{"id":90441,"date":"2026-07-23T13:51:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/glossary\/free-mailing\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T14:55:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T14:55:40","slug":"free-mailing","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/en\/glossary\/free-mailing\/","title":{"rendered":"Free mailing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Free mailing means sending email campaigns to your list without paying, usually with the free plan of an email marketing tool.<\/strong> For a small number of contacts, you can also use your own email account.<\/p>\n\n

It lets you start selling by email with no budget, as long as you know the limits of each option.<\/p>\n\n

The question worth asking isn’t whether a tool is free. It’s how much it lets you send, to how many contacts and under what conditions.<\/p>\n\n

What is free mailing and how does it work?<\/h2>\n\n

A mailing<\/a> is an email sent to many contacts at once: a newsletter, an offer or an announcement. There are two ways to do it for free.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The first is your own inbox. Gmail allows about 500 recipients a day and Outlook.com 5,000, but with no unsubscribe link or statistics. We explain it in how to send bulk emails<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The second is the free plan of an email marketing tool<\/strong>. It gives you an editor, templates, unsubscribe management and statistics, with a cap on contacts and sends.<\/p>\n\n

Tools offer it so you can try them out. Some are so generous that you can do free mailing for years.<\/p>\n\n

Others fall short as soon as your list grows.<\/p>\n\n

How many emails can you send for free with each tool?<\/h2>\n\n

This is the part that changes most from one year to the next. Several brands cut back their free plan in 2025 and 2026<\/strong>, so it’s worth checking the current figures.<\/p>\n\n

Tool<\/th>Contacts<\/th>Emails per month<\/th>Daily limit<\/th>Support on the free plan<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Mailrelay<\/td>20.000<\/td>80.000<\/td>No daily limit<\/td>Chat, ticket and phone<\/td><\/tr>
Brevo<\/td>100.000<\/td>About 9,000<\/td>300<\/td>Basic<\/td><\/tr>
Mailjet<\/td>1.000<\/td>6.000<\/td>200<\/td>First month only<\/td><\/tr>
GetResponse<\/td>500<\/td>2.500<\/td>No data<\/td>No data<\/td><\/tr>
MailerLite<\/td>250<\/td>2.500<\/td>No data<\/td>14 days<\/td><\/tr>
Acumbamail<\/td>250<\/td>2.000<\/td>No data<\/td>No phone<\/td><\/tr>
Mailchimp<\/td>250<\/td>500<\/td>250<\/td>30 days<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

Data from September 2026, taken from each tool’s website and help center. We go into more detail in our profiles of Mailchimp<\/a>, Brevo<\/a>, MailerLite<\/a>, Mailjet<\/a> and Acumbamail<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"Free<\/figure>\n\n

As you can see, looking at contacts isn’t enough<\/strong>. Brevo stores 100,000, but only lets you send 300 emails a day: a newsletter to 3,000 people takes ten days to go out.<\/p>\n\n

Mailchimp, on the other hand, stops at 500 sends a month.<\/p>\n\n

If you also want to compare features and ease of use, check out the guide to free bulk email software<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

What doesn’t a free mailing plan include?<\/h2>\n\n

Here’s the fine print. Before choosing, check these points:<\/p>\n\n