MailerLite Review: CRM With Email Marketing (2025)

If you’re evaluating multiple platforms for your business needs, our comprehensive roundup of CRM + email tools puts MailerLite in context alongside 16 other solutions.

MailerLite strikes that sweet spot between simplicity and capability—it’s sophisticated enough for growing businesses yet approachable for complete beginners. The platform built its reputation on clean design, intuitive workflows, and generous free plans that actually work. But what really sets it apart is how it makes advanced features feel accessible without overwhelming you with complexity.

The short version? MailerLite excels for creators, small businesses, and growing teams that want professional email marketing with minimal learning curve and transparent pricing. However, if you need heavy CRM functionality or complex automation with dozens of triggers, more specialized platforms might serve you better. The focus here is making email marketing feel effortless rather than exhausting.

Snapshot and verdict

Who it’s for: Creators, bloggers, small businesses, and growing teams that want beautiful email marketing with simple automation, particularly those selling digital products or building content-driven audiences.

Pros:

• Genuinely useful free plan: 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails [4]
• Excellent deliverability (94.41% average across recent tests) [5]
• Built-in website and landing page builder with AI assistance [6][7]
• Digital product selling capabilities integrated into email workflows [4]
• Clean, intuitive interface with minimal learning curve [3]
• Transparent pricing that scales predictably with subscribers [2]

Cons:

• Limited CRM functionality—basic contact management only [1]
• Fewer automation triggers compared to specialized marketing platforms [3]
• Template library smaller than competitors like Mailchimp [3]
• No native SMS or social media marketing features [1]
• Advanced features require paid plans (A/B testing, custom HTML) [4]

Quick pricing context: Free for 1,000 subscribers; Growing Business from $10/month adds unlimited sends; Advanced from $20/month includes A/B testing and custom HTML; Enterprise custom pricing for 100K+ subscribers.

Key features and CRM-email fit

Email creation and templates

MailerLite’s drag-and-drop editor prioritizes ease of use without sacrificing capability. The interface feels clean and uncluttered—you can build professional emails in minutes rather than hours. Template selection includes responsive designs for newsletters, promotions, and automated sequences, though the library isn’t as extensive as platforms like Mailchimp.

MailerLite’s intuitive drag-and-drop email editor interface

The AI writing assistant helps generate subject lines and email content, while the auto-resend feature automatically sends campaigns to subscribers who didn’t open the first version—a simple but effective way to boost open rates.

Dynamic content personalization pulls subscriber data into emails automatically. You can personalize with names, custom fields, or segment-specific content blocks. The system handles responsive design automatically, ensuring emails look good across devices.

Automation capabilities

MailerLite’s automation builder uses a visual workflow approach that feels approachable rather than intimidating. You can create welcome series, abandoned cart sequences, and behavioral triggers without getting lost in complex conditional logic.

The platform offers pre-built automation templates for common scenarios—welcome sequences, product launches, event promotions, and re-engagement campaigns. These templates provide proven workflows you can customize rather than building from scratch.

Triggers include email opens, clicks, purchases, form submissions, and date-based actions. While not as comprehensive as ActiveCampaign’s behavioral tracking, it covers most common use cases for small to medium businesses.

Landing pages and website builder

The integrated landing page builder is genuinely impressive, especially considering it’s included in most plans. The AI landing page generator creates custom outlines based on your business description, then you can customize using an intuitive section-and-element system.

The new landing page builder (launched in 2025) includes 70+ pre-made blocks, the ability to save and reuse custom blocks, and global style settings for consistent branding. You can publish unlimited landing pages on paid plans, with the free plan allowing 10 pages.

Website functionality extends beyond landing pages—you can build full websites with blogs, product pages, and integrated email capture forms. For creators and small businesses, this eliminates the need for separate website builders.

Digital product selling

MailerLite includes native digital product functionality that integrates seamlessly with email campaigns. You can sell ebooks, courses, downloads, or digital subscriptions directly through your emails and landing pages.

The system handles payment processing, digital delivery, and customer management automatically. When someone purchases, they’re added to specific email sequences for onboarding or upselling. This integration is particularly valuable for creators monetizing their email lists.

Contact management and CRM

Contact management is straightforward—subscriber profiles, custom fields, tags, and basic segmentation. While not a full CRM like HubSpot or Salesforce, it handles the essentials for email-focused businesses.

Segmentation options include subscriber behavior, demographics, purchase history, and engagement patterns. Dynamic segments update automatically, while static segments freeze at creation time. The interface makes it easy to create targeted campaigns without complex filtering.

Reporting and analytics

Campaign reporting covers essential metrics—open rates, click rates, unsubscribes, and revenue tracking when connected to e-commerce platforms. The dashboard provides clear insights without overwhelming data visualization.

A/B testing functionality (available on Advanced plans) lets you test subject lines, send times, and email content. The system automatically sends the winning version to remaining subscribers.

Revenue tracking integrates with digital product sales and e-commerce platforms to show email campaign ROI. While not as sophisticated as dedicated marketing analytics platforms, it provides sufficient insights for most small businesses.

Pricing and how it scales

Free plan (up to 1,000 subscribers)

Genuinely useful free tier with 12,000 monthly email sends, basic automation, landing pages (10 max), websites, signup forms, and 24/7 support for the first 30 days. This isn’t a trial—it’s a permanent free plan that many small businesses can use indefinitely.

