Are you ready to level up your email marketing game?
We sure hope so, because this blog is going to be your straightest path to mastery.
Now, we know that email marketing can seem intimidating at first. There’s a lot of jargon and technical information to take in. But the truth is, once you get a handle on the basics and a feel for what works for you and your customers, it’s actually pretty simple! Just like any other type of marketing.
And if you have any questions along the way? We’ve got you covered. Every post comes with a comments section where you can ask us anything—and we’ll usually respond within 24 hours!
So let’s get started!
Create Email Marketing Software
Marketing trends and channels evolve over time. While some trends come and go quickly, one of the channels that has remained more or less the same is email. In fact, email continues to be the top channel for content marketing with both B2C and B2B marketers. 87% of B2B marketers and 77% of B2C marketers use it to nurture their audience.
It can even help you amplify your other marketing channels such as social. With that said, marketers still face a ton of challenges in their email marketing efforts. One of these key challenges is simply the amount of time it takes to create a great looking email from scratch. Without efficient tools, marketers may end up spending a lot of time creating and sending out emails that don’t exactly look stunning. This hinders productivity while dragging down your email marketing ROI.
A lot of companies settle for this situation because they’re not ready to invest in a tool to simplify the process. However, email marketing tools don’t necessarily have to be expensive. You can find plenty of free email marketing tools that can help you save time and money.
If you’re looking for a social management solution to complement your email marketing, test out a free 30-day trial of Sprout Social:
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Read on for our list of the top free email marketing tools:
- HubSpot Email Marketing
HubSpot, probably best known for their marketing automation platform, recently launched a free email marketing tool that can support a lot of a small business’ transactional email needs.
Whether you need to send kickback emails from lead offers, thank you emails after purchase, or just promote current campaigns, HubSpot Email Marketing’s free version can do that. One of the best parts of HubSpot’s free email tool is its ease of use. The tool features a handy drag-and-drop visual editor, and it also comes equipped with ready-made templates to get you up and running immediately.
What makes HubSpot Email Marketing stand out is, of course, its native integration with other HubSpot tools, such as the free-forever CRM. Once you start an account, you get access to both tools so you can create a centralized contacts database, organize it in lists, and manage and track email performance.
hubspot email marketing tool
- Sender
Sender is one of the best free email marketing tools in the market with features to ensure deliverability. It lets you create stunning newsletters without any HTML knowledge. Just choose from a template and customize it with elements like images, videos and text. You can even personalize your newsletters for each recipient to create an even bigger impact.
Sender dashboard screenshot
Sender’s robust analytics feature is one of the top reasons why it’s on our list. It lets you track who opened your emails and clicked on the links, when they were opened and more. It even helps you build accurate buyer profiles based on your subscriber actions, so you’ll be able to optimize your existing email strategy and craft compelling offers.
- Sendinblue
Sendinblue is a marketing communication platform that features both email marketing tools and additional functions such as customer relationship management and landing page creation. With over 70 design templates, Sendinblue’s email design functions make it easy to create a great-looking email. Plus, all of these templates are responsive, and you can preview your results to can ensure your design looks the way you want on any screen format.
After you design your email, you can use features like A/B testing and segmented recipient lists to take the manual effort and guesswork out of optimizing your campaigns and targeting your ideal audiences.
sendinblue email editor
- Omnisend
Omnisend is a sophisticated ecommerce marketing platform that integrates all your communication platforms in one place. Its free plan includes only email, but it’s more than enough to support the email marketing efforts of small and medium businesses. It allows you to automate your email delivery using behavioral triggers and easily time your communications based on your customers’ convenience.
You can utilize its comprehensive audience insights to send out more relevant email marketing messages. Design attractive newsletters using time-saving features like the Product Picker, which lets you select all the products you want to include in your email. You can also include scratch cards, discount coupon codes and gift boxes to further optimize your email performance.
Omnisend dashboard screenshot
- SendPulse
SendPulse advertises itself as a multi-channel marketing platform, but its email marketing feature is the most popular. It comes with a ton of professionally-designed email templates that you can easily customize using a drag-and-drop editor. You can then set up these customized emails to be automatically sent out at the right time based on user behavior, event trigger and other variables.
SendPulse’s subscriber rating feature is an excellent way to identify your most valuable subscribers. It lets you analyze the open and click rates as well as the read and unread rate of each subscriber. You can even set replaceable text fields to personalize your emails by name, gender, date of birth, age and job role.
