MailerLite review: the beginner email tool I actually run two brands on

I’ve run the email lists for both of my brands on MailerLite for over two years — one a DIY/home audience, one a devotional audience — so this isn’t a spec-sheet review. It’s the tool I open on a Monday to build a welcome sequence and don’t dread.

The reason it earns the spot is the on-ramp. The free plan gives you 1,000 subscribers and real automation, not a crippled demo. The drag-and-drop builder for emails, landing pages, and signup forms is genuinely simple — I’ve handed it to people who “aren’t tech people” and watched them ship a form in an afternoon. Deliverability has been steady, and support actually answers.

Where it costs you is patience at the start: new accounts go through an approval review before you can send, and a few of the nicer features (advanced segmentation, some templates) sit behind the paid tier. None of it is a dealbreaker — but if you expected to blast an email in the first ten minutes, adjust.

Skip it if you’re running heavy sales automations, deep behavioral segmentation, or a CRM-driven funnel at scale — Kit (ConvertKit) or ActiveCampaign will fit you better and you’ll grow out of the ceiling. And if you’re not actually going to email your list, no platform fixes that; build the habit first, then the tool matters.