Building an email list without a website — landing pages and forms on free plans

Many people put off starting a newsletter because they do not have a website yet. The obstacle is smaller than it looks: email tools build the signup page themselves, and you can share its link anywhere. The only questions are how many pages the free plan gives you and what else you need besides. This page was read from seven tools’ pricing pages in a browser on 23 October 2026.

Short answer

You get a landing page for free with Systeme.io, EmailOctopus and MailerLite. Systeme.io gives the most: three sales funnels, one website and one blog. You do not need a website, but you do need your own domain as the sender address, because an address at a free email provider cannot be authenticated.

• Most pages for free

  Systeme.io

  3 sales funnels, 1 website, 1 blog and 1 custom domain on the free plan, 2,000 contacts.

  Start free — 2,000 contacts (ad)

• One signup page and a large list

  EmailOctopus

  1 landing page and 1 form for free, and the list fits 2,500 subscribers.

  Start free — 2,500 subscribers (ad)

• A page, forms and a small list

  MailerLite

  1 website, 1 landing page and 3 forms on the free plan, 250 subscribers.

  Start free — 250 subscribers

Landing pages and forms on the free plan

A signup page is a landing page with a form. The tools limit both on the free plan, and some also limit separate websites.

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Read from the providers’ own pricing pages in a browser on 23 October 2026: Systeme.io, EmailOctopus, MailerLite, Brevo, GetResponse and ActiveCampaign. Mailchimp’s free plan from its help page: “You can also try out marketing tools like landing pages and forms.” ActiveCampaign’s Starter forms are standard and inline only, according to its pricing page.

Two things follow from the table. Systeme.io gives the most separate pieces for free: three sales funnels, a website and a blog. A sales funnel chains the signup page, the thank-you page and the next step, so handing out a free guide and the offer that follows fit in one funnel. EmailOctopus and MailerLite give one landing page each, and MailerLite one website on top. One signup page is enough when the goal is collecting subscribers for one newsletter.

You don’t need a website, you do need a domain

The landing page settles where the subscriber signs up. It does not settle where the newsletter is sent from. According to MailerLite’s help page, an address at a free email provider, such as a Gmail address, cannot be authenticated as the sender, and Google’s sender guidelines require SPF or DKIM authentication from everyone sending to Gmail addresses.

In practice you need your own domain, but not a website. Authentication is a set of DNS records added in the domain’s settings; no site has to exist. Systeme.io’s free plan also includes one custom domain for landing pages, so the signup page shows at your own address rather than on the provider’s subdomain. What Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook require exactly: sender requirements.

What a signup page must contain

A signup page collects personal data, so the same rules apply as on your own site. Three things are required and one is close to essential:

• What the subscriber gets and how often. Consent has to be informed, so the promise belongs next to the form.
• A link to your privacy notice. Under the GDPR, subscribers are told about the processing when the data is collected. What the notice should say: newsletter privacy notice.
• Active consent. The box must not be pre-ticked. The rules with sources: email marketing and GDPR.
• Double opt-in. Without your own site, the signup link travels freely, and a confirmation email makes sure the address was given by its owner. According to EmailOctopus’s pricing page, both single and double opt-in are on the free plan. Double opt-in by country.

When the list grows: prices at the same list sizes

The free plan usually runs out because of list size before the number of pages becomes a problem. Below are the cheapest paid plans at three list sizes:

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Prices exclude VAT, billed monthly unless stated otherwise.(ad) = ad link

• The price is the monthly price of the cheapest paid plan at that list size. The Free plan column shows when you do not have to pay.
• EmailOctopus: the price list only shows the monthly price on annual billing. Monthly billing costs more.
• GetResponse: the smallest list sold is 1,000 contacts, so the 500-contact column shows that price.

The other limits of all five free plans: free email marketing. If the signup page is meant to sell an online course or coaching later, funnels and courses in the same tool are compared separately: Systeme.io alternatives.

Which suits whom

• A free guide in exchange for signing up, and a sale later → Systeme.io: landing page, thank-you page and email sequence form one funnel, and you get three for free. Try it free (ad)
• Just a newsletter, list growing fast → EmailOctopus: one signup page is enough, and the free plan carries you to 2,500 subscribers. Try it free (ad)
• You want a whole website from the same tool later → MailerLite: the free plan already has one website; Comfort has ten. Try it free
• The form will be embedded on your own site later → GetResponse: the cheapest plan has a landing page builder plus signup forms and popups. Try it free

Who Systeme.io does not suit: if you only need a newsletter and fine-grained segmentation, the funnels and courses go unused, and Systeme.io bills in dollars. Then EmailOctopus or MailerLite is more straightforward, and the comparison is here: EmailOctopus vs Systeme.io.

What we have not checked

The limits were read from pricing pages. We have not built landing pages ourselves, so we do not assess how easy the editors are, how the templates look or how fast the pages load: those would be measurement results, and there is no measurement. Mailchimp does not state the number of landing pages on its free plan, nor Brevo its free plan’s form limit. How we compare.