What your tools actually cost
The Small Operator looks at the software and services small businesses pay for: what they cost at regular prices rather than introductory ones, which conditions quietly change that cost, and what moving between them actually involves.
It is written by Jeff Peckham.
The method is deliberately plain. Vendor documentation is reported as vendor documentation. Anything tested directly is described at the scope actually tested — one account, three contacts, one email, whatever it happened to be. Anything still unknown is left marked as unknown rather than filled in with a confident guess. Where the honest answer is that you should stay where you are, or pay nobody at all, that is the answer you will get.
More on how that works, and on affiliate disclosure, is on the about and editorial policy page.
Articles
Mailchimp's free plan stops at 250 contacts. Here's what the alternatives actually cost.
A comparison of Mailchimp, MailerLite, EmailOctopus, Benchmark and Brevo at the list sizes small senders actually have — priced at regular monthly rates, with the migration costs that comparisons usually leave out. One of the five was tested hands-on; the article says which, and says what that testing did and did not cover.