Growing Business plan (from $10/month)

Removes MailerLite branding, adds unlimited email sends, RSS campaigns, auto-resend, custom templates, and unlimited landing pages. Pricing scales with subscribers:

• 1,000 subscribers: $10/month
• 2,500 subscribers: $15/month
• 5,000 subscribers: $25/month
• 10,000 subscribers: $50/month

Advanced plan (from $20/month)

Adds A/B testing, custom HTML editor, unsubscribe page builder, unlimited users, advanced website features, and priority support. Pricing continues scaling with subscriber count:

• 1,000 subscribers: $20/month
• 5,000 subscribers: $40/month
• 10,000 subscribers: $80/month

Enterprise plan (100K+ subscribers)

Custom pricing for large lists with additional features like dedicated IPs, customer success managers, and priority onboarding. Pricing varies based on subscriber count and specific requirements.

Cost comparison advantage

MailerLite consistently costs 30-50% less than comparable platforms. For 10,000 subscribers, you’d pay around $50-80/month versus $100-150/month for similar features on Mailchimp or Constant Contact.

Integrations

Native connectivity

MailerLite offers 130+ direct integrations including Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, and major social platforms. The integration library covers essential business tools without overwhelming choice.

Zapier connectivity unlocks thousands of additional apps, enabling connections to CRMs, project management tools, and specialized business software.

E-commerce integration strength

Shopify and WooCommerce connections are particularly robust, enabling abandoned cart recovery, purchase-based segmentation, and product recommendation emails. Customer data syncs automatically for behavioral targeting.

Use cases and alternatives

Ideal scenarios for MailerLite

• Content creators and bloggers benefit from the built-in website builder, landing pages, and digital product selling. The ability to monetize email lists directly through the platform eliminates multiple subscriptions.
• Small e-commerce businesses can leverage abandoned cart automation, product-focused emails, and seamless Shopify integration without complex setup or high costs.
• Growing businesses on a budget appreciate the generous free plan and predictable pricing that scales without surprise fees or feature restrictions.
• Teams wanting simplicity over complexity find MailerLite’s streamlined approach refreshing compared to feature-heavy alternatives that require extensive training.

When to consider alternatives

• Advanced automation needs might prefer ActiveCampaign for sophisticated behavioral triggers and conditional workflows.
• Heavy CRM requirements should consider HubSpot for integrated sales pipelines or Pipedrive + Campaigns for sales-focused workflows.
• Enterprise-level features may require Salesforce + Marketing Cloud for complex customization and advanced reporting.

MailerLite vs Mailchimp comparison

MailerLite offers better value with more generous free plans and lower paid pricing. Mailchimp provides more templates and advanced features but at significantly higher cost. MailerLite’s interface feels cleaner and less cluttered.

Both platforms offer solid deliverability, though MailerLite’s 94.41% average slightly edges Mailchimp’s performance in recent testing.

MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign comparison

MailerLite excels at simplicity and cost-effectiveness, while ActiveCampaign offers deeper automation complexity. MailerLite’s built-in website and digital product features provide value that ActiveCampaign requires third-party integrations to match.

Email deliverability

MailerLite maintains excellent deliverability with a 94.41% average inbox placement rate across recent testing rounds, earning a “best of 5” award from EmailToolTester. This places it among the top-performing email platforms consistently.

Gmail delivery rates typically achieve 95-100% inbox placement, while Microsoft/Outlook performance ranges from 80-100% across different test periods. The platform handles authentication automatically and provides guidance for custom domain setup.

Built-in deliverability features include automatic bounce handling, complaint suppression, and list hygiene recommendations. The platform provides best practices guidance through their knowledge base and support channels.

FAQs

Is MailerLite’s free plan really unlimited?

The free plan includes 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 monthly email sends permanently. There’s no time limit, though you’ll see MailerLite branding on emails. It’s one of the most generous free plans available.

Can I sell products directly through MailerLite?

Yes, digital product selling is built into Growing Business and Advanced plans. You can sell ebooks, courses, subscriptions, and downloads with automatic delivery and customer management.

How does the AI landing page generator work?

Describe your business and goals, and the AI creates 3 custom page outlines. You can then customize using the drag-and-drop editor or regenerate new options if needed.

What automation triggers are available?

Email opens, clicks, link clicks, form submissions, purchases, dates, and website visits. While comprehensive for most needs, it’s less extensive than specialized automation platforms.

Does MailerLite integrate with WordPress?

Yes, native WordPress integration allows easy form embedding, subscriber sync, and content-triggered automation. The connection handles both WordPress.com and self-hosted sites.

How does customer support work?

Free plan users get email support for 30 days, then knowledge base access. Paid plans include 24/7 email and live chat support with generally quick response times.

Looking for detailed feature comparisons and alternative recommendations? Our complete guide to CRM with email marketing software evaluates MailerLite alongside 16 other platforms to help you find the right balance of simplicity, features, and cost for your business needs.

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MailerLite delivers exceptional value for creators and small businesses prioritizing simplicity, beautiful design, and cost-effectiveness over complex automation and heavy CRM functionality.