Short answer: our top pick is SendPulse, the best bulk email service for most growing businesses: an AI-driven email marketing and chatbot platform with a free-forever plan of 15,000 emails a month, unlimited emails on paid plans from $9.60 a month, built-in SMTP for transactional email, and WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram chatbots in the same account. Brevo is the budget alternative (pay per email, from $9 a month), Mailchimp the most established platform, MailerLite the simplest cheap option and Kit the pick for creators. Developers sending high volume through an API should look at Amazon SES (cheapest per email), SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark or Resend.
“Bulk email” covers two products. Email marketing platforms give you lists, an editor and automations, usually priced by contacts. Bulk email sending services (APIs and SMTP relays) send from your own app and charge per email. We compared both on official pricing, checked on September 24, 2026.
How to choose a bulk email service
- Pricing model: per-contact pricing hurts big lists you email rarely; per-email pricing hurts small lists you email often.
- Free plan: check both the contact and the email limit.
- Sending limits: daily caps, monthly allowances and overage fees.
- Deliverability: SPF, DKIM and DMARC setup, dedicated IPs, bounce handling.
- Marketing vs transactional: campaigns need an editor; high volume transactional email needs an API and logs.
- Features and documentation: templates and segmentation for marketers, clear API documentation for developers.
Bulk email services compared: official pricing (2026)
| Service | Type | Free plan | Starting price (official) | Pricing model | Sending limits | Best for |
| SendPulse | Platform + SMTP | 500 subscribers, 15,000 emails/mo | $9.60/mo (annual) | Subscribers | Unlimited on paid plans | Top pick: email, SMTP and chatbots |
| Brevo | Platform | 300 emails/day | $9/mo | Emails | 5,000+ emails/mo tiers | Budget campaigns |
| Mailchimp | Platform | 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo | $13/mo | Contacts | 10–15× contacts | All-round marketing |
| MailerLite | Platform | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo | $12/mo | Subscribers | Unlimited on Power | Simple campaigns |
| Kit (ConvertKit) | Platform | Up to 10,000 subscribers | $33/mo | Subscribers | Unlimited broadcasts | Creators |
| Constant Contact | Platform | Trial only | $12/mo | Contacts | 10–24× contacts | Small businesses |
| HubSpot | Platform + CRM | 2,000 emails/mo | $7/seat/mo | Contacts | Plan-dependent | HubSpot CRM users |
| Amazon SES | API | AWS credits | $0.10 per 1,000 | Emails | Raised on request | Cheapest high volume |
| SendGrid | API | 60-day trial | $19.95/mo | Emails | Tier-based | Email at scale |
| Mailgun | API | 100 emails/day | $15/mo | Emails | 100,000 for $90 | Logs and routing |
| Postmark | API | 100 emails/mo | $15/mo | Emails | 10,000 included | Fast transactional |
| Resend | API | 3,000 emails/mo | $20/mo | Emails | 50,000 included | Developer-friendly |
USD, lowest paid tier, from official pricing pages on September 24, 2026.
Best bulk email marketing platforms
SendPulse
Best bulk email service overall: 15,000 free emails a month, paid from $9.60, official WhatsApp Business API provider.
SendPulse is an AI-driven email marketing and chatbot platform for scaling businesses that helps you attract leads and convert them into customers. The international company, with an office in Brazil, is a Meta Partner and an official WhatsApp Business API provider, so one account runs bulk email plus chatbots on WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and Facebook. The free-forever plan covers 500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month; paid plans with unlimited emails start at $9.60 a month (billed annually). Its SMTP service sends 12,000 transactional emails a month free, and a built-in CRM unifies contacts from every channel.
SendPulse pricing page, September 2026.
Pros
- Email, SMTP and chatbots in one account
- Generous free-forever plan
- Meta Partner
Cons
- Many modules if you only need email
- Fewer integrations than Mailchimp
- Smaller template library than Mailchimp
Brevo
Best budget alternative: pay per email, 300 free emails a day, paid from $9 a month.
Brevo stores up to 100,000 contacts free and charges by sending volume: Starter from $9, Standard from $18, Professional from $499 a month. Transactional email runs from the same account.
Brevo pricing page, September 2026.
Pros
- Pricing by emails, not contacts
- Pay-as-you-go credits
Cons
- 300 emails a day on the free plan
- Big jump to Professional
Mailchimp
Best all-round platform: free for 250 contacts, paid plans from $13 a month.
Mailchimp prices by contacts: Essentials $13 (10× contacts in sends), Standard $20 (12×), Premium $350 (15×). It has the largest template and integration library here.
Mailchimp pricing page, September 2026.
Pros
- Mature editor and reports
- Huge integration ecosystem
Cons
- Small free plan
- Costs climb with list size
MailerLite
Best cheap option: free for 250 subscribers, Comfort from $12 a month.
