Costs and pricing
Part of Marketing automation pricing UK comparison: monthly costs by tool
Marketing automation pricing UK comparison: monthly costs by tool
Indicative GBP monthly fees for UK marketing automation tools, plus VAT treatment, free tiers, annual terms and a three-step way to compare quotes.
What to take away
- Entry paid tiers for the main tools run from about £7 to £45 a month before VAT, at a few hundred contacts.
- List prices move with contacts, seats and send volume, so the same product can cost many times more at 50,000 contacts.
- VAT at 20% sits on top of most UK bills, and only VAT-registered businesses reclaim it.
- Free tiers from Brevo, MailerLite, Klaviyo and HubSpot are the cheapest way to test before paying.
- Annual prepayment lowers the monthly equivalent but fixes the term, so price the exit as well as the entry.
What the published monthly figure leaves out
Most vendor sites quote a starting band at the smallest contact tier, before VAT, on a monthly rolling term. Add contacts, a second seat or extra send volume and the same tool quotes differently.
Headline vs gross monthly cost
- £15Illustrative tier
- £60With add-ons
Three add-ons catch UK buyers: extra contacts, extra seats, and premium features such as advanced reporting, SMS credits or a dedicated sending IP. An illustrative £15 tier can reach about £60 a month once those are added, so compare gross figures, not headline ones.
Because most platforms price by contact count, your lawful list size sets the bill. The ICO guidance on direct marketing and electronic communications sets out what counts as valid consent for email and SMS.
Monthly costs by tool
The table gives indicative list prices in pounds, excluding VAT, for the entry paid tier of each tool.
Entry paid tiers by tool
Mailchimp
- Entry tier
- Essentials
- GBP a month
- about £9
- Price driver
- contacts and sends
Brevo
- Entry tier
- Starter
- GBP a month
- about £7
- Price driver
- email volume
MailerLite
- Entry tier
- Growing Business
- GBP a month
- about £9
- Price driver
- subscribers
ActiveCampaign
- Entry tier
- Starter
- GBP a month
- about £12
- Price driver
- contacts
| Tool | Entry paid tier | Indicative GBP a month, ex VAT | Unit that drives the price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | Essentials | about £9 | contacts and monthly sends |
| Brevo | Starter | about £7 | monthly email volume, contacts uncapped |
| MailerLite | Growing Business | about £9 | subscribers |
| ActiveCampaign | Starter | about £12 | contacts |
| Klaviyo | about £16 | contacts and sends | |
| HubSpot | Starter Customer Platform | about £15 per seat | seats, then marketing contacts |
| Dotdigital | quote only | from about £250 | contacts and regions |
Figures come from each vendor's own pricing page, checked in January 2026, and are converted to pounds where the vendor quotes in dollars or euros. Tiers and exchange rates move, so re-check before you budget.
A licence line is only part of the bill. If you want the whole picture, budgeting for marketing automation in England splits the spend into three ledgers, from data work to exit.
Free tiers, annual terms and negotiated rates
Free tiers are the least risky way to test a platform. MailerLite covers up to 1,000 subscribers, Brevo allows 300 sends a day with no contact cap, and Klaviyo's free band covers 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. Limits change, so read the current page before you plan around one.
Annual prepayment usually lowers the monthly equivalent, but it also fixes the term. Charity, education and startup rates are negotiated rather than published, so ask and get the answer in writing. Advertised discounts must say what they are measured against under the advertising codes published by the ASA.
VAT treatment on UK marketing automation bills
Most suppliers add VAT at the standard rate of 20% to the list price, and VAT is charged on the price you actually pay, after any discount. The rate and the registration threshold are published by HM Revenue & Customs.
A VAT-registered business reclaims the VAT on a subscription used for business purposes, so the net figure is the real cost. Below the registration threshold the gross figure is what leaves the account: an illustrative £25 list price costs £30 a month.
Where the supplier sits outside the UK, the reverse charge can apply and your business accounts for the VAT. Check the invoice shows a VAT number, the rate and the period before you approve it.
Comparing quotes on one page
- Fix one scenariothe same contact count, send volume, seat count and term for every vendor.
- Convert each quote to a gross monthly figure, including VAT and every named add-on.
- Add onboarding, migration and exit costs, then divide by the workflows you will actually run.
- Re-price at twelve months, when your contact tier will have moved.
Before you compare numbers, test the tool against your own work with the marketing automation selection checklist, which covers the tasks that decide whether a cheap tier is usable.
Common questions
Do UK marketing automation prices include VAT?
Usually not. Most vendors quote before VAT at 20%, so add a fifth to the headline. A VAT-registered business reclaims it; an unregistered one does not.
Which tool is cheapest for a small UK business?
Brevo and MailerLite have the lowest entry bands, and both have free tiers. Cheapest per contact is not always cheapest overall once send limits and add-ons are counted.
Why do two quotes for the same tool differ?
Contact tier, seats, term length, billing currency, and whether a partner bundles onboarding. Ask both sides for the same scenario.
Are there UK-only discounts?
Few are published. Charity, education and startup rates are negotiated, and annual prepayment is the discount most buyers can actually get.