SendPulse subscriber rating
- Benchmark Email
Benchmark Email is a great option for an email marketing tool to design responsive emails that look great no matter which device they’re viewed on. If you need to add images to your email, you can even edit the image right on the platform. The email editor lets you add effects, stickers and text to effectively send across your message.
You have the option to choose from tons of pre-designed templates based on industry, type and occasion. For the more HTML savvy, you can even use the code editor to build emails from scratch. The dual view feature lets you see your email design as you’re editing it, which simplifies the whole email creation process.
Benchmark Email responsive design templates
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- Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a leader in email marketing tools that you’ve probably heard of. Their free plan provides you with basic email marketing features such as email creation and scheduling. What makes this a great email marketing tool is its smart recommendations feature, which provides you with valuable audience insights to optimize your marketing efforts.
Designing emails on the platform is easy using the Content Manager, where you can store your images and files for easy access. Mailchimp lets you automate your emails at crucial steps of the buyer journey, so you can easily send out welcome emails, order confirmations, abandoned cart reminders and more.
Mailchimp content manager screenshot
- MailerLite
Sophisticated features like the landing page builder and the pop-up customizer make MailerLite stand out among free email tools in the market. In addition to the basics like the drag-and-drop email builder, the tool comes with a rich text editor and a built-in photo editor to create stunning emails.
MailerLite email customizer
You can create responsive landing pages to match the emails that you send, which will improve your chances of driving conversions. You can run split tests on different variations of your email to see what works best to drive clicks and conversions. MailerLite also provides you with a comprehensive campaign report that contains important stats like click rate, unsubscribe rate, open rate and more.
- Mailjet
Mailjet comes with intuitive and collaborative tools to help you build effective email marketing campaigns. Customize any of the pre-designed templates and create responsive emails to impress any recipient no matter which device they’re using. If you work with a team, you’ll love the platform’s real-time collaboration feature that allows for seamless collaboration.
This email marketing tool also lets you add dynamic content so you can create personalized and relevant emails for each recipient. This helps you get much better results out of your email marketing campaigns. You can also integrate the platform into your CRM and easily manage your mailing list through a single dashboard.
Mailjet contact statistics
- Moosend
Moosend is an excellent email marketing tool that lets you automate repetitive tasks and saves you time. You can design behavioral email campaigns based on your subscribers’ information and/or activities. You can use its advanced segmentation feature to send highly accurate emails to each recipient, increasing open rate and click-through rate as well as ROI.
This tool provides you with a detailed campaign performance report so you know exactly how to optimize your campaigns and get even better results. You can even integrate it with some of your favorite apps to seamlessly pass on vital information between different tools. It’s also one of the only free email marketing tools that won’t include its logo in your emails.
Moosend email performance report
- EmailOctopus
EmailOctopus is a simple email marketing tool that runs on the Amazon SES infrastructure. While the free plan doesn’t offer as many features as some of the other free email marketing tools on this list, it does allow a lot more emails per month than most of them.
You can send out unlimited emails from as many email addresses as you like. This makes it the perfect solution for a small agency or entrepreneur representing other brands. It also integrates with third-party apps like MailOptin, WordPress and Zapier so you can seamlessly exchange customer data between different tools.
EmailOctopus email performance report
Bottom line
Most of these free email marketing tools come with robust features even without the need to upgrade to a paid plan. Small businesses and marketers should be able to make the most of them while saving time and money. Even if you need to upgrade to accommodate your business needs, you’ll find that many of the paid plans are affordable and flexible enough to fit your budget.
If you’re just starting out your efforts on this channel, check out our email marketing guide for more ideas on how to get the most out of your tools.
best free email marketing software
Looking for a way to run your email marketing efforts without breaking the bank? The free email marketing services on this list all let you send thousands of emails per month without spending a single penny.
👉 For beginners; you can check our article what is email marketing? to find out how to get started.
Keep reading for a detailed look at each free email marketing service’s sending limits and pros and cons. Then, we’ll share our recommendations at the end. These are much better than Gmail for professional users!
