Campaign Monitor, Elastic Email, and MailerLite are all email marketing platforms, but they suit different budgets and audiences. Campaign Monitor is an…
Freemium (pay-as-you-go credits plus tiered monthly subscriptions) · From Free (paid Email API plans from $19/month; Email Marketing plans from $29/month)
Best for: Developers and cost-conscious senders who want transactional API and SMTP sending combined with marketing email and a free entry tier.
Best for: Small businesses and creators who want an affordable all-in-one tool bundling email, landing pages, and a website builder.
At a Glance
Campaign Monitor
Elastic Email
MailerLite
Primary category
Email Marketing
Email Marketing
Email Marketing
Rating
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing model
Subscription (tiered by subscriber count)
Freemium (pay-as-you-go credits plus tiered monthly subscriptions)
Freemium
Starting price
From about $13/month (Lite plan)
Free (paid Email API plans from $19/month; Email Marketing plans from $29/month)
Free (paid plans from $12/month)
Free plan
Yes
Yes
Yes
Free trial
Yes
Not documented
Not documented
Platforms
Web
Web
Not documented
Team collaboration
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
AI features
Yes
Yes
Yes
Public API
Yes
Yes
Yes
Standout Differences
MailerLite bundles more than email
MailerLite includes landing pages, a website builder, signup forms, and digital product and booking tools alongside email campaigns, reducing the need for separate tools.
MailerLite
Elastic Email is the only one with a real free tier
Elastic Email offers a genuinely free entry tier, while Campaign Monitor only provides a free trial and MailerLite's free plan is limited to very small lists.
Elastic Email
Campaign Monitor's unlimited sending and nonprofit discount
Campaign Monitor offers unlimited sends starting at its Essentials tier and a 15 percent discount for nonprofit organizations, features not documented for the other two platforms.
Campaign Monitor
API focus differs across the three
All three provide APIs, but Elastic Email's is built around transactional and SMTP-relay sending, while Campaign Monitor's and MailerLite's APIs lean toward marketing campaign management.
Campaign Monitor, Elastic Email, MailerLite
Recent ownership and pricing shifts
Campaign Monitor has changed hands from CM Group to Marigold, with its enterprise business later sold to Zeta Global, while MailerLite raised prices 10 to 30 percent in mid-2026 after being acquired by Vercom.
Campaign Monitor, MailerLite
Feature-by-Feature
Editor and Automation
Feature
Campaign Monitor
Elastic Email
MailerLite
Drag-and-drop email builder
Available
Available
Available
Marketing automation workflows
Available
Available
Available
AI writing assistance
Available
Not documented
Available
Beyond Email
Feature
Campaign Monitor
Elastic Email
MailerLite
Landing pages or website builder
Not documented
Not documented
Available
Transactional email API or SMTP relay
Available
Available
Not documented
Pricing and Access
Feature
Campaign Monitor
Elastic Email
MailerLite
Permanent free plan
Unavailable
Available
Available
Unlimited sends on entry-level paid tier
Available
Not documented
Not documented
Nonprofit discount
Available
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Campaign Monitor
Free Trial — $0 30-day trial
Lite — From ~$13/month monthly or annual
Essentials — From ~$31/month monthly or annual
Premier — From ~$171/month monthly or annual
Enterprise — Custom annual
Elastic Email
Free — $0 monthly
Starter (Email API) — $19 monthly
Pro (Email API) — $49 monthly
Email Marketing — From $29 monthly
MailerLite
Free — $0 N/A
Comfort — From $12/month Monthly or annual (10% discount annually)
Power — From $25/month Monthly or annual (10% discount annually)
Enterprise — Custom Custom
Pros & Cons
Campaign Monitor
Pros
Established platform with a long track record dating back to 2004
Easy-to-use drag-and-drop builder suited to non-technical marketers
Unlimited sends on Essentials and higher tiers
15% discount available for nonprofit organizations
Cons
Pricing scales with subscriber list size, which can get expensive for larger lists
The entry Lite plan caps monthly sends rather than offering unlimited sending
Ownership changes (CM Group to Marigold, and the 2025 sale of the enterprise business to Zeta Global) have added brand confusion
Fewer advanced e-commerce automation features than commerce-focused competitors
Elastic Email
Pros
Combines transactional and marketing email in one account, avoiding the need for separate vendors and reputation pools.
