BestSends Guide · Reviewed by Carlos Gil
Best Free and Cheap SMTP Servers in 2026
A free SMTP relay is the cheapest way to send transactional and marketing email from your app or site. Here are the ones worth wiring up, with free limits and paid entry prices as of October 2026, from official pricing pages.
Key takeaways
- SMTP2GO is my pick for most apps and sites: 1,000 free emails a month with no time limit, real-time logs and guided SPF, DKIM and DMARC setup.
- Brevo's free plan sends 300 emails a day, so one large send can hit the daily cap.
- Sender has the largest free monthly allowance here, 15,000 emails; paid Standard starts at $9 a month billed yearly for 500 subscribers.
- Amazon SES is cheapest at volume, at $0.16 per 1,000 emails on the Essentials plan new accounts start on.
- Mailchimp's free plan is marketing only, and transactional sending is a paid add-on.
A free SMTP relay costs nothing until the morning your password-reset emails stop because you hit a cap you never read. Every free tier below breaks somewhere: a daily limit, a monthly limit, a shared IP pool or a sandbox you have to apply to leave. Pick the one whose limit you will hit last. For most apps and sites, that's SMTP2GO. Prices are list prices as of October 2026.
At a glance
| Tool | Best for | From | Free plan | Rating | Try |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMTP2GOTop pick | Developers who want a dead-simple relay with real deliverability tooling | Starter $15/mo (10,000 emails) | 1,000 emails/mo, no time limit | 4.5 | Visit → |
| Brevo | Apps and sites that need a dependable free relay | $9/mo paid | 300 emails/day forever | 4.3 | Visit → |
| Amazon SES | Engineering teams sending high volume | $0.16 per 1,000 (Essentials plan, new accounts) | AWS Free Tier credits for new AWS customers (up to $200) | Not yet rated | Visit → |
| MailerLite | Marketers who want a relay plus a builder | Comfort from $12/mo | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo | 4.4 | Visit → |
| Sender | Ecommerce senders on a zero budget | Standard from $9/mo (500 subscribers, billed monthly) | 2,500 subscribers, 15,000 emails/mo | 4.1 | Visit → |
| Moosend | Testing a full featured relay before paying | $9/mo billed monthly | No (30-day trial, unlimited sends) | 4.0 | Visit → |
| Mailchimp | Teams already inside Mailchimp | $13/mo | 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo | 3.8 | Visit → |
| Omnisend | Shopify and WooCommerce stores | $16/mo | 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo | 4.2 | Visit → |
What we love · what we don't
What we love
- Brevo, SMTP2GO and Sender all offer free tiers with no time limit
- Amazon SES makes volume sending almost free
- Every option on this list supports SPF, DKIM, and DMARC properly
What we don't
- Free tiers usually mean shared IPs you do not control
- Daily caps break large one off sends
- Branding footers appear on most free plans
The ranking
1. SMTP2GO
SMTP2GO's free plan gives you 1,000 emails a month with no time limit and no credit card, which comfortably covers password resets, contact-form notifications, and low-volume transactional mail for a small app or site.
What makes it stand out against other free relays is the dashboard: real-time activity logs, bounce and spam-complaint tracking, and guided SPF/DKIM/DMARC setup. SMTP2GO says it runs sending infrastructure in multiple regions.
The free tier runs out quickly once you send more than 1,000 emails a month, and phone and live-chat support last only 14 days on free. The paid step is small: Starter is $15 a month for 10,000 emails. For a relay you can wire up quickly, it is my first recommendation.
Pros
- 1,000 emails/mo free, forever
- No credit card required
- Real-time logs and bounce tracking
- Guided SPF/DKIM/DMARC setup
Cons
- Only 1,000 emails a month on free
- Live chat and phone support limited to 14 days on free
Who it's for
Developers and small teams who want a reliable relay with monitoring baked in from day one.
Skip it if
You need more than 1,000 emails a month and cannot pay yet; compare Brevo (300 a day) or Sender (15,000 a month).
2. Brevo
Brevo hands you SMTP credentials the moment you verify a sender, and the free tier is not a trial. You get 300 emails a day indefinitely, which covers password resets, receipts, and a small newsletter without paying anything.
What sets it apart is the tooling around the relay. You get delivery logs, bounce and complaint tracking, and DKIM setup instructions that match what Google and Yahoo require of bulk senders.
The ceiling is the daily cap rather than a monthly one, so a single large send can hit the wall. If your traffic is spiky, plan around that or move to a paid tier.
(Disclosure: I've done a paid partnership with Brevo.)
