Email platform pricing models: the cheapest plan depends on what grows

The four meters behind the monthly price

1. Marketable contacts or subscribers

GetResponse and Kit present tiers largely by list size. HubSpot distinguishes marketing contacts, who can receive marketing activity, from non-marketing contacts, who can remain in the database but cannot receive marketing email or ads. Status maintenance therefore affects cost and workflow.

2. Email sends

Brevo makes send volume central. HubSpot Marketing Hub Starter applies a monthly marketing-email allowance equal to five times the selected marketing-contact tier. GetResponse Starter and Kit's Newsletter plan publish generous or unlimited sends subject to their other limits and acceptable-use policies.

3. Seats

A small agency can outgrow a plan without gaining a subscriber. HubSpot Marketing Hub Starter's standard catalog basis is per seat; GetResponse Starter publishes three users; Brevo Free publishes one. Price every operator requiring the permissions used by the workflow.

4. Feature gates and add-ons

Automation depth, reporting, domains, transactional messages, SMS, CRM, and connectors may be separate tiers or products. Compare the smallest configuration that completes the real path—not the cheapest row with the logo.

Four documented reference points

These products are not functionally equivalent. Reference prices are not a cheapest-to-best ranking. Kit's live pricing and help documentation have shown different free-plan subscriber figures, so verify the signup boundary.

Worked example: 800 contacts, four campaigns, two users

This shape creates about 3,200 campaign sends per month before automations, resends, or onboarding messages.

• HubSpot's 1,000-contact and 5,000-send entry figures appear large enough, but required paid seats must be priced.
• GetResponse Starter's 1,000-contact tier and send allowance appear large enough; confirm automation and permissions.
• Brevo's advertised starting configuration may fail if its contact boundary is below 800; price the next live tier.
• Kit may fit raw subscriber and send counts, but its creator-newsletter workflow is not automatically a sales CRM.

Change one variable—a third operator, 1,100 contacts, weekly sequences, or multi-step automation—and the order can change.

Calculate the boundary cost

Marketable contacts today: ___
Forecast in 12 months: ___
Campaign sends/month: contacts × frequency = ___
Automation and resend volume: ___
Required users and permissions: ___
Must-have workflows and integrations: ___
Price today: ___
First tier above forecast: ___
Annual cash due upfront: ___
Migration and setup cost: ___

The GetResponse annual equivalent of $15.58 is about $186.96 for 12 months by multiplication; Kit Creator at $33 equivalent is about $396. Confirm actual checkout charges. A monthly equivalent is a comparison aid, not necessarily a monthly payment schedule.

Five pricing traps

1. The wrong count: understand unsubscribed, suppressed, duplicate, and non-marketing-contact rules.
2. A “from” price at the wrong boundary: reproduce your contacts and sends in the live configurator.
3. Ignored seats: confirm whether view-only, sales, service, or marketing permissions require payment.
4. Annual billing too early: prove one complete monthly workflow before increasing commitment.
5. Email-only comparison: add forms, CRM, connectors, setup, and admin to the stack total.

A 20-minute selection method

Remove plans that fail a hard requirement. Enter today's numbers and the 12-month forecast into each current configurator. Record the checkout total. Then run one operational scenario: capture a lead, record consent, send a welcome sequence, hand the contact to sales, and honor an unsubscribe. Choose the simplest plan that completes the path and remains affordable at the next boundary.