Quick answer: People leave AWeber for one reason above all: it raised prices 50–150% in December 2024 and scrapped grandfathered pricing, so a 10,000-subscriber list now runs $100/mo on Lite or $135/mo on Plus (AWeber). EmailTooltester’s verdict is blunt: “apart from customer service and landing page solution, there isn’t a particular area where AWeber really excel” (EmailTooltester). Ranked by need: Bluey Email (best value all-rounder), MailerLite (cheapest + best free plan), Brevo (best free multichannel), GetResponse (best automation + webinars), ActiveCampaign (deepest automation), Moosend (cheapest automation), and Kit (best for creators). Full disclosure: Bluey is my own product; same criteria for everyone, and I say plainly where each rival wins.
AWeber invented the autoresponder back in 1998, and it still does the basics well with strong 24/7 phone support. But it charges per subscriber whether you email them or not, and after the 2024 hike its prices sit level with tools that simply offer more.
Why look for an AWeber alternative?
1. The 2024 price hike. AWeber raised prices by 50–150% in December 2024 and removed grandfathered pricing, so older reviews understate today’s cost (AWeber).
2. Per-subscriber billing. You pay for the size of your list, not the work you do with it. At 10,000 subscribers that is $100–$135/mo before you factor in cadence.
3. Feature ceiling. EmailTooltester concludes AWeber’s costs are “on par with other email tools like GetResponse, which offer much more for the same price” (EmailTooltester, reviewed by Charlotte Evans and Roberta Phillips). The Lite plan also caps you at 3 automations and 1 custom segment.
If you value 24/7 phone support and a small, heavily-emailed list, AWeber’s included send allowance is hard to beat. Otherwise, here is where to go.
The 7 best AWeber alternatives
1. Bluey Email — best value all-rounder
Best for: growing lists that want a CRM and transactional email without a per-subscriber bill. Price: free (500 contacts / 500 sends); Spark from $7/mo (~$14 at 10,000 sends); Grow $30/mo with unlimited contacts; Business $300/mo adds the built-in CRM, landing pages, and ecommerce flows. Why over AWeber: send-based pricing means a 10,000-contact list emailed on a normal cadence runs about $30/mo on Grow versus $100–$135 on AWeber — and you get a CRM and transactional email AWeber lacks entirely. Trade-off: no 24/7 phone support, and a tiny list emailed daily may be cheaper on AWeber’s send allowance.
2. MailerLite — cheapest with the best free plan
Best for: beginners and budget-conscious senders. Price: free up to 1,000 subscribers; paid from $9/mo. Why over AWeber: a lower entry price and a genuinely generous free plan (automation, landing pages) where AWeber’s free tier is thinner. Trade-off: support is email/chat only, and advanced automation is lighter than ActiveCampaign’s. See MailerLite alternatives.
3. Brevo — best free multichannel
Best for: teams that want email plus SMS and a free CRM. Price: free (300 emails/day); paid from around $9/mo. Why over AWeber: contact management, automation, and SMS on the free plan, priced by emails sent rather than contacts stored. Trade-off: EmailTooltester’s deliverability tests scored Brevo below the leaders. See Brevo alternatives.
4. GetResponse — best automation + webinars
Best for: marketers who want built-in webinars and courses. Price: from $19/mo; webinars and paid courses on higher tiers. Why over AWeber: the exact tool EmailTooltester names as offering “much more for the same price” — automation, webinars, and funnels AWeber does not match. Trade-off: contact-based tiers escalate as your list grows. See GetResponse alternatives.
5. ActiveCampaign — deepest automation
Best for: teams whose whole strategy is automation. Price: from $19/mo, with a built-in CRM. Why over AWeber: best-in-class branching logic and a real sales CRM, far beyond AWeber’s 3-automation Lite cap. Trade-off: steeper learning curve and no free plan. See ActiveCampaign alternatives.
6. Moosend — cheapest automation
Best for: senders who want automation on a shoestring. Price: from around $9/mo, all features included. Why over AWeber: full automation and segmentation at roughly half AWeber’s cost. Trade-off: a smaller template library and less brand recognition.
7. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — best for creators
Best for: newsletter creators, coaches, and course sellers. Price: free up to 10,000 subscribers; paid from $25/mo. Why over AWeber: a creator-first free plan and a paid newsletter/tip-jar economy AWeber does not offer. Trade-off: plain-text-leaning design and per-subscriber pricing at scale. See Kit alternatives.
How to choose your AWeber alternative
- Is a free plan essential? MailerLite, Brevo, Kit, and Bluey all have one; MailerLite’s and Kit’s are the most generous.
- What is your list size and cadence? A large list emailed a few times a month favours send-based pricing (Bluey); a tiny list emailed daily may stay cheapest on AWeber.
- How deep is your automation need? Standard flows run fine on Bluey or MailerLite; complex branching points to ActiveCampaign.
- Do you sell courses or run webinars? GetResponse covers that natively.
- Are you a creator? Kit is built for you.
- Do you need a CRM on the same bill? Bluey (Business) and Brevo include one; AWeber has none.
Frequently asked questions
Why did AWeber get more expensive? It raised prices 50–150% in December 2024 and removed grandfathered pricing, so current costs are well above older guides (AWeber).
What is the cheapest AWeber alternative? MailerLite and Moosend both start around $9/mo; Bluey’s Spark starts at $7/mo, and Bluey, MailerLite, Brevo, and Kit all have free plans.
Which AWeber alternative has the best free plan? MailerLite and Kit for generosity; Bluey and Brevo add a CRM.
Does any alternative offer phone support like AWeber? GetResponse and ActiveCampaign offer phone support on higher tiers; AWeber’s 24/7 phone line remains a genuine strength.
Which is best for a growing list? Bluey — its send-based pricing avoids AWeber’s per-subscriber escalator, so cost tracks activity, not list size.
The verdict
Stay on AWeber if 24/7 phone support matters, you email a small list frequently, or you value 25 years of sending reputation. Its free plan is a fair on-ramp.
Leave if the 2024 hike stings. Bluey Email is the value all-rounder — send-based pricing plus a CRM and transactional email for a fraction of AWeber Plus, the specific reason I put it first. MailerLite if price is everything; GetResponse if you want the “more for the same money” AWeber’s own reviewers point to. Compare the wider field in Best Email Marketing Software in 2026, see the head-to-head in Bluey vs AWeber, or start with the complete email marketing guide.
— Shivam