Email marketing software allows you to create, send, and manage your email marketing campaigns. It can be used for a variety of purposes, from simply keeping in touch with your customers to persuading them to take a specific action or buy a product or service.
Some of the benefits of commercial email marketing software are:
A user-friendly interface that allows you to quickly create and send emails
Templates that allow you to create visually appealing emails with little effort
Autoresponders that automatically send emails at set intervals after a customer signs up for your newsletter or takes another specific action
Customer segmentation tools so you can target different groups with different messages and promotions
Commercial Email Marketing Software
Want to jump straight to the answer? The best email marketing service for most people is Sendinblue or Constant Contact.
Email is one of the most powerful marketing tools at your disposal. It can drive engagement, build relationships, and deliver a higher ROI than every other type of marketing campaign.
Success with your email strategy starts with finding the right email marketing service. Whether you’re starting a new list from scratch or just need an easier way to reach your audience, this guide has a solution for you.
Top 10 Best Email Marketing Services
- Sendinblue — Best for growing your customer base
- Constant Contact — Best drag-and-drop builder
- MailerLite — Best for the essentials at an affordable price
- Omnisend —Best omnichannel email marketing platform
- HubSpot — Best for automated email marketing
- Moosend — Best for ecommerce
- AWeber — Best value for low subscriber count
- GetResponse — Best for automated lead generation
- Drip — Best for new ecommerce businesses
- ConvertKit — Best for influencers, bloggers, and creators
Over my career, I’ve managed email lists with more than 100,000 subscribers and used about every email marketing tool in existence.
Whether you’re starting a new email list from scratch or looking to switch to a new provider, this guide will help you find the best email marketing service for your situation.
Your customers miss 100 percent of the emails you don’t send. Get started today for free with one of my top recommendations.
Email Marketing Service Reviews
Sendinblue – Best for Growing Your Customer Base
- PRICE STARTS AT FREE
- UNLIMITED CONTACTS
- DRAG & DROP EDITOR
- HIGHLY CUSTOMIZABLE
Sendinblue offers one of the most popular email marketing services on the market. Everything you need to launch and track an email campaign is built in. Add your content to their machine and watch your outreach take flight.
Don’t just take my word for it–you can use the free forever version of Sendinblue right now. You can send up to 300 emails per day without paying a cent. Once you see how it drives, you’ll understand why it’s so popular.
This is a mature platform–it’s got all of the features you expect and more. You can add live chat to your site and grab new email addresses from folks browsing your store or learning about your company.
There’s a lot to like. More than 40 customizable templates, simple tools to build workflows, and a built-in CRM with room for as many contacts as you like.
In terms of reaching more people, Sendinblue has everything you need. They provide a host of lead nurturing tools to help you grow your contact list:
- Landing pages. Create actionable and engaging web pages to collect leads for you.
- Sign up forms. Place forms anywhere on your website to get user information.
- Facebook ads. Leverage the power of Facebook marketing to nurture more leads.
- Retargeted ads. Powerful ads based on a user’s previous online interactions.
Make it as simple as possible to build that list with eye-catching forms that turn website traffic into subscribers. Sendinblue’s intuitive interface makes embedding a form no harder than a few clicks.
It’s easy to see how these tools help you cultivate audience, lead, and customer growth. And, unlike other email marketing services, Sendinblue can support chat and SMS if you want to drive leads on your site or by text.
The platform is available via a fantastic free plan that gives you unlimited contacts and up to 300 emails per day. That’s a pretty great deal—especially if you’re running a bootstrap startup or solo operation.
Their email builder has a beginner-friendly editor that allows you to easily create the look and feel of your email.
They currently offer four different pricing tiers:
Free — 0$ per month
- Up to 300 emails per day
- Unlimited contacts
- Chat
- SMS marketing
- Email template library
Lite — $25 per month
- Up to 100k emails
- No daily sending limit
- A/B testing
- Remove the Sendinblue logo
Premium — $65 per month
- Up to 1MM emails
- Marketing automation
- Facebook ads
- Retargeted ads
- Landing pages
- Telephone support
Enterprise — Customized pricing
- Customized email volume
- 20+ landing pages
- Customer success manager
- Access for 10+ users
- Dedicated IP
The Lite plans should be more than enough for most small businesses and startups.
However, as your business scales, the Premium option is always a great option. That comes with even more marketing features such as Facebook and retargeted ads, along with telephone support.
Try Sendinblue today. Start out for free, and upgrade when it’s time to grow.
Constant Contact – Best Drag-and-Drop Builder
- PRICE STARTS AT $20/MO
- DRAG-AND-DROP EMAIL BUILDER
- 100+ MOBILE-FRIENDLY TEMPLATES
- SIMPLE AUTOMATION TOOLS
Constant Contact is a great platform for those newer to the email marketing world.
