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How much does Constant Contact cost? Its pricing page lists Lite from $12 a month, Standard from $35 a month and Premium from $80 a month on monthly billing. Prepay for 12 months and the starting prices drop to $10.20, $29.75 and $68 a month. There is no free plan, only a 30-day free trial. We checked these figures on 12 Nov 2026. Your real Constant Contact cost depends on how many active contacts you have and how many emails you send, so the starting price only fits a small list.
How we got the numbers: Constant Contact's live pricing page blocks automated readers, so the plan prices below come from the copy of that official page archived by the Internet Archive on 22 Oct 2026. Billing rules come from Constant Contact's own help center, read on 12 Nov 2026. This is desk research from the vendor's pages, not an account test. Check the live page from your browser before you buy.
Constant Contact plans and prices at a glance
| Plan | Price (USD, monthly billing) | Key limit | Billing note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | from $12 | 1 user, sends up to 10x your contacts, 1 automation template, 1 custom segment | $10.20 a month at the starting tier if you prepay 12 months |
| Standard | from $35 | 3 users, sends up to 12x your contacts, 3 automation templates, 10 segments | $29.75 a month at the starting tier with 12-month prepay |
| Premium | from $80 | Unlimited users, sends up to 24x your contacts, unlimited custom automations and segments | $68 a month at the starting tier with 12-month prepay; 500 SMS messages a month included (US) |
| Multi-Account (Teams) | Quote only | For 5+ accounts | Pricing through sales |
The asterisk on every price matters: Constant Contact says the "plan price is based on number of contacts and email sends". The tier ladder (what Lite or Standard costs at 2,500 or 10,000 contacts) sits behind a "See pricing tiers" pop-up that did not load in the archived copy, so we do not quote it. The help center's own example uses a 0-500 contact tier as the smallest one.
Every plan includes the drag-and-drop editor, AI copy help, social posting, sign-up forms, event registration and live phone and chat support. The jumps between plans are about automation, segmentation, reporting and seats.
What the send limit means in practice
Each plan has a monthly send allowance tied to your contact tier, not to the contacts you actually email. The help center's example: on a 10x plan at the 0-500 tier, that is 10 x 500 = 5,000 email sends a billing month. On Standard (12x) the same tier allows 6,000, and on Premium (24x) it allows 12,000.
Some details that change the count:
- One email to one contact is one send. A campaign to 1,000 people uses 1,000 sends.
- Bounces still count as sends.
- Automated emails do not count, such as welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders and automated series.
- Scheduled resends do count, including the automatic resend to non-openers on Standard and Premium. The help center notes these resends do not show on the Reporting tab, so check the Billing tab for the true total.
A weekly newsletter to your whole list is about four or five sends per contact a month, well inside even Lite's 10x. Daily senders and anyone using resends heavily should do the math before picking Lite.
Hidden costs that raise the Constant Contact bill
Overage fees. Go past your send allowance and nothing stops: your emails still go out and you pay $0.002 for every extra send, which Constant Contact puts at $2 per 1,000. Its help article gives a worked example: a 2,500-contact tier on a 10x plan allows 25,000 sends; sending 40,000 means 15,000 over, and a $30 overage fee.
Contact tier creep. Your tier is "based on the highest number of active email contacts you've had in your account", which can differ from your current count. If active contacts rose during the last billing period, you move to a higher tier, and the change shows on next month's bill.
Paying in quiet months. The billing article is direct: you are still charged your monthly fee even if you do not send a campaign.
Add-ons. Inbox Preview is a $10/month add-on on every plan. SMS marketing (US customers only) is included on Premium with 500 messages a month; on Lite and Standard it starts at $10/month for 1-500 messages, with higher tiers as you grow.
What does not count. Constant Contact bills on active email contacts. Its help center classes unsubscribed contacts and SMS-only contacts as inactive, so people who unsubscribed should not push you into a higher tier. Bounced contacts stay active until you remove them.
What you pay in month 13 and at renewal
Constant Contact has no intro price that jumps after year one. Monthly billing is the list price. The discount comes from prepaying: up to 15% off when you prepay 12 months, which is where the $10.20, $29.75 and $68 figures come from. You can also prepay for 6 months.
Four rules decide what month 13 looks like:
- Renewal is automatic. Subscriptions renew at the end of each billing term on the payment method on file, unless you cancel before the renewal date.
- Prepayments are non-refundable, even if you cancel before the end of the term. The separate 30-day money-back guarantee covers new plans cancelled within 30 days of signing up.
- A prepayment can run out early. It covers your chosen plan and tier for 6 or 12 months, but upgrading, buying an add-on or moving up a contact tier uses it faster.
