In the increasingly connected world of today, it is very important to have a proper email marketing list – whether you have a small blog or a flourishing business website that gets traffic and regular customers from around the world.
It may seem like a very difficult mission to fulfill, but it is not as difficult as you think – thanks to the multitude of email marketing services that you can sign up for.
All these services aim to make your email marketing easier, ranging from automation of emails to organizing your contact lists according to certain criteria.
However, at their core, they are mostly the same in many ways: they offer roughly the same prices and price structures, and they offer the same features for the most part.
These features include free trials, social media integration, a vast array of email templates, email scheduling, and so much more.
When you are using these kinds of software, you are increasingly able to automate all marketing workflows, send better emails, tracking your stats, and develop deeper, more effective relationships with all your visitors and subscribers.
When it comes to selecting an emailing service you wish to work with though, it is an understatement to say that you have plenty of options.
In many cases, you can even become confused trying to pick a service that is most suited to your needs, and it is evidenced by our email marketing review, where we found more than 20 providers – both paid and free.
However, we have done much of the hard work for you, so that you do not need to struggle on your own. With that, here are the 10 best email marketing platforms to consider signing up for.
Contents In Page
10 Best Email Marketing Services By Rank
RANK | NAME | START PRICE | REVIEW | VISIT WEBSITE |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | GetResponse | $15/mo | ★★★★★ 4.9 GetResponse Review | Visit GetResponse Offer Page |
2 | Aweber | $19/mo | ★★★★★ 4.9 Aweber Review | Visit Aweber Offer Page |
3 | Constant Contact | $20/mo | ★★★★★ 4.9 Constant Contact Review | Visit Constant Contact Offer Page |
4 | ConvertKit | $29/mo | ★★★★★ 4.8 ConvertKit Review | Visit ConvertKit Offer Page |
5 | MailJet | Free | ★★★★★ 4.7 MailJet Review | Visit MailJet Offer Page |
6 | ActiveCampaign | $15/mo | ★★★★★ 4.6 ActiveCampaign Review | Visit ActiveCampaign Offer Page |
7 | MailChimp | Free | ★★★★★ 4.0 MailChimp Review | Visit MailChimp Offer Page |
8 | SendinBlue | Free | ★★★★★ 4.5 SendinBlue Review | Visit SendinBlue Offer Page |
9 | MailerLite | Free | ★★★★★ 4.5 MailerLite Review | Visit MailerLite Offer Page |
10 | Drip | $49/mo | ★★★★★ 2.6 Drip Review | Visit Drip Offer Page |
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1. GetResponse
This is more than just a platform for email marketing, as it comes with a variety of other additions that prove useful – such as webinar solutions and landing page creators.
This is evidenced by their large user base of 350,000 customers, and their claim to fame is their efficiency in sending newsletters. Their user base is spread throughout 182 countries, so you know that they deal with a lot of emails every day.
They do boast a lot more features than other services as well, such as customized landing pages, simple A/B testing, video email marketing, and comprehensive design testing.
These will help to grow your page at an exponential rate, even though it might not seem useful when it is on its own.
You will notice that the landing pages are particularly interesting because they are a part of Autofunnel, which is a unique feature that handles traffic generation, as well as functioning as an online store due to its payment processing features.
One aspect that does work well for them is their automation features, which allows you to conduct advanced campaigns for automated payment – basing on conditions or triggers such as location and sales.
Besides, there is a great feature known as Perfect Timing, which helps you to predict the best time to send out your emails and increase your open rates.
If you are having issues with the service there is a range of detailed guides that can help you, or getting in touch with their support team through phone, live chat and emails.
Who should use it?
Consider getting it if you own a medium-size business and want access to numerous marketing options. It will also prove useful if you want to capture customer leads, as it is among the few platforms that are designed for inbound.
Some of the features include Google analytics, segmentation automation, and flexible forms, which make your hosting work easier.
It will also work for you if you are an online store owner since it has plenty of features that will help you to increase your sales, such as abandoned cart campaigns, Shopify, Magento, sales tracking, and dynamic email content – mostly available from the Professional plan and upwards.
The costs involved
If you are unsure of the plan you want to pick, you can use their free trial of 30 days, and you will access all their features.
