Mass Emailing - mail chimp, constant contact, gmail what are you using and love?

[Nikki Yankowski]

I have been using mail chimp to send out marketing emails but they just switched from a free model to a pay model since I have over 500 contacts. If the paid subscription rate was low, I'd just pay it but since my contact list is high, it's looking to be over $100/ month. I've compared it to Constant Contact and that's pretty pricey as well. 

I was thinking of just doing a bcc, email through gmail instead since most of the graphics and designs come from Canva anyways. I loose out on knowing my click rate numbers or open numbers but I'm not sure that's worth $100/month to know. My primary goal is just to stay relevant in my market. 

I wanted to hear what others' thoughts were or if they had any other suggestions for a mass emailer they like using. 

Thanks in advance.

Nikki