10 alternatives · email & marketing · 2026
Customer.io alternatives, by price.
Customer.io starts at $100 a month. 7 of the 10 alternatives below start lower. Standing prices, not promotions — each read from the vendor's own page and linked to its source.
Side by side
What the alternatives cost
| Product | Starts at | Against Customer.io | Free plan | Changes on record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer.io the one you are comparing against | $100 per month · Essentials | — | — | none |
| Buffer Buffer | $5 per seat / mo · Essentials | not like-for-like | Yes | none |
| MailerLite MailerLite | $10.80 per month · Comfort | 89% less | Yes | none |
| Mailchimp Mailchimp (Intuit) | $13 per month · Essentials | 87% less | Yes | 13 since 2022 |
| Postmark ActiveCampaign | $15 per month · Basic | 85% less | Yes | none |
| GetResponse GetResponse | $15.58 per month, billed yearly · Starter | 84% less | — | none |
| Resend Resend | $20 per month · Pro | 80% less | Yes | none |
| Kit Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | $33 per month · Creator | 67% less | Yes | 7 since 2024 |
| beehiiv beehiiv | $49 per month · Lite | 51% less | Yes | 13 since 2024 |
| Buttondown Buttondown | free only | — | Yes | 11 since 2022 |
| Klaviyo Klaviyo | free only | — | Yes | 3 since 2024 |
CHEAPEST PAID PLAN FIRST. “NOT LIKE-FOR-LIKE” MEANS ONE IS PRICED PER USER AND THE OTHER IS NOT, ONE IS NOT BILLED BY THE MONTH OR YEAR, OR THEY ARE IN DIFFERENT CURRENCIES. THE RECORD DOES NOT CONVERT ANY OF THOSE.
Questions
Customer.io alternatives, answered
Q1 What is the cheapest alternative to Customer.io?
Buffer, at $5 per user a month for its Essentials plan — the lowest paid entry price of the 10 alternatives on the record. Customer.io itself starts at $100 a month. Buffer, MailerLite, Mailchimp, Postmark, Resend, Kit and 3 more also list a free plan.
Q2 Which Customer.io alternatives have a free plan?
Buffer, MailerLite, Mailchimp, Postmark, Resend, Kit, beehiiv, Buttondown and Klaviyo. Only a plan the vendor lists at $0 counts; free trials do not.
Q3 Is Customer.io more expensive than its alternatives?
7 of 10 alternatives start below Customer.io's $100 a month: MailerLite, Mailchimp, Postmark, GetResponse, Resend, Kit and 1 more. Entry prices are compared only where both are charged the same way — per user against per user, flat against flat.
Q4 How current are these prices?
Each pricing page is re-read by MarkupBot at least daily. The table shows the standing price of every plan — where a vendor is running a promotion, the price it reverts to — and every product name links to its dated history and the archived capture behind each figure.