Quick answer: Sender is the more generous free tool for small lists — its Free Forever plan covers 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month with automation and forms included (Sender pricing). Bluey Email wins for marketers who want deeper automation, a built-in CRM, and send-based pricing with unlimited contacts from $30/mo that doesn’t cap your subscriber count. Full disclosure: Bluey is my own product; I’ve held it to the same standard as Sender and say plainly where Sender is the better buy.
If you want the most email marketing you can get for free, Sender is hard to beat. If you want automation depth, a CRM, and pricing that doesn’t jump every time you add subscribers, that’s a different tool. Here’s the honest head-to-head.
What is Sender?
Sender is a beginner-friendly email and SMS tool known for a genuinely generous free plan and fast support. David Ch, Head of Marketing at Encharge, used it for a full year on real projects and summed it up like this: Sender "nails the basics — easy setup, fair pricing, and reliable support," but "once your list grows or your strategy demands more, you’ll start to feel the limits. The automation is shallow, segmentation is basic, and scaling feels clunky" (Encharge review).
That’s the core trade: Sender is excellent to start, thinner as you scale.
Pricing: Sender’s free plan is far more generous; Bluey is flatter at scale
Sender prices by subscriber count, capped, with a monthly email allowance that scales as a multiple of your list. The Free Forever plan gives 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails/month with Sender branding. Standard starts around $10/mo (removes branding, adds SMS and A/B testing), and Professional around $20/mo (adds advanced automation and free SMS) — with email volume scaling at roughly 12× your subscriber count on Standard and 24× on Professional (Sender pricing; Encharge review).
The catch, per that 12-month review: "you’re still capped by how many active subscribers your plan allows… even if you’re not sending often, hitting your subscriber limit means upgrading" (Encharge review).
Bluey prices by emails sent, with no subscriber cap on paid tiers. Free covers 500 contacts / 500 sends; Spark starts at $7/mo (about $14 at 10,000 sends); Grow is $30/mo with unlimited contacts (roughly 50,000 sends, up to $84 at 250,000); Business is $300/mo and adds a built-in CRM, landing pages, transactional email, and pre-built ecommerce flows.
| Sender | Bluey Email | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Subscribers (capped) | Emails sent |
| Free plan | 2,500 subs / 15,000 emails | 500 contacts / 500 sends |
| Entry paid plan | ~$10/mo (Standard) | $7/mo (Spark) |
| Built-in SMS | Yes | No |
| Built-in CRM | No | Yes (Business) |
| Automation depth | Basic (time delays, clicks) | Visual builder, all paid tiers |
| Subscriber cap | Yes (jumps tiers) | No (unlimited on paid) |
The substantiated reason Bluey leads for growing lists: Sender caps subscribers per plan and bumps you up a tier — "sometimes just for a few extra subs" (Encharge review). Bluey’s Grow plan is $30/mo with *unlimited* contacts, so adding subscribers never forces an upgrade — you only pay more if you send more.
Where Sender clearly wins
Free-tier generosity. 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails free forever is one of the best free plans on the market, and it includes automation and forms. Bluey’s free plan tops out at 500 contacts / 500 sends.
Built-in SMS. Sender includes SMS campaigns on paid plans, so email + text live in one tool. Bluey is email-first and has no native SMS.
Support and simplicity. Even free users get fast live chat, and the interface is beginner-friendly — David Ch rates both support and ease of use highly (Encharge review).
Where Bluey wins
Automation and segmentation depth. Sender’s automation is "shallow" and segmentation "basic" with "no proper A/B testing" on lower tiers, per the year-long review (Encharge review). Bluey ships a visual automation builder and deeper segmentation on every paid tier.
One platform with a CRM. Bluey’s Business tier folds a CRM, landing pages, and transactional + marketing email onto one bill, plus pre-built ecommerce flows. Sender leans on Zapier for most integrations.
Flat cost, no subscriber cap. Send-based pricing means a large but low-frequency list doesn’t trigger tier jumps the way Sender’s subscriber caps do.
Which should you choose?
Pick Sender if you’re budget-first, have a small or early-stage list, want SMS in the same tool, and value the most generous free plan you can find. Pick Bluey if you want automation depth, a CRM, and predictable send-based pricing that never penalizes you for adding subscribers.
As David Ch put it after a year on Sender: it’s "a great entry point for small teams… but once your list grows or your strategy demands more, you’ll start to feel the limits" (Encharge review). That’s exactly the moment a fuller platform earns its keep.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sender really free? Yes — up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month, with Sender branding and automation included (Sender pricing).
Does Sender cap subscribers? Yes — even paid plans cap active subscribers, and exceeding the cap means moving up a tier (Encharge review).
Does Sender have SMS? Yes, on paid plans — a real advantage over Bluey, which is email-only.
Which has better automation? Bluey — Sender’s automation is described as "shallow," while Bluey includes a visual builder on every paid tier (Encharge review).
Does Bluey have a free plan? Yes, 500 contacts and 500 sends — much smaller than Sender’s free tier but with fuller automation.
The verdict
Sender is the right call for small lists, tight budgets, and teams that want email plus SMS with a standout free plan. But if you want deeper automation, a CRM, and send-based pricing that never caps your subscribers, start with Bluey Email — flat at $30/mo, unlimited contacts, automation included.
Compare the full field in Best Email Marketing Software in 2026, weigh the similar Bluey vs MailerLite matchup, see the Mailjet alternatives roundup, or start with the complete email marketing guide.
— Shivam