EmailOctopus vs Mailercloud Comparison 2026
Both keep a permanent free tier and both step up at around ten dollars. EmailOctopus counts subscribers, giving you 2,500 free. Mailercloud counts sends, giving you 12,000 emails a month free. That single difference in unit is the whole comparison, and it favours different lists.
Email for lists that outgrew a free plan
Twelve thousand free emails every month
At a glance
- EmailOctopus starts cheaper, at $9.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
EmailOctopus | Mailercloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $9 | From $10 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes |
EmailOctopus
Email for lists that outgrew a free plan
EmailOctopus is deliberately plain: lists, campaigns, a drag-and-drop editor and simple automations, at a price that undercuts the platforms with more features than a newsletter needs. The free tier goes to 2,500 subscribers with the company's branding on every send. Reports only go back 30 days until you pay, which is the free plan's real limit rather than the subscriber count.
Our note
Against MailerLite this comes down to the free tier: 2,500 subscribers here against 250 there, with fewer features in return. Start here if the list is the thing growing and the automations can wait.
Mailercloud
Twelve thousand free emails every month
Mailercloud gives twelve thousand emails a month on a free plan that needs no card, which is one of the larger permanent allowances in this category. Above it, a single cheap tier lifts the send limit rather than adding features. A separate email API is sold beside the marketing product for anybody who needs transactional sending too. The list-management and reporting tools are ordinary rather than clever, and the free allowance is the reason to be here.
Why people weigh these two
- Mailercloud instead of EmailOctopus
- Mailercloud gives twelve thousand free emails every month rather than capping by subscriber count, with paid plans starting at $10 against EmailOctopus' $9.
- EmailOctopus instead of Mailercloud
- EmailOctopus is aimed at lists that have outgrown a free plan, from $9 with a free tier.
Which one should you pick
Mailercloud's allowance is the larger one in practice: 12,000 emails a month covers a list of three thousand mailed weekly, which no subscriber-counted free tier will match. The paid step is $10 a month with unlimited emails at the first contact band, then the published table runs $50 at 10,000 contacts and $125 at 25,000. Check those bands before growing, because the price moves on contacts once you are paying even though the free tier is measured in sends.
EmailOctopus is the plainer tool and the better fit if the list is what is growing and the automations can wait. Free holds 2,500 subscribers, Pro from $9 removes the branding and keeps reports forever, and nonprofits get 20 percent off for life. Neither is the answer for branching automation or detailed segmentation.
Common questions
- Which free tier is bigger?
- Mailercloud's, on the measure most newsletters care about: 12,000 emails a month with no card required, against 2,500 subscribers at EmailOctopus.
- Does Mailercloud stay cheap as the list grows?
- Only to a point. Its published bands run $50 at 10,000 contacts, $125 at 25,000, $230 at 50,000 and $380 at 100,000, so the unit switches from sends to contacts once you pay.
- What do I lose on EmailOctopus' free plan?
- Reports expire after 30 days, emails carry EmailOctopus branding, and you get one landing page. Pro from $9 a month billed yearly removes all three limits.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.