Email marketing services maximize the benefits of email marketing, which enables businesses to send targeted messages to current and potential customers without disrupting them. Most of these services provide in-depth reporting tools that enhance marketing campaigns and boost business growth.
- Constant Contact
- HubSpot
- Mailigen
- MailChimp
- SendinBlue
- GetResponse
- Omnisend
- ConvertKit
- Moosend
- ActiveCampaign
Here’s a quick guide on how to find the best email marketing software for your business.
1. Constant Contact
Constant Contact is one of the most popular email marketing services due to its affordability and flexibility. It streamlines the design process and batch sending of promotional emails. It also has a user-friendly interface and analytic tools that can help small businesses grow their online stores even with little marketing know-how. Aside from this, it’s known to have excellent support services and learning resources.
👆 Features
- Email marketing automation
- Vast graphics library
- Drag-and-drop email designer with customizable templates
- Integration with social media and ecommerce platforms
- Subject line A/B testing
- Tracking and reporting tools
💲 Pricing
Constant Contact a 60-day free trial. Their customizable plans start at $20 per month for unlimited emails to up to 500 subscribers. Rates for up to 15,000 subscribers are around $195 monthly.
⭐️ Best for
- New businesses growing their email list
- Small organizations with simple email marketing needs
✅ PROS:
- Free 60-day trial with no credit card required
- Online trainings and in-person seminars for basic email marketing
- Mobile-responsive
⛔️ CONS:
- Not as intuitive as other platforms
2. HubSpot
HubSpot’s email marketing software lets you create professional-looking emails using its user-friendly interface. The drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to personalize email templates and optimize them with CTAs and engaging content.
👆 Features
- Customizable email templates with CTAs
- A/B tests and analytics for email campaign optimization
- Marketing automation
- Lead management and targeted campaigns
- Social media integration
- Salesforce integration
💲 Pricing
HubSpot offers basic features for free. The free plan includes email marketing, forms, contact management, insights and analytics, ads management, and live chat. For the complete marketing software with all the pro features, rates start at $800 per month.
⭐️ Best for
- Marketers who need an all-in-one marketing solution
✅ PROS:
- Simple easy-to-use interface
- Scalability
- Doesn’t require third-party integration
⛔️ CONS:
- Cost increases significantly with more advanced features
3. Mailigen
Mailigen is best known for beautiful emails that appeal to human senses. It offers features and tools that help create and optimize emails, gain insights, and increase customer engagement. It’s an email marketing solution that’s easy to use even for beginners.
👆 Features
- Intelligent email builder with a responsive drag-and-drop editor
- Integration with social media and ecommerce platforms
- Multi-user account for better team management
- Responsive online surveys
- Real-time reports and analytics
- SMS marketing
💲 Pricing
Mailigen offers a 30-day free trial, granting full access to the platform but with a subscriber cap of 100 emails. Paid subscriptions start at $10 per month for up to 500 subscribers. All subscriptions allow unlimited emails and campaigns plus unlimited access to all features.
⭐️ Best for
- Email marketing novices
- Small businesses
✅ PROS:
- Easy ecommerce and API integrations
- Live chat support
- Targeted email content
⛔️ CONS:
- Limited send options
4. MailChimp
MailChimp is one of the first major email services to offer a completely free plan, which makes it popular for new businesses and bloggers. Aside from providing email marketing services, it functions as an all-in-one marketing platform with excellent tools for e-commerce.
👆 Features
- Drag-and-drop builder with strong templates
- Email marketing automation tools
- Integration with ecommerce platforms such as Salesforce and Shopify
- Built-in CRM system
- Automatic ads for Facebook and Instagram
💲 Pricing
MailChimp’s free plan allows you to send 10,000 emails per month to up to 2,000 subscribers. Paid subscriptions begin at $9.99 per month and include 500,000 monthly emails to up to 50,000 subscribers.
⭐️ Best for
- Small businesses running online stores
- Bloggers and podcasters
- Business owners looking for integrated CRMs
✅ PROS:
- Powerful templates
- Google Analytics integration
- Feature-packed free plan
⛔️ CONS:
- Premium plan is fairly expensive
- Limited automation
5. SendinBlue
SendinBlue is an all-in-one platform for marketing your business. It provides tools for both email and SMS marketing campaigns. It also has a chat feature that enables your customers to reach you instantly for faster communication.
👆 Features
- Supports SMS marketing
- A/B testing
- Drag-and-drop editor with pre-built templates
- Email marketing automation with eight workflow templates, coupons in emails, and abandoned cart messages
- Ecommerce integrations with platforms such as Salesforce and Shopify
- WordPress plug-in enables sending emails from the WP dashboard
- Analytics tools for tracking campaign metrics
💲 Pricing
SendinBlue has a free plan for unlimited subscribers but with a limit of only 300 emails per day. Its paid subscriptions start at $25 per month for the Lite plan, which allows up to 40,000 emails per month. All paid subscriptions have no subscriber cap and no daily sending limit.
