Is AWeber cheaper than MailerLite?

No. At 500 subscribers AWeber's Lite is $15/month billed monthly and MailerLite's Comfort is $12/month billed monthly. The gap holds at 5,000 subscribers, where Lite is $60/month billed monthly and Comfort is $49/month billed monthly.

Does AWeber have a free plan?

No. AWeber offers a 14-day trial, not a free-forever plan. MailerLite's free plan is genuinely free and stays free up to 250 subscribers, and it includes 3 automations.

Which tool gives you more automation for the entry-tier price?

MailerLite. Comfort includes 50 automations for $12/month billed monthly. AWeber's Lite, at $15/month billed monthly, caps automation at 3.

Does either tool charge a fee on paid subscriptions or monetization?

AWeber does, on every plan: 1.0% on Lite, 0.6% on Plus. MailerLite doesn't document an equivalent feature or fee anywhere in its own comparison table.

Does either tool offer a real money-back guarantee?

Not really. MailerLite names a 30-day window to ask, but the refund itself stays discretionary, not guaranteed. AWeber's pricing page doesn't mention a refund policy either way; ask AWeber support directly if this matters to you.

How does pricing scale as my list grows?

Both vendors raise the price as the list grows rather than changing what a tier includes: AWeber scales by subscriber count from its 500-subscriber entry band, MailerLite scales the same way from its own entry band. Both keep the same automation and seat allowance within a plan as the price rises.

Which tool needs a credit card to try?

MailerLite's 14-day trial needs no card. AWeber's pricing page doesn't state whether its 14-day trial requires one.

AWeber vs MailerLite: who costs less as your list grows?

Joonas Rotko

SEO & GEO professional · Email marketing and CRM platforms · Verified 19 Oct 2026

Affiliate links on this page may earn me a commission, at no extra cost to you. They don't change what I recommend.

AWeber

Desk research

From Lite, billed annually

$12.50/mo

$15/mo billed monthly

MailerLite

Desk research

From Comfort, billed annually

$10.80/mo

$12/mo billed monthly

Quick answer

MailerLite costs less than AWeber at every list size I price: at 500 subscribers Comfort is $12/month billed monthly and Lite is $15/month billed monthly. At 5,000 Comfort is $49/month billed monthly and Lite is $60/month billed monthly. AWeber's edge is native paid-subscription tooling with a published fee, which MailerLite doesn't document.

Across the three setups below: MailerLite in 3 of 3 scenarios.

Which one fits you?

Solo marketer or small business, a list just past the free tier
MailerLite
My pick
$10.80/mo billed annually
At this list size, MailerLite's Comfort plan runs $12/month billed monthly. AWeber's Lite is $15/month billed monthly, and Comfort already includes 50 automations against Lite's 3.
Why this pick, and when to skip it
Skip it if you need native paid-subscription monetization tooling built into the platform: AWeber bundles it on every plan with a published platform fee (1.0% on Lite), and MailerLite doesn't document an equivalent feature.
See MailerLite plans
Growing list, sending regularly
MailerLite
My pick
$44.10/mo billed annually
The gap widens as the list grows. At 5,000 subscribers MailerLite's Comfort is $49/month billed monthly. AWeber's Lite is $60/month billed monthly, and Comfort's automation allowance (50) still dwarfs Lite's 3.
Why this pick, and when to skip it
Skip it if you need AWeber's documented monetization fee (1.0% on Lite) rather than an undocumented gap on MailerLite's side, and that matters more to you than the lower monthly bill.
See MailerLite plans
Small team managing one list together
MailerLite
My pick
$17.10/mo billed annually
Both tools give a 3-person team the same seat count at this list size (3 on AWeber Lite, 3 on MailerLite Comfort), so the decision comes down to price: MailerLite runs $19/month billed monthly and AWeber runs $25/month billed monthly for the same seat allowance.
Why this pick, and when to skip it
Skip it if your team needs native paid-subscription monetization tooling: AWeber bundles it on every plan with a published platform fee (1.0% on Lite, 0.6% on Plus), and MailerLite doesn't document an equivalent feature.
See MailerLite plans

Neither fits? See the alternatives, or take the tool finder.

How are AWeber and MailerLite really different?

