If you are trying to start something online and drowning in “best tool” lists, start here. This page tells you what to read first, in what order, and why.
Disclosure: Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you sign up through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We say plainly when a competitor beats the tool we earn from. See our Affiliate Disclosure.
Who this site is for
You want to start an online business, a newsletter, or sell something you know. You do not have a budget yet, you do not write code, and every article you open tells you to buy a different tool.
That is who we write for. Not agencies, not enterprises, not people who already know which platform they want.
Start with the question you actually have
Pick your starting point
“Which free email tool should I use?”
→ Which email tool has the biggest free plan in 2026? — five free plans compared on real numbers, from 10,000 subscribers down to 250, with the catch attached to each.
“I want to sell a course or digital product.”
→ Can you sell a course on the Systeme.io free plan? — yes, and this is exactly how far $0 gets you.
“I need hosting and a website first.”
→ Hostinger Premium: what you actually pay — written from an invoice we paid, not a pricing page.
The reading order we would follow
If you are starting from nothing and want the full picture, read these in order. It takes about an hour.
- Which email tool has the biggest free plan?
Start here because your email list is the only audience you own. Everything else can be rebuilt. - Systeme.io free plan review: the 4 limits nobody warns you about
The most capable free plan for someone who wants to sell, and the four constraints that decide how you build. - Systeme.io vs GetResponse free plans
2,000 contacts against 500. Useful if you are weighing an all-in-one platform against a dedicated email suite. - How many email campaigns can you send on the free plan?
The answer is one — but unlimited newsletters. This distinction trips up more beginners than any other. - Can you sell a course on the free plan?
When you are ready to charge for something. - Hostinger Premium: what you actually pay
When you want your own site rather than a page on someone else’s platform.
Three things worth knowing before you pick any tool
1. The free plan limit that stops you is rarely the contact limit
Everyone plans around “how many subscribers can I have?” In practice you hit the automation limit first. Systeme.io’s free plan allows 2,000 contacts but only 1 automation rule and 1 tag — and delivering a single lead magnet uses both. A list takes months to reach 2,000. You will want a second sequence within weeks.
2. Every free plan is funded somehow
Branding on your emails, a monthly send cap, a recommendation slot in your newsletter, or a feature wall placed exactly where a growing business hits it. None of these are scams. Knowing which cost you are paying lets you pick the one you mind least.
3. Switching later costs more than you think
Your contact list exports as a CSV from everywhere. Your funnels, automations and landing pages do not — those get rebuilt by hand. That rebuild is the real switching cost, and it is why the tool you pick at 100 subscribers still matters at 5,000.
How we test, and why you can trust this
- We pay for what we can. This site runs on a Hostinger Premium plan we bought ourselves, and the Systeme.io screenshots come from a real account.
- Every number is checked and dated. Prices and plan limits come from official pricing pages or help documentation, and we state the date we checked. SaaS pricing changes — a dated figure is an honest one.
- We do not invent experience. Where we have not used a tool ourselves, we say so and review it on verified features and pricing only.
- We say when a competitor wins. Kit’s free plan beats Systeme.io’s for pure newsletters, and we earn nothing from Kit. That is still what our comparison says.
- Affiliate links never change your price. They are marked, and they cost you nothing extra.
The honest summary
Most people researching tools are avoiding the harder job: making the thing, and telling people about it. The tool matters far less than the list, and the list only exists once you start.
Pick one from the guides above, spend an afternoon setting it up, and send your first email this week. You will learn more from that than from another month of comparison posts — including ours.