Their intuitive drag-and-drop email builder allows you to easily create new emails that look good and on-brand—no coding knowledge is needed. Adding text, images, videos, coupons, polls, and events to any message is simple and straightforward.
Plus they provide more than 100 pre-built, mobile-optimized templates.
It’s a really welcoming platform to work with. People who aren’t “techy” will quickly find themselves producing much more polished newsletters.
With Constant Contact, you can track the results of your campaigns in real-time. You’ll see everything from open rates to click-through rates, as well as data for each individual subscriber.
This is so important–how else are you going to know which strategies are working and which need to be put on pause?
Automation is a key benefit of Constant Contact. A lot of the legwork can be set on autopilot. For example, you can trigger welcome messages for new subscribers and set up drip campaigns based on their actions.
Constant Contact even offers a 60-day free trial, which is one of the best you’ll find in the industry.
Pricing for Constant Contact’s email software is straightforward. There are two plans for you to choose from—Email and Email Plus.
Like most email marketing platforms, your rate will be based on the number of subscribers on your list. Both plans allow you to send unlimited emails.
Here’s what some of the prices look like for each plan:
- 0 – 500 Subscribers — Starting at $20 per month
- 501 – 2,500 Subscribers — Starting at $45 per month
- 2,501 – 5,000 Subscribers — Starting at $65 per month
- 5,001 – 10,000 Subscribers — Starting at $95 per month
Plus
- 0 – 500 Subscribers — Starting at $45 per month
- 501 – 2,500 Subscribers — Starting at $70 per month
- 2,501 – 5,000 Subscribers — Starting at $95 per month
- 5,001 – 10,000 Subscribers — Starting at $125 per month
The Plus tiers continue all the way up to 50,000. Once you eclipse 10,000 subscribers, you’ll automatically be upgraded to the Email Plus plan.
For basic and professional emails, the cheaper plan will be fine. But for those of you who want to get the most out of your email campaigns, I highly recommend Email Plus.
This plan comes with more advanced features like subject line A/B testing, dynamic content, and automated behavioral campaigns. You’ll also get access to personalized demographic data, coupons, polls, and surveys.
MailerLite – Best For the Essentials at an Affordable Price
- PRICE STARTS AT $0
- PREMIUM PLANS START AT $10/MO
- ALL BASIC EMAIL FEATURES
- A/B TESTING TOOLS
MailerLite offers all of the essentials with none of the frills.
It’s a great option for anyone who wants a straightforward email marketing service. You’re a creator who doesn’t need a ton of bells and whistles. You just need the tools to start your newsletter or manage a simple campaign.
It’s also nice for teams. Nobody is going to be intimidated by this platform, which means everyone is going to use the core features at their disposal.
The platform still offers tools for automation, landing pages, pop-ups, and surveys, so it’s not like you’re extremely limited. But even the UI for each one is fairly spartan and straightforward.
MailerLite has a drag-and-drop editor, which makes it easy for anyone to design a high-quality message. Segment your subscribers to enhance personalization and optimize your campaigns with features like A/B testing.
I’d recommend MailerLite for those of you who want simple email software at an affordable rate.
Here’s a look at the price points for MailerLite:
- Up to 1,000 subscribers — $10 per month
- 1,001 – 2,500 subscribers — $15 per month
- 2,501 – 5,000 subscribers — $30 per month
- 5,001 – 10,000 subscribers — $50 per month
- 10,001 – 15,000 subscribers — $75 per month
- 15,001 – 20,000 subscribers — $100 per month
- 20,001 – 25,000 subscribers — $120 per month
- 25,001 – 30,000 subscribers — $140 per month
The pricing tiers continue to rise at about $20-$40 per 10,000 subscribers. MailerLite offers a 30% discount if you sign up for annual billing, making it one of the most affordable options on our list.
There is a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers, but you’re limited to just 12,000 emails per month, and you don’t get every feature. You can use this option as an extended free trial when you’re just starting out.
Omnisend – Best Omnichannel Email Marketing Platform
- PRICE STARTS AT $0
- TAILOR-MADE FOR ECOMMERCE BUSINESSES
- PRE-BUILT AUTOMATIONS
- CROSS-CHANNEL SALES TRACKING
Omnisend is an easy-to-use email marketing solution that’s tailor-made for ecommerce sites. They offer multiple features such as automated email and SMS messaging in order to convert leads into customers.
They do this by going a step further than most, combining text messages, web browser push notifications, email marketing, Google Customer Match, and Facebook ad retargeting to ensure you connect with the most customers as possible.
All of their channels allow for segmented campaigns. That means you’ll be able to target exactly the customer you need for your product or services.
They also have pre-built automations for actions your customer might take such as cart abandonment emails/messages, along with welcome emails/messages.
Their library of themed drag-and-drop templates makes creating gorgeous, on-brand emails simple.
