AWeber Pricing 2026: How Often You Send Sets Your Tier

Take a list of 800 subscribers on AWeber Lite. Its price page puts that list in the 1,000 tier at $25 a month. Email it on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and a 31-day billing cycle that starts on a Monday holds 14 sends, or 11,200 emails. The 1,000 tier on Lite includes 10,000. AWeber's help center says that when you use them all, "your account automatically moves up to the next subscriber tier," which on Lite is the 2,500 tier at $35.

That's the part of AWeber's pricing most summaries skip, although AWeber's pricing FAQ doesn't hide it: "AWeber's pricing model is based on subscriber tiers and send frequency." Crossing either limit moves the account to a bigger tier without anyone asking. Moving back means writing to Customer Solutions, and for a tier your sending pushed you into, the decision rests on "your account's demonstrated usage history."

For a list that gets one or two emails a week, Lite is the cheaper plan at every size I priced, and the tier is set by the list. At three emails a week or more, check your busiest cycle against the tables below before you pick a plan, because in two of the sixteen cases I priced, Plus costs less than a Lite account its sending has bumped. Plus pays for itself on price alone in one more case: AWeber sales above a few thousand dollars a month, where its lower transaction fee covers the difference.

Lite and Plus, tier by tier

AWeber's help center and its pricing page list the same ladder. Each tier's number is a ceiling, so 501 subscribers pay the 1,000 price. Prices are in US dollars:

Yearly billing is ten monthly payments for twelve months on every row but one. Plus at 500 is $240 a year against $360 paid monthly, which AWeber labels "33.3% savings"; Lite's yearly saving is 16.7% throughout. Free also exists, capped at 500 subscribers and 3,000 monthly sends. What it costs to leave it is in my ranking of free plans by their exit bill.

The send allowance, counted per subscriber

The help article on sending limits gives the rule for each plan: "monthly sends equal to 10 times the number of subscribers in that tier" on Lite and 12 times on Plus. The allowance belongs to the tier, not to your list. A list that fills only part of its tier gets more emails per subscriber before the tier moves:

To compare those with a sending habit, count the busiest billing cycle, not an average month. A 31-day cycle can contain five of any weekday, so:

• one email a week can reach 5 in a cycle,
• two a week can reach 10,
• Monday, Wednesday and Friday can reach 14,
• every weekday can reach 23.

A weekly newsletter fits inside the allowance at any list size. Two a week fits too, though a list right at its tier's ceiling uses the whole Lite allowance in a ten-send cycle. Three a week is where Lite runs out for a list that fills more than about 71% of its tier (1,786 or more in the 2,500 tier). Plus holds up to about 86% (2,142 in the same tier).

Sends weren't part of the price three years ago; the subscriber tiers were. The comparison table on AWeber's pricing page of June 15, 2023, as the Internet Archive saved it, listed email sends as "Unlimited" on both Plus and Lite. Only the $899-a-month Unlimited plan carried "12x Subscriber volume, monthly." Today both paid plans carry a multiple. The archive shows snapshots, not announcements, so I can't date the change or say how it reached existing accounts. My judgment, and it is only that: sends are now a working part of AWeber's price rather than a footnote, and a downgrade rule built on "demonstrated usage history" is the kind of rule a company writes when it means to keep them there. I'd plan an AWeber budget as if the multiple is here to stay, and check the 10x and 12x figures before each renewal.

These counts are broadcasts to the whole list. AWeber's help pages don't say whether welcome sequences and other automated emails count against the same allowance, and they don't break sends out by type, so if you run automations, leave room for them or ask AWeber before relying on a small margin.

Four lists, four sending habits

Here is the monthly price each plan ends up at, using the busiest-cycle counts above. Each cell is Lite / Plus:

Fourteen of the sixteen cells favor Lite, often by $20 or more. The two bold ones are the exception, and they share a cause. A 2,000 list sending three times a week uses 28,000 emails in a busy cycle. Lite's 2,500 tier allows 25,000, so the account moves to the 5,000 tier at $60, while Plus's 2,500 tier allows 30,000 and stays at $55. At 4,800 every weekday, it's 110,400 emails: Lite needs the 15,000 tier ($150), and Plus fits in its 10,000 tier ($135). That Lite case climbs three tiers in one cycle, from 5,000 to 7,500 to 10,000 to 15,000. AWeber's help describes one step at a time, "to the next subscriber tier," so I've assumed the step repeats each time the new allowance runs out. That's my reading of the rule, not AWeber's wording.

