Loops Pricing: Free Early Stage Plan vs $99 Growing Audience
For an early-stage SaaS team that needs onboarding and product email before it has a budget for email software, Loops' Early Stage plan is the best pick: $0 a month for up to 4,000 sends in any rolling 30 days, with all features included. The reason is that the free allowance is enough for a small early list, so it works as a real starting point rather than a trial. When you outgrow it, the Growing Audience plan is $99 a month with unlimited sends to subscribers. If AI drafting and optimization is your deciding requirement, Customer.io is the one listing here that names AI Agent skills, starting at $100 a month.
The Short Answer
Pick Loops Early Stage if you are a pre-revenue or early-revenue SaaS team, your list is small, and you want onboarding and product emails without a monthly bill. The plan is $0, includes all features, and allows up to 4,000 sends in any rolling 30-day window, delivered to your 1,000 newest contacts. The free plan carries a Loops footer and a rate of 10 emails per second.
Move to Loops Growing Audience at $99 a month when you need unlimited sends to subscribers and transactional email to users outside your audience. The listing reviewed on 7 October 2026 does not state which contact count the $99 figure applies to, so check the official page against your own list size before you budget.
Pick Customer.io if AI features and lifecycle workflows matter more than the lowest price. Its Essentials plan is $100 a month and includes AI Agent core skills and a visual workflow builder.
Who This Page Is For
Early-stage SaaS founders
You are building the product and the onboarding sequence at the same time. You need a tool that does not require a sales call or a contract, and you want to know exactly where the free plan stops.
Marketers evaluating AI features
You want help drafting and optimizing email, and you need to know which vendors describe that capability in their pricing and which leave it out. This page separates the two.
Operators planning a move
You expect your email needs to grow into billing triggers, deeper segmentation or a CRM. The decision table below shows which signals point to a different tool.
Finance reviewers
You need to see what sets the monthly charge on each plan, whether the price is per contact, per tier or per send volume, and which limits could force an unplanned upgrade.
The comparison covers Loops, Customer.io, Brevo, Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign. Each price below comes from the pricing listing of that vendor, checked on 7 October 2026. Where a listing does not publish a price for the volume you need, this page says so instead of estimating one.
Loops and the Alternatives at a Glance
| Tool | Best for | Entry price (plan and billing) | Key limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loops | Early SaaS teams sending onboarding and product email | Early Stage $0/mo; Growing Audience $99/mo (monthly figure as listed) | Free sends reach only the 1,000 newest contacts and are capped at 4,000 in a rolling 30 days |
| Customer.io | Teams that want AI Agent skills and workflow-led lifecycle email | Essentials $100/mo (monthly billing; no annual rate listed) | Profile-based pricing rises quickly; AI limits are higher on Premium |
| Brevo | Small senders who want a free daily allowance and volume plans | Free: 300 sends a day; Starter $9/mo from 5,000 emails a month | Free plan is limited to 300 sends per day; the 20,000-send tier price is not listed |
| Mailchimp | Teams that want contact-tier pricing and a familiar editor | Free up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month; Standard $20/mo at 500 contacts | Price rises by contact tier, and the free plan caps sends at 250 a day |
| ActiveCampaign | Teams that want email tied to a sales CRM and segmentation | Starter $15/mo, starting price at 1,000 contacts (monthly as listed); free trial, no free plan | Advanced segmentation and dedicated support sit on higher tiers |
The table shows the entry price and the main constraint for each vendor, not a verdict on product quality. For an early-stage team, the constraint that matters most is usually the free allowance, because it decides whether you pay anything in the first months. For a team that already needs AI features, the constraint is whether the product describes those features clearly enough to plan around.
Loops: What the Plans Give an Early SaaS Team
Loops is built for teams that want to send product and onboarding email quickly. Its free Early Stage plan is priced at $0 a month and includes all features, which means you do not have to choose between the full product and the free tier. The plan allows up to 4,000 sends in any rolling 30-day period, delivered to the 1,000 newest contacts. It also limits sending to 10 emails per second and adds a Loops footer to your messages.
Those limits shape how you plan a launch. Because the window is rolling rather than calendar-based, a burst of onboarding email in launch week can use most of the allowance in days. Once the cap is reached, sending waits until older sends fall out of the 30-day window. Plan your launch around that counter, not around the start of the month.
The Growing Audience plan is listed at $99 a month. It includes unlimited sends to subscribers and transactional sends to users outside your audience, with all features included. The listing does not state the contact count that the $99 figure applies to, and it does not publish a throughput figure for paid sending. If your launch depends on a large single send, confirm both points with Loops before you pay.