Below is the Omnisend pricing breakdown:
Free — $0
- Up to 500 emails per month and reach up to 50 contacts
- Omnisend-branded email campaigns
- Signup forms, boxes, and pop-ups
- Reports
Standard — $16 per month
- Up to 6000 emails per month and reach up to 500 contacts
- Email campaigns
- Signup forms, boxes, and pop-ups
- Reports
- SMS campaigns and automation
- Audience segmentation
- 24/7 email and chat support
Pro — $99 per month
- Unlimited emails per month
- Up to 3933 SMS per month
- Email campaigns
- Signup forms, boxes, and pop-ups
- Reports
- SMS campaigns and automation
- Audience segmentation
- 24/7 email and chat support
- Web push notifications
- Facebook custom audiences
- Google Customer Match
- Priority support
- Advanced reporting
Omnisend does not base its plans on annual contracts.
I highly recommend at least the Standard plan. Having unbranded emails alone is worth the cost and you’ll also get access to their email and SMS automation tools. The 24/7 email and chat support are a must-have, too.
HubSpot – Best for Automated Email Marketing
- PRICE STARTS AT $0
- POWERFUL EMAIL AUTOMATION
- STUNNING EMAIL TEMPLATES
- TRAFFIC AND CONVERSION ANALYTICS
HubSpot is the king of marketing automation–so it’s no surprise they offer a fantastic email marketing solution for any size business.
Hubspot’s tool allows you to quickly and easily create, personalize, and optimize your emails without the need for designers or IT.
Where the software really shines is in the automated workflows. This allows you to easily set triggers for your email subscribers and nurture the leads into customers (or whatever else you want them to do).
The software’s handy mapping tool also lets you visualize this for greater clarity and easy optimization.
Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure journey that you set for your subscribers. Depending on the specific actions they take, you can have them branch off to experience different, targeted things via email.
The email marketing service is just one tool in the Swiss Army Knife that is Hubspot. It can stand alone or be used in tandem with other offerings such as Marketing Hub and their CRM. Your email marketing only becomes stronger when coupled with those products, too.
Hubspot also has plenty of pre-made email templates to help you get the results you want. With their drag-and-drop builder, you can create great emails with no coding or development knowledge needed.
HubSpot is simple to use and allows you to customize your layout, add calls-to-action and images, and modify your content and colors to match your brand.
Use their advanced personalization tools to personalize your emails in order to boost your open and clickthrough rates with ease. You can use any information in an email subscriber’s contact records to automatically serve up the most relevant subject lines, content, links, attachments, and calls-to-action.
Their A/B testing tool is top-notch. Use it and dive into the in-depth analytics after you send your emails to see which performed better—and why.
Use this data to determine which subject lines get the most opens and the content and calls-to-action that will earn you more sales. You can also leverage this with landing pages and signup forms to accurately get a sense of the ROI of email campaigns.
The HubSpot email tool is free for up to 2,000 email sends per month, with paid plans starting at $50/month.
Join HubSpot for free to create and send email campaigns that look professionally designed and display perfectly across any device—all by yourself.
Moosend – Best for Ecommerce
- STARTS AT $0
- AI-POWERED ECOMMERCE
- UNLIMITED EMAILS
- REPORTING & ANALYTICS
Moosend offers an email marketing solution no matter if you’re a complete beginner or if you’re a seasoned pro. If you have an online store, this is the perfect tool.
From their easy drag-and-drop email builder, to their easy segmentation tool, to their accurate real-time analytics, they have all the features you need to nail your email marketing campaigns.
Our favorite thing about Moosend is their ecommerce AI. It leverages machine learning and collaborative filtering to target customers with products they might like based on the shopping habits of similar customers.
You’ll also be able to easily cross sell based on customer shopping habits, and keep track of how often they buy certain products (e.g. perishables) so you can regularly promote the products they need to them when they need it.
I haven’t seen any other email marketing service do this. But it has the potential to really help out the newer ecommerce business looking to level up their targeting and segmentation game.
Moosend also does the basics of email marketing very well. Their advanced personalization features allows you to create emails unique for your target customer. Their segmentation tool allows you to spit your audience by purchasing behavior, cart abandoned products, and more.
They don’t offer that many themes with just 40 responsive themes to choose from. However, they’re all highly customizable and eye-catching.
Pricing starts free with their premium plans starting at $8 per month. More detailed information is below:
Free — $0/month
- Unlimited emails
- Signup and subscription forms
- Reporting and analytics
- No credit card required
Pro — $8/month
- Landing pages
- Transactional emails
- Phone support
- SMTP server
- 5 team members
Enterprise — Custom pricing
- Custom reporting
- Dedicated account manager
- SSO & SAML
- On-boarding and migration
- 10 team members
- Service-level agreement
AWeber – Best Value For Low Subscriber Count
- PRICE STARTS AT $19/MO
- GREAT FOR <500 SUBSCRIBERS
- A/B TESTING AND AUTOMATION TOOLS
- 700+ PRE-BUILT TEMPLATES
AWeber is a traditional email marketing service that’s reliable and very affordable.