- Your tier at renewal reflects your list. If your list grew during the year, the renewal price is for the larger tier, not the starting price you saw on day one.
Nonprofits get 20% off with a 6-month prepay or 30% off with a 12-month prepay, after sending proof of status. There is no nonprofit discount on monthly billing, and Constant Contact asks you not to buy a prepay plan before it confirms your nonprofit pricing.
Who each Constant Contact plan fits
Lite fits a solo owner who sends a regular newsletter and posts to social media, and wants phone support from day one. With one user, one automation template and one segment, it is a newsletter tool, not an automation tool.
Standard fits a small team (three users) that wants scheduling, subject line A/B testing, resend to non-openers and reporting on who opens and clicks. Constant Contact itself points small businesses to this plan; the price gap from Lite is large at the starting tier, so check that you will use those features.
Premium fits businesses that need custom automations, ecommerce automation templates, unlimited segments, dynamic content, Google Ads Manager and SEO recommendations, or that want SMS included. Unlimited users also make it the plan for larger teams.
Multi-Account is for franchises and organizations running five or more accounts, priced by quote.
The free trial is good for building emails and importing contacts, but the help center caps it at 100 total email sends over its 30 days, so it is a test drive, not a way to run campaigns.
Cheaper alternatives to Constant Contact
At the smallest list sizes, Constant Contact's starting prices are higher than several rivals, and it has no free plan. Prices below were verified on official pages (Mailchimp on 12 Nov 2026, the rest on 10 Nov 2026):
- Mailchimp: free plan for 250 contacts; Essentials from $13 and Standard from $20 a month at 500 contacts. Details in Mailchimp pricing, and the head-to-head in Constant Contact vs Mailchimp.
- MailerLite: free plan for 250 subscribers; Comfort from $12 and Power from $25 a month at 500 subscribers. See MailerLite pricing.
- GetResponse: Starter from €16 a month at 1,000 contacts on its EUR page (US readers should check from their location).
- HubSpot Marketing Hub Starter: $20 per seat a month with 1,000 marketing contacts, useful if you also want a CRM.
- Beehiiv: free Launch plan for up to 2,500 subscribers, built for newsletters. See Beehiiv pricing.
- Brevo: another common switch for small senders; current plans are in Brevo pricing.
To see what your list size costs across platforms, the email marketing cost calculator lets you enter your contact count and compares monthly totals across nine platforms, flagging which tiers we confirmed on official pages. Constant Contact is not in it yet because its tier ladder is not public in a readable form.
For a longer list with limits side by side, read Constant Contact alternatives compared by price and limits, or go back to the email marketing software hub. If you are budgeting a full small-business stack, our roundup of the best AI SEO tools covers the next line item.
FAQ
How much does email marketing cost?
It depends on list size and features. At the smallest tiers, Constant Contact starts at $12 a month, Mailchimp Essentials at $13 and MailerLite Comfort at $12, while Mailchimp, MailerLite and Beehiiv also offer free plans for small lists. Costs rise with contacts, so compare quotes at your real list size, and add any overage fees and add-ons like SMS.
What are the common complaints about Constant Contact?
We did not survey users, but the friction points visible in Constant Contact's own terms are price-related: no free plan, starting prices above several rivals, overage fees of $0.002 per send past your allowance, a tier based on your highest active contact count, monthly fees even when you send nothing, and non-refundable prepayments after the first 30 days.
Is there anything better than Constant Contact?
It depends on what you need. If live phone and chat support on every plan matters to you, Constant Contact includes it on Lite, Standard and Premium. If price matters most, MailerLite and Mailchimp start lower and have free plans, Beehiiv suits newsletters, and HubSpot suits buyers who want a CRM too. Compare them at your list size, not at the starting tier.
Is Constant Contact free?
No. Constant Contact is a paid platform with a 30-day free trial and no credit card required. The trial lets you upload as many contacts as you want but allows only 100 total email sends. Paid plans start at $12 a month on monthly billing, and new plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Sources
- Constant Contact pricing page (Internet Archive copy captured 22 Oct 2026; live page blocks automated readers), checked 2026-10-22
- Constant Contact help: How you're billed for Constant Contact, checked 2026-11-12
- Constant Contact help: Email send allowance and overage fee, checked 2026-11-12
- Constant Contact help: Reasons for a price increase, checked 2026-11-12
- Constant Contact help: Active versus inactive contacts, checked 2026-11-12
- Constant Contact help: Free trial, checked 2026-11-12
- Mailchimp marketing pricing page (USD), checked 2026-11-12
- toolpriced email pricing data (MailerLite, GetResponse, HubSpot, Beehiiv, verified tiers only), checked 2026-11-10
