Marketing automation platforms almost all bill on the size of your contact list rather than what you send. That means the invoice grows as your database grows, whether or not you email anyone — and one major platform changed its definition of a billable contact in a way that raised bills across its customer base.
A note on scope: this covers platforms that automate campaigns and customer journeys. Managing sales relationships is a CRM job, and drafting individual replies is what an email assistant does. Six tools below, compared on how they bill.
How these tools actually bill you
Two models are in play and they suit opposite usage patterns.
Contact-based. You pay for records held, regardless of activity. HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo and Mailchimp all work this way. The model rewards list hygiene and penalises hoarding inactive addresses.
Volume-based. You pay for emails sent, and contacts are unlimited. Brevo is the notable example, storing unlimited contacts on every plan including free. This is structurally the opposite of everyone else here.
The consequence is that the same business gets very different quotes. A large list emailed monthly is cheap on volume pricing and expensive on contact pricing. A small list emailed daily is the reverse. One analysis puts a 10,000-contact list sending ten emails a month at roughly $89 on Brevo against $239 on ActiveCampaign Plus — the same work, priced on different axes.
The billing change worth knowing: on 18 February 2025 Klaviyo shifted from billing on profiles emailed in the previous 90 days to billing on all active profiles in the account. Brands carrying large unengaged lists saw bills rise, with any single email-plan increase capped at 25% through an appreciation discount. If you are modelling Klaviyo costs from older figures, they understate.
All-in-one platforms
1. HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot bundles marketing automation with its CRM, which is the reason teams choose it and the reason it gets expensive. Its AI layer was renamed from Breeze to Agent Hub on 30 July 2026, with a free Copilot assistant and named agents billed per outcome against credits priced at $0.01 each.
Its billing distinction matters: HubSpot charges per marketing contact, meaning contacts you actively email. Non-marketing CRM contacts are free. Starter is reported around $15 per seat per month with 1,000 contacts, rising to roughly $149 at 10,000; Plus at around $49 for 1,000 and $189 at 10,000 adds CRM depth, lead scoring and landing pages. Annual billing is reported to save 20%.
The cost most people miss: Professional and Enterprise plans carry one-time onboarding fees of $3,000 and $7,000 respectively.
Suits: teams wanting marketing and CRM on one platform and budgeting for onboarding.
2. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is consistently described as the depth leader for automation logic, with a built-in CRM and strong segmentation. It is contact-based, reported from $15 a month for 1,000 contacts, with Plus at around $49 at that level and roughly $189 to $239 at 10,000 depending on tier.
Two documented caveats: starter tiers are reported to cap automation actions, which users hit sooner than expected, and A/B testing is restricted on lower plans. A 14-day trial is available.
Suits: B2B and SaaS teams treating automation as a revenue function rather than a newsletter tool.
Volume-based
3. Brevo
Brevo prices by monthly email volume rather than contact count, which makes it the cheapest option here for large lists emailed infrequently. Unlimited contacts are included on every plan, including free.
The free plan allows up to 100,000 contacts with a 300 emails-per-day cap. Starter is reported from $9 a month for 5,000 emails, with figures around $35 for 20,000 emails. It also includes SMS, WhatsApp and a built-in CRM at low cost, and runs EU-hosted infrastructure, which matters for GDPR-sensitive buyers.
One cost to check: removing Brevo branding from emails is reported to require a paid add-on.
Suits: businesses with large lists and low send frequency, and EU-compliance-focused teams.
Ecommerce and behavioural
4. Klaviyo
Klaviyo is the ecommerce standard, with Shopify-native segmentation, revenue attribution on every flow and predictive analytics. Its free plan covers up to 250 active profiles with 500 email sends a month.
Reported list pricing on the Email plan runs roughly $20 at 500 profiles, $30 at 1,000, $100 at 5,000, $150 at 10,000, $720 at 50,000 and $2,300 at 250,000, with figures varying between sources at intermediate tiers. Email plus SMS is a higher combined plan.
Its AI features are sold as usage-metered add-ons rather than being included, reported at around $157 a month for a block of Composer credits and $200 a month for a block of resolved AI conversations.
Given the 2025 billing change, the practical advice from current analysis is to model your profile count 18 to 24 months out rather than today.
Suits: Shopify and ecommerce brands where flows drive attributable revenue.
5. Customer.io
Customer.io targets SaaS and product-led companies, triggering messages from user behaviour rather than list membership. Email, SMS, push and in-app all run from one journey builder.
On pricing, this guide will not publish a figure. Customer.io’s pricing page does not state a currency alongside its plan numbers, and publishing an unlabelled figure would be misleading. Check the current rates and currency directly. What is documented is that there is no standard free trial, and that a Startup Program offers 12 months free to eligible companies that have raised under $10 million.