The 2,400 row shows that Plus doesn't always win where Lite moves. At three a week that list sends 33,600, over both plans' 2,500 allowances, so both move to the 5,000 tier and Lite stays $30 cheaper.

One busy month, and the way back down

Most lists don't send three times a week all year. The more common case is a launch: a 2,000-subscriber list that gets a weekly email (10,000 sends in a busy cycle) and then one cycle with 14 emails for a product launch, which is 28,000.

On Lite, that launch cycle moves the account from the 2,500 tier ($35) to the 5,000 tier ($60). AWeber's pricing FAQ says "You will be notified of this change and any associated adjustments in your billing," and a separate help article says that after an upgrade in the middle of a cycle, "a pro-rated invoice is generated for the difference in pricing between your current plan and the new plan for the remainder of the billing period." From then on the account costs $25 more each cycle until a downgrade goes through.

Getting that downgrade is where AWeber's rules are stricter than most. Its article on changing plans says:

Stating that you plan to send less in the future is not sufficient for downgrade eligibility; eligibility is determined by your account's demonstrated usage history.

and adds that "Simply waiting for the current billing cycle to reset is not sufficient; eligibility is based on demonstrated sending behavior across recent billing cycles, not just current usage." The article doesn't say how many recent cycles it looks at, and I don't have an AWeber account to find out, so I can't tell you whether one quiet cycle after the launch is enough. Plan on at least one more cycle at $60.

AWeber gives its reason in the same article: "If your subscriber count or sending needs fluctuate significantly, you will need to stay on a plan that accommodates your peak volume requirements." From its side, that's a rule against moving down after every launch and back up for the next one. From yours, it means the launch's price lasts longer than the launch.

Over a year, the numbers are less alarming than the rule. Lite at the 2,500 tier is $420 for twelve cycles. Each cycle spent at the 5,000 tier adds $25, so three bumped cycles make it $495. Plus at the 2,500 tier, which would have absorbed the launch without moving, is $660. Lite stays cheaper until ten of the twelve cycles are billed at $60 ($670). So for a list that launches once or twice a year, the bump is an annoyance worth planning for, not a reason to buy Plus.

Yearly billing is less clear. The pro-rated invoice runs "for the remainder of the billing period," and on a yearly plan the billing period is the year. If that's how it applies, a launch-driven move from the 2,500 to the 5,000 tier with six months left would cost about $125, half the $250 gap between the two yearly prices, taking Lite's year from $350 to $475. That's still below Plus's $550. AWeber's documents don't say when an approved downgrade takes effect on a yearly plan, so ask before you launch on one.

Trustpilot reviews show how the downgrade request goes in practice, and they don't agree. (Dates below are Trustpilot's publication dates in UTC.) A five-star review from September 28, 2026 thanks two support staff who "completed the downgrade to the 1,001–2,500 subscriber tier as requested" and explained "the $2.96 credit that was applied to my account toward the next invoice." Another five-star reviewer wrote on January 2, 2026 that with help from support, "we found a quick solution that meets the changing needs of my business without having to switch to another service provider." A one-star review from February 10, 2026 reads in full: "I have been waiting for an agent for 5 hours now in the chat area. I am trying to down grade my plan. It is so very frustrating." AWeber hadn't replied to any of the three when I checked. None of the reviews I read describes a tier move caused by sending, so I have no read on how common that is.

