How does day3's pricing compare to EmailOctopus?

EmailOctopus prices by subscriber count; day3 by sends. Which is cheaper depends on list size versus sending frequency. day3 favors larger lists mailed occasionally.

At what list size does day3 start winning?

It depends on frequency rather than size alone. The rule of thumb: divide your monthly sends by your subscriber count. If that number is below about one, meaning you don't email the whole list every month, send-based pricing is working in your favour. Well above one and per-subscriber pricing may be the better shape.

Does day3 have automations?

Not yet. Triggers, waits and branches are designed but not shipped. If you're relying on EmailOctopus automations today, that's a reason to stay rather than a gap to work around.

All comparisons

day3 vs. EmailOctopus

An EmailOctopus alternative that doesn't count your subscribers.

EmailOctopus is a friendly, affordable email tool that still prices by the number of subscribers on your list.

	day3	EmailOctopus
Pricing model	By emails sent each month	By number of subscribers
Subscriber limits	Unlimited on every plan	Tiered by subscriber count
Product scope	Product updates and transactional email, on purpose narrow	General email marketing & newsletters
Transactional email	First-class: one API call, same domain, same allowance	Not the job it's built for
Best for	SaaS product updates	Budget-conscious general senders
Starting price	$1/mo for 1,000 emails	Free tier, then priced by subscribers

Comparison reflects each product's pricing model and scope, not specific prices, because those change, so always check the latest on EmailOctopus's own site.

The core difference

day3 removes that variable: unlimited subscribers, billed only by sends. When your list grows faster than you send, that wins.

The same numbers, both ways

30,000 subscribers, one send a month. A list that grew much faster than the sending schedule.

On day3

$14/mo

30,000 sends a month fits the 50,000-email plan. 30,000 subscribers costs nothing, on this plan or any other.

On EmailOctopus

Depends

Per-subscriber pricing is set by the 30,000 on the list, so growing to 40,000 raises the bill even if you keep sending once a month. We don't print their price here, because it changes and a stale figure would be worse than none. Check it on their own site and run these numbers through it.

Why teams move to day3

List size doesn't touch the bill

A growing audience never pushes you into a higher tier.

Focused on product updates

day3 is shaped for changelogs and 'what's new' emails from software teams.

AI assist when it helps

Draft and refine emails with Claude, included on every paid plan.

When EmailOctopus is the better choice

Stay with EmailOctopus if you have a small, stable list and want a generalist tool. Send-based pricing mainly pays off for large or fast-growing lists mailed occasionally, and at a few thousand contacts the two models land close enough that switching isn't worth the afternoon. Stay too if you need its automations or landing pages, since day3 has neither.

Moving your list across

Five steps, in this order. The first one is the one people skip.

1

Bring your suppression list first

Push the addresses that bounced, complained, or asked never to be mailed again before you import a single contact. Do it in this order and day3 refuses those rows on the way in, which is the guard working rather than an error. Do it after and you have a window where a re-import can mail someone who already left.

2

Import the contacts

Export to CSV and import with email, first_name and last_name columns. day3 dedupes, skips suppressed addresses, and reports per-row results so a handful of malformed rows doesn't cost you the batch.

3

Carry the opt-outs across as opt-outs

Contacts already marked unsubscribed import with that status and the date they left on, so your new tool honours a decision made in your old one. Nobody gets re-subscribed by a migration.

4

Verify the sending domain

Connect Cloudflare and day3 publishes DKIM, SPF and DMARC for you, then rechecks until the domain verifies. On another DNS host you get the records to paste. Authenticating the domain you already send from is what keeps your reputation intact through the move.

5

Send one real campaign to yourself

A test send goes to addresses you name, through the same pipeline and the same tracking as the real thing. Compare it against your old tool's output before you point the whole list at it.

What doesn't come across

EmailOctopus automations and its landing pages don't come across. day3 has neither, and automations are designed but not shipped. Your email designs get rebuilt in day3's composer rather than imported.

Questions

How does day3's pricing compare to EmailOctopus?: EmailOctopus prices by subscriber count; day3 by sends. Which is cheaper depends on list size versus sending frequency. day3 favors larger lists mailed occasionally.
At what list size does day3 start winning?: It depends on frequency rather than size alone. The rule of thumb: divide your monthly sends by your subscriber count. If that number is below about one, meaning you don't email the whole list every month, send-based pricing is working in your favour. Well above one and per-subscriber pricing may be the better shape.
Does day3 have automations?: Not yet. Triggers, waits and branches are designed but not shipped. If you're relying on EmailOctopus automations today, that's a reason to stay rather than a gap to work around.