The free plan includes 2,500 emails a month, automations and signup forms. Power, from $25, removes the email limit.
Pros
- Clean, simple editor
- Automations on the free plan
Cons
- Smaller free plan than before
- Fewer integrations
Kit
Best for creators: free for up to 10,000 subscribers, Creator from $33 a month.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is built for newsletters. Creator adds automations and A/B testing.
Pros
- Generous free plan
- Creator-focused tools
Cons
- Automations only on paid plans
- Pricier per subscriber
Constant Contact
Best for small businesses that want support: from $12 a month, no free plan.
Lite $12, Standard $35, Premium $80, with sends of 10–24× contacts and $0.002 per extra email.
Pros
- Phone support
- Clear send allowances
Cons
- No free plan
- Overage fees
HubSpot
Best if you already use HubSpot CRM: 2,000 free emails a month, Starter from $7 per seat.
Starter includes 1,000 marketing contacts; Professional starts at $800 a month.
Pros
- Email tied to the CRM
- Strong reporting
Cons
- Expensive upper tiers
- Overkill for newsletters
Best bulk email sending services for high volume (APIs)
For transactional or high volume sending from your app, an API is cheaper than a marketing platform.
Amazon SES
Cheapest high volume sending: $0.10 per 1,000 emails; you build the setup yourself.
SES lists $0.10 per 1,000 emails à la carte and plans from $0.16 per 1,000; new accounts start on Essentials from July 21, 2026.
Amazon SES pricing page, September 2026.
Pros
- Lowest price per email
- Scales to any volume
Cons
- No campaign editor
- You request higher sending limits
SendGrid
Transactional and marketing email at scale: Essentials from $19.95 a month.
The free trial sends 100 emails a day for 60 days; Pro ($89.95) adds dedicated IPs.
Pros
- Mature API and SMTP relay
- Volume discounts
Cons
- No permanent free plan
- Tier-based pricing
Mailgun
Logs and routing for developers: 100 free emails a day, Basic $15 a month.
Foundation: $35 for 50,000 emails; Scale: $90 for 100,000 with dedicated IPs.
Pros
- Detailed logs
- Inbound routing
Cons
- Short log retention on cheap plans
- No marketing editor
Postmark
Fast transactional email: Basic $15 for 10,000 emails.
Broadcast (bulk) email runs on separate message streams; overage costs $1.20–$1.80 per 1,000.
Pros
- Separate streams protect deliverability
- Predictable pricing
Cons
- Expensive at high volume
- Tiny free plan
Resend
Developer-friendly API: 3,000 free emails a month, Pro $20 for 50,000.
Scale is $90 for 100,000 emails; overage is $0.90 per 1,000.
Pros
- Modern SDKs
- Broadcasts included
Cons
- Younger company
- Overage adds up
What 100,000 emails a month costs
| Service | Plan | Monthly cost |
| Amazon SES | À la carte / Essentials | $10 / $16 |
| SendPulse SMTP | Pro (6-month billing) | $59.88 |
| Mailgun | Scale | $90 |
| Resend | Scale | $90 |
| Postmark | Basic + overage | $177 |
| SendGrid | Essentials, 100k tier | [Price] |
Which bulk email service is best for you?
- Best overall:
- Lowest cost for campaigns: Brevo or MailerLite.
- Most integrations:
- Creators:
- Cheapest high volume: Amazon SES.
- Transactional email with less setup: Postmark, SendGrid, Mailgun or Resend.
FAQ
What is the best bulk email service in 2026?
Our top pick is SendPulse: 15,000 free emails a month, unlimited emails from $9.60 a month, plus SMTP and chatbots. Brevo is the best budget alternative.
Which bulk email service is cheapest for high volume?
Amazon SES at $0.10 per 1,000 emails. Among managed APIs, Mailgun and Resend charge $90 for 100,000 emails.
Email marketing platform vs bulk email API: what’s the difference?
A platform includes lists, an editor and automations, priced by contacts. An API sends from your app, priced per email.
Which has the best deliverability?
It depends mostly on SPF, DKIM, DMARC and list quality. Every service here supports authentication.
Is there a free bulk email service?
Yes: SendPulse (15,000 emails a month), Brevo (300 a day), Kit (10,000 subscribers), MailerLite and Mailchimp (250 contacts).
Raghav Sharma is a content writer and media researcher at Newsdata.io, specializing in news industry analysis, media literacy, and the evolving landscape of digital journalism. With a background in English Literature and Journalism, along with a focus on fact-based reporting standards, Raghav covers topics including news API technology, editorial bias evaluation, and responsible information consumption. Raghav’s work has covered media trends across categories, including healthcare news, international journalism, and API-driven publishing. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or explore more of his writing on the Newsdata.io blog.