However, note that they do not have a refund policy because you need to pay before using the service. Also, you can save more money by paying an annual rate (discount of 18%), or 2 years in advance (30%).
Here are the plans available:
Basic plans
- Maximum of 1,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $15
- Maximum of 2,500 subscribers – monthly payment of $25
- Maximum of 5,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $45
- Maximum of 10,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $65
Plus plan
- Maximum of 1,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $49
- Maximum of 10,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $75
Professional plan
- Maximum of 1,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $165
- Maximum of 25,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $255
Enterprise plan
- The maximum cap is 100,000 subscribers, and you pay a monthly fee of $1,199.
Click here to check out GetResponse
2. Aweber
You have probably heard of Aweber before, especially when you are searching for a good email hosting service to take up this task, and may have even considered signing up for it.
The good news is – since the platform has been around for close to two decades, they are quite reliable in their reputation, not to mention it might be the source of the email auto-responding system that is in use today.
All its features are what you would expect from a top tier email marketing platform. For instance, you will have a vast choice of pre-designed templates, a drag and drop email builder, and a wealth of integrations to use in your marketing stack or plug into other applications.
You can make automated email sequences and even set them up to respond to certain triggers, through creating follow-up sequences.
Thanks to all of these features, you will have access to the ability to test A/B emails, deliverability rates, and open rate data. You will likely enjoy the ease of creating email signup forms as well, and embed them on your website’s home page.
When signing up for an email marketing service, you might be worried that there is too much marketing jargon to wade through.
However, that is not the case here, as Aweber has a useful and resourceful library that will assist you throughout the process of setting up and using your account.
You can also contact their customer support team through email and live chat, along with phone support (from Monday to Friday, 8 am to 8 pm EST, and weekends 9 am to 5 pm EST).
Who should use it?
The accessibility of the platform allows almost anyone to benefit from its services, but it is best suited to small teams that want to improve their email marketing ventures.
What are the costs involved?
- 0 to 500 subscribers – $19 monthly payment
- 501 to 2,500 subscribers – $29 monthly payment
- 2,501 to 5,000 subscribers – $49 monthly payment
- 5,001 to 10,000 subscribers – $69 monthly payment
- 10,001 to 25,000 subscribers – $149 monthly payment
- More than 25,000 subscribers – custom quote
If you would like to try the service before making a purchasing commitment, the platform has a 30-day free trial that will allow you to access all features.
Other than the usual payment options you can use, you can pay every three months to save 14%, or save 14.9% by paying a year in advance.
There is no policy for refunds, but the free trial is long enough to give you time to know whether it is the right service for you.
Click here to check out Aweber
3. Constant Contact
If you own a small business, this is the best service for your email marketing needs, and they have a variety of features that will work well for you – especially if you are not on a tight budget.
Their software comes with a free trial for 60 days if you want to test out their services, and they also offer a variety of integration and customization options while maintaining its user-friendliness and simplicity.
The company’s history dates back to 1995, they are continuously cementing themselves as one of the biggest email management platforms globally.
They are also continuing to advance their offerings, and they are introducing newer services that their competitors mostly do not offer.
An instance would be when you want to get an innovative and intuitive social media tool, or an event management tool, which will allow you to create coupons as well as downloads that you can share easily on social media platforms.
To make things easier, they also include a variety of integrations, which you can utilize or combine with other services and apps you usually use.
Other than these great features, you will also get a vast range of templates that are specific to niches, as well as a dashboard that allows you to keep track of your email metrics.
The only drawback that you should keep in mind is the lack of extensive automation tools, which you should ideally be getting – especially since their prices are not the cheapest in the market.
What are the costs?
The company has 2 packages, which will depend on your contact numbers. They are:
Email plan
- 0 to 500 subscribers – monthly payment of $20
- 501 to 2,500 subscribers – monthly payment of $45
- 2,501 to 5,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $65
- 5,001 to 10,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $95
Email Plus plan
- 0 to 500 subscribers – monthly payment of $45
- 501 to 2,500 subscribers – monthly payment of $70
- 2,501 to 5,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $95
Regardless of the specific plan you choose, you will get a discount of 10% when you pay in advance for 6 months, or a 15% discount if you pay for a year in advance.