Where Loops falls short for this audience: the listing reviewed on 7 October 2026 does not describe AI writing or optimization features, and it does not describe billing-event triggers in the way some competitors do. If your lifecycle depends on reacting to payment or subscription events, you will need to check the product documentation or consider a tool that lists those capabilities.
Price and link: Early Stage $0 a month; Growing Audience $99 a month. Confirm current terms on the official Loops pricing page.
Customer.io: The Option That Names AI Agent Skills
Customer.io is the only tool in this comparison whose pricing listing names AI features directly. Its Essentials plan is listed at $100 a month and includes AI Agent core skills, a visual workflow builder, email and community support, and basic data integrations. For a team that wants AI-assisted lifecycle work alongside workflows, that is the most concrete description of AI capability in the listings reviewed.
The Premium plan adds custom profile volume and pricing, elevated AI Agent limits and premium support. Its price is not published, so you will need to request a quote for your volume. Customer.io also lists a Startup Program that gives eligible early-stage companies that have raised under $10 million 12 months free. Eligibility is set by Customer.io, so confirm it before you plan around the free year.
Where it falls short for this audience: the Essentials plan is listed at $100 a month before any profile-volume increase, and the profile-based tiers rise quickly. The 10,000-profile Essentials tier is $145 a month, the 20,000-profile tier is $235 a month, and the 30,000-profile tier is $325 a month. A founder with a small list may find the base price higher than Loops at the same stage, while a team with a large profile base may find the workflow tools worth the cost.
Price and link: Essentials $100 a month (monthly billing; no annual rate listed). Premium on request. See the Customer.io pricing page for the current listing.
For a more detailed look at Customer.io's pricing structure, read the Customer.io pricing guide.
Brevo: Free Daily Sending and Volume Plans
Brevo is a practical choice for a small sender who wants to start for free and move to a volume plan later. Its free plan allows 300 email sends a day and storage for up to 100,000 contacts. That makes Brevo a useful comparison for a team with a large contact list that sends in short, daily bursts rather than one big monthly send.
The paid plans are priced by monthly email volume. The Starter plan is listed at $9 a month and starts at 5,000 emails a month, with no daily sending limit. The Standard plan is listed at $18 a month, starts at 5,000 emails a month, and adds automation, A/B testing and advanced reports. The Professional plan is listed at $499 a month for 150,000 to 10 million monthly sends and up to 2 million contacts. The yearly toggle on that listing shows $499 with a 10 percent discount to $449.08.
Where it falls short for this audience: the free plan's daily cap of 300 sends means a large single send must wait for later days, and the listing does not publish a price for volumes between the Standard tier and the Professional tier. The listing reviewed on 7 October 2026 also does not describe AI writing features in the plan details, so check the product documentation for that.
Price and link: Free; Starter $9 a month; Standard $18 a month; Professional $499 a month. See the Brevo pricing page. For more on Brevo's plans, read the Brevo pricing guide.
Mailchimp: Contact-Tier Pricing and a Familiar Editor
Mailchimp is the most widely known tool in this comparison, and its pricing is organized by contact tier. The free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a limit of 250 sends a day. The listing also shows a 14-day Standard trial. For a team that wants a free start with a familiar editor, the free plan covers the earliest stage without a bill.
The paid Standard plan is listed at $20 a month for the default 500-contact selector, with up to 6,000 emails a month at that size. The Essentials plan at 500 contacts is listed at $13 a month with monthly billing. As the contact count rises, the listing moves into higher tiers: the 2,501 to 5,000 contact tier is $100 a month for up to 60,000 emails a month, and the 5,001 to 10,000 contact tier is $135 a month for up to 120,000 emails a month. The 10,001 to 15,000 contact tier is $230 a month for up to 180,000 emails a month.
Where it falls short for this audience: the free plan's daily cap is tight for a launch burst, and contact-tier pricing means a list that grows past a boundary can move to a noticeably higher monthly figure. The listing reviewed on 7 October 2026 does not itemize AI features, so AI writing or optimization would need to be checked against Mailchimp's product documentation.
Price and link: Free; Standard $20 a month at 500 contacts; higher contact tiers as listed. See the Mailchimp pricing page. For a deeper comparison, read the Mailchimp pricing guide.
