---
title: Constant Contact
slug: constant-contact
product: Constant Contact
excerpt: 'An independent expert review of Constant Contact: why the $12 headline is
  a 500-contact price, the auto-upgrade above 10,000 contacts, and honest pros and
  cons.'
created_at: '2026-09-03T00:00:00Z'
updated_at: '2026-09-03T00:00:00Z'
---

**[Constant Contact](https://findstack.com/go/constant-contact) advertises from $12 a month, and that figure buys you 500 contacts.** Reach 1,000 and reported pricing roughly doubles to $30 — a 150% increase for doubling a list, which is the steepest entry-tier escalation in mainstream email marketing. The platform itself is genuinely easy to use and has one of the longest track records in the category. The pricing curve is what deserves your attention.

- **What it is**: A long-established [email marketing platform](https://findstack.com/software/email-marketing) aimed at small businesses, nonprofits, and local organizations, with event management and social tools bundled in.
- **Best for**: Non-technical small businesses and nonprofits who value simplicity and support over features per dollar.
- **Pricing**: Lite $12, Standard $35, Premium $80 per month at 500 contacts. Scales steeply with list size. No free plan. Verified via third parties in July 2026.
- **The honest catch**: Price is a function of list size, not plan, and accounts above 10,001 contacts are moved onto Email Plus.

## What Is Constant Contact?

Constant Contact is one of the oldest names in email marketing, and its positioning has stayed remarkably consistent: make email approachable for people who do not think of themselves as marketers. That means templates that are hard to make ugly, a drag-and-drop editor with no learning curve, and a support operation that reviewers rate well above the category norm.

It has also broadened well beyond email. Event registration and management, social media posting and ads, SMS marketing, and basic landing pages all sit inside the same product. For a local charity running a fundraiser or a small business promoting a workshop, that bundle removes the need to assemble three or four separate tools.

Independent ratings are solid rather than spectacular. [G2 puts it at 4.0 out of 5](https://www.g2.com/products/constant-contact/reviews) across roughly 5,770 reviews, and [Capterra at 4.3 out of 5](https://www.capterra.com/p/31898/Constant-Contact/reviews/) across about 2,892. Those are large samples by any standard, and the consistency between them is more meaningful than the small gap.

## How Constant Contact Works

- **Contact-based pricing.** Your bill is set by how many contacts you store, with the plan tier determining features. This is the mechanic that matters most.
- **Templates and a drag-and-drop editor.** The core strength, and the reason non-technical users pick it.
- **Segmentation and automation.** Available from Standard. Lite is a broadcast tool rather than a marketing automation platform.
- **Event management.** Registration, ticketing, and attendee tracking, which is unusual to find bundled with email.
- **Social and SMS.** Posting, social ads, and text campaigns from within the same account.
- **Deliverability.** Long-standing sender reputation is one of the quieter reasons established senders stay.

## Constant Contact Pricing

Three tiers, all quoted at 500 contacts, all rising as the list grows. Figures below are third-party reported for July 2026 — Constant Contact blocks automated access from our infrastructure, so these were not read from the vendor's own page and should be confirmed at checkout.

![Bar chart of Constant Contact's entry pricing at 500 contacts: Lite $12 per month, Standard $35, and Premium $80, with notes that Lite rises to about $30 at 1,000 contacts and Standard to about $110 at 5,000 contacts.](https://assets.findstack.com/u1jrphcv0seuc6jyn2wm9inm5sbt)

| Plan | At 500 contacts | Reported at scale | What it adds |
|------|----------------|-------------------|--------------|
| **Lite** | $12/mo | ~$30/mo at 1,000 contacts | Templates, basic email, social posting, event marketing |
| **Standard** | $35/mo | ~$110/mo at 5,000 contacts | Segmentation, automation, A/B testing, contact management |
| **Premium** | $80/mo | Up to ~$425/mo at 25,000 contacts | Advanced automation, custom reporting, SEO tools |

The things that actually determine your bill:

- **The advertised price is a 500-contact price.** Every headline figure assumes a very small list. If yours is larger — and most businesses evaluating email marketing have more than 500 contacts — the relevant number is nowhere on the pricing page's first screen.
- **The escalation is front-loaded.** Going from 500 to 1,000 contacts on Lite reportedly takes you from $12 to about $30. Doubling a list is normal growth; a 150% price increase for it is not, and it happens at the very bottom of the range where budgets are tightest.
- **Above 10,001 contacts you are moved to Email Plus.** This automatic transition catches people out precisely because it is not a decision you make. Model it before you cross the threshold, not after.
- **Annual billing saves up to 15%**, and **nonprofits save up to 30%**. The nonprofit discount is genuinely one of the better ones in the category and materially changes the comparison for charities.
- **There is no free plan.** Only a free trial. [MailerLite](https://findstack.com/go/mailerlite), [Brevo](https://findstack.com/go/brevo-marketing-platform), and [Mailchimp](https://findstack.com/go/mailchimp) all offer free tiers, so the entry comparison is not like-for-like.
- **Inactive contacts still count.** As with most contact-priced tools, list hygiene is a direct cost control. Pruning unengaged subscribers lowers the bill and usually improves deliverability at the same time.

## Who Should Use Constant Contact

- **Non-technical small businesses.** The clearest case. If nobody on the team wants to learn a marketing platform, this is among the easiest to pick up.
- **Nonprofits and community organizations.** The up-to-30% discount plus bundled event management makes it unusually well suited to fundraising and member communication.
- **Organizations running events.** Registration and ticketing inside the email tool is a real convenience that most competitors do not offer at all.
- **Teams that value support.** Responsive human support is one of the most consistently praised aspects, and it is worth paying for if email is not somebody's full-time job.

