Best free email marketing tools for small businesses (2026)

It is late October and you want to email your customers about a holiday offer. You have a spreadsheet of addresses from the last few years, a free account waiting to be opened, and one quiet worry: is it legal to email all of them? In Canada, a customer who bought from you gives you implied consent for two years from the purchase, so someone whose last order was in the autumn of 2024 may no longer be someone you can market to without asking first.

The short answer: six email marketing tools have a free plan worth a look, and their limits differ more than their marketing suggests. For a list over 250 people, Zoho Campaigns, Kit and Brevo are the realistic free choices. Mailchimp, MailerLite and the Canadian tool Cyberimpact stop at 250 contacts. Every one of them still has to follow Canada's anti spam law (CASL).

Key takeaways

For a list over 250 people on a free plan, the realistic choices are Zoho Campaigns (2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month), Kit (10,000 subscribers, no automations) or Brevo (300 emails a day).
Cyberimpact is the only tool here with a free plan priced in Canadian dollars ($0 CAD) and a bilingual English and French product; its free plan has no monthly send limit but stops at 250 contacts.
Under CASL, implied consent from a purchase lasts two years and from an inquiry six months; unsubscribes must be processed within 10 business days, and penalties for businesses can reach $10 million.

Close up of a mail app icon on a phone screen

At a glance

Free email marketing plans for small businesses. Limits and prices from each company's own pricing or help page; Vaelolab did not test these tools.
Tool	Best for	Free plan limit	Paid from	Canadian note
Brevo	A big old list you email now and then	Up to 100,000 contacts; 300 emails a day; 1 seat	Starter from $9 a month (currency not stated on the page)	None confirmed on the pages used
Zoho Campaigns	A growing list with a small team	2,000 contacts; 6,000 emails a month; 5 users	Standard; no price shown on the page	None confirmed on the pages used
Kit	A regular newsletter to a large list	Up to 10,000 subscribers; unlimited broadcasts; 1 user; no automations	Creator $33 a month at 1,000 subscribers (currency not stated on the page)	None confirmed on the pages used
MailerLite	Small lists that want automations, forms and a simple site	250 subscribers; 2,500 emails a month; 2 seats; 3 automations	Comfort from $12 a month (USD)	Bills in EUR or USD
Mailchimp	Trying the best known name before paying	250 contacts; 500 emails a month, 250 a day; 1 seat	Essentials from $13 a month (currency not stated on the page)	None confirmed on the pages used
Cyberimpact	Canadian owners who want CAD billing and French	250 contacts; no monthly send limit; no automation	Basic $25 CAD a month	Priced in CAD, bilingual product, Canadian SMTP server for transactional email

How we chose

Official pages only for every limit and price: each company's pricing page or help centre.
Published features and pricing, not hands on testing.
What matters to a small Canadian business: a free plan you can grow into, a send limit that fits a real newsletter, and tools that make CASL easier, not harder.
Nobody pays to be included.

Free plan send limits compared

The send cap is what stops a campaign. Mailchimp allows 500 emails a month, MailerLite 2,500 and Zoho Campaigns 6,000. Brevo counts by the day: 300 emails a day works out to about 9,000 in a 30 day month, but only if you spread sends across the month. Kit and Cyberimpact set no monthly cap.

Monthly sends allowed on each free plan. Brevo's figure is an estimate at 300 emails a day for 30 days. Source: Mailchimp, MailerLite, Zoho Campaigns and Brevo pricing or help pages.

Worked example: a bakery with 400 customers on its list that sends two emails a month needs 800 sends. That is over the contact limit on Mailchimp, MailerLite and Cyberimpact. It fits Zoho Campaigns easily. On Brevo it fits the month, but each campaign to 400 people has to go out over two days. On Kit it fits, with no automations.

The six free plans

Brevo

Brevo is an email, SMS and customer messaging platform with a free plan and several paid tiers.

Best for: an owner with a large list collected over years who sends an occasional announcement.

Storage: up to 100,000 contacts on the free plan.
Sending: 300 emails a day; unused sends do not carry over.
Automation for up to 2,000 contacts, plus transactional email.

Why it stands out: no other free plan here lets you keep that many contacts in one place.

Limits: the daily cap makes a single big send impossible; one marketing seat; email support only.

Price: free plan $0. Starter from $9 a month and Standard from $18 a month at their entry tiers; the help page shows a $ sign with no currency code.

Zoho Campaigns

Zoho Campaigns is the email marketing app in Zoho's family of business software.

Best for: a small team that already uses Zoho apps or needs more than one login.

Contacts: up to 2,000.
Sending: 6,000 emails a month.
Users: 5 on the free plan.
Tools: templates, drag and drop, HTML import, generative AI and 35 app integrations.

Why it stands out: the most balanced free plan here, with enough contacts and sends for a real monthly newsletter.

Limits: basic reporting only, and the pricing page shows no figure for paid plans.

Price: Forever Free $0. Standard starts at 500 contacts with unlimited emails, but the page shows no price amount; yearly billing saves 25%.

Kit

Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is an email platform built for creators who sell through a newsletter.

Best for: an owner who writes a regular newsletter and does not need automated sequences yet.

Subscribers: up to 10,000.
Broadcasts: unlimited, with A/B testing.
Forms and landing pages: unlimited.

Why it stands out: by far the largest free list limit with unlimited sending.

Limits: no visual automations and no email sequences on Free, so there is no welcome series; one user.

