Quick answer: Loops charges by subscribed contacts (unlimited sends, transactional included) — free up to 1,000 contacts / 4,000 sends, then paid from about $49/mo at 5,000 contacts to $399/mo at 100,000 (Loops, Encharge review). Bluey Email charges by sends (unlimited contacts on Grow). Big low-frequency list — Bluey is usually cheaper; frequent sends to a smaller list with a Notion-style tool — Loops fits. Written with AI assistance and reviewed against primary sources.
Full disclosure: Bluey Email is my own product, and it’s in this comparison. I’ve held it to the same yardstick as Loops, cited third parties for the competitive claims, and said plainly where Loops is the better pick.
Bluey Email vs Loops at a glance
The core difference is the pricing meter. Loops bills on subscribed contacts and includes unlimited sends and transactional email on paid plans (Loops billing). Bluey bills on sends and gives you unlimited contacts on its Grow plan. That single distinction decides which is cheaper for you more than any feature does.
| Bluey Email | Loops | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing meter | Sends (unlimited contacts on Grow) | Subscribed contacts (unlimited sends) |
| Free plan | 500 sends/mo | 1,000 contacts / 4,000 sends |
| Entry paid | Spark from $7/mo (~$14 at 10k sends) | ~$49/mo at 5,000 contacts |
| Built-in CRM | Yes (Business) | No |
| Best fit | Large lists; transactional + marketing + CRM, one bill | Early-stage SaaS lifecycle email |
How much does Loops cost?
Loops’ free plan covers up to 1,000 subscribed contacts and 4,000 sends per month with every feature included and a small “Powered by Loops” footer (Loops). Paid plans remove the send cap entirely — you pay only for contact count. Per Encharge’s hands-on review, paid pricing runs about $49/mo at 5,000 contacts, $99 at 10,000, $199 at 25,000, $249 at 50,000, and $399 at 100,000 (Encharge). The official page shows this via an interactive slider, so confirm the current rate for your list size.
How much does Bluey cost?
Bluey is send-based: Free at 500 sends/mo, Spark from $7/mo (about $14 at 10,000 sends), Grow at $30/mo with unlimited contacts around 50,000 sends (up to about $84 at 250,000 and $180 at 1M), and Business at $300/mo adding a built-in CRM, landing pages and pre-built ecommerce flows. Because contacts are unlimited on Grow, a large list you email occasionally can cost far less than a contact-metered plan.
When is Loops the better pick?
For an early-stage SaaS team, Loops is genuinely nice. Encharge’s reviewer, David Ch, tested it hands-on and praised the “clean, easy-to-use interface” and Notion-style editor, with SaaS-native segmentation around “signups, upgrades, and cancellations” (Encharge). Transactional email is built in and does not count toward plan limits. If your list is small, you email frequently, and you want a modern developer-friendly tool, Loops wins on simplicity.
Where Loops falls short, in the same review: “No built-in CRM or user history for contact insights,” “No visual workflows or fallback logic” that limits complex automations, and “Pricing grows fast once your list size increases” (Encharge). It is also SaaS-only by design.
When is Bluey the better pick?
Bluey is ranked first here for one specific, checkable reason: it runs transactional email, marketing campaigns, and a built-in CRM behind one login and one bill, and it meters on sends so a big list does not inflate your price. That is the opposite trade-off from Loops. If you are a solo founder shipping onboarding emails to 800 users, that scope is overkill and Loops is the cleaner tool — I’d rather say that than pretend otherwise.
Bluey Email vs Loops: which should you choose?
Choose by two questions. First, is your list large relative to how often you email it? If yes, Bluey’s send-based pricing usually wins. Second, do you need a CRM and non-SaaS use cases, or just fast SaaS lifecycle email? CRM and breadth point to Bluey; pure SaaS lifecycle simplicity points to Loops. See our email marketing for SaaS guide and the pillar on the best email marketing software.
Frequently asked questions
Is Loops free? Yes — up to 1,000 subscribed contacts and 4,000 sends per month, all features included, with a “Powered by Loops” footer (Loops).
Does Loops charge for sends? No. Paid plans are metered by contact count with unlimited sends; transactional email is included at no extra charge (Loops billing).
Does Loops have a CRM? No. Per Encharge’s review, Loops has “no built-in CRM or user history for contact insights” (Encharge). Bluey’s Business plan includes a CRM.
Which is cheaper, Bluey or Loops? It depends on your ratio of list size to send volume. Large list, occasional sends favor Bluey’s send-based Grow plan; small list, frequent sends favor Loops’ contact-based model.
References
- Loops pricing — loops.so/pricing
- Loops billing docs — loops.so/docs/account/billing
- Encharge, Loops.so Review (David Ch) — encharge.io/loops-review
Related reading: Bluey Email vs Kit, Bluey Email vs Beehiiv, Bluey Email vs MailerLite, email marketing for SaaS, and the best email marketing software pillar.
— Shivam