MailerLite Comfort: $12/Month—When Free's 250-Subscriber Limit Stops Being Enough?

Verdict

MailerLite Comfort becomes relevant much earlier than older reviews suggest because MailerLite changed its Free plan in June 2026. The current Free tier is limited to 250 active subscribers and 2,500 emails every 30 days. Comfort currently starts at $12/month, while the lowest annual display is $10.80/month equivalent. On the 500-subscriber Comfort tier, the monthly send allowance is 5,000 emails.

The most important billing rule is that paid MailerLite accounts can automatically move to a higher tier when the subscriber or sending limit is reached.

Free is still useful, but its ceiling is now small

The current Free plan supports up to 250 active subscribers, 2,500 monthly email sends, two users, three automations, three forms, one digital product, one landing page, and one website with up to five pages. It remains free and does not require a credit card.

For a new newsletter or small test list, that is enough to validate signup forms, a simple automation, campaign creation, and basic landing pages before paying.

There is one documentation conflict worth knowing. Some older MailerLite marketing pages still display legacy Free allowances such as 12,000 monthly emails and one user. MailerLite's June 16, 2026 Free-plan update and current billing Help state the newer 250-subscriber / 2,500-email / two-user limits. This guide uses those newer Help sources.

Comfort expands both capacity and workflow

Current MailerLite feature pages list Comfort from $12/month. On the lowest 500-subscriber tier, the current plan provides 5,000 monthly emails, three user seats, and up to 50 visual automations. Paid Comfort also unlocks features such as more templates, Smart Sending, AI writing assistance, paid-newsletter tools, and broader landing-page/website capacity depending on the feature set.

The key capacity rule is simple: Comfort's monthly sending allowance is 10 times the subscriber tier ceiling. A 500-subscriber tier therefore allows 5,000 sends; a 5,000-subscriber tier allows 50,000.

That means a list can hit the sending limit even before it outgrows the subscriber tier if you send frequently.

Paid accounts can auto-upgrade

MailerLite's current billing Help says paid plans automatically upgrade when the subscriber or sending threshold is reached so campaigns and automations can keep running. Subscriber counting is cumulative during the billing cycle: an email address that was active at any point in the cycle can count even if it is later deleted.

Comfort feature-use limits work differently. Exceeding automation, form, website, landing-page, or digital-product limits does not automatically raise the billing tier. Instead, you can be blocked from creating, activating, or editing those resources until usage is reduced or the plan is upgraded.

Free also does not auto-charge when it exceeds its limits. On Free, sending or subscriber activity is paused until you reduce usage or manually upgrade.

$12 monthly or $10.80/month billed yearly

The current Comfort starting price is $12/month. MailerLite's current pricing page shows $10.80/month for the lowest tier when billed yearly, a 10% annual-billing discount.

Annual billing can reduce the effective monthly price once the list and sending pattern are predictable. Monthly billing is easier to manage while you are still testing list growth, send frequency, or whether Comfort's feature limits are sufficient.

Power currently starts at $25/month, or $22.50/month equivalent on the annual display, and removes many feature-use and email-send limits. It also includes live chat support. Do not upgrade to Power simply because the plan name is higher; first identify whether Comfort's subscriber/send auto-upgrades or feature caps are the actual problem.

Cancellation and refund rules are strict

When a paid plan is canceled, the account can downgrade to Free, but the Free requirements apply again. MailerLite says the account must be reduced to 250 or fewer active subscribers for a successful downgrade; otherwise sending restrictions can apply. Account data remains, but some paid features and history can become unavailable.

MailerLite's current refund policy is also restrictive. Monthly and annual plans are generally not refunded because the service was unused, partly used, purchased by mistake, or canceled after a new billing charge. Certain individual consumers can have a 14-day statutory right, but there is no general no-questions-asked refund promise.

For context, systeme.io Free supports 2,000 contacts and Startup is currently $17/month; Brevo Free allows 300 emails/day and Starter begins at $9/month; HubSpot Marketing Hub Starter has a regular $20/month/seat reference with 1,000 marketing contacts; GetResponse Starter is currently $19/month for 1,000 contacts. These are price-and-scope comparisons, not deliverability rankings.

Next step

Stay on Free while 250 active subscribers and 2,500 monthly sends are enough. Choose Comfort when the list, sending volume, automation count, or paid features justify the move. Start monthly if growth is uncertain; consider annual billing after you understand which subscriber tier you will occupy.

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