Besides, as we mentioned before, they have a free risk-free trial for 60 days, with your contact list reaching a maximum of 100 people, and 30-day money-back guarantee.
As long as you send at least one email and upload contacts to their database, you will receive a 100% refund.
Click here to check out Constant Contact
4. ConvertKit
Founded in 2013 by Nathan Barry, this platform markets itself to a largely untapped audience – creators. Basically, anyone that works in the creative sphere, such as authors, vloggers, Instagram influencers, bloggers, course creators, and so on.
A major selling point it has is the ease of creating email automation workflows, mainly because it places emphasis on a visual builder.
This makes it easy for you to see how your email sequences will look like when you are done. It will also provide you with tagging, in-depth subscriber management, and sophisticated email segmentation.
In addition, it also comes with a very useful landing page editor that is in-built into the system, so this will allow you to begin your email marketing activities – even if you do not necessarily own a website.
All you need, actually, is a source of internet traffic, such as your social media account or YouTube channel.
Who should use it?
If you do not mind the idea of spending a little more, whether as a team or on an individual level, or you want to send plain text emails – this platform is for you.
What are the costs?
Keep in mind that regardless of the plan you decide to work with, the features are the same. If you wish to try the platform before committing to buy, ConvertKit offers a 14-day trial, which includes all the features.
On the other hand, if you do not enjoy the service, there is a 30-day refund policy – your money will take 3 to 5 days to get back to your account after approval.
The tiers are:
- 0 to 1,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $29
- 1,000 to 3,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $49
- 3,000 to 5,000 subscribers – monthly payment $79
- Above 5,000 subscribers – custom pricing
Click here to check out ConvertKit
5. MailJet
This is among the email service providers that have a solid offering, and this is keeping in mind that it is among the cheaper newsletter platforms in the market.
Other than that, it includes an interesting collaboration feature that you will not find in other email services.
With its beginnings going back to 2010 in France and now under Mailgun, the company is now used by many marketing teams to send their transactional and campaign emails.
In recent weeks, they added a multi-user collaboration feature, which both developers and marketers can use in real-time to work on one email simultaneously.
Other than the unique collaboration feature, the platform also offers transactional email packages, automation, A/B testing, and SMS integration, which are all pain-free and easy to use.
They use a host of integrations as well, and it also includes a widget editor that will allow you to make and embed them on your website home page.
The infrastructure is flexible enough to do automatic scaling and can send an hourly rate of 15 million emails through the Email API, even in the peak periods of email sending.
The rapid processing is due to their distributed cache strategy and low-level optimized codes. There is better news on the way – the platform is compliant with GDPR standards, which means that they take data privacy and data security seriously.
The editor is in a drag and drop format, which makes it very friendly even for beginner users, and allows for a vast range of email types.
The user interface is very intuitive and is available in five languages to cater to a global audience: Italian, German, English, Spanish and French.
The support team also communicates in all these languages in order to resolve customer issues and answer questions.
One problem it seems to have is the lack of extensive segmentation, as well as difficulties in the editing of workflows once you activate them.
Who should use it?
This service will work for you if integrations are very important to you, or you are looking for a platform to help you collaborate with other team members when it comes to marketing activities.
It can help you work on marketing even if you do not have the technical skills to do so, such as when you are a developer.
However, it will not be a good choice if you are looking for advanced features since its budget-friendliness limits what it offers.
What are the costs?
There are 4 tiers, which are:
Free
Their free plan is forever, and you can choose to upgrade it later when you wish to. It allows you to send a monthly maximum of 6,000 emails, along with a daily limit of 200 emails – which makes it great for smaller businesses.
It also allows you to store unlimited contacts, Webhooks, SMTP Relay, APIs, as well as using the platform’s ‘Statistics’ and ‘Advanced Email Editor’ features.
Basic
The monthly payment is $8.69 and allows you to send a monthly limit of 30,000 emails. There is also no limit on your daily emails, and you get access to both customer support and Mailjet’s logo.