Where AWeber really shines, though, is its simple pricing structure. In fact, it’s very lucrative to those with small lists (500 subscribers or less).
Unlike other platforms that add features and capabilities for plans at different price points, AWeber offers all of its features with every plan.
Pricing is based strictly on the number of subscribers on your list. So you’ll get the same features whether you have 20 contacts or 20,000 contacts.
Here’s an overview of the pricing tiers.
- 0 – 500 Subscribers — $19 per month
- 501 – 2,500 Subscribers — $29 per month
- 2,501 – 5,000 Subscribers — $49 per month
- 5,001 – 10,000 Subscribers — $69 per month
- 10,001 – 25,000 Subscribers — $149 per month
With AWeber, you’ll get all of the basic features that you expect with an email marketing service:
- 700+ pre-built templates
- Drag-and-drop email builder
- Email analytics
- A/B testing
- Sign up forms
- Automation
- Third-party integrations
- Subscriber segmentation
AWeber is an industry leader in email deliverability rates. They make sure that your content is optimized to reach your subscribers’ inboxes.
You can try AWeber for free.
GetResponse – Best For Automated Lead Generation
- PRICE STARTS AT $15/MO
- AUTOMATED SALES FUNNELS
- 200+ EMAIL TEMPLATES
- 24/7 LIVE CHAT SUPPORT
GetResponse is a bit more than a basic email marketing service. It’s more of an all-in-one solution that specializes in automation.
And when we say all-in-one, we mean it.
With tools and features such as audience segmentation, autoresponders, landing page builders, automated emails, advanced analytics, and even a webinar software, you’ll be able to collect beaucoup leads, put them in the right workflows, and turn them into returning customers.
One standout tool that GetResponse offers is called Autofunnel. It can be used to create funnels for sales, leads, webinars, and more. It’s fully automated and very easy to use.
Funnels include things like emails, landing pages, exit popups, marketing automation, Facebook ads, and ecommerce integration. It all depends on your goals and how you want to set it up. But GetResponse provides all the tools you need to grow your subscriber list and monetize those contacts.
Once a user enters your funnel, everything is fully automated by GetResponse. It’s the perfect way to guide customers through the conversion process with multiple digital touchpoints.
Let’s take a closer look at GetResponse’s plans and pricing.
Basic — Starting at $15 per month
- Autoresponders
- Unlimited landing pages
- 1 sales funnel
- Unlimited lead funnels
- Sell e-products
Plus — Starting at $49 per month
- Automation builder with 5 workflows
- 5 sales funnels
- Contact scoring capability
- Webinars with up to 100 attendees
- CRM software
Professional — Starting at $99 per month
- Automation builder with unlimited workflows
- Paid webinars with up to 300 attendees
- Unlimited sales funnels
- Unlimited webinar funnels
Max (enterprise tier) — Custom pricing
- Transactional emails
- Dedicated IP
- Webinars with up to 500 attendees
- Consulting services for email campaigns
- Dedicated account manager
These prices are all based on 1,000 subscribers. The rate will increase as your list grows. As you can see, even the entry-level plan offered by GetRetresponse comes with advanced features like autoresponders, lead funnels, and sales funnels.
All plans come with 220 email templates, 180 landing page templates, 700 form templates, 40 autofunnel templates, 150 integrations, and 24/7 live chat support.
But to really get the most out of this software, I’d recommend the Plus plan, especially if you don’t already have CRM software. The base rate is definitely higher compared to the other services we’ve seen. However, the plan just comes with so much more.
Instead of just getting email software, you’re benefiting from building automated lead funnels, landing pages, webinars, and lots of other extras that just aren’t included from other providers.
GetResponse offers discounts for annual and 24-month contracts if you pay in advance. At the very least, you can try GetResponse free for 30 days.
Drip – Best for New Ecommerce Businesses
- PRICE STARTS AT $49/MO
- 24/7 LIVE CHAT AND EMAIL SUPPORT
- CRM FOR ECOMMERCE STORES
- AUTOMATIC REVENUE ATTRIBUTION
Drip is a relatively new platform. It’s a CRM that offers email marketing for ecommerce businesses.
I like Drip because they’re great for new ecommerce merchants since they focus on offering smaller, independent shops the same powerful automation and segmentation tools for email marketing as larger ecommerce stores.
As such, they’re great for newer brands looking to get a leg up.
With Drip, you can track valuable commerce metrics related to customer intent and purchase behavior.
You’ll be able to segment new website visitors from returning customers. Drip also lets you target users who abandoned their carts.
Get nitty-gritty without hours of data mining–Drip gives you tools that make it easy to target the right people with timely offers.