Suits: SaaS teams with product usage data worth triggering on.
Beginner-friendly
6. Mailchimp
Mailchimp remains the easiest entry point, with the largest template library and integration ecosystem, plus predictive segmentation and AI content suggestions.
Its free plan covers 250 contacts with 500 monthly sends. Paid tiers are reported at Essentials from $13, Standard from $20 and Premium at $350 a month for up to 10,000 contacts. The consistent complaint across current analysis is that pricing climbs steeply as the list grows, which is the contact-based model working as designed.
Suits: small businesses and beginners who value ease over automation depth.
Comparison
Prices checked from providers’ official pricing pages and current analysis, and they change frequently. Billing periods and currencies vary by provider. Check the provider before buying.
| Tool | Billing basis | Free plan | Entry price | At 10,000 contacts | Setup fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | Marketing contacts | Yes, free CRM | ~$15/seat, 1,000 contacts | ~$149–189 | $3,000 / $7,000 |
| ActiveCampaign | Contacts | 14-day trial | ~$15, 1,000 contacts | ~$189–239 | None published |
| Brevo | Emails sent | Yes, 100k contacts, 300/day | ~$9, 5,000 emails | ~$89 at 10 sends each | Branding removal add-on |
| Klaviyo | Active profiles | 250 profiles, 500 sends | ~$20 at 500 profiles | ~$150 | AI sold as add-ons |
| Customer.io | Profiles | No standard trial | Currency not published | — | Startup program available |
| Mailchimp | Contacts | 250 contacts, 500 sends | ~$13 Essentials | Premium ~$350 | None published |
The cost of growing, and the cost of leaving
Two costs sit outside the monthly price and both are larger than people expect.
Growth. On contact-based pricing you pay for every record even if you rarely email it. That rewards deleting unengaged contacts and penalises keeping them, which is a real operational discipline rather than an afterthought. Model your list 18 to 24 months ahead before choosing a platform, because the tier you sign on is rarely the tier you stay on.
Switching. Migration is where the cheap entry tier stops being cheap. Rebuilding automations costs staff hours and delays campaigns, integrations that were native on one platform may need a paid connector on another, and HubSpot’s onboarding fees are payable once regardless. Current analysis recommends building a 12-month comparison that includes integrations, templates, data export and support rather than comparing headline prices.
Also verify whether the advertised price covers deliverability support or a dedicated IP if you send at volume, since those are frequently separate.
How to choose by list size
Under 1,000 contacts: free tiers cover it. Brevo’s is the most generous on contacts; the others cap at 250.
Large list, infrequent sending: volume-based pricing is structurally cheaper, often by a wide margin.
Small list, frequent sending: contact-based pricing is more predictable, since sends are effectively unlimited.
Ecommerce with attributable revenue: the ecommerce-native platform earns its premium only if you use the flows; otherwise you are paying for features you will not open.
SaaS with product data: behavioural triggering matters more than list management.
You want CRM in the same place: budget for onboarding fees as well as the subscription.
Related guides
- Best AI CRM Tools in 2026
- Best AI Email Assistants in 2026
- Best AI Lead Generation Tools in 2026
- Best AI Advertising Tools in 2026
- Best AI Social Media Tools in 2026
- Best AI Workflow Automation Tools in 2026
Frequently asked questions
Why does my bill grow when I am not sending more?
Because most of these platforms bill on contacts held rather than emails sent. Adding records to your database raises the invoice regardless of activity, which is why list hygiene has a direct financial effect.
Which platform is cheapest for a large list?
Volume-based pricing generally wins. Brevo stores unlimited contacts on every plan and charges by emails sent, which is substantially cheaper for large lists emailed infrequently.
What changed with Klaviyo pricing?
On 18 February 2025 it moved from billing on profiles emailed in the previous 90 days to billing on all active profiles in the account, which increased bills for brands with large unengaged lists, capped at a 25% single increase on email plans.
Are there setup costs?
Sometimes, and they are significant. HubSpot Professional and Enterprise plans carry one-time onboarding fees of $3,000 and $7,000. Migration and automation rebuilding costs staff time on any platform.
Is marketing automation the same as a CRM?
No. Marketing automation runs campaigns and customer journeys at scale; a CRM manages individual sales relationships. Several platforms include both, which is why the categories are often confused.
Conclusion
Choose on billing axis before features. If you hold a large list and email it occasionally, volume-based pricing will be materially cheaper. If you email a smaller list often, contact-based pricing is more predictable. Ecommerce and SaaS platforms justify premiums only when you actually use their specialised flows.
Then price the things that sit outside the subscription: onboarding fees, add-on AI credits, branding removal, deliverability support, and the staff hours to migrate if you switch later. Model your contact count at least 18 months out, because on this pricing model the list you build is the bill you inherit.