Premium
It starts at a monthly fee of $18.86, and you will get all the benefits as the previous two plans. In addition, you will access marketing automation, A/B testing, segmentation, and multi-user collaborations.
Enterprise
The cost here is customized to meet your needs, which are beyond the previous three.
You will access all the benefits above – in addition to a dedicated account manager, advanced permissions, service level agreement, custom numbers of users, inbox previews, migration, and custom onboarding.
Click here to check out MailJet
6. ActiveCampaign
This platform places itself as an all-in-one solution, where you do not need to go anywhere else. While this sounds like an unattainable goal, it will help you achieve better results – even if you do not send as many emails.
In other words, you will be hard-pressed to find a better tool if you want to create funnels that are logic-based.
Automation on this platform usually happens through the use of IF/THEN logic, which has a corresponding response to the behavior of your subscribers.
Here are some methods you can use to streamline your efforts in marketing using this platform:
- It segments users based on their social data, location, behavior, and actions
- Scoring of leads and contacts, which gives you a better idea on who to prioritize
- Reach your users on the go through integration with SMS
- Sending SMS messages to your contacts
Because this platform employs more of an all-in-one approach, it has a lot of tools at its disposal, which can be quite overwhelming when trying to master all of them.
Fortunately, they have a comprehensive guide section, which shows you the ways you can make the most from their services, or reach the support team through live chat and email.
Using the template editor, it is quite simple to create emails, and you can even make sign-up forms that are mobile friendly and embed them on your website.
Who should use it?
Its features and layout will serve people that want complex automation tools the best, and this also includes using advanced CRM.
What are the costs?
Lite plan
- Maximum of 500 subscribers – monthly payment of $15
- Maximum of 1,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $29
- Maximum of 2,500 subscribers – monthly payment of $49
- Maximum of 5,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $89
- Maximum of 10,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $139
Plus plan
- Maximum of 1,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $70
- Maximum of 2,500 subscribers – monthly payment of $125
- Maximum of 5,000 subscribers – maximum payment of $169
- Maximum 10,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $249
- Maximum of 25,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $399
- Maximum of 50,000 subscribers – custom payment
Professional plan
- Maximum of 2,500 subscribers – monthly payment of $159
- Maximum of 5,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $239
- Maximum of 10,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $349
Enterprise plan
- Maximum of 2,500 subscribers – monthly payment of $279
- Maximum of 5,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $449
- Maximum of 10,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $499
If you choose to pay annual payments, you will get very big discounts, regardless of what the plan is. In addition, you can also use their 2-week free trial if you want to test the service, though you can only send 100 emails and add 100 contacts.
The good news is that the platform is quite lenient when it comes to the free trial timeframe, so you can get an extension.
Note though that they do not have a refund policy, so you will want to try the software first before purchase.
Click here to check out ActiveCampaign
7. MailChimp
If you are a blogger or own a small website and want to see it grow, MailChimp is among your best options since it comes with a free plan, similar to SendinBlue.
The all-in-one marketing platform that it uses will help your small business to market in a smarter way so that it grows faster, and the platform provides plenty of user-friendly tools and AI-powered features that are easy to use.
Not only does the platform have a cute mascot as the face of the campaign, but it also happens to be among the leading providers of email marketing services – in fact, their daily email sending rate goes up to 1 billion emails, which is quite impressive.
You will be happy to know that the company is also evolving and changing the features that they offer, as new ones come up all the time.
They also have integration with social media platforms, and it is easy to customize the template section because of its decent sizing.
Aside from this, you will also get plenty of advanced marketing features as part of their offerings. These include app and service integrations, contact segmenting, time-zone based sending, autoresponders, A/B testing, and so much more.
If you want to reach their support team, you can easily do so through email or live chat. They also have an extensive knowledgebase, which will help you in case you run into any queries as you use the platform.
Who should use it?
Part of the reason that makes MailChimp so popular is its free offer, which is quite attractive for many people – especially on a budget.
Even though you might not be on a budget, it will still be good for business owners and bloggers that still want a tool that is easy to use and has plenty of advanced features.
The cost involved
The free plan is quite impressive and gives you plenty of freedom that you will hardly find in other email providers. For instance, it allows you to send a monthly limit of 10,000 emails and have a maximum of 2,000 subscribers.