Their CRM helps you reach customers through multiple touchpoints online, including email. Drip also has a revenue attribution feature, giving you a clearer view of which campaigns are actually making you money.
Again, this is ideal for ecommerce shops.
With personalization capabilities, powerful segmentation options, and detailed analytics, Drip has everything you need to succeed with email marketing.
Pricing is based on the number of customers in your account. All plans come with the same features and benefits.
- 1-500 subscribers — $19 per month
- 501-2,000 subscribers — $29 per month
- 2,001-2,500 subscribers — $39 per month
- 2,501-3,000 subscribers — $49 per month
- 3,001-3,500 subscribers — $59 per month
- 3,501-4,000 subscribers — $69 per month
- 4,501-5,000 subscribers — $79 per month
- 5,001-6,000 subscribers — $99 per month
- 6,001-7,000 subscribers — $109 per month
This stretches all the way up to plans that allow for up to 140,000 subscribers before pricing becomes custom.
All Drip plans come with 24/7 live chat and email support. You can try it out free for 14 days and have access to all of the features.
ConvertKit – Best for Influencers, Bloggers, and Creators
- PRICE STARTS AT $29/MO
- EXCELLENT FOR INDEPENDENT CREATORS
- CUSTOM FORMS & REPORTING
- EASY TAGGING AND SEGMENTING
ConvertKit is one of my favorite email marketing services.
It’s a perfect choice for creators of all stripes. That includes influencers, bloggers, video producers, musicians, artists, and more. That’s because their platform focuses more on engaging your audience and nurturing them with landing pages, ecommerce platforms, and membership sites.
You’ll be able to create leads out of casual visitors to your social media accounts, blogs, YouTube videos, Facebook pages, and more.
For those of you who want to build automated email funnels at an affordable price, ConvertKit will be a top option for you to consider.
To set up automated emails, you’ll be guided through a simple visual flow chart.
Instead of having multiple lists of contacts, ConvertKit groups all of your subscribers into one list. But you’ll still be able to tag them manually for segmentation purposes or with auto tags based on their behavior to improve the personalization of your campaigns. That’s great for creators with big audiences.
ConvertKit is best for sending quick emails with clean formatting. There are no complex designs or distracting elements here.
Like most email marketing software, ConvertKit pricing is based on the number of subscribers you have.
- 0 – 1,000 Subscribers — $29 per month
- 1,000 – 3,000 Subscribers — $49 per month
- 3,000 – 5,000 Subscribers — $79 per month
If you switch to ConvertKit with more than 5,000 subscribers, you’ll benefit from their free concierge migration service. You can save some money and get two months for free if you sign up for an annual plan.
ConvertKit has more than 70 third-party direct integrations, customizable forms, and custom reporting. Email and live chat are available for 12 hours per day, Monday through Friday, with limited support on nights and weekends.
Still not sold? Take advantage of ConvertKit’s free 14-day trial to test it out on your own.
How to Find the Best Email Marketing Service for You
The best available email marketing service is going to be unique to you. After all, the multi-million dollar info product business is going to have very different needs than the humble blogger.
But there are specific factors that we took into consideration, because we believe that they tend to be the most important ones for most businesses.
I’ll break down the details of our process for making this list and explain what matters, what doesn’t, and what you need to know to find the best option for you.
Use our methodology to help guide your ultimate decision.
Plenty of Email Templates
There are a lot of reasons to want an email marketing service. You might want to create your first sales funnel and incorporate email into your marketing strategy. Or maybe you just want to send the occasional newsletter out to subscribers.
Whatever your reason, you want your emails to look good while you do it.
That’s why you should find an email marketing service that takes the stress out of things like formatting and typesetting by giving you a list of great email templates for any of your needs.
Many of the offerings above offer drag-and-drop email templates to help take the headache out of designing a great-looking email. With tools like MailChimp’s email builder, you’re filling out the basic info and a stunning email takes shape on its own.
They’ll also offer a variety of different email template types to fit specific purposes.
For example, Hubspot comes with a library of pre-built sales email templates ready for you and your business to use. If you want, they’ll even allow you to create your own templates unique to your business. You can customize them to your exact needs and save them for use whenever you need them.
MailChimp is another great service with tons of different email templates for different needs such as selling a product or promoting a blog post. It’s also highly customizable, allowing you to create specific ones for your brand’s goals.
Simple Segmentation
As your business grows, you’re going to want to target different parts of your audience for different products. After all, if you offer a variety of different services and products, not everyone on your list will want the same thing.
A good email marketing service gives you easy but powerful ways to segment your audience.
For example, a service like MailChimp allows you to tag segments of your audience depending on how they subscribed to your email list. That way, you can put those segments into specific targeted funnels easily and automatically (more on that later).
A service like Omnisend (pictured above) allows you to send segmented campaigns based on things like your subscriber’s interests, demographics, email open rates, and the products they’ve purchased.
