Season 2 Episode 4: Email Marketing for Online Business Owners: Which Platform is Right for You in 2026?
Email marketing is easily one of my favourite subjects, but over the last year the tech has changed so much, limits have been changed, new platforms get released and with so many options to choose from, it’s hard to know which is the best email marketing platform for online business owners.
In this episode, I’m breaking down what’s changed with MailerLite, uncovering the hidden costs of starting an email list, and walking you through the three email marketing pathways I now recommend.
What Changed with MailerLite in July 2026?
MailerLite changed its free plan limits, going from 500 subscribers down to 250. Once you hit subscriber 251, you have to upgrade to their paid tier (around £12/month).
Now, 250 subscribers is still a fantastic milestone! Once you hit 250 people on your list, your email marketing should easily be making enough money to cover that monthly fee. But there are two other big limitations on the free plan you need to know about:
- Automation Limits: You can only have 3 active automations, with a maximum of 5 steps per automation. Because an email, a delay, and a second email count as 3 steps, a standard 5-email welcome sequence now needs a clever workaround or to be split across two automations. If you want to see how to set up a 5-email sequence using two automations step-by-step, watch my 2-Minute Tech Tip video here.
- Form Limits: You are capped at 3 active signup forms.
(I have done a full breakdown of these changes in a recent blog post here but the above covers the main parts)
If you are a service-based business like a therapist, photographer, VA, or yoga teacher doing 1-to-1 client work, MailerLite is still the most user-friendly, visual platform out there.
But if you plan to launch courses or memberships, other options might suit you better.
The Hidden Costs of Email Marketing
A lot of people think "free email platform" means running an email list is 100% free, but that isn't true. To run a legitimate, deliverable email list in the UK, you have a few essential setup costs:
- Custom Domain Name: Around £15/year. You cannot use a free Gmail address to send bulk emails anymore because of domain authentication rules.
- ICO Registration: Around £35–£50/year to legally hold people's personal data under UK GDPR.
- Privacy Policy: A legal document to ahear to GDPR. You can get a free version from the ICO however I personally use and recommend Ama from On Your Own Terms for all plain-English legal templates Take a look at the website protection bundle here. (a landing page counts as a website in legal terms)
- Professional Email Address: Options like Google Workspace run around £6/month.
Even on a free email marketing tool, the real cost to run an email list properly is around £6 to £12 a month.
The 3 Email Marketing Pathways for 2026
To simplify things, I’m going to be recommending three different pathways to my clients based on what they actually need their business to do. Now, I want to stress these are just my recommendations and platforms I have tested and know work. You should do your research before paying for any platform; take advantage of any free plans or trials.
Here is a quick overview of my 3 pathways:
Pathway 1: Simple & Service-Based (MailerLite + TidyCal + Zapier)
- Best for: 1-to-1 service providers who just want simple newsletters and maybe have clients book calls.
- How it works: Use MailerLite for emails, TidyCal ($29 lifetime deal) for client bookings, and Zapier's free plan to connect them together.
- Pros: Super user-friendly, very low cost, visually clear.
- Cons: With separate tools, the connection could break
Pathway 2: Low-Budget Digital Products (Systeme.io)
- Best for: Anyone wanting to test a course or membership on a zero/low budget.
- How it works: Systeme.io's free plan includes up to 2,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, 1 course, 1 membership, and built-in booking calendars.
- Pros: All these features sit under one roof so connections won't break.
- Cons: Less visually intuitive than MailerLite, and there are limits to amounts of bookings, automaitons etc. on the free plan
Pathway 3: The All-in-One System (GoHighLevel / Funnel Sketches)
- Best for: Businesses ready to scale with unlimited courses, memberships, communities, and automated DMs.
- How it works: A paid, professional all-in-one platform (like Funnel Sketches) that replaces almost every other tool. Emails, Automations, Calendars, Payments, Landing pages, it can do it all.
- Pros: Unlimited growth potential; you never outgrow the system.
- Cons: Paid from day one with zero subscribers, and it is a more complex system to learn.
My Top Tip: Keep Your Website Separate
Whatever email platform you choose, my top tip is: not to host your main website inside your email marketing tool.
It isn't a question of if tech goes down, it's a question of when. If your all-in-one system goes down in the middle of a launch and your website is hosted inside it, you are completely cut off from your clients. Keeping a separate website ensures people can always find you, contact you, and helps your business get found on Google and AI search.
Get Bespoke Tech Support Inside Tech School!
Choosing the right tech isn't one-size-fits-all; every business and business owner operates in a different way. That's why inside Tech School, my term-time tech support programme, I work with you 1-to-1 to look at your specific business, pick the exact systems that fit your goals, and set up the tech with you so you understand how it works and have control over your own systems.
👉 Click here to find out more about Tech School and join the waitlist for the next term!
