How to Start an Email Newsletter in 2026: 6 Free Tools and the Rules to Know

Your social media posts reach whoever the platform decides to show them to this week. Your customer list is in three places: the booking system, a spreadsheet and your phone. Meanwhile the one channel you actually own, the inbox of people who already bought from you, gets nothing but invoices.

A newsletter fixes that, and it costs nothing to begin. This guide shows how to start an email newsletter properly: which free tool fits, who you are allowed to email, how to stay out of the spam folder, what to send and how to find the first hundred readers. Limits and prices were read from each company's pricing page on 4 October 2026.

How we compared the tools

1. Free plans as published. Subscriber and sending limits come from each provider's own pricing page.
2. What the free plan leaves out. Scheduling, automation and branding are where free plans differ most.
3. The first paid price. So you know the cost of outgrowing it.
4. Rules from the regulator. Who you may email comes from the Information Commissioner's Office, and the sending rules from Google's email sender guidelines.
5. No invented benchmarks. Open rates vary so much by list that an average would mislead.

6 free newsletter tools compared

Two things stand out. Free limits have fallen at the older names: Mailchimp's free plan now stops at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a cap of 250 a day, and MailerLite's stops at 250 subscribers. The newer tools give far more room, and they leave out automation instead.

Which one should you pick?

A local business with a few hundred customers

Brevo or MailerLite. You send one email a month to a small list, and a daily cap of 300 or a list of 250 is enough for a while.

Someone who wants to grow a readership

Kit or beehiiv. Ten thousand or 2,500 free subscribers lets you grow for a long time before the first bill. You give up automated welcome sequences until you pay.

A writer or expert

Substack. It is the simplest to start and has a built-in audience. If you later charge readers, Substack takes 10% of that income, and you have less control over design.

Who you are allowed to email

This is the part most new senders get wrong. The Information Commissioner's Office says you must not send marketing emails to individuals unless they have specifically consented, or the "soft opt-in" applies. The soft opt-in covers people who bought from you, or negotiated to buy, where you gave them a clear chance to opt out when you collected their details and you give one in every message.

• Existing customers: allowed under the soft opt-in, for similar products and services, with an unsubscribe link.
• People who signed up: allowed. Keep a record of when and how.
• Prospects and bought lists: not covered by the soft opt-in. You need consent.
• Companies: the ICO says you can email corporate bodies, such as limited companies, without consent. Sole traders and some partnerships count as individuals.
• Every email: must say who it is from and give a valid address for opting out.

So the list you start with is your past customers and anyone who has asked to hear from you. It is smaller than your phone contacts, and it is the right one. This is general information, not legal advice.

How to stay out of the spam folder

Since February 2024 Google has required every sender to authenticate their email and keep complaints low. Three settings matter:

1. SPF and DKIM. Two records on your domain that prove an email really came from you. Your newsletter tool shows the exact lines to add.
2. DMARC. A third record that tells inboxes what to do with fakes. Bulk senders, meaning more than 5,000 messages a day, must have all three, and it is sensible for everyone.
3. A complaint rate under 0.3%. Google says to stay below 0.3% and to aim for under 0.1%. That means emailing only people who expect it and making the unsubscribe link obvious.

Send from an address at your own domain, not a free webmail address. If you do not have a domain yet, our comparison of where to buy a domain in the UK covers renewal prices.

What to put in it

The newsletters people keep opening have one job per issue. A format that works for almost any small business has three short parts:

• One useful thing. A tip, a warning, a price change in your trade, a recipe, a before and after.
• One piece of proof. A photo of a finished job, a customer's words, a number.
• One offer. A free slot, a seasonal service, a new product, with one link or one phone number.

Keep it to the length of a postcard. Write the subject line last and make it specific: "Three boiler checks before the first frost" beats "October newsletter". Once a month is enough for most trades and shops. Whatever rhythm you choose, keep to it.

Your first 100 subscribers

• Start with customers. Export them from your booking or invoicing system and check each one against the rules above.
• Add a box where people already are. The website footer, the booking confirmation page, the bottom of every invoice.
• Ask in person. A QR code at the till or on the van that opens the sign-up form.
• Offer something small. A price guide, a seasonal checklist or a discount on the next visit in exchange for an email address.
• Tell them what they will get. "One email a month: a tip, a photo and any free slots."