It’s important to note: If you want segmentation features (and if you’re serious about email marketing, you should), you’re going to have to pay for it. This often doesn’t come with a service’s free plan. However, it’s well worth it, especially if you’re focused on growth and conversions.
In-Depth Analytics
As the old business adage goes: “If you can measure it, you can improve it.”
To that end, a good email marketing service will give you all the reporting tools you need to provide you with in-depth metrics and KPIs.
Knowing this information will give you vital data about where your subscribers live, who they are, and what they want from your business.
It’ll also help you create better services and marketing strategies in the future. For example, you’ll be able to better segment your audiences with the right analytics.
HubSpot has some of the best traffic and conversion analytic tools available. Along with their A/B testing feature, their analytics tools will let you know exactly how each of your emails perform and why.
Easy Automation
There’s nothing quite like the “set it and forget it” approach to business.
When an email marketing service is automated, you don’t have to worry about making sure that each and every one of your new subscribers is in the right sales funnel. Once you’ve set it up, they’ll receive the emails they should receive automatically.
That’s why you want to find an email marketing service that will let you easily set up automated emails without a lot of fuss and complex tagging schemes.
Constant Contact (pictured above) is a standout when it comes to automating emails. It lets you trigger welcome messages for any new subscribers and put them into specific drip campaigns depending on their actions. The simple design allows you to do this easily, too, with no headaches involved.
GetResponse is another option to definitely consider if automation is your game. Its Autofunnel platform allows you to easily create fully automated sales, leads, and webinar funnels in just a few clicks.
best commercial email marketing software
Business owners are constantly trying to improve their marketing efforts. Email marketing remains a powerful marketing tool, with a return on investment of $42 to every $1 spent.1 In order to harness the power of email marketing, it’s important to choose the right software that can take your marketing to the next level.
Email marketing software is so much more than just a way to send and track emails. Tools to increase your audience, segment your lists, and combine all your marketing channels turn the software into a powerful solution to grow your business and earn more revenue.
We tested the most popular email marketing software on the market and considered price, ease of use, functionality, and more to give you the best options depending on what you need.
The 6 Best Email Marketing Software of 2022
Best Overall: Mailchimp
Best for Automation: ActiveCampaign
Easiest to Use: MailerLite
Best All-in-One Marketing Suite: Hubspot
Best Affordable Option: Moosend
Best for E-commerce: Drip
Best Email Marketing Software
Mailchimp
ActiveCampaign
MailerLite
Hubspot
Moosend
Drip
What Is Email Marketing Software?
What Does It Cost?
Is It Included In CRM Software?
What Does It Include?
Methodology
BEST OVERALL
Mailchimp
MailchimpSIGN UP NOW
Mailchimp is the best overall email marketing software because it has the features that most businesses need, without being overly complicated or confusing. Businesses can schedule campaigns, A/B test copy, and get reports that include open rates, click-through rates, unsubscribe rates, and more. Plus, it has the most generous free-forever plans of the software we tested.
Pros
Free-forever plan (up to 2,000 contacts)
Easy to build and customize campaigns
Clear reporting that helps optimize future sends
Integrates with hundreds of software platforms
Cons
Pricey for larger contact lists (more than 15k subscribers)
Very limited phone support
Not designed for advanced marketing teams
Mailchimp’s free plan includes up to 2,000 contacts and up to 10,000 monthly email sends. Its platform is one of the easiest to get used to with drag-and-drop features that allow you to stylize your emails.
Aside from its free plan, there are also three paid plans, which vary in cost based on how many subscribers you have (nonprofits receive a 15% discount):
Essentials: $9.99 to $270 per month
Standard: $14.99 to $540 per month
Premium: $299 to $1,190 per month
Mailchimp is the perfect tool for any business looking for a simple way to send emails to their customers. It has an easy-to-use email editor, and once you upgrade to the first paid plan you get access to more advanced tools such as A/B testing and multi-step journeys. Users will enjoy the easy-to-understand reporting that helps them determine what is working and what isn’t. Things like open rates and click-throughs are easily identified so business owners know if readers are responding to the content.
BEST FOR AUTOMATION
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaignSIGN UP NOW
ActiveCampaign is the best email marketing software for automation because it has hundreds of pre-built automations that help you personalize campaigns for each subscriber. There are help guides throughout the platform as you’re getting things set up, plus ActiveCampaign’s customer support is fast and friendly.
Pros
Great automation features that simplify customer interactions
Helpful, friendly, and fast customer support
All plan levels include data migration and implementation services
CRM with sales automation included for free (For a limited time)
Has 850+ integrations with the most popular software
Cons
Learning curve can be a challenge
Lite plan is very limited (and includes ActiveCampaign branding)
Plans quickly jump in price with the number of contacts
ActiveCampaign is a customer experience automation (CXA) software with email capabilities. Because it is designed to manage contacts and the sales process, it offers more than 850 integrations.
