Our verdict: free plans work if you know which cap you will hit
A free stack is not a trial; each plan below says it has no time limit or is labeled free. What it has is a cap. The skill is choosing the free plans whose caps sit furthest from your actual use, and knowing the upgrade price before you reach it.
The one cost you cannot avoid is the domain. Porkbun lists a .com at $11.08 for registration and renewal [7]. Namecheap's regular .com price from 1 November 2026 is $15.98 to register and $19.98 to renew, plus a $0.20 ICANN fee per year [8][9].
The $0 stack and its caps
| Job | Free plan | Documented cap | First paid step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email marketing with automations | MailerLite Free | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails per month, 3 active automations of up to 5 steps, 1 website, 1 landing page [1] | Comfort, listed from $12 per month [1] |
| Newsletter broadcasts | Kit Free | Up to 10,000 subscribers; no automated sequences [2] | Creator, $390 billed yearly at 1,000 subscribers [2] |
| App-to-app automation | Make Free | 1,000 credits per month, no time limit [3][4] | 10,000 credits for $9 per month on annual billing [4] |
| App-to-app automation | Pabbly Connect Free | 100 tasks per month; 2 workflows of up to 2 steps [5] | Standard, 10,000 tasks for $19 monthly or $194 yearly [5] |
| Contact address at your domain | Cloudflare Email Routing | Forwards incoming mail; 200 routing rules per domain; 25 MiB inbound message limit [6][10] | A mailbox service if you need to send from the address |
| Mailbox at your domain | Zoho Mail Forever Free | Up to 5 users, 5 GB per user, one domain; IMAP, POP and ActiveSync not included; offered only in select data centers [11] | A paid Zoho plan; price per user on the live page [11] |
Email marketing: MailerLite Free or Kit Free
MailerLite Free gives you automations, but only for a small list: 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails, with 3 active automations and 5 automation steps [1]. MailerLite says that when active subscribers exceed 250, sending of campaigns and automations is locked until you upgrade or remove subscribers [1]. That is the most abrupt cap in this stack, so watch your count.
Kit Free reverses the trade: up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited broadcasts, but no Visual Automations or automated sequences [2]. If your business mainly sends a regular update, Kit Free lasts much longer.
Automation: Make Free or Pabbly Connect Free
Make Free gives 1,000 credits a month [3]. Make's scheduling page counts trigger credits by frequency: 288 per day at 5-minute intervals [12]. An hourly schedule is 720 in 30 days before any action runs. For a free plan, prefer daily schedules or instant triggers, and keep scenarios to a few modules.
Pabbly Connect Free gives 100 tasks a month, but triggers and internal steps such as filters and routers are free, and it limits you to 2 workflows of up to 2 steps [5]. It suits one or two simple handoffs, such as a form to a sheet.
Worked example: a five-person service business
A consultancy with 5 staff, 180 newsletter contacts and two automations: new web form leads go to a spreadsheet, and new invoices post to a team channel.
Domain: $11.08 a year at Porkbun [7]. Mailboxes: Zoho Mail Forever Free covers all 5 users on one domain, using the web and mobile app since IMAP and POP are not included [11]. Newsletter: MailerLite Free, with room for 70 more contacts [1]. Automations: about 40 form leads and 30 invoices a month. On Make with a daily check, that is about 60 trigger credits plus 70 action credits, well inside 1,000 [3][12]. Year-one software cost: $11.08.
What breaks first: contact 251 locks MailerLite sending [1], and a sixth staff member requires moving all users to a paid Zoho plan [11]. Price both upgrades now so neither is a surprise.
Checklist before you rely on a free stack
- Write down each cap and your current use against it.
- Set a calendar check when you reach 80% of any cap.
- Keep exports: subscriber lists, automation definitions and mailbox backups, so an upgrade or move is not urgent.
- Check that each free plan allows business use and your sending volume.
- Use one domain for everything and note its renewal price and date.
- Avoid frequent polling schedules on credit-based automation plans.
Who should skip the free stack
Skip it if you need IMAP access for desktop mail clients on your domain mailbox [11], more than 250 contacts with automations [1], or automations with more than two steps on Pabbly [5]. In those cases, budget for the first paid tier in the table above rather than stitching together workarounds.
Questions before you decide
What is the first free limit a small business hits?
Usually MailerLite Free's 250 subscribers: MailerLite says sending is locked once active subscribers exceed that limit, until you upgrade or remove subscribers. On automation, a single hourly scheduled workflow on Make uses 720 trigger credits in 30 days, most of the 1,000-credit Free allowance.
Can I send email from my domain for free?
Zoho Mail lists a Forever Free plan with custom email for one domain, up to 5 users and 5 GB per user, without IMAP, POP or ActiveSync. Cloudflare Email Routing only forwards incoming mail to an inbox you already have.
Is a larger free email list available?
Kit Free lists up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, but no automated email sequences. Choose it if you mainly send newsletters; choose MailerLite Free if you need a few small automations and have under 250 contacts.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- MailerLite pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Kit pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Make pricing and billing FAQ Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Make blog: Make vs Zapier (pricing section and FAQ) Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Pabbly Connect pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Cloudflare Email Routing documentation Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Porkbun pricing API (public price list) Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Namecheap Knowledgebase: .com price change - November 1, 2026 Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Namecheap Knowledgebase: What is the ICANN fee? Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Cloudflare Email Routing: Limits Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Zoho Mail pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Make Help Center: Schedule your scenario Accessed 29 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.