ActiveCampaign: Email Tied to a Sales CRM
ActiveCampaign is built around email automation and a sales CRM, and its listing reflects that. The Starter plan is listed at $15 a month, with the starting price set at 1,000 email contacts, and it includes email marketing, marketing automation, a standard CRM, and ecommerce integrations. The Plus plan is listed at $49 a month and adds standard segmentation and landing pages. The Pro plan is listed at $79 a month with advanced segmentation, and the Enterprise plan is listed at $145 a month with premium segmentation and a dedicated account team.
ActiveCampaign has no free plan, but it does offer a free trial, which matters if you want to test automation before paying. Its prices scale with the number of contacts, so the figures above are starting prices at 1,000 contacts. The listing does not publish a price for other contact counts on the page reviewed.
Where it falls short for this audience: an early-stage founder who only needs onboarding email may pay for CRM and segmentation features they do not use. The listing reviewed on 7 October 2026 does not describe AI writing or optimization features in its plan details.
Price and link: Starter $15 a month; Plus $49 a month; Pro $79 a month; Enterprise $145 a month, each from 1,000 contacts. See the ActiveCampaign pricing page. For a detailed comparison, read the ActiveCampaign pricing guide.
What Each Tool Costs at Three List Sizes
The table below prices three realistic scenarios using only the plan figures listed by each vendor. Where a vendor does not publish a price for the contact count or send volume in a scenario, the table says "pricing on request" and you should ask the vendor directly.
| Scenario | Loops | Brevo | Mailchimp | ActiveCampaign | Customer.io |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 contacts, up to 4,000 to 6,000 sends a month | Early Stage $0 (up to 4,000 sends in a rolling 30 days) | Free $0 (300 sends a day) | Standard $20/mo at 500 contacts, up to 6,000 emails | Starter $15/mo, listed from 1,000 contacts | Essentials $100/mo (base listing) |
| 5,000 contacts, about 20,000 sends a month | Growing Audience $99/mo | Pricing on request | Contacts 2,501 to 5,000: $100/mo, up to 60,000 emails | Pricing on request | Essentials $100/mo base; the 10,000-profile tier is $145/mo |
| 20,000 contacts, 150,000 sends a month | Growing Audience $99/mo | Professional $499/mo (150,000 to 10 million sends) | Pricing on request (the 10,001 to 15,000 tier is $230/mo, up to 180,000 emails) | Pricing on request | Essentials 20,000-profile tier $235/mo |
Some of the arithmetic is worth doing yourself. At monthly billing, Loops Growing Audience is 12 × $99 = $1,188 a year, while Mailchimp's 5,001 to 10,000 tier is 12 × $135 = $1,620 a year. Customer.io's 20,000-profile Essentials tier is 12 × $235 = $2,820 a year. Brevo's Professional plan is 12 × $499 = $5,988 a year at monthly billing. Loops' annual rate is not listed on the page reviewed, so these figures use monthly billing throughout.
Notice that the Loops figure in the second and third rows is the same, because the listing does not state a separate price for each band. Confirm the contact count that applies on the official page before you budget for the 5,000 or 20,000 contact scenarios.
Which Tool Fits Which Need
The table below turns the pricing into a decision. Each row names a need, the tool it points to, and the reason that the listing supports.
| If you need | Pick | Because |
|---|---|---|
| A free start for onboarding email with all features | Loops Early Stage | The $0 plan includes all features and allows up to 4,000 sends in a rolling 30 days |
| AI Agent skills named in the plan | Customer.io Essentials | The $100 a month plan lists AI Agent core skills and a visual workflow builder |
| A free plan that sends daily to a large contact list | Brevo Free | The plan allows 300 sends a day and storage for up to 100,000 contacts |
| Automation and A/B testing at a low monthly price | Brevo Standard | The $18 a month plan lists automation, A/B testing and advanced reports from 5,000 emails a month |
| A familiar editor and a free plan up to 250 contacts | Mailchimp Free | The free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month |
| Segmentation and a sales CRM alongside email | ActiveCampaign Plus or Pro | Plus adds standard segmentation and landing pages; Pro adds advanced segmentation |
| Billing-event triggers or deep revenue attribution | Check each product's documentation first | The Loops, Brevo, Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign listings reviewed do not describe these capabilities in their plan details |
The last row is deliberately blank on a recommendation. None of the listings reviewed for this page describes the feature in a way that would let you plan around it, so this is a question for the vendor's documentation or sales team, not a point you should assume.