⭐️ Best for
- Small businesses with lots of subscribers
- Drip campaigns
- WordPress users
✅ PROS:
- GDPR-compliant
- Advanced analytics and intuitive tools
- Flexible and scalable plans
⛔️ CONS:
- Limited templates
- API functionality can be complicated for users with no technical knowledge
6. GetResponse
GetResponse is a marketing software that helps businesses grow their customer base, promote products and services, and boost sales. It offers marketing solutions for both small and large businesses with Enterprise plans for those with a list size of over 100,000 subscribers.
👆 Features
- Email marketing automation with ready-made workflows
- Drag-and-drop builder
- High-converting landing pages
- Advanced analytics for tracking leads and conversions
- Integration with social media and e-commerce apps
💲 Pricing
The basic plan is $15 per month for a list size of up to 1,000 subscribers. This includes basic features such as email marketing, autoresponders, and Facebook ads. It also includes unlimited landing pages, automation templates, and lead funnels.
⭐️ Best for
- Small businesses engaged in e-commerce
✅ PROS:
- Webinars and learning resources
- Responsive forms
- Conversion funnel
⛔️ CONS:
- Doesn’t score high in deliverability tests
7. Omnisend
Omnisend combines email and SMS marketing for an omnichannel marketing approach. It’s equipped with powerful features that widen the market reach and boost sales of e-commerce sites. It also helps provide customers an omnichannel experience in just one platform.
👆 Features
- Engaging signup forms with pop-ups and wheel-of-fortunes
- Flexible segmentation
- Sales reporting
- Emails for cart recovery
- Mobile-friendly templates
- Easy ecommerce integrations
- A/B test campaigns
💲 Pricing
Omnisend has a free plan that allows 15,000 emails per month for unlimited subscribers. The free plan, however, has a limit of 2,000 emails per day. To unlock advanced features, sign up for paid subscriptions that start at $16 per month for 500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month.
⭐️ Best for
- ecommerce stores
- Omnichannel marketers
✅ PROS:
- Easy integration with ecommerce platforms and apps
- Integrated SMS marketing
- Flexible plan upgrades
⛔️ CONS:
- Doesn’t allow integration of multiple shops in one platform
8. ConvertKit
ConvertKit makes it easier to grow your email list and connect with your subscribers. Create opt-in forms, landing pages, and engaging email templates without having to use any complicated codes. Powerful automations help enhance your marketing campaigns so you can focus on what matters most.
👆 Features
- Landing pages and customizable signup forms
- Email designer
- Email marketing automation
- Tracking and reporting tools
- List segmentation and tagging
💲 Pricing
ConvertKit offers a completely free plan that allows email broadcasts to up to 1,000 subscribers. The free plan includes unlimited landing pages, signup forms, and traffic. For more advanced features, opt for paid subscriptions that start at $29 per month with a 14-day free trial. Aside from the free trial, ConvertKit also offers a 30-day refund policy.
⭐️ Best for
- Professional bloggers and podcasters
- Businesses building their email lists
✅ PROS:
- List migration
- ConvertKit Community connects platform users
- Free courses for building and launching online businesses
⛔️ CONS:
- No email templates
9. Moosend
Moosend is an all-in-one email marketing automation platform designed to help businesses grow. Its advanced features make marketing tasks easier to accomplish and help make campaigns more effective.
👆 Features
- Drag-and-drop editors and page builders
- A/B Testing and advanced list segmentation
- Real-time data analytics and advanced reporting
- Marketing automation
- Website and user tracking
- Email personalization
- Templates for emails and landing pages
💲 Pricing
Moosend has a Free Forever plan that provides access to core features including unlimited emails, sign-up & subscription forms, and analytics tools. Pro plans with advanced features start at $8 per month.
⭐️ Best for
- SMEs and large enterprises
✅ PROS:
- Powerful e-commerce integration
- Responsive support system
- GDPR-compliant
⛔️ CONS:
- Outdated interface design
- Lackluster email templates and sign-up forms
10. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is an advanced tool that goes beyond email marketing automation. Aside from being one of the most powerful automation tools, it’s an integrated platform for streamlining sales processes and enhancing marketing campaigns.
👆 Features
- Email broadcasting and targeted messaging
- Scheduled emails and autoresponders
- Automated contacts and list management
- Email funnels
- Dynamic content
- Split testing
💲 Pricing
Plans with basic features start at $9 per month for up to 500 subscribers. Plus plans with advanced features start at $49 per month.