Best free email marketing services in a nutshell
Here are the top solutions that we’re going to cover:
Sendinblue (www.sendinblue.com)
Mailchimp (mailchimp.com)
MailerLite (www.mailerlite.com)
Benchmark (www.benchmarkemail.com)
Omnisend (www.omnisend.com)
Sender (www.sender.net)
Before we dig in, here’s a quick summary of the free email marketing tools that we’ll cover, along with the various limits on each service’s free plan:
SERVICE SUBSCRIBER LIMIT MONTHLY EMAIL SENDS DAILY EMAIL SENDS
Sendinblue Unlimited 9,000 300
Mailchimp 2,000 10,000 2,000
MailerLite 1,000 12,000 –
Benchmark Unlimited 250 –
Omnisend Unlimited 500 –
Sender 2,500 15,000 –
Note; while there are other popular email marketing solutions on the market as well, like ConvertKit, GetResponse, Mailjet, AWeber, Constant Contact, Moosend, HubSpot, SendPulse, ActiveCampaign, and more, we felt that their free offerings were either not up to par with the lineup that we settled on in the end (or nonexistent at all). Keep reading for a deeper look at each service that has made the final list.
Email marketing on a budget? Here are the 6 best #free #email #marketing services
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- Sendinblue (www.sendinblue.com)
sendinblue
Sendinblue has a great free plan (unlimited contacts) along with support for SMS text message sending, SMTP, in-depth analytics, powerful marketing automation features all in the same dashboard. Sendinblue is also headquartered in France, so you’re guaranteed to comply with GDPR.
How many emails/subscribers do you get for free?
The free plan lets you have an unlimited number of contacts, but you’re limited to 300 emails per day. For that reason, this platform might not be a great option if you want to send out email blasts to all your subscribers at the same time. However, if you have lots of drip campaigns, it’s quite flexible because there’s no subscriber cap.
The first upgrade is called the Lite plan, which offers 20,000 emails per month at $25.00 per month. The daily sending limit is removed.
What makes this one of the best free email marketing services?
A strong drag-and-drop email editor.
Impressive email marketing automation with things like autoresponders, coupons in emails and abandoned cart messages.
Integrations with platforms like Shopify, Salesforce, and Intercom.
Heat mapping and A/B testing to see how your emails are doing.
SMS marketing that can be linked to your email campaigns.
A feature-rich WordPress plugin that lets you manage everything from your WordPress dashboard. Plus, you can handle your transactional emails through Sendinblue as well.
Chat feature to reach out to visitors in real time. One of the unique features with an email marketing service.
A unique CRM solution that’s integrated into the main Sendinblue package.
Who should use it?
Because of the way the free account works, Sendinblue is a great email marketing solution if you have lots of subscribers but you don’t need to message them all at the same time. If you’re only going to be sending a reasonable number of emails each day, you won’t have to pay for Sendinblue at all. It’s also a good option for WordPress users because of its official plugin and it has better analytics than many of the other free email marketing services.
We are using Sendinblue at Themeisle. Because of this relationship that we have with them, they’ve offered an exclusive 30% discount for the first month on all paid plans. If you end up buying any of them, communicate with this email to redeem the discount: axel+codeinwp [at] sendinblue.com. 🔥
- Mailchimp (mailchimp.com)
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a favourite of many bloggers and small businesses because it was one of the first big email services to offer a completely free plan. Not only that, but Mailchimp has some excellent eCommerce and email marketing tools.
How many emails/subscribers do you get for free?
The free plan includes 10,000 emails per month for up to 2,000 subscribers.
If you would like to upgrade to unlimited emails it costs $11.00 per month – the catch is that you can only have up to 500 subscribers – which isn’t the case for some alternatives.
What makes this one of the best free email marketing services?
The drag-and-drop editor, along with the beautiful templates that you can personalize, are some of the best in the business.
You get a landing page builder – use them to promote special offers.
Mailchimp has tools for Instagram and Facebook ads and posts.
Connect with tools like Shopify, Eventbrite, and Salesforce.
The automation tools include options for abandoned carts, welcome campaigns, and product recommendations.
A/B testing and segmentation make your emails more effective.
Great award-winning customer support available 24/7.
Options for list segmentation.
Who should use it?
We like Mailchimp for any small business owners and bloggers who appreciate great designs and stellar deliverability (it will also help you optimize your open rates). It’s also nice if you have an eCommerce store or plan on automating emails and you’d like to make your automation workflows more efficient.
- MailerLite (www.mailerlite.com)
MailerLite
MailerLite is one of the best free email marketing services that gained popularity in the last two years. This tool makes it easier for users to improve interaction using pop-ups and surveys.
How many emails/subscribers do you get for free?
The free plan will let you send up to 1,000 emails without having to spend a dime. And while the free version will give you access to nearly all of the essential email marketing features, you might have to miss out on some advanced features.