AWeber

MailerLite

Free plan
If you want to build and test real automations before paying anything, only MailerLite lets you do that on a plan that never expires. AWeber's free access is a clock that runs out in two weeks.
AWeber
No free-forever plan, only a 14-day trial
MailerLite
Genuine free plan up to 250 subscribers, including 3 automations and 1 landing page
Entry paid price and what it buys
MailerLite costs less and includes far more automation headroom at the same list size. AWeber's Lite automation cap is a real constraint if you want more than a handful of workflows running.
AWeber
Lite: $15/month billed monthly ($12.50/month billed annually), 3 automations, 3 seats
MailerLite
Comfort: $12/month billed monthly ($10.80/month billed annually), 50 automations, 3 seats
How the price ladder works above the entry band
Both tools charge more as your list grows rather than taking features away, so the automation gap identified at the entry band carries through at larger list sizes too.
AWeber
Subscriber-count tiered, with published prices on the vendor slider from 0-500 up to 100,001-150,000 subscribers on both monthly and annual billing. Above 150,000 no price is published.
MailerLite
Subscriber-count tiered, with a monthly and an annual price at each list size; every plan's price rises with the list size, while the automation and landing-page allowance stays fixed within a plan as the list grows.
Paid subscriptions and monetization
AWeber bakes in native monetization tooling with a published fee on every plan. MailerLite doesn't publish an equivalent feature or fee anywhere in its own comparison table.
AWeber
Included on Lite (1.0% platform fee) and Plus (0.6% platform fee)
MailerLite
Not documented by MailerLite
Trial and refund terms
MailerLite is the only one of the two that states its trial needs no card, and it at least names a window to ask about a refund, even though that refund stays discretionary rather than guaranteed.
AWeber
14-day trial; whether a card is required isn't stated on AWeber's pricing page. No published refund policy.
MailerLite
14-day trial, no card required. Refunds are a 30-day discretionary window, not a guaranteed money-back policy.

What will AWeber or MailerLite cost for your setup?

The cheapest plan that covers each setup, add-ons included. Prices exclude VAT.

Solo marketer or small business, a list just past the free tier

500 subscribers · mailed 3 times a month (for tools priced by emails sent) · 1 user

MonthlyYearly, per month

AWeber

$15

$12.50

Lite

Above 150,000 subscribers: nothing published fits.

MailerLite

My pick

$12

$10.80

Comfort

Above 200,000 subscribers: nothing published fits.

See MailerLite plans

Usage, limits and billing

AWeber

Uses 500 of 150,000 subscribers.
On monthly billing: $180 a year.
On annual billing: $150 a year.

MailerLite

Uses 500 of 200,000 subscribers.
On monthly billing: $144 a year.
On annual billing: $129.60 a year.

Growing list, sending regularly

5,000 subscribers · mailed 3 times a month (for tools priced by emails sent) · 1 user

MonthlyYearly, per month

AWeber

$60

$50

Lite

Above 150,000 subscribers: nothing published fits.

MailerLite

My pick

$49

$44.10

Comfort

Above 200,000 subscribers: nothing published fits.

See MailerLite plans

Usage, limits and billing

AWeber

Uses 5,000 of 150,000 subscribers.
On monthly billing: $720 a year.
On annual billing: $600 a year.

MailerLite

Uses 5,000 of 200,000 subscribers.
On monthly billing: $588 a year.
On annual billing: $529.20 a year.

Small team managing one list together

1,000 subscribers · mailed 3 times a month (for tools priced by emails sent) · 3 users

MonthlyYearly, per month

AWeber

$25

$20.83

Lite

Above 150,000 subscribers: nothing published fits.

MailerLite

My pick

$19

$17.10

Comfort

Above 200,000 subscribers: nothing published fits.

See MailerLite plans

Usage, limits and billing

AWeber

Uses 1,000 of 150,000 subscribers.
On monthly billing: $300 a year.
On annual billing: $250 a year.

MailerLite

Uses 1,000 of 200,000 subscribers.
On monthly billing: $228 a year.
On annual billing: $205.20 a year.

How I calculated this

For each tool I price every current plan plus the add-ons a setup needs, from the vendor's published prices only, and take the cheapest. Monthly and annual billing are priced separately. When a limit or price isn't published, the tool shows as not fitting instead of a guess.