Watch replies and clicks more than opens. Some mail apps load every email automatically, which inflates the open figure, while a reply or a click is a real person doing something.

A first issue you can copy

Here is a complete issue for a heating engineer. It took ten minutes to write and it fits on a phone screen.

Subject: Three boiler checks before the first frost. Hello, Priya here from Carter Heating. One: look at the pressure gauge with the heating off, and if it reads below 1 bar, top it up or ring us. Two: turn every radiator on for ten minutes now, not on the first cold morning. Three: if the boiler was last serviced before last October, it is due. This week we serviced Mrs Shah's 14-year-old boiler in Headingley and it passed with no parts needed, photo below. We have six service slots left in October at £95. Reply to this email or ring 0113 496 0000 to take one. To stop these emails, use the unsubscribe link below.

And the welcome email that goes to every new subscriber:

Subject: You are on the list. Thanks for signing up. You will get one short email a month from me: a tip for your home, a photo of a recent job and any free slots. Nothing else, and you can leave with one click. If you have a question in the meantime, just reply. Priya, Carter Heating.

Five mistakes to avoid

• Importing your whole phone book. Complaints rise, and so does the risk of breaking the marketing rules.
• Sending from a free webmail address. It looks less trustworthy and is filtered more often.
• Hiding the unsubscribe link. People who cannot leave press the spam button instead.
• Writing an essay. One idea, one proof, one offer.
• Stopping after two issues. A newsletter works by turning up. Twelve short issues a year beat three long ones.

How an AI agent helps with a newsletter

ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Manus and Meta's Muse can all write a newsletter from a prompt, and readers can tell. An agent that works from your own material does a better job.

• Drafts each issue from your notes. Send it three bullet points and two photos, and it returns the issue in your voice. Our AI email writing tips show how to keep it sounding like you.
• Builds the sign-up page. A page with a form on your own domain, hosted for you, with Go at £7 a month covering one small site.
• Cleans the list. It merges your spreadsheets, removes duplicates and flags addresses without a record of consent.
• Offers subject lines. Ten options for you to choose from, not one to accept.
• Reuses the work. The same issue becomes two social posts and a short blog post.

For the tools that sit beside email, see the best social media and content tools, and if you need a site for the sign-up box, the guide to getting a free website.

Your 30-day plan

• Week 1: pick a tool from the table, set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and import customers you are allowed to email.
• Week 2: add the sign-up box to your site and invoices, and write a welcome email.
• Week 3: send issue one, using the three-part format.
• Week 4: read the replies, note which link was clicked, and plan issue two.

Frequently asked questions

How do I start an email newsletter for free?

Choose a free tool, import customers you are allowed to email, add a sign-up box to your website and send one short issue a month. Kit, beehiiv, Substack, Brevo, MailerLite and Mailchimp all have free plans.

What is the best free newsletter tool in 2026?

For a large free list, Kit allows 10,000 subscribers and beehiiv 2,500. For a small local list with automation, MailerLite or Brevo. Mailchimp's free plan is now the tightest at 250 contacts.

How many subscribers can I have on Mailchimp for free?

250 contacts, with a maximum of 500 sends a month and 250 a day. Scheduling and automations are not included on the free plan.

Do I need permission to email my customers in the UK?

You need consent, or the soft opt-in: they bought or negotiated to buy from you, you gave them a chance to opt out at the time, and every email has an unsubscribe link. Bought lists do not qualify.

Can I email other businesses without consent?

The ICO says you can email corporate bodies such as limited companies without consent. Sole traders and some partnerships are treated as individuals, so the consent rules apply to them.

How often should I send a newsletter?

Once a month is enough for most small businesses. A steady rhythm matters more than frequency.

Can AI write my newsletter?

It can draft it from your notes and photos, and you should edit it before it goes. Try it on Jobbit: the agent writes the issue, builds the sign-up page and tidies your list, free with 100 credits a day and no card.