Pricing is generally lower than comparable developer-focused competitors like SendGrid, Mailgun, and Postmark.
Free tier and self-serve signup make it easy to test integrations before committing to a paid plan.
Supports both a full REST API and a standard SMTP relay, easing migration from self-hosted mail servers.
Cons
Deliverability reputation can be inconsistent on shared IP pools compared to specialist transactional providers like Postmark.
Marketing automation and design tools are less sophisticated than dedicated marketing platforms like Mailchimp or Klaviyo.
Customer support response times can lag on lower-tier plans without a paid support add-on.
Documentation and UI polish trail some larger, venture-backed competitors.
MailerLite
Pros
Clean, easy-to-use editor that suits non-technical users
Bundles website and landing page tools alongside email at no extra cost
Free plan available for very small lists
Digital product and booking features reduce need for extra tools
Mid-2026 pricing changes raised costs by 10 to 30 percent across most tiers
Automation depth is lighter than specialists like ActiveCampaign
Free plan API access does not support sending
Deliverability support and dedicated IPs are reserved for higher tiers
Now owned by Vercom, adding a layer of corporate ownership to a previously independent brand
Use Cases
Choose Campaign Monitor: Established brands and marketing teams wanting a polished, long-standing email platform with unlimited sends on paid tiers.
Choose Elastic Email: Developers and cost-conscious senders who want transactional API and SMTP sending combined with marketing email and a free entry tier.
Choose MailerLite: Small businesses and creators who want an affordable all-in-one tool bundling email, landing pages, and a website builder.
Campaign Monitor
Small Business Newsletters — Small businesses use Campaign Monitor's templates and segmentation to run regular email newsletters and promotions.
Agency Client Management — Marketing agencies use Campaign Monitor to manage email campaigns for multiple clients from one account.
Nonprofit Donor Communications — Nonprofits use Campaign Monitor's discounted plans to run donor newsletters and fundraising campaigns.
Elastic Email
Transactional Email for SaaS Products — Developers integrate the API or SMTP relay to send account notifications, password resets, and receipts reliably at scale.
Combined Transactional and Marketing Email — Businesses that need both system emails and periodic newsletters manage both from a single account and reputation pool.
White-Label Email Delivery for Agencies — Agencies use sub-accounts and reseller features to manage email sending on behalf of multiple clients under one master account.
MailerLite
Creator newsletters — Sending regular newsletters and monetizing an audience through digital products.
Small e-commerce email marketing — Running automated abandoned cart and promotional campaigns for a small online store.
All-in-one small business web presence — Using the bundled website and landing page builder alongside email campaigns instead of separate tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which of the three has a free plan?
Elastic Email and MailerLite both offer free plans; Campaign Monitor only offers a free trial before requiring a paid subscription.
Which is best for bundling a website with email marketing?
MailerLite, since it includes landing pages, a website builder, and signup forms alongside its email tools at no extra cost.
Which supports transactional email sending via API or SMTP?
Elastic Email is built around a transactional email API and SMTP relay; Campaign Monitor also documents a transactional email feature. MailerLite's free plan API access does not support sending.
Did pricing change recently for any of these platforms?
Yes. MailerLite raised prices by 10 to 30 percent across most tiers in mid-2026 after being acquired by Vercom, and Campaign Monitor's ownership moved from CM Group to Marigold, with its enterprise business later sold to Zeta Global.
Which offers a nonprofit discount?
Campaign Monitor, which offers a 15 percent discount for nonprofit organizations.
Which is most budget-friendly for very small lists?
Elastic Email's free tier or MailerLite's free plan, both of which are designed for small-scale senders before upgrading to a paid tier.