Solo marketer or small business, a list just past the free tier: A list of about 500 contacts, just past the free tiers most vendors offer. One login. Tools priced by emails sent are costed at three mailings per subscriber a month.
Growing list, sending regularly: A list of 5,000 contacts, sending regularly. One login. Tools priced by emails sent are costed at three mailings per subscriber a month.
Small team managing one list together: Three people logging in to the same 1,000-contact list. Seats, not list size, are the deciding limit. Tools priced by emails sent are costed at three mailings per subscriber a month.

AWeber vs MailerLite side by side

I compare email/CRM platforms on: Real cost per list size, both billing bases; Free-tier contact ceiling before you must pay anything; Team seats included, and the seat price past that; List segmentation depth; Automation workflow depth and any step/action limits; Deliverability and sending limits (emails per month, per day, or per rolling window); CRM and ecommerce integration depth; What happens past your plan's contact ceiling (overage pricing vs a forced upgrade).

AWeber and MailerLite compared on the main buying criteria
Criterion	AWeber	MailerLite
Real cost per list size, both billing bases	Lite: $15/month billed monthly, $12.50/month billed annually, at 500 subscribers; rises with the list, and AWeber publishes prices up to 150,000 subscribers	Comfort: $12/month billed monthly, $10.80/month billed annually, at 500 subscribers; rises in steps as the list grows before Power is required
Free-tier contact ceiling before you must pay anything	None. AWeber has no free-forever plan, only a 14-day trial	250 subscribers free, indefinitely
Team seats included, and the seat price past that	3 on Lite, unlimited on Plus; no separate extra-seat price published	2 on Free, 3 on Comfort, Unlimited on Power; no extra-seat price published
List segmentation depth	Not broken out	Not broken out
Automation workflow depth and any step/action limits	3 automations on Lite, unlimited on Plus	3 automations free, 50 on Comfort, unlimited on Power

All details, including automation and AI workflows

All compared details for AWeber and MailerLite
Criterion	AWeber	MailerLite
Deliverability and sending limits (emails per month, per day, or per rolling window)	Not broken out by tier	2,500 a month on Free at up to 250 subscribers; not broken out by tier for Comfort or Power
CRM and ecommerce integration depth	Not broken out	100+ integrations bundled on every tier including Free, confirmed for WordPress and Zapier by name
What happens past your plan's contact ceiling (overage pricing vs a forced upgrade)	Not detailed	Paid accounts auto-upgrade to the next subscriber tier and bill the card on file; Free accounts have sending locked at 250 subscribers until you upgrade or trim the list
Full price ladder	Lite: $15/month billed monthly, or $12.50/month billed annually, at 500 subscribers. Plus: $30/month billed monthly, or $20/month billed annually. Done For You: $30/month billed monthly, plus a one-time setup fee. Lite scales up to 150,000 subscribers and Plus to 150,000 subscribers.	Free (no cost, capped at 250 subscribers). Comfort: $12/month billed monthly, or $10.80/month billed annually. Power: $25/month billed monthly, or $22.50/month billed annually. Enterprise: custom pricing, gated to the top subscriber band. Comfort and Power both rise in steps as the list grows.
How pricing scales	Subscriber-count tiered, with published prices on the vendor slider from 0-500 up to 100,001-150,000 subscribers on both monthly and annual billing. Above 150,000 no price is published.	Subscriber-count tiered, with a monthly and an annual price at each list size; every plan's price rises with the list size, while the automation and landing-page allowance stays fixed within a plan as the list grows.
Free plan sending caps	None. AWeber has no free-forever plan, only a 14-day trial	2,500 emails a month at up to 250 subscribers
Landing pages by tier	Not broken out as a standalone allowance	1 on Free, 10 on Comfort, unlimited on Power
White label / branding removal	Not documented	MailerLite logo removal from Comfort up, not on Free; MailerLite offers no white-label version
API access	Not documented	Free: limited, no sending. Comfort and Power: full sending.
Support	Not broken out by tier	Not broken out by tier in MailerLite's own comparison table
Trial and card requirement	14 days; whether a card is required isn't stated on AWeber's pricing page	14 days, no card required
Refund terms	No published refund policy	30-day window for a discretionary refund, not a guaranteed money-back policy

Who should pick AWeber, and who should pick MailerLite?

AWeber

Desk research

AWeber's Lite plan starts at $15/month billed monthly at the smallest list size and includes 3 team seats. Plus starts at $30/month billed monthly and adds unlimited seats and automations. Both plans are priced by subscriber count, and AWeber publishes prices up to 150,000 subscribers. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial.