Price: Free $0. Creator is $33 a month or $390 billed yearly at 1,000 subscribers; the page shows a $ sign with no currency code.

MailerLite

MailerLite is email marketing software with automations, forms, landing pages and a simple website builder.

Best for: a new business with a small list that wants a welcome email to go out automatically.

Volume: 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month.
Automations: 3 active, up to 5 steps each.
Extras: 3 active forms, 1 landing page and a 5 page website.
Seats: 2 users.

Why it stands out: the most complete free toolkit for a very small list.

Limits: the 250 subscriber cap; the MailerLite logo stays on emails and pages; many older reviews still quote a far larger free plan, so check the pricing page before you plan around it.

Price: Free $0. Comfort from $12 a month and Power from $25 a month, in US dollars per its pricing FAQ.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is Intuit's email and SMS marketing platform. See our Mailchimp tool page for more.

Best for: trying email marketing on a tiny list, with a familiar paid path later.

Contacts: up to 250, in 1 audience.
Sending: 500 emails a month, 250 a day.
Seats: 1.

Why it stands out: the best known name, with a familiar upgrade path.

Limits: no marketing automation flows, no email scheduling and Mailchimp branding on the free plan. 500 sends a month is two emails to a full list.

Price: Free $0. Essentials from $13 a month and Standard from $20 a month, each with a 14 day trial; the page shows a $ sign with no currency code.

Cyberimpact

Cyberimpact is a Canadian email marketing platform with English and French versions.

Best for: a Canadian business that wants CAD billing and French as well as English.

Contacts: up to 250.
Sending: unlimited mailings and users.
Forms and pop ups, described as CASL ready.
Transactional email through a Canadian SMTP server.

Why it stands out: the only option here priced in CAD, with a CASL focus built into its forms.

Limits: no marketing automation, no landing pages and no custom fields on Free; its footer logo stays on.

Price: Free $0 CAD. Basic from $25 CAD, Plus from $45 CAD and Pro from $65 CAD a month at 250 contacts.

CASL rules every free plan still has to follow

CASL covers any electronic message where one purpose is to encourage someone to take part in a commercial activity, including a holiday sale email. The official basics:

Express consent does not expire unless the person withdraws it.
Implied consent is time limited: two years from a purchase, six months from an inquiry. An abandoned online cart does not count as a purchase.
No pre checked boxes. Consent has to come from a positive action, and silence does not count.
Ask separately from your terms of use or sale, and include your contact details and a statement that the person can withdraw consent, per the CRTC.
Every message must identify you: your business name, a mailing address, and a phone number, email address or website, valid for at least 60 days after sending.
Unsubscribes: include a working unsubscribe link and process requests within 10 business days, at no cost to the recipient.
Proof is on you. If you claim consent, you must be able to prove it, so keep the date, time, purpose and way each person signed up.
Penalties for the most serious violations can reach $1 million for individuals and $10 million for businesses.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Adapt this wording for your sign up form. Leave the checkbox unticked:

[ ] Yes, send me emails from [Business name] about new products, offers and events. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in every email.

[Business name], [mailing address], [email or phone]

And this as the footer of every marketing email:

You are receiving this email because you signed up at [where, for example our website or in store] on [date]. [Business name], [mailing address], [phone, email or website]. [Unsubscribe link]

Before your first campaign, sort your old list into three groups: people who ticked a box (express consent, keep), customers who bought in the last two years or asked a question in the last six months (implied consent, ask them to opt in before it runs out), and everyone else (do not send marketing).

Importing an old spreadsheet in one go. If you cannot show when and how each person agreed, leave them out.
A daily cap you did not notice. On Brevo a 1,000 person send takes four days on the free plan.
A contact limit you will pass by spring. Switching later means exporting your consent records too, so check the export includes sign up dates.

Our take

This is a judgment based on the published features and pricing, not a hands on test.

Solo owner starting a list from zero: MailerLite, because the free automations let a welcome email go out while you work. Move when you near 250 subscribers.

Service business or shop with a list of a few hundred to 2,000: Zoho Campaigns, for its 6,000 monthly sends and five users.

Owner who writes a regular newsletter to a big list: Kit, as long as you can live without automated sequences.

Online store with a big past customer list: Brevo, after cleaning the list for consent.

Business that serves customers in French or wants CAD billing: Cyberimpact, accepting the 250 contact cap or paying from $25 CAD a month.

When the pick changes: if you need automated reminders or abandoned cart emails, compare the paid tiers rather than the free plans. For what to send, see our customer retention ideas, and find more picks on the software hub.

Frequently asked questions

Is Mailchimp still free?

Yes, but the free plan is small: 250 contacts, 500 emails a month with a maximum of 250 a day, one seat and no automation flows. Paid plans start with Essentials.

Can I email customers who bought from me without asking first?

Under CASL, a purchase gives you implied consent for two years, and an inquiry for six months. After that you need express consent, so ask past customers to opt in while the implied consent still applies.

How fast do I have to honour an unsubscribe in Canada?

Within 10 business days, at no cost to the person. The unsubscribe link must also keep working for at least 60 days after you send the message.

Is there a Canadian email marketing tool with a free plan?

Cyberimpact, a Canadian platform, has a free plan priced at $0 CAD for up to 250 contacts, with unlimited mailings and an English and French product.

6 best free email marketing tools for small businesses (2026): free plan limits and Canada's CASL rules