There’s a 14-day free trial to test the software. After that, you will need to subscribe to one of the four paid plans, which you can pay monthly or annually. The discount for paying annually ranges from 15% to 40% depending on the plan. The cost of each plan also depends on how many contacts you have (nonprofits get 20% off).
Lite: $15+ per month
Plus: $70+ per month
Professional: $159+ per month
Enterprise: $279+ per month
You can get a plan and adjust it for the number of contacts you have while still getting the basic features of the plan. For example, you can get the Lite plan with 500 contacts but can incrementally increase it to 100,000 contacts for $405 annually. The Plus, Professional, and Enterprise plans increase the customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities of your platform.
ActiveCampaign helps businesses build automations that are customized to increase engagement with subscribers, giving it the edge in this category. The interface is easy to use, intuitive, and includes resources for any questions that come up during the process. It also includes sales automations so your marketing and sales processes can work together to earn more revenue.
EASIEST TO USE
MailerLite
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MailerLite is the easiest email marketing software to use because it has a drag-and-drop interface that makes it fun and intuitive to create the design you want. Simplicity is at the heart of the company’s mission, which is why the software has a clean and streamlined look.
Pros
Drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to design emails
Free plan for up to 1,000 contacts
Email support
Lots of email templates to choose from
Cons
Doesn’t include CRM functionalities (Though it allows for integration)
Limited integrations
Need to provide a lot of company information to get an account set up
MailerLite has designed a superior user-friendly platform, making it the best choice for ease of use. Should users experience any problems, there is email support to answer any questions and troubleshoot.
It offers a free-forever plan that includes 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 email sends. If you need more bandwidth or want more advanced features (like the ability to remove MailerLite branding), there is a paid plan. Cost depends on how many subscribers you have. You can pay monthly or annually, but with an annual plan, you get a 30% discount. Nonprofits also receive a 30% discount. Here’s a breakdown of the cost:
Up to 1,000 contacts: $10 per month
1,001 to 2,500 contacts: $15 per month
2,501 to 5,000 contacts: $30 per month
5,001 to 10,000 contacts: $50 per month
MailerLite includes all of the essentials for email marketing, without cluttering their system with advanced features. This makes it the perfect fit for businesses looking for a straightforward approach to email marketing that they can master in days, not months.
BEST ALL-IN-ONE MARKETING SUITE
Hubspot
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Hubspot is the best all-in-one marketing suite because it has great tools and reporting for all of your marketing campaigns across various channels (website, social, email marketing, and more). You can store all contact information with Hubspot’s CRM and attract an audience through lead forms, live chat, and online ads.
Pros
Full marketing suite with CRM, social media, blogging, as well as email marketing capabilities
Email health tab helps keep deliverability rates on track
Only pay for the contacts you are marketing to
Track leads throughout their buying journey
Helpful online training resources
Cons
Does not have a free-forever plan or a low-cost plan
Not for businesses strictly looking for email marketing tools
Difficult to integrate a separate CRM, like Salesforce or Pipedrive
Steep learning curve to fully unlock the marketing potential
Hubspot is a leader in CRM services that include email marketing. The platform can handle everything from emails, social media posts, and blog publishing, making it the top platform for an all-in-one marketing solution.
There’s a 14-day free trial, and then you’ll have to subscribe to one of their three paid plans. While it’s free to store unlimited contacts, once the number you email surpasses the included amount, you will have to pay an additional fee. Save 10% on the first two plans if you pay annually (the Enterprise plan must be paid annually).
Starter (up to 1,000 contacts): $50 per month
Professional (up to 2,000 contacts): $800 per month
Enterprise (up to 10,000 contacts): $3,200 per month
Hubspot combines all of your marketing activities in one place so you can have a centralized view of how contacts interact with your website, Google ads, social media, and email marketing. It provides insights into the buyer’s journey, helping business owners better tailor their marketing efforts for success. The platform includes a robust training platform that not only reviews how to use the system but also highlights the best practices for successful marketing campaigns.
BEST AFFORDABLE OPTION
Moosend
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Moosend is the best affordable option not only because its paid plans cost less than most on the market, but also because you can pay either by the number of subscribers or by the number of emails sent, depending on which option is cheapest for you. Plus, its tools are user friendly and make it easy to get attractive and timely emails out to your audience.
Pros
Lowest plan costs
Option to pay only when you send emails
Easy to customize templates or use one from the template library
Cons
Can’t send emails from a Gmail or Hotmail address
Less-sophisticated user interface
Limited integrations
Moosend is a cost-effective platform that gives users the choice of how to get billed: by subscribers or by email. Phone support is included that can help if you have trouble customizing one of the numerous templates provided.