Best for: Small to mid-size creators and small business owners who need email automation and landing pages, want to monetize subscribers directly, and can handle the subscriber-tiered pricing structure.

Strengths

Lite plan at $15/month billed monthly is a low entry point for creators building an email presence, with 3 team seats included.
Plus has unlimited team seats and unlimited automations, where Lite is limited on automations.
Low monetization fees: 0.6% on Plus, 1.0% on Lite, letting creators keep more of paid subscription revenue.

Limits

No free plan; only a 14-day trial. You must commit to Lite ($15/month billed monthly) or Plus ($30/month billed monthly) to start.
Lite is priced up to 150,000 subscribers, and the price rises with each subscriber band as your list grows.
Pricing scales by subscriber count on both Lite and Plus; the entry prices are just the starting point. Subscriber-count tiered, with published prices on the vendor slider from 0-500 up to 100,001-150,000 subscribers on both monthly and annual billing. Above 150,000 no price is published.

Skip it if you need a free forever tier or flat-rate pricing. Also skip it if you want unlimited team seats and automations without paying more per subscriber band, since Plus costs more than Lite at every list size.

AWeber review AWeber pricing AWeber alternatives

MailerLite

Desk research

Best for solo marketers and small businesses
Best for growing lists sending regularly
Best for small teams sharing one account

MailerLite prices by subscriber count, not by locking features behind tiers, so a $12/month billed monthly plan gets the same automation builder and landing pages as the top tier, just fewer of each. The free plan is a real permanent plan, not a trial, capped at 250 subscribers.

Best for: A small business or solo marketer who wants full features at a low subscriber count and doesn't want to pay for a bigger list than they have yet.

Strengths

A genuine free plan at 250 subscribers, not a time-limited trial.
A 14-day trial of paid features with no card required.
Automation and landing pages scale by count, not by locking the builder away from cheaper tiers.

Limits

Removing the MailerLite logo needs Comfort or above.
API and MCP access on Free is limited and can't send.
Refunds are discretionary, not a guaranteed money-back window; MailerLite's terms only commit to a refund if it cancels your service on you first.

Skip it if you resell email under your own brand (MailerLite offers no white-label version), you need logo removal on the free plan, or you need unrestricted API sending without upgrading past Free.

MailerLite review MailerLite pricing MailerLite alternatives

My pick: MailerLite in 3 of 3 scenarios.

See MailerLite plans See AWeber plans

Neither AWeber nor MailerLite? Try these

ActiveCampaign
From $15/mo billed annually
Pick it if you want deeper CRM-style contact scoring and multi-step automation than either AWeber's Lite plan or MailerLite's Comfort plan offers, and a higher starting price doesn't rule it out.
ActiveCampaign review ActiveCampaign alternatives
Brevo
From $8.08/mo billed annually
Pick it if you want SMS and transactional email bundled with marketing email under one account, rather than as a bolt-on.
Brevo review Brevo alternatives
GetResponse
From $15.58/mo billed annually
Pick it if you want landing pages, webinars and email marketing under one account instead of treating automation and monetization as separate add-ons.
GetResponse review GetResponse alternatives

Switching between AWeber and MailerLite

Neither vendor documents a specific migration tool, import fee, or list-transfer guarantee, so this stays qualitative: expect to re-import your contact list and rebuild automations by hand in either direction, since no free concierge migration is documented for AWeber or MailerLite. AWeber's 14-day trial doesn't state whether a card is required, so confirm that before you start a test rebuild there. MailerLite's 14-day trial needs no card, so you can test a rebuild there without a billing risk.

What would change my pick?

AWeber publishing a native monetization equivalent or fee on MailerLite's side, or MailerLite publishing one itself, would close the one qualitative gap that favors AWeber today.
AWeber narrowing its automation cap gap on Lite (3 automations against Comfort's much larger allowance) would remove the biggest reason to pick MailerLite at the entry tier.
A published extra-seat price or a real money-back guarantee window from either vendor. Both stay unverified or absent, and either would shift the refund read.