It fits poorly for large lists, where contact-based pricing becomes expensive against competitors; for ecommerce, where [Klaviyo](https://findstack.com/go/klaviyo) and [Omnisend](https://findstack.com/go/omnisend) offer far deeper revenue attribution and store integration; and for sophisticated automation, where Constant Contact's workflows are simpler than [ActiveCampaign](https://findstack.com/go/activecampaign-for-marketing)'s by a wide margin.

## Honest Pros and Cons

### Strengths

- **Genuinely easy to use.** The most consistent praise across thousands of reviews, and not a trivial advantage.
- **Excellent support reputation.** Reachable human help, which distinguishes it from several cheaper competitors.
- **Event management included.** Registration and ticketing bundled with email is close to unique in this category.
- **Strong nonprofit discount.** Up to 30%, on top of annual savings.
- **Established deliverability.** A long sender history is worth something real.
- **Broad channel coverage.** Email, social, SMS, and landing pages in one account.

### Limitations

- **Steep price escalation with list size.** The defining drawback: a reported 150% jump between 500 and 1,000 contacts on Lite.
- **No free plan.** Trial only, while several major competitors offer permanent free tiers.
- **Automatic move to Email Plus above 10,001 contacts.** A change made for you rather than by you.
- **Automation is basic.** Standard adds workflows, but they remain simple next to ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo.
- **Template design feels dated.** A recurring criticism, particularly against MailerLite's more modern output.
- **Weak value at scale.** The larger the list, the harder the comparison gets.

## Constant Contact Alternatives and How It Compares

- **[MailerLite](https://findstack.com/go/mailerlite)** is the closest value competitor, with a modern editor and a free tier, though its free plan was cut from 1,000 to 250 subscribers.
- **[Brevo](https://findstack.com/go/brevo-marketing-platform)** prices by emails sent rather than contacts stored, which is dramatically cheaper for large, infrequently mailed lists.
- **[MailChimp](https://findstack.com/go/mailchimp)** is the best-known alternative with a similar contact-based model and comparable escalation.
- **[ActiveCampaign](https://findstack.com/go/activecampaign-for-marketing)** is the upgrade for serious automation, at a higher price and a steeper learning curve.
- **[Klaviyo](https://findstack.com/go/klaviyo)** and **[Omnisend](https://findstack.com/go/omnisend)** are the ecommerce choices, with revenue attribution Constant Contact does not attempt.
- **[AWeber](https://findstack.com/go/aweber)** and **[GetResponse](https://findstack.com/go/getresponse)** occupy similar small-business ground with their own free or lower-cost entry points.

For a broader survey, browse our [email marketing directory](https://findstack.com/software/email-marketing).

## The Verdict

Constant Contact is a good product sold on a pricing model that punishes exactly the outcome you are paying for. The software is easy to use, the support is better than the category norm, deliverability benefits from two decades of sender history, and the bundled event management genuinely removes a tool from many organizations' stacks. Ratings of 4.0 on G2 across 5,770 reviews and 4.3 on Capterra across 2,892 describe a platform that satisfies most of the people who buy it.

But contact-based pricing means growth costs money, and here it costs a lot of money early. A reported jump from $12 to about $30 between 500 and 1,000 contacts is a 150% increase for doubling a list, and it lands on the smallest customers. By 5,000 contacts Standard is reportedly around $110 a month, and above 10,001 contacts the account moves to Email Plus without you choosing to. Model your cost at the list size you expect in a year, not the one you have today — and if you mail a large list infrequently, Brevo's send-based pricing will likely be much cheaper for identical work.

Two groups should still look hard at it. Nonprofits, because a 30% discount stacked on annual billing plus bundled event registration is a genuinely strong package for fundraising organizations. And small teams with nobody to spare, because ease of use and reachable support have real value that does not show up in a feature comparison. Everyone else should price MailerLite and Brevo alongside it before committing, and should be aware that the absence of a free plan makes the entry comparison less favourable than the $12 headline implies.

## FAQ

### How much does Constant Contact cost?

Reported entry pricing is $12 per month for Lite, $35 for Standard, and $80 for Premium, all at 500 contacts and billed monthly. Prices rise with list size: Lite reportedly reaches about $30 at 1,000 contacts, Standard about $110 at 5,000, and the top of the range approaches $425 a month at 25,000 contacts. Annual billing saves up to 15% and nonprofits up to 30%. Constant Contact blocks automated access from our infrastructure, so confirm current figures directly at checkout.

### Does Constant Contact have a free plan?

No. It offers a free trial but no permanent free tier, which is a meaningful difference from several competitors. MailerLite, Brevo, and Mailchimp all provide free plans with real subscriber allowances, so if a free starting point matters, the entry-level comparison does not favour Constant Contact.

### What happens when my list passes 10,000 contacts?

Accounts above 10,001 contacts are automatically moved onto the Email Plus plan. Because the transition is automatic rather than a choice you make, it is a common source of unexpected bills. If your list is approaching that threshold, price the change deliberately in advance and treat it as a decision point about whether the platform still fits.

### Is Constant Contact good for nonprofits?

It is one of the better options. The discount reaches up to 30%, stacks with annual billing savings, and the bundled event registration and ticketing suit fundraising and member communication in a way that pure email tools do not. Combined with a reputation for responsive support, that makes it a strong fit for organizations without dedicated marketing staff.

### What is Constant Contact best for?

Non-technical small businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations with modest lists who want email that is easy to use and well supported, particularly those that also run events. It is a weak fit for large lists, where contact-based pricing gets expensive, for ecommerce, where Klaviyo and Omnisend attribute revenue far better, and for teams needing sophisticated automation.