Moosend’s Free Forever plan includes 1,000 subscribers, plus there’s a Pro Plan and an Enterprise plan with tiered pricing. You’ll need to contact Moosend for Enterprise plan pricing. The Pro Plan is priced based on the number of subscribers. Below is the cost if you pay monthly, but you’ll receive a 20% discount for annual billing. You’ll also receive a 25% discount if you’re a nonprofit.
Up to 2,000 subscribers: $10 per month
2,001 to 2,500 subscribers: $20 per month
2,501 to 5,000 subscribers: $30 per month
5,001 to 8,000 subscribers: $40 per month
You can opt to pay for the number of emails sent (includes unlimited subscribers), which Moosend calls credits. For $1, you get 1,000 credits, which is equal to 1,000 email sends. With this option, you get the same features that are included in the Pro Plan, such as landing pages, and transactional emails.
Moosend is one of the cheapest email marketing tools on the market, but it’s robust enough to satisfy most email marketing campaigns for small businesses, winning our spot for the most affordable option. It allows you to pay either by the number of subscribers or by the number of emails sent, so you can choose which option is most cost-effective for your business.
BEST FOR E-COMMERCE
Drip
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Drip is the best email marketing software for e-commerce businesses because of it’s sophisticated workflows combined with advanced list segmentation. This combination means that subscribers receive personalized emails triggered by their shopping behaviors on your site and receive timely follow-ups based on how they interact with your emails.
Pros
Simple yet powerful drip campaigns
Easy to set up and use
Excellent customer support
Sophisticated contact list segmentation
Cons
Lacks a few key integrations
No drag-and-drop functionality for designing templates
Support only available weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST
Designed to improve the online user experience for shoppers, Drip is the best email marketing software for e-commerce companies. Its user support is available to help with issues setting up and using the service. We especially like how you can segment your lists so users get the best possible experience from your website and email alerts.
Drip has a 14-day free trial and has one plan that ranges from $19 to $1,599 per month depending on how many contacts are in your account. Here are a few of the price points:
Up to 500 contacts: $19 per month
501 to 2,000 contacts: $29 per month
2,001 to 2,500 contacts: $39 per month
2,501 to 3,000 contacts: $49 per month
For costs above this number of contacts, it’s best to get details directly from the website. The tiered scale goes up to 140,000 contacts for $1,599 before you need to contact them for custom enterprise pricing.
Drip is built for e-commerce, which means its workflows, email templates, and lead generation forms are designed with e-commerce best practices in mind. It includes advanced segmentation and customization that allows you to hyper-target your campaigns in order to increase user engagement.
What Is Email Marketing Software?
Email marketing software enables users to create, send, and track emails to their list of subscribers. Using software makes it easier to create well-designed emails, and also allows you to see key metrics such as open rates and click-through rates. Advanced platforms allow you to automate sends based on user behavior, which increases the likelihood of engagement since the email is more personalized to their interests.
Email marketing is an effective marketing tool for almost any industry. For example, an e-commerce store can automate a follow-up email if a user leaves an item in their cart, reminding them to make the purchase. A SaaS product can encourage users to demo a product and decide how persistently to follow up based on whether the lead takes them up on their offer. While email marketing is not by any means a new technique, it has proven its effectiveness year after year in industry reports.
What Does Email Marketing Software Cost?
Email marketing software typically has variations of plans based on the number of contacts you have. The cost of the lowest-priced plan typically ranges from free to $50 per month. The cost of the highest-priced plan can be thousands of dollars per month. Most plans have at least a two-week free trial and offer discounts to users that pay annually.
How much you pay really depends on how many features you need and how actively you engage in email marketing. This is because most software charges either by the number of emails in the database or by the number of emails you send out. Therefore, it’s important to keep a close eye on your activity in order to monitor whether your monthly costs are increasing.
Does CRM Software Include Email Marketing?
Some CRM software does give you the functionality to email contacts within the database. However, it does not have the robust set of features that software dedicated to email marketing will have. The email marketing tool in a CRM is really for people that just need to send the occasional email and don’t need a design or automated campaigns.
If you want to increase engagement with your subscribers through automations or get more advanced reporting, then it makes sense to get a separate email marketing software from your CRM.
What Does Email Marketing Software Typically Include?
Almost all email marketing software allows you to design emails, upload contacts, schedule email campaigns, and see data on how your emails are performing. Advanced software lets you A/B split test aspects of the email, segment your contact list based on interests, and automate emails based on how contacts interact with any of your marketing channels. There are also typically lead generation capabilities such as putting lead forms on your site and creating landing pages to get more subscribers into the database.
How We Chose the Best Email Marketing Software
We looked at 12 email marketing software platforms before deciding on the top six. We considered price, ease of use, and functionality when determining the best options. We also aimed to get a range of options that work for different industries and business sizes, as every company will have different needs and use cases. In our review, we favored companies that offered a free-forever plan or a free trial so you can test the product’s effectiveness before committing.
Conclusion
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