systeme.io email marketing: campaigns, newsletters and limits

Newsletters, campaigns and the limits by plan

On systeme.io, a newsletter is a one-time broadcast and an email campaign is an automated sequence of timed emails. Email sends and newsletters are unlimited on all four plans, and the email page says there is no daily or monthly send cap. What the plans limit is the rest: email campaigns, tags and automation rules run 1, 10, 100 and Unlimited across Free, Startup, Webinar and Unlimited, and contacts 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 and Unlimited.

On the Free plan that means 1 rule, 1 workflow, 1 tag and 1 campaign, per the plan card, even though the email page says the free plan covers everything.

Email sends are unlimited on the systeme.io free plan, which holds up to 2,000 contacts.

Sending a newsletter

A newsletter needs an email list with at least one tag, because without tags you cannot segment the list or send it a newsletter. Write it in the classic editor for plain text or the visual editor for layout and style, then send it or schedule it; subject lines can be A/B tested.

With the Free plan's 1 tag, every newsletter goes to the same tagged group; Startup allows 10 tags.

Setting up a campaign

A campaign starts from an automation rule: a trigger, such as a form subscribed on a funnel step, a new sale or a tag, and the action Subscribe to campaign. On an opt-in page the rule sits under its Automation Rules tab, and the same rule can add a tag to the new contact. Longer multi-step sequences can be built as workflows on a node-based canvas.

Some limits apply on every plan: a trigger fires at most 20 times for the same contact, and automation rule task history is kept for one month. Attachments are capped at 5 MB, so a large file is better sent as a download link. Test the sequence by signing up on your own opt-in page.

Which plan an email list needs

The Free plan fits one list and one sequence of up to 2,000 contacts. Startup, $17 a month, billed monthly as read on October 6, 2026, raises that to 10 campaigns, 10 tags, 10 rules and 5,000 contacts, and Webinar, $47 a month, billed monthly, to 100 of each and 10,000 contacts. Going over the contact limit brings warning emails, then a restricted free account or an automatic upgrade of a paid plan.

For a list that is the whole business, Kit's free plan takes up to 10,000 subscribers; the systeme.io free plan guide sets the two side by side.