AWeber vs MailerLite: questions people ask

Is AWeber cheaper than MailerLite?: No. At 500 subscribers AWeber's Lite is $15/month billed monthly and MailerLite's Comfort is $12/month billed monthly. The gap holds at 5,000 subscribers, where Lite is $60/month billed monthly and Comfort is $49/month billed monthly.
Does AWeber have a free plan?: No. AWeber offers a 14-day trial, not a free-forever plan. MailerLite's free plan is genuinely free and stays free up to 250 subscribers, and it includes 3 automations.
Which tool gives you more automation for the entry-tier price?: MailerLite. Comfort includes 50 automations for $12/month billed monthly. AWeber's Lite, at $15/month billed monthly, caps automation at 3.
Does either tool charge a fee on paid subscriptions or monetization?: AWeber does, on every plan: 1.0% on Lite, 0.6% on Plus. MailerLite doesn't document an equivalent feature or fee anywhere in its own comparison table.
Does either tool offer a real money-back guarantee?: Not really. MailerLite names a 30-day window to ask, but the refund itself stays discretionary, not guaranteed. AWeber's pricing page doesn't mention a refund policy either way; ask AWeber support directly if this matters to you.
How does pricing scale as my list grows?: Both vendors raise the price as the list grows rather than changing what a tier includes: AWeber scales by subscriber count from its 500-subscriber entry band, MailerLite scales the same way from its own entry band. Both keep the same automation and seat allowance within a plan as the price rises.
Which tool needs a credit card to try?: MailerLite's 14-day trial needs no card. AWeber's pricing page doesn't state whether its 14-day trial requires one.

Joonas Rotko

SEO & GEO professional, founder of That Marketing Buddy

I'm a Finnish SEO and GEO professional with 11+ years in digital marketing, including years as a co-owner of a digital marketing agency. On That Marketing Buddy I test and compare SEO and AI-visibility software for entrepreneurs, marketing professionals and agencies.

About me How I review LinkedIn

How I verified this

Every price and limit here comes from the vendors' own pages, last checked 19 Oct 2026. AWeber: desk research. MailerLite: desk research.

Sources and changelog

34 facts from 6 source pages, oldest checked 30 Sep 2026.

AWeber plans and pricing (checked 1 Oct 2026)
MailerLite plans and pricing (checked 1 Oct 2026)
MailerLite integrations (checked 1 Oct 2026)
MailerLite terms of service (refund policy) (checked 1 Oct 2026)

19 Oct 2026: MailerLite's white-label row now says what it is: logo removal from Comfort up, with no white-label version offered. The picks stay the same.
1 Oct 2026: AWeber's price ladder re-read from the live pricing page: Lite is now cheaper at 500 subscribers than before, which narrows the gap but does not close it. MailerLite's Comfort is still cheaper at 500, 1,000 and 5,000 subscribers on both billing bases, so all three picks stay with MailerLite.
1 Oct 2026: Updated for new MailerLite prices. All three scenarios still pick MailerLite on price and automation depth: Comfort undercuts AWeber's Lite at 500 and 5,000 subscribers and for the 3-person team. AWeber's documented monetization fee, which MailerLite doesn't document, is the one qualitative reason to pick AWeber instead, and is stated as the skipIf condition on every scenario.

Spot something out of date?Vendors and readers, send me the correct fact.

Software sites change almost every week, and I want every claim on this page to be factually correct. If you are a vendor or a reader, send me the correct fact and a link to the official page. I will check it and update the page. The opinions and rankings stay mine.

AWeber vs MailerLite: who costs less as your list grows?

Quick answer

Which one fits you?

How are AWeber and MailerLite really different?

Free plan

Entry paid price and what it buys

How the price ladder works above the entry band

Paid subscriptions and monetization

Trial and refund terms

What will AWeber or MailerLite cost for your setup?

Solo marketer or small business, a list just past the free tier

Growing list, sending regularly

Small team managing one list together

AWeber vs MailerLite side by side

Who should pick AWeber, and who should pick MailerLite?

AWeber

MailerLite

Neither AWeber nor MailerLite? Try these

Switching between AWeber and MailerLite

What would change my pick?

AWeber vs MailerLite: questions people ask

Is AWeber cheaper than MailerLite?

Does AWeber have a free plan?

Which tool gives you more automation for the entry-tier price?

Does either tool charge a fee on paid subscriptions or monetization?

Does either tool offer a real money-back guarantee?

How does pricing scale as my list grows?

Which tool needs a credit card to try?

How I verified this

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