By that, I mean you won’t get access to customizable templates, get live chat support or check CTR using a heatmap, or perform A/B testing. You can unlock all this for $10.00 per month. If you want to increase the subscribers limit to 2,500 then you need to spend $15 per month instead.
What makes this one of the best free email marketing software?
You can create beautiful email newsletters, pop-ups, and surveys.
Easily design a mobile-optimized email template for free.
Send a newsletter to your global subscribers at optimum time using delivery-by-time-zone.
You’d be able to control your backend using the custom HTML editor.
Find the most converting landing page using A/B split testing and heatmap analysis.
The dedicated support team for providing high-class live chat experience (premium plan)
Get access to 49+ newsletter templates for blog, eCommerce, business, and more.
Has an API for developers built on HTTP and REST.
Who should use it?
MailerLite can be used for creating landing pages (for webinars, for example), pop-ups, and surveys from a single dashboard. All this plus the heatmap testing makes it ideal for startups, small to mid-sized businesses and eCommerce stores who need good deliverability.
- Benchmark (www.benchmarkemail.com)
Benchmark
Benchmark boasts a speedy email designer made just for busy marketers. You can edit photos right in the editor and the templates are great for a wide variety of businesses. At the same time, their free email marketing tool is easy enough to use that your people will be able to subscribe/unsubscribe without added hurdles.
How many emails/subscribers do you get for free?
The free plan lets you have unlimited subscribers and send up to 250 emails per month, which is almost exactly what you get with Mailchimp.
If you’d like to upgrade, you can start with 600 subscribers and unlimited email sends per month for $13.99.
What makes this one of the best free email marketing services?
It doesn’t take much time to craft email marketing campaigns using their drag-and-drop email builder.
You can easily custom code your emails.
The email automation options include welcome emails, abandoned carts, and follow-ups.
Polls and surveys are included.
You receive tools for A/B testing and integrating with hundreds of apps.
Who should use it?
Since the free plan is one of the best on the market, I would recommend this platform to those who can’t afford to pay anything for an email marketing tool. Otherwise, it works well for bloggers and eCommerce stores (running on WooCommerce and other tools).
- Omnisend (www.omnisend.com)
Omnisend
Omnisend is a must among these email service providers for users who are running online stores only. It quickly pulls products from your store and generates beautiful and fun emails and opt-in forms to grow your email list.
How many emails/subscribers do you get for free?
The free email marketing plan offers you 500 emails per month, and you can reach 250 of your subscribers. It is possible to have a larger contact list but you will only be able to send to 250 of your contacts.
Upgrading depends on whether you need more emails per month or more advanced features. The pricing plans start at $16 per month for 500 subscribers and 6,000 emails. The email count and pricing goes up with more subscribers.
👉 If you’re interested in any of those paid plans, you can get a limited time discount of 20% – for Themeisle readers only. The discount is valid for six months on the Standard plan. Click here and redeem the coupon code INFLUENCES206 during checkout.
What makes this one of the best free email marketing software?
The free plan is a steal and the upgrades are rather flexible.
The eCommerce integrations instantly pull products you want to sell into the email.
It has creative signup forms like popups, landing pages, and a wheel-of-fortune game.
Send out discount codes or scratch cards.
Create automation reports and A/B test campaigns.
Retain mobile audience using mobile-friendly email templates.
Send out automated emails for abandoned carts and order confirmations.
Also offers enterprise solutions for bigger companies.
Who should use it?
Omnisend is a great free option for eCommerce stores. You can still use this free email marketing software if you’re not running a store, but you’ll miss out on a lot of the unique functionality.
- Sender (www.sender.net)
Sender
Sender is yet another email service with a wonderful free plan. It also offers push notifications to go along with its segmentation, integrations, and stunning designs that you can customize.
How many emails/subscribers do you get for free?
The free plan lets you have up to 2,500 subscribers and send 15,000 emails per month.
The next upgrade is $10 per month for 5,000 subscribers and 60,000 emails per month.
What makes this one of the best free email marketing services?
It has plugins for most popular content management systems.
Video gets converted into animated GIFs inside emails.
The analysis tools include click maps and Google Analytics – so you can track all your metrics effectively and in an user-friendly way.
Adding eCommerce products is done by quickly copying and pasting links.
It can help you automate your social media marketing efforts.
It will also give you pointers on optimization of your subject lines.
Conclusion
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