Setup and Migration Checklist
Whether you start on Loops or move to it later, the work is the same: clean the list, set up the onboarding flow, and check the limits before launch. The checklist below is ordered so that each step reduces the risk of an unexpected charge or a stalled send.
| Step | What to do | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Count your list | Separate people who have opted in from people who only signed up, and note the newest contacts | You know how many contacts are subscribed and which ones receive sends |
| 2. Check the free window | Write down your expected sends for the next 30 days, including the launch burst | The total sits under 4,000 for a free Loops start, or you have chosen a paid plan |
| 3. Choose the sending domain | Set up a sending domain and confirm the authentication records with your provider | Test messages arrive in the inbox you use for checking |
| 4. Build the onboarding flow | Write the first three to five onboarding messages and map each to a product milestone | Each message has one purpose and one call to action |
| 5. Plan the launch burst | Schedule large sends across several days to stay under the rolling cap and the 10 per second rate | No single day sends more than your window allows |
| 6. Export and import | If you are moving from another tool, export subscribed contacts only, then import them with their consent status | Unsubscribed contacts are not re-imported |
| 7. Review the first month | Compare the contact count and send count against the plan you chose, then check the price on the vendor's page | You can state the plan, the price and the list size that applies |
Migration adds one risk that a fresh start does not: duplicated or unsubscribed contacts can move between tools and inflate your count. Export only subscribed contacts, keep the consent status with each record, and delete the old list after the move is confirmed.
How to Choose Between These Tools
Start with the question that the plan price cannot answer: what must the email tool do in the next six months? If the answer is onboarding and product updates for a small list, the free Loops plan is the cheapest way to meet that need, and it carries no monthly bill. If the answer is AI-assisted lifecycle email with workflows, the Customer.io Essentials listing is the most specific about AI capability, though it costs more at the base level.
Next, check the pricing unit. Loops and Mailchimp price by contact count and tier, Brevo prices by monthly send volume, and Customer.io prices by profile count. A list that grows quickly with dormant contacts will cost more on a contact-based plan, while a list that sends heavily will cost more on a volume-based plan. Count both numbers each month so that you see which one drives the bill.
Finally, read the limits, not only the headline price. A free plan with a daily cap, a rolling window, or a branding footer is a different product from a paid plan with no cap. Decide whether those limits fit your launch plan before you choose a tool, and recheck the pricing page on the day you sign up, because the figures on this page are a dated snapshot.
Where AI Features Stand in These Listings
AI is the topic of this site, so it is worth being exact about what the pricing listings reviewed on 7 October 2026 say. Customer.io is the only vendor whose plan details name AI Agent skills and higher AI Agent limits. For the others, the plan descriptions focus on sending, segmentation, automation and support, and do not describe AI writing or optimization features in a way you can plan around.
That absence is not proof that a feature does not exist. Product documentation, release notes and in-app previews often describe capabilities that a pricing page does not list. Before you buy on the strength of an AI feature, ask the vendor which plan it sits on, whether it has usage limits, and whether it is included or billed separately.
Related Pricing Guides
- Pricing overview: all pricing guides compared
- Alternatives: Customer.io pricing guide · Brevo pricing guide · Mailchimp pricing guide · ActiveCampaign pricing guide
- Site information: the main ranking · about this site
Loops Pricing FAQs
How much does Loops cost?
The Early Stage plan is $0 a month and allows up to 4,000 sends in any rolling 30-day period, to the 1,000 newest contacts. The Growing Audience plan is $99 a month and allows unlimited sends to subscribers. Confirm current terms on the official Loops pricing page.
Does the Loops free plan include all features?
The listing reviewed on 7 October 2026 says the Early Stage plan includes all features. Its limits are the 4,000-send cap in a rolling 30-day window, a rate of 10 emails per second, and a Loops footer in your emails.
Which tool names AI features in its pricing?
Customer.io names AI Agent core skills in its $100 a month Essentials plan, with higher AI Agent limits on Premium. The Loops, Brevo, Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign listings reviewed do not itemize AI writing or optimization features, so check each product's documentation.
Is Brevo free for a small list?
Brevo lists a free plan with 300 email sends a day and storage for up to 100,000 contacts. Its Starter plan is $9 a month and its Standard plan is $18 a month, both starting at 5,000 emails a month, according to the listing reviewed on 7 October 2026.
How does Mailchimp price a growing list?
Mailchimp prices by contact tier. The Standard plan is $20 a month at the 500-contact selector, with up to 6,000 emails a month. The 5,001 to 10,000 contact tier is $135 a month, with up to 120,000 emails a month.
When should a SaaS team move off Loops?
Consider moving when your email depends on billing events, detailed segmentation, a sales CRM, or AI features that the Loops listing does not describe. Until then, the $0 Early Stage plan and the $99 Growing Audience plan are the simplest starting points in this comparison.