Review

Sender Review (2026): A Big Free Plan and a First-Year Discount

Published Sep 9, 2026Prices checked Sep 22, 2026

Sender is the best-value email marketing platform we priced for a small business that wants to start free and grow: its free plan covers 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month with automation included, and its paid Standard plan starts at $9 a month. The one thing to read twice is the annual offer, which takes 30% off the first year only.

This review is based on Sender's pricing page and plan comparison, read on 22 September 2026, with each list size set on the page's own slider. We did not send campaigns through Sender, and we make no claim about how its emails perform.

Sender's plans

Sender sells a free plan, two paid plans priced by subscriber count, and an Enterprise plan priced by quote. All four list unlimited triggers and steps in automation workflows.

Free Forever: $0 for up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, one seat, Sender branding on emails. Email campaigns, automation, landing pages, signup forms, popups and transactional emails are included.
Standard: from $9 a month for 500 subscribers on monthly billing. Sends up to 12× your subscriber count, three seats, no Sender branding, SMS campaigns (with credits bought separately), A/B testing and ecommerce reports.
Professional: from $15 a month for 500 subscribers. Sends up to 24× your subscriber count, ten seats, free SMS credits equal to the monthly fee, advanced automation and reports, and priority support. A dedicated IP is available on plans from 20,000 subscribers.
Enterprise: custom price, unlimited emails, unlimited seats, SSO, activity logs and phone support.

What Sender costs at each list size

On monthly billing, Standard costs $15 a month at 1,000 subscribers, $39 at 5,000, $69 at 10,000, $149 at 25,000 and $367 at 100,000. Professional costs $20, $79, $127, $280 and $860 at the same sizes.

Standard is competitive at every size. On our comparison of email marketing costs at 5k, 25k and 100k contacts, it was the second-cheapest entry plan on monthly billing at all three sizes, behind EmailOctopus Pro. Professional costs a third more than Standard at 1,000 subscribers and roughly double or more at 5,000 and above, which is the price of the extra seats, the higher send cap and the SMS credits.

The first-year discount, year one and year two

Sender's annual billing is not a discount on the plan; it is an introductory offer. The annual list price equals twelve monthly payments — at 1,000 subscribers, Standard is "Billed $180" a year — and first-time users get 30% off it for the first year.

Sender Standard: first year against year two

USD per month on annual billing · first-time users · read 22 September 2026

first year (30% off) from year two (list price)

1,000subscribers$10.50$15

5,000subscribers$27.30$39

25,000subscribers$104.30$149

100,000subscribers$256.90$367

In year one, that brings Standard to $10.50 a month at 1,000 subscribers, $27.30 at 5,000, $104.30 at 25,000 and $256.90 at 100,000. In year two the price returns to $15, $39, $149 and $367. At 5,000 subscribers, the first year costs $327.60 and the second $468.

None of that is hidden — the page says the discount "is valid for first-time users" and shows the struck-through list price — but the headline figure is the first-year one. Budget on the second-year price, and treat the saving as a welcome extra.

The free plan in practice

Sender's free plan is the most generous of the five free plans we compared: the same 2,500-subscriber cap as EmailOctopus's, and 15,000 emails a month against EmailOctopus's 10,000. It includes automation workflows, landing pages and popups, which many free plans hold back.

The limits that matter are one seat and Sender's branding in your emails. For a sole trader with a customer list under 2,500, that is a complete email setup at no cost. Free plans pay us nothing, and we recommend this one anyway — it is in our guide to free email marketing software for that reason.

Automation, SMS and the rest

Every Sender plan lists email automation with pre-built and custom workflows, automation splits and custom triggers, and dynamic content blocks such as abandoned cart and order summary. Automatic re-sending to people who did not open is on the paid plans, not the free one; SMS automation starts on Professional.

SMS is the main difference between the paid plans. Standard can send SMS, but you buy the credits, priced by destination country. Professional includes free credits worth the monthly subscription fee — the pricing page shows "Free SMS ($10/month)" at the 500-subscriber size.

For infrequent senders, Sender also sells pay-as-you-go email credits: the pricing page listed $29 for 5,000 emails, or $5.80 per 1,000.

Seats and team use

Sender's seat counts are clear: one on Free, three on Standard, ten on Professional and unlimited on Enterprise. They are described as role-based, so a colleague can have access without full control of the account.

Ten seats on Professional is generous — only AWeber Plus and EmailOctopus Pro, both with unlimited users, offer more among the plans we compare. For a three-person team, Standard covers everyone. Our guide to B2B email marketing software compares seats across all seven platforms.

Moving your list to Sender

Sender publishes migration guides for people moving from other platforms, including Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign and MailerLite. Whatever the guide says, the safe order is the same for any move.

Export your contacts with their consent status and tags, import them into Sender, and check the counts match before you send anything. Rebuild your automations and signup forms, then connect your sending domain and add Sender's authentication records. Send a first campaign to a small, engaged segment before the whole list. Keep the old account until the new one has sent a few campaigns cleanly, and remember to cancel it before its next renewal date.

Where Sender stands against the alternatives

Sender places second in our ranking of the best email marketing software, behind GetResponse. It wins on the free plan and on price; GetResponse wins for teams that want unlimited sends at every list size, which Sender's 12× cap on Standard does not give.

Against EmailOctopus, its closest rival on price, Sender's free plan sends more, its paid plans include SMS, and Professional offers a higher send cap; EmailOctopus is cheaper on monthly billing at every size we checked.

Setting up Sender for bulk sending

Before your first campaign, connect your own sending domain and add the authentication records Sender provides. Google's published guidelines require SPF, DKIM, DMARC and one-click unsubscribe from anyone sending more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail accounts.

CAN-SPAM applies to every campaign: a postal address in the footer, a working opt-out, and opt-outs honoured within 10 business days. Our bulk email services guide walks through the setup in order.

Our verdict

Start on Sender's free plan if your list is under 2,500 subscribers; you may not need to pay for a long time. When you do, Standard is fairly priced at every list size we checked — just price the second year before you commit to annual billing. Visit Sender (partner link) to start free.

Frequently asked questions

Is Sender really free?

Yes, for up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, with one seat and Sender branding on your emails. Automation, landing pages and popups are included on the free plan, per Sender's pricing page on 22 September 2026.

How much does Sender cost?

On monthly billing, Standard cost $15 a month at 1,000 subscribers, $39 at 5,000 and $149 at 25,000; Professional $20, $79 and $280. First-time users can take 30% off the first year on annual billing, after which the list price applies.

What does Sender's annual discount cost in year two?

The list price. At 5,000 subscribers, Standard costs $27.30 a month in the first year on annual billing and $39 a month from year two — $327.60 and then $468 a year.