmercury a smarter alternative to MailerLite pricing models.

Why This Shift in MailerLite Pricing Matters

MailerLite’s decision reflects a broader industry trend: many email marketing platforms are tightening their free plans to encourage faster upgrades.

For marketers, this is a reminder to choose tools that:

• Scale with your business instead of penalizing growth.
• Offer predictable pricing models that don’t hinge on list size.
• Deliver features like AI-driven subject lines, segmentation, and deliverability safeguards without hidden costs.

Final Takeaway

MailerLite’s Free plan update may feel like a setback for small businesses and creators. But it also creates an opportunity to rethink your email marketing platform.

If you want unlimited contacts, smarter campaign insights, and predictable pay-per-send pricing, cmercury is a better alternative for businesses that want to grow freely.

👉 Start Free with cmercury Today

Disclaimer: This blog post was created with the assistance of Human Content Creators, AI and Search tools to help collect information, plan content, and ensure accuracy. We strive to deliver valuable and well-researched insights to our readers.