Pros
- 300 sends a day forever
- No credit card required
- Delivery logs on free tier
- Clean SPF and DKIM setup
Cons
- Daily cap, not monthly
- Brevo footer on free sends
Who it's for
Developers and small businesses that want a free relay they can leave in production.
Skip it if
You send in large bursts rather than a steady trickle.
Code CARLOSGIL50: 50% off Starter or Standard for the first three months for eligible new paying customers, per the vendor’s offer page (checked Oct 16, 2026).
Read full Brevo review
3. Amazon SES
SES is a raw relay. There is no campaign builder, no templates worth using, and no hand holding. What you get is the lowest list price per thousand emails in this guide, and full control over your own sending setup.
SES no longer has its own free message allowance. New AWS customers get up to $200 in AWS Free Tier credits that can be spent on SES (the free plan lasts 6 months, and credits must be used within 12). AWS says new SES accounts start on the Essentials plan at $0.16 per 1,000 emails from July 21, 2026; à la carte outbound pricing is $0.10 per 1,000.
You start in sandbox mode and have to request production access, and you own your reputation entirely. Set up a dedicated configuration set, monitor bounce and complaint rates, and do not treat it as a marketing platform.
Pros
- Lowest per-email list price in this guide
- Built for high volume
- Runs on AWS infrastructure
Cons
- Sandbox approval required
- No marketing features
- You manage reputation yourself
Who it's for
Teams with an engineer who can own deliverability.
Skip it if
You want a UI to build and schedule campaigns.
4. MailerLite
MailerLite is a marketing platform first. Its free plan covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, enough for a small list but too little to double as a transactional relay.
The editor is simple to use, a landing page and a website are included, and the free plan includes up to 3 automations.
Approval is manual. MailerLite reviews new accounts, so plan for a short wait before your first send goes out.
Pros
- 2,500 free emails a month
- Friendly editor
- Landing page and website on free
Cons
- Manual account approval
- Lighter automation on free
Who it's for
Small businesses and freelancers doing marketing and light transactional sends.
Skip it if
You need pure high volume SMTP with no marketing layer.
5. Sender
Sender is the volume play on free: 15,000 emails a month for up to 2,500 subscribers, with automation included rather than paywalled.
Paid Standard starts at $108 a year ($9 a month) for 500 subscribers and 6,000 emails a month, with 30% off the first year for new customers (Sender pricing, checked October 19, 2026).
Free sending runs on shared infrastructure, so authenticate your domain and keep complaint rates low.
It is a marketing platform first, so treat the relay as a bonus rather than the main product.
Pros
- 15,000 free emails a month
- Automation on the free plan
- Ecommerce blocks built in
Cons
- Shared IP pools vary
- Marketing platform first, not a pure relay
Who it's for
Stores and side projects that need volume without cost.
Skip it if
Inbox placement is business critical.
6. Moosend
Moosend no longer has a forever free plan, but the 30 day trial is unrestricted, which makes it the best way to stress test a relay against your own volume.
Automation and segmentation are included on the paid Pro plan, from $9/mo.
After the trial you pay, so this is not a long term free option.
Pros
- Unlimited sends in trial
- Strong automation
- Transactional API included
Cons
- No forever free tier
- Trial only 30 days
Who it's for
Anyone evaluating relays before committing.
Skip it if
You need free permanently.
7. Mailchimp
Mailchimp still has a free plan, and it is the weakest of the group at 500 emails a month (250 a day) across 250 contacts.
True SMTP relay sending runs through the Transactional add on, which is not free. The free tier is marketing only.
Included here because so many teams start here, not because it is the right relay.
Pros
- Familiar interface
- Huge integration library
Cons
- Only 500 free emails a month
- Transactional costs extra
- Contact-based pricing climbs
Who it's for
Teams already standardized on Mailchimp.
Skip it if
You are choosing fresh today.
8. Omnisend
Omnisend includes its prebuilt ecommerce automations on the free plan. The catch is a 500 email monthly ceiling.
Abandoned cart, browse abandonment, and post purchase flows all work on the free plan, which makes it useful for a store with a small list.
As a general purpose SMTP relay it is the wrong tool. Use it as a store platform, not a transactional pipe.
Pros
- Ecommerce automations on free
- Native store integrations
- SMS on the paid Pro plan
Cons
- Only 500 free emails a month
- Not a general purpose relay
Who it's for
Small stores testing ecommerce automation.
Skip it if
You need app transactional email.