⭐️ Best for
- Businesses looking for omnichannel marketing solutions
- Businesses that need sales and marketing integrations
✅ PROS:
- Powerful yet user-friendly marketing automations
- Free account migrations
- Mobile-responsive
⛔️ CONS:
- Vast array of features can be confusing for beginners
- No free plan
Key Features of Email Marketing Platforms
When choosing an email marketing platform, look for one that has the best email marketing tools that fit your business requirements. Whatever your needs are, make sure that these core features are included:
- Easy-to-use visual editor. Look for drag-and-drop functionality, pre-built templates, and a graphics library that you can use to easily create professional emails that catch the attention of customers.
- Audience segmentation. Segmentation is an important aspect of email marketing. This feature will enable you to send targeted emails for better campaign performance.
- Email marketing automation. One reason why businesses utilize email marketing services is to automate tedious and repetitive tasks such as scheduling and sending emails, tracking user engagement, responding to emails, and other similar tasks.
- Advanced list maintenance. Automated opt-outs, subscription changes, and removal of invalid email addresses can help lower bounce rates. Look for an advanced list management feature that keeps your subscriber list up-to-date.
- Reports and analytics dashboards. Data is crucial to any campaign as they provide a way to measure how your campaign is performing. A software solution that enables real-time data and detailed reporting is essential.
- CAN-SPAM compliance. Avoid high-bounce rates with a service that follows compliance regulations for managing subscriptions.
Factors to Consider in Choosing the Best Email Marketing Service
Aside from checking for core features, you also need to pay attention to the following factors when choosing the best email marketing service:
- Features. The features you should look for in a provider should depend on your specific needs. Professional bloggers might need email broadcasting features to unlimited subscribers, while business owners might look for easy integration with social media and ecommerce platforms.
- Customer support. Even for experienced marketers, having excellent support is important. Your email service must be reachable and responsive when you encounter glitches or require help with maintenance.
- Price. There are email marketing services that offer free plans or free trials. These are great for small businesses just starting out on digital marketing. Paid plans are usually flexible and scalable so you can choose one that fits your current budget and campaign goals.
Best Email Marketing Practices
Once you’ve chosen the top email marketing service for your business, maximize the results by employing the best email marketing practices. These include:
- Adding a clear value proposition in the subject line to entice subscribers to read your email.
- Creating relevant, informative, or engaging content.
- Testing email content before sending a campaign.
- Using tracking tools and analytics to measure campaign performance.
- Embedding sign-up forms and CTAs to make subscribing easier.
- Providing an unsubscribe link to comply with regulations.
Best Email Marketing Service FAQs
Is MailChimp better than Constant Contact?
MailChimp and Constant Contact are two of the most popular email marketing services today. For bloggers and small businesses with less than 2,000 contacts, MailChimp significantly saves costs with its free plans. However, its features and capabilities are limited. On the other hand, Constant Contact offers more advanced features and better support services, which makes it the wiser choice for those who want to grow their business. Their plans start at $20 per month, but those who are unsure if it’s the right platform for them can try it out for free for 60 days.
What is the cheapest email marketing service?
SendinBlue, MailChimp, and Omnisend all have great free plans that allow users to send around 10,000 free emails per month. Moosend, ActiveCampaign, Mailigen, and MailChimp have the lowest starting rates for subscriptions at just $8 to $10 per month. Among these, however, SendinBlue offers the best free and paid plans with unlimited subscribers and a starting plan of $25/month for 40,000 emails.
What is the best email marketing service for small businesses?
Small businesses with a fairly small number of subscribers can use email marketing services that offer free or flexible plans. Among the best ones are Constant Contact, SendinBlue, and MailChimp. These offer a good balance between affordability and usability.
How can I send bulk emails without spamming?
With an increasingly competitive online market, sending bulk emails has become a necessity. However, this heightens the risk of being tagged as spam and getting blacklisted. You can avoid this by sending only relevant and informative emails to verified contacts.
Schedule emails to maintain an appropriate sending frequency, and include an unsubscribe button for those who may want to opt out. To make sending bulk emails more efficient, use an email marketing platform that enables batch sending without getting spammed.
Can I do email marketing for free?
It’s possible to do email marketing for free if you have a small list size. Some email marketing services offer free plans that enable you to send emails to a limited number of subscribers. MailChimp for one allows 10,000 emails to 2,000 subscribers for each month. This is a fairly good deal for small businesses or for those just starting out.
Is email marketing still effective?
Yes, definitely. Perhaps because it’s been used for decades, email marketing is deemed outdated by many companies. However, marketers themselves underscore the importance of email marketing in digital campaigns. In fact, recent studies have shown that it’s still the best method of attracting new customers and retaining existing ones.
Choose the Best Platform for Your Needs
Email marketing services are bound to remain the best method for growing one’s customer base. Taking time to compare the top email marketing platforms to find the most suitable one for your needs is essential to an effective digital marketing campaign. Choose one that has the tools you need to grow your business, pricing that meets your budget, and support for your emerging needs.