The email marketing community is reeling from Litmus’s shocking 151% price increase, which quietly took effect on August 1st with little warning or explanation. The dramatic jump from $199 to $500 per month for what was previously the Litmus Plus plan has sparked widespread outrage from many across the industry, particularly given that parent company Validity recently conducted significant layoffs at Litmus.
The apparently silent pricing revision, implemented without any significant public announcement or blog post has left many long-time users feeling blindsided and questioning their loyalty to a platform they’ve relied on for years. As businesses already grappling with tight budgets face this substantial cost increase, the timing and lack of transparency have amplified frustrations within a community still processing the recent workforce reductions.
Litmus recently acquired by Validity is a widely‑used email marketing and testing platform. It offers features such as an email builder, preview rendering across more than 100 clients, spam testing and analytics.
In July 2024 the platform was typically priced with three tiers: Litmus Basic (for single users), Litmus Plus (for teams) and Litmus Enterprise (custom).
Independent reviews at the time noted that the entry‑level Basic plan started at roughly US$79–99 per month, while Litmus Plus was around US$159–199 per month and enterprise packages were negotiated individually. These tiers gave customers access to features such as 1–5 full users, 1 000–2 000 email previews per month, unlimited email monitoring and a limited number of Litmus Personalize impressions (5 000–50 000).
On 1 August 2025, Litmus silently revised its pricing page. In a screenshot of the new pricing shared with this article (see below), the plan equivalent to the previous Litmus Plus package is now called Core and costs US$500 per month. The plan still includes five full users, 2 000 email previews per month, 500 000 analytics opens and 50 000 Litmus Personalize impressions per month, plus the same core features (email builder, QA checks, personalization templates and integrations). Two “Custom” tiers, one focusing on collaboration and personalization features and the other on advanced deliverability insights – require contacting sales for a quote.
Old vs new pricing
| Plan | Description (July 2024) | Price (July 2024) | New description (1 Aug 2025) | New price (1 Aug 2025) | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Litmus Basic → ? | Single user; 1 000 previews/month; unlimited monitoring; 5 000 personalize impressionswiredmessenger.com | ~US$79–99/monthwiredmessenger.com | No public equivalent visible | Unspecified | Unknown (plan may have been removed or folded into higher tier) |
| Litmus Plus → Core | 5 full users; 2 000 previews/month; 500 000 analytics opens/month; unlimited monitoring; 50 000 personalize impressionswiredmessenger.com | ~US$159–199/monthwiredmessenger.com | 5 full users; 2 000 previews/month; 500 000 analytics opens/month; 50 000 personalize impressions; cancel any time | US$500/month (as per new pricing screenshot) | ≈151 % increase (US$199→US$500) |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing for large teams; includes advanced collaboration, security and ESP integrationswiredmessenger.com | Negotiated | Split into two Custom tiers: one for collaboration/personalization features and one for deliverability analytics and reputation monitoring | Negotiated | Not comparable |
Note: The new pricing information comes from a screenshot of the updated Litmus pricing page. Litmus did not issue a public blog post or press release, so the company’s rationale for the price hike has not been documented at the time of writing.
Figure 1 – Previous Litmus pricing. The “Individuals” plan (Litmus Basic) cost US$99 per month with one user, while “Small Teams” (Litmus Plus) cost US$199 per month.
Figure 2 – New Litmus pricing. The plan equivalent to Litmus Plus is now the “Core” plan priced at US$500 per month. Two custom tiers require contacting sales and emphasise collaboration/personalization or deliverability analytics.
Why are SaaS prices rising?
Although Litmus has not publicly explained its price changes, the broader software‑as‑a‑service (SaaS) industry provides clues. Analysts note that many large software vendors (including Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and Zendesk) implemented significant price hikes in 2023–2024. A blog post from Vendr explained that shrinking workforces, inflation‑driven cost increases, investments into AI and a strong U.S. dollar created a “perfect software pricing storm,” prompting vendors to raise prices despite falling customer budgets. Half of the software vendors with the highest share of corporate IT spending raised their prices in 2023. Examples cited include:
Implications for Litmus customers
- Massive jump in monthly cost: For existing small‑team customers, the jump from US$199/month (Litmus Plus) to US$500/month (Core) represents an increase of around 151 %. Such a steep rise is unusual; industry surveys suggest that typical SaaS renewals involve 10–30 % increases.
- Plan consolidation and feature emphasis: The new pricing page appears to eliminate the entry‑level plan, leaving customers with a much higher‑priced Core offering or custom enterprise plans. This suggests Litmus is repositioning itself towards larger teams and enterprise‑grade customers.
- Customer strategies: Customers facing large price increases should consider negotiating it would also be worthwhile to evaluate alternatives like Email on Acid, which reviewers cite as a more affordable competitor, or to assess whether all features in Litmus are required.
Outlook
Litmus’s sudden price hike underscores a broader shift in the SaaS landscape. Vendors are balancing rising operating costs and investor expectations with customer budgets and retention risks.
For marketing teams that rely heavily on Litmus for quality assurance and personalisation, the new pricing might still deliver value if the tool enables faster email development, higher deliverability and better engagement. But for budget‑sensitive teams, the change could be a catalyst to shop around. As pricing trends evolve, transparency and communication from vendors will be key to maintaining trust.
