The short answer: use the form builder you already pay for
Most small newsletters do not need a popup app. The three email platforms covered here all ship a popup or overlay form, and the form sends signups straight into your list without a second integration to maintain.
A standalone popup tool earns its cost when you need precise targeting (for example, a different offer per blog category, referrer, or returning visitor), A/B tests across many sites, or campaign scheduling that your email platform does not offer. Those features sit on the middle and upper plans of a tool like OptinMonster, and the price rises at renewal. [7]
What each email platform includes for popups and forms
Plan names change often. MailerLite's current plans are Free, Comfort and Power, and limits apply to active or published items only, so drafts do not count. [1] [10] Kit lists forms as unlimited on all plans. [4] Moosend lists six form types but its pricing page did not show per-tier prices when we checked. [5] [6]
| Platform and plan | Popup and form allowance | Display controls documented | Price fact we could verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite Free | 3 active forms; promotional pop-ups included [2] | Time delay, scroll depth, exit intent, click; show or hide on listed URLs; hide on specific devices; frequency for non-subscribers; start and end dates [3] | $0; 250 active subscribers and 2,500 emails per month [2] |
| MailerLite Comfort | 10 active forms [10] | Same builder; help page says feature use limits apply [3] | From $12 per month; monthly emails equal to 10 times the top of your subscriber tier [1] |
| MailerLite Power | Unlimited forms [10] | Same builder [3] | From $25 per month [1] |
| Kit Free and paid plans | Unlimited opt-in forms as modal, sticky bar, slide in or inline embed [4] | Not covered on the pricing page; check the form editor | Free up to 10,000 subscribers; Creator from $33 per month or $390 billed yearly [4] |
| Moosend | Modal pop-up, inline, floating bar, floating box, full page, promotional pop-up [5] | Basic visibility, or advanced visibility by audience and specific pages [5] | Free trial: 30 days, listed as "1 (Unpublished)" subscription form [6] |
What a standalone popup app costs, first year and after
OptinMonster prices by monthly impressions and number of sites, billed annually. The figures below were on its pricing page on October 29, 2026; first-year totals are introductory and all renewals are at full price. [7]
- OptinMonster recommends choosing a plan with 20 to 30% more impressions than your site's pageviews. [7]
- Worked example: a blog with 20,000 monthly pageviews needs 24,000 to 26,000 impressions by that rule, which points to Pro (25,000) at the edge or Growth. Pro costs $444 in year one and $870 in year two, so two years cost $1,314 before any email platform fee.
- The same blog on MailerLite Free or Kit Free pays $0 for the popup itself, as long as the list stays within the free subscriber limit (250 on MailerLite Free, 10,000 on Kit Free). [2] [4]
| OptinMonster plan | First year | Renewal per year | Sites | Impressions per month | Notable features added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $108 | $210 | 1 | 2,500 | Page targeting, time and scroll triggers |
| Plus | $324 | $570 | Up to 2 | 10,000 | A/B testing, device targeting, content locking |
| Pro | $444 | $870 | Up to 3 | 25,000 | Exit Intent, referrer and cookie targeting, scheduling, badge removal |
| Growth | $804 | $1,470 | Up to 5 | 100,000 | Geolocation, new vs returning visitors, onsite retargeting |
Who should add a separate popup app, and who should skip it
Add one if you run several sites from one account, need exit intent or referrer targeting that your platform does not expose on your plan, or will actually run A/B tests long enough to reach a decision. Skip it if you have one site, one lead magnet and under a few thousand visitors a month; the built-in form covers that case and avoids a second script on every page.
- Fits: content sites with several distinct offers by category or traffic source.
- Fits: teams that already test headlines and want one tool across several domains.
- Skip: a new newsletter still choosing its first lead magnet.
- Skip: anyone who would forget the renewal date; the year-two price is about 1.8 to 2 times the year-one price on every OptinMonster plan. [7]
Checklist: a popup that does not annoy readers or break Google guidance
Google's guidance is to avoid interstitials that obscure the entire page and to avoid redirecting people to a separate page for their input; it suggests small banners and notes they can be reused for newsletter sign-up prompts. [8] Google also says page experience aspects beyond Core Web Vitals do not directly raise rankings, so the main cost of an aggressive popup is lost readers, not a penalty. [9]
- On mobile, prefer a slide-in, floating bar or inline form over a full-screen overlay. [8]
- Delay the prompt: use a scroll-depth or time trigger rather than showing it on page load (MailerLite documents both). [3]
- Cap frequency so a visitor who closes the form does not see it on every page. [3]
- Exclude pages where a popup gets in the way: checkout, contact, legal pages and the thank-you page. MailerLite supports hiding on specific URLs; turn on strict equality if you mean one exact URL, because otherwise any URL containing the text matches. [3]
- Say what people will get and how often, and link your privacy notice in the form.
- Test the close button and keyboard focus on a phone before publishing.
- Decide on single or double opt-in before you launch; it changes how many signups become active subscribers.
Our decision rule
Publish the built-in form first and run it for a month. If you can name a specific targeting rule you need and cannot set in your platform, price the popup app at its renewal rate, not the first-year rate, and compare that with simply moving up one email-platform plan.
Questions before you decide
Does the MailerLite free plan include pop-ups?
Yes. MailerLite's free plan FAQ lists promotional pop-ups among free features, alongside a limit of 3 forms, 250 active subscribers and 2,500 emails a month.
Can I publish a Moosend form during the free trial?
Moosend's pricing table, as we read it on October 29, 2026, listed Subscription Forms as "1 (Unpublished)" for the free trial. Plan to publish forms after you pay, and confirm in the account.
Will a popup hurt my Google rankings?
Google says page experience aspects beyond Core Web Vitals do not directly improve ranking, but it still advises avoiding interstitials that cover the whole page and suggests small banners for newsletter prompts instead.
Is OptinMonster's advertised monthly price what I will pay?
No. The pricing page shows annual billing with introductory first-year totals; every plan renews at a higher full price. Basic, for example, is $108 the first year and $210 a year at renewal.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- MailerLite pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- MailerLite Help: Free plan update FAQ Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- MailerLite Help: How to create a pop-up form Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Kit pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Moosend subscription forms Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Moosend pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- OptinMonster pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Google Search Central: Avoid intrusive interstitials and dialogs Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Google Search Central: Understanding page experience Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- MailerLite Help: Plan and billing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.