Quick answer
Maileroo - Maileroo wins for most builders who want a genuinely usable free tier for sending, while MailerLite wins if you need website, landing page, or newsletter-style marketing tools in the same place.
How the free tiers compare
These two free tiers solve different problems even though both sit in email marketing. MailerLite is the better all-in-one marketing starter if you want to grow an audience with landing pages, a website, signup forms, pop-ups, and simple digital product or booking sales. Its free plan is capped at 500 subscribers and 12,000 emails, so it fits low-volume list building, not broad sending. Maileroo is more email-delivery focused: SMTP relay, API access, inbound routing, tracking, webhooks, and verification are all included on the free tier, and the cap is 3,000 outbound emails plus 1,000 inbound per month. That makes Maileroo more useful for app notifications, transactional email, and developer workflows. If your priority is marketing pages and campaigns, MailerLite is broader. If your priority is sending email from a product or site, Maileroo is the stronger free starting point.
MailerLite vs Maileroo free tier, side by side
| MailerLiteFTV 49 | MailerooFTV 64 | |
|---|---|---|
| Outbound emailsMailerLite counts monthly emails on the free plan; Maileroo caps outbound sends. | 12,000/month | 3,000/month |
| Subscribers / contacts | 500 subscribers | Unlimited contacts (Fair Use) |
| User seats | 1 | Not specified |
| Landing pagesMailerLite includes landing pages on the free tier. | 10 | Not included |
| WebsiteMailerLite includes one website on the free tier. | 1 website | Not included |
| Digital products or bookingsMailerLite includes one digital product or booking on the free tier. | 1 | Not included |
| Inbound emailsMaileroo includes inbound routing on the free tier. | Not included | 1,000/month |
| Dedicated IPMaileroo includes a dedicated IP on the free plan. | Not included | Free dedicated IP |
After you outgrow the free tier
MailerLite uses flat paid tiers, starting at $10/month for Growing Business and $20/month for Advanced, with Enterprise on custom pricing. The jump is mostly about removing caps on emails, websites, landing pages, seats, and product/booking limits. Maileroo starts at $15/month for Starter and also offers a custom plan, with a simpler email-delivery pricing shape. For small-team use, MailerLite is cheaper at the first paid step, but Maileroo is better value if you need API or SMTP email delivery rather than marketing pages.
When to pick each one
Pick MailerLite when…
- You need landing pages, a simple website, and signup forms in the free plan.
- You want to sell a single digital product or booking without leaving the email tool.
- You are building a newsletter audience and care more about marketing pages than developer integrations.
- You want a drag-and-drop editor and basic automation with a small list of up to 500 subscribers.
Pick Maileroo when…
- You need SMTP relay or a REST API for transactional email from an app or website.
- You want free access to webhooks, inbound routing, bounce handling, and suppression lists.
- You are sending around 1,000 to 3,000 emails a month and want the free tier to stay useful month after month.
- You care about email verification, tracking domains, logs, and delivery diagnostics more than website building.
- You want a free dedicated IP included from the start.
Bottom line
For most builders choosing a free tier, Maileroo is the better default if the goal is to send product or site email reliably without paying yet. Its free plan keeps the core delivery stack open and useful, with API, SMTP, inbound routing, and tracking included. MailerLite is the better pick only when the free tier needs to cover marketing pages as well as email. If you are starting with audience growth, MailerLite fits better. If you are starting with sending infrastructure, Maileroo wins.
Read the full listings: MailerLite and Maileroo. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more head-to-heads on /compare, or see the top-ranked free tiers on /top.