Paying for Plus: the caps and the fee

Leave price aside and Plus earns its place through Lite's limits. The Plus-to-Lite section of AWeber's article on changing plans lists what Lite allows:

• 1 list
• "No more than 3 landing pages"
• "No more than 3 workflows in a draft or active state"
• "No more than 3 users on your account"
• "No more than 1 saved segment"

The workflow rule counts drafts, so a fourth automation you're still building already needs Plus. So does a second list, for a separate brand or a buyers list. Branding isn't a reason to upgrade: the pricing page lists "Remove AWeber branding" on Lite too.

The other difference is money on sales. AWeber's pricing table lists its transaction fee for AWeber Ecommerce at 1.0% on Lite and 0.6% on Plus. That 0.4-point difference pays Plus's premium once your sales through AWeber reach:

Each figure is the gap between the two plans divided by 0.004. The fee applies only to sales made through AWeber's own ecommerce tools. If you sell through a separate checkout, it doesn't change your bill.

AWeber also sells a Done For You package: Plus with a setup service, at $45 a month plus a setup fee the pricing page shows as "$599 $79", with the $599 struck through under a limited-time banner. That's the 1,000-tier Plus price plus the setup fee, so price it as Plus.

What still counts toward your tier

Two help articles settle the questions people used to argue about. Unsubscribes are free: "Unsubscribed contacts are not counted toward your billing subscriber total." Deleting active subscribers lowers your count but not your bill: "your billing tier will not automatically downgrade to reflect the change," so a list clean needs a downgrade request after it, with the same usage-history test if your sending was high.

That first rule wasn't always how customers experienced it. In January 2017, a Hacker News commenter whose project used AWeber wrote: "I have to prune the unsubscribes to keep us under 10,000 email." Today's help article says deleting unsubscribes has "no financial benefit" and costs you their reporting history, so there's no reason to repeat that habit now.

AWeber also has a $4.99-a-month Hold Package for pausing an account. I priced it against GetResponse's options in AWeber vs GetResponse, along with AWeber's price changes since 2023 and how Plus compares with GetResponse Marketer.

Picking a plan by how you send

• One or two emails a week, one list, three automations or fewer: Lite, priced by your list. Yearly saves two months.
• Three or more a week, or a launch calendar: work out your busiest cycle (list × emails), then find the cheapest tier on each plan that covers it. If your list fills between about 71% and 86% of its tier and you send three times a week, Plus may be the cheaper plan, as with 2,000 subscribers in the 2,500 tier.
• A second list, a fourth workflow (drafts included), a fourth user or a second saved segment: Plus, whatever your sending.
• Selling through AWeber Ecommerce: Plus once monthly sales pass the figure for your tier in the fee table.
• After a launch: expect the higher tier for at least one more cycle, and send at your normal pace before asking to move down.

If Lite fits, AWeber's pricing page has both ladders. Set the slider to the tier your busiest cycle needs, not your subscriber count.

FAQ

Does AWeber charge more if I send more emails?

Yes, indirectly. Each tier includes a set number of sends: ten emails per subscriber the tier allows on Lite, twelve on Plus. Use them all and AWeber moves you up a tier automatically, at that tier's price.

Can I downgrade AWeber after a busy month?

You have to ask Customer Solutions, and if your sending was above the lower tier's allowance, AWeber judges the request on your recent sending history. A new billing cycle alone doesn't qualify you.

Do unsubscribed contacts count on AWeber?

No. AWeber's help center says unsubscribed contacts don't count toward your billing total, and deleting them saves nothing.

Is AWeber Plus worth it over Lite?

For the features, if you need more than one list, three landing pages, three workflows (drafts count), three users or one saved segment. On price alone, only if you sell enough through AWeber for its lower fee to cover the gap, or if your sending would push Lite up a tier that Plus's larger allowance covers.

Do automated emails count toward AWeber's send limit?

AWeber's help pages don't say. They describe each tier's allowance as monthly sends and never split it into broadcasts and automated emails. The examples on this page count broadcasts only. If welcome sequences or other automations run on your account, ask Customer Solutions how they're counted before you plan around a narrow margin.

How much is AWeber per year?

Lite yearly is ten times the monthly price: $250 at 1,000 subscribers, $350 at 2,500, $600 at 5,000. Plus yearly is $450, $550 and $900 at the same sizes, and $240 at 500.