How we chose these platforms
Best email tool by use case
Sources
- SMTP2GO pricing (checked Oct 8, 2026)
- Amazon SES pricing (checked Oct 8, 2026)
- Brevo free plan, help center (checked Oct 7, 2026)
- Brevo pricing (checked Oct 7, 2026)
- MailerLite pricing (checked Oct 7, 2026)
- Sender pricing (checked Oct 7, 2026)
- Moosend pricing (checked Oct 7, 2026)
- Mailchimp pricing plans, help center (checked Oct 7, 2026)
- Omnisend pricing (checked Oct 7, 2026)
The full comparison table: all 7 platforms
Every platform evaluated, at a glance. Sort by rating in your head; the ranking above tells you our verdict.
| Tool | Starting price | Free plan | Automation | Best for | Rating | Try |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | Free | 300/day forever | Solid | Daily free allowance | 4.3 | Try free → |
| Amazon SES | $0.16/1k | AWS credits (new accounts) | None | High volume sending | Not rated | Visit → |
| MailerLite | Free | 2,500/mo | Solid | Marketers | 4.4 | Try free → |
| Sender | Free | 15,000/mo | Light | Largest free allowance | 4.1 | Try free → |
| Moosend | Trial | 30 days unlimited | Deep | Full featured trial | 4.0 | Free trial → |
| Mailchimp | Free | 500/mo | Solid | Existing Mailchimp teams | 3.8 | Try free → |
| Omnisend | Free | 500/mo | Deep | Small stores | 4.2 | Try free → |
Which email tool should you use?
Skip the ranking. Pick the sentence that describes you.
Pricing at every list size
Monthly cost by email volume for the relays that price on sends. Contact-priced marketing platforms (MailerLite, Sender, Moosend, Mailchimp, Omnisend) are covered in their reviews.
| Tool | 1,000 emails/mo | 10,000 emails/mo | 50,000 emails/mo | 100,000 emails/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMTP2GO | Free | $15/mo | Check SMTP2GO | $75/mo |
| Brevo | Free (300/day) | $17/mo (Starter) | $56/mo (Starter) | $82/mo (Starter) |
| Amazon SES (Essentials, $0.16/1K) | $0.16 | $1.60 | $8 | $16 |
| Amazon SES (à la carte, $0.10/1K) | $0.10 | $1 | $5 | $10 |
List prices as of October 2026, from each vendor’s pricing page (checked October 8, 2026; SMTP2GO Starter re-checked October 19). SMTP2GO: Starter $15/mo for 10,000 emails, Professional $75/mo for 100,000 (we could not confirm a 50,000 tier). Brevo: Starter plan by monthly email volume. Amazon SES: our calculation at $0.16 per 1,000 on the Essentials plan new accounts start on, and $0.10 per 1,000 à la carte, before any AWS Free Tier credits.
Every free relay has a ceiling. Wire up the one you will hit last, and put the day you will hit it on your calendar before it finds you.
Frequently asked questions
It is a mail relay you connect to with a hostname, port, username, and password so your app or site can send email without running your own mail server. Free plans cap how many messages you can push through per day or month.
Sender allows 15,000 emails a month on its free plan, the largest permanent allowance in this guide. Brevo allows 300 a day (about 9,000 a month), MailerLite 2,500 a month and SMTP2GO 1,000 a month.
You can, but you should not for anything beyond personal use. Gmail limits you to roughly 500 recipients a day, blocks bulk patterns, and can suspend the account. Use a purpose built relay instead.
They can. Free tiers typically use shared IP pools, so your inbox placement depends partly on other senders. Authenticate your domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, keep complaint rates low, and clean your list to offset that.
Not on its own any more. New AWS customers get up to $200 in AWS Free Tier credits that can be used on SES. After that, AWS lists $0.16 per 1,000 emails on the Essentials plan that new SES accounts start on (from July 21, 2026), or $0.10 per 1,000 à la carte. It is still the cheapest option here at volume.
Yes for anything serious. Sending from a free mailbox address fails DMARC alignment at most providers. Verify a domain you control and publish the DNS records the provider gives you.
Update history (1)
- Jul 31, 2026First publication with verified free send limits for all seven relays.
Keep reading
Our top pick
SMTP2GO leads our ranking
Evaluated using official vendor pricing pages, documentation, help centers and policies, plus editorial judgment.
Still deciding?
Put any two platforms head-to-head on price, automation, and deliverability.
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About the Author
Carlos Gil is the Founder & Editor of BestSends and former U.S. Brand Evangelist at GetResponse. He has worked on email marketing education, audience growth, partnerships, and automation strategy, bringing experience from both the software company side and the businesses evaluating those tools.
Read more about Carlos