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The Verdict
MailerLite wins for most businesses.
While EmailOctopus beats it on pure price, MailerLite delivers significantly more value with better automation, ecommerce features, and professional templates at still-reasonable rates.
Choose EmailOctopus if
- +Solopreneurs on tight budgets
- +Simple newsletter sending
- +Testing email marketing cheaply
- +Basic drip campaigns
Choose MailerLite if
- +Growing businesses needing automation
- +Ecommerce stores
- +Professional email marketing
- +Multi-channel campaigns
- +Teams requiring collaboration
Pricing
Which one costs more?
EmailOctopus wins the pricing battle decisively, but MailerLite's value proposition is stronger.
| Plan / Tier | EmailOctopus | MailerLite | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | Free | Free | EmailOctopus: 2,500 contacts, 10K emails. MailerLite: 1,000 contacts, 12K emails |
| Entry Level | $9/mo | $10/mo | EmailOctopus Pro vs MailerLite Growing Business |
| Advanced | $9/mo | $20/mo | EmailOctopus stays same price, MailerLite adds premium features |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Both offer custom enterprise pricing for large lists |
Buddy's Take on Pricing
EmailOctopus clearly wins on pure price with unlimited contacts at just $9/month. MailerLite costs more but delivers significantly more features and functionality, making it better value for businesses that need more than basic email sending.
Features
Capability comparison
Both tools cover email basics, but MailerLite pulls ahead with advanced features that EmailOctopus simply doesn't offer.
| Capability | EmailOctopus | MailerLite |
|---|---|---|
| Email Editor | ● | ★ |
| Email Templates | ● | ★ |
| Automation Builder | ○ | ★ |
| A/B Testing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Landing Pages | ○ | ★ |
| Ecommerce Integration | ✗ | ★ |
| Pop-up Forms | ○ | ★ |
| Analytics & Reporting | ○ | ● |
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Digital Product Sales | ✗ | ✓ |
| Website Builder | ✗ | ✓ |
| AI Writing Assistant | ✗ | ✓ |
The feature gap between these tools is substantial. EmailOctopus focuses on email sending fundamentals with a simple drag-drop editor and basic automation. You can create welcome sequences and manage subscribers, but that's about where it ends. No A/B testing, limited landing pages, and zero ecommerce integrations make it feel bare-bones for growing businesses.
MailerLite operates in a different league entirely. The automation builder lets you create complex workflows with multiple triggers and conditions. The landing page builder rivals dedicated tools, the pop-up forms have advanced targeting options, and the ecommerce integrations sync purchase data automatically. Add AI writing assistance and the ability to sell digital products directly, and you've got a comprehensive marketing toolkit rather than just an email sender.
Who It's For
Who should choose which?
Choose EmailOctopus if you...
- +You're on an extremely tight budget
- +You only need basic email newsletters
- +You have simple automation needs
- +You prefer minimal complexity
- +You're just testing email marketing
Choose MailerLite if you...
- +You want professional email marketing features
- +You run an ecommerce business
- +You need advanced automation workflows
- +You want landing pages and pop-ups
- +You plan to sell digital products
- +You need A/B testing capabilities
Final recommendation
The bottom line
For most businesses, MailerLite is the smarter choice. Yes, it costs more than EmailOctopus, but the feature gap is enormous. MailerLite gives you everything needed for professional email marketing: advanced automation, ecommerce integration, A/B testing, professional templates, and even website building.
EmailOctopus works if you literally just need to send newsletters, but you'll quickly outgrow it. The only compelling reason to choose EmailOctopus is extreme budget constraints. At $9/month for unlimited contacts, it's the cheapest option available. But even cash-strapped startups should consider MailerLite's free plan first, which offers more advanced features despite lower contact limits.
Most small businesses will find MailerLite's $10/month Growing Business plan delivers incredible value that EmailOctopus simply can't match at any price.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, MailerLite is better for most users. EmailOctopus only wins on price, but MailerLite offers significantly more features and better value overall.
EmailOctopus is cheaper at $9/month for unlimited contacts versus MailerLite's $10-20/month tiers.
Yes, you can export your contacts from EmailOctopus and import them into MailerLite. Both tools support CSV exports and imports.
Yes, but very limited. EmailOctopus offers 5 basic landing page templates, while MailerLite has unlimited pages with a full drag-drop builder.
MailerLite has much better automation with visual workflows, multiple triggers, and conditional logic. EmailOctopus only offers basic drip sequences.
Yes. EmailOctopus offers 2,500 contacts and 10,000 monthly emails free. MailerLite offers 1,000 contacts and 12,000 monthly emails free.
More on these tools
Joonas Rotko
Author & founder of That Marketing Buddy
I score marketing software for AI-stack fit (MCP, API, agent-readiness), backed by 10+ years in digital marketing. This comparison is based on structured data from 60+ tools in the marketing software category.
This page may contain affiliate links. I earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This never influences the comparison.
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