You can then upgrade to paid plans when you exceed these limits, and MailChimp has 3 of them: Premium, Standard, and Essentials.
Free plan
Interestingly, the free plan has no limits – it is free forever until you decide you want to upgrade. Some benefits include:
- The opportunity to grow your subscriber base to 2,000 people
- Send a maximum of 10,000 emails every month
- Email support, which is included for 30 days
Essentials
It starts at $9.99 per month. However, there are additional tiers, which are:
- Maximum of 5,000 subscribers – $49.99 per month
- Maximum of 10,000 subscribers – $74.99 per month
- Maximum of 25,000 subscribers – $189 per month
- Maximum of 50,000 subscribers – $259 per month
Standard plan
It starts at $14.99 per month. Tiers are:
- Maximum of 5,000 subscribers – $74.99 every month
- Maximum of 10,000 subscribers – $99 every month
Premium plan
It starts at $299 every month. Tiers above that are:
- Maximum of 20,000 subscribers – $399 every month
- Maximum of 50,000 subscribers – $599 every month
Before settling on your monthly rates or see the features of all the premium plans, the platform’s website has a pricing calculator at the bottom of their pricing page.
However, you should note that you do not necessarily need to sign up for their premium plans because the free plan is so extensive on its own.
In addition, you will not get money-back guarantees or refunds easily – the only way to get a refund in this platform is if your account was terminated without a reason, or experiencing a technical error, and it has to be on behalf of MailChimp itself.
Click here to check out MailChimp
8. SendinBlue
This is a useful email marketing solution for people that are on a low budget – this is because it also includes a free plan, although this is slightly limited than what you would expect from a typical free plan.
The platform is quite young compared to many on this list, and they originally began as a platform that primarily dealt with sending emails that were transaction-based. However, they are now using it to combine the power of both SMS and email campaigns on one platform.
The platform is quite easy to use even if you are a beginner, and it will not have the steep learning curves that are a feature of some platforms.
They also have a free plan that is quite generous – likely due to them placing their price caps on the number of emails you send, not the number of contacts you have.
Their packages include the usual features you would expect from an email management service, such as campaign reporting, list management, as well as layout optimization of emails. In addition, they also include a range of third party integrations to make your experience easier.
The drawback is that their free plan is limited in features; if you want any of their advanced features, you will need to upgrade your package to a more advanced plan.
Who should use it?
If you usually send a great number of emails, SendinBlue will be a great option for you, because the criterion of pricing is the number of emails rather than the size of your content list.
The costs involved
Aside from their email plans, they also offer IP and SMS plans. The IP plans come in handy when you are signing off your emails, as well as taking charge of your IP content. While this sounds great, the main focus for this case is the email plans, which are:
Limited free plan
- Unlimited number of contacts
- Sends up to 300 emails per day
- Monthly limit of 9,000 emails
Lite plan
- Monthly payment of $25
- Unlimited number of contacts
- No limit on your daily email numbers
- Monthly limit of 40,000 emails
Essential plan
- Monthly payment of $39
- Unlimited number of contacts
- No logo on your emails
- No limit on daily emails sent
- Monthly limit of 60,000 emails
Premium plan
- Monthly payment of $66
- Unlimited number of contact
- Monthly email limit of 120,000
- No daily sending limit
- You can access advanced features
Enterprise plan
This will cater to you if you have more advanced needs than those mentioned in any package above.
However, it involves customized payment amounts, which you will have to negotiate with SendinBlue, and an extra benefit is that the platform will give you a dedicated account manager.
The general idea is that the plans are flexible. They do have a money-back guarantee policy, but you should be convinced enough to continue with the service after experiencing their free plan.
They also have pre-paid credits, which will allow you to purchase some volume of emails to send, without needing to pay for it.
Click here to check out SendinBlue
9. MailerLite
This is among the youngest tools on the list, and also happens to be among the simplest to use.
However, do not allow the simplicity to fool you – the reason behind its great efficiency and power in operation is that it strips things to their essentials, rather than employing the approach of many email marketing tools that add many features at the expense of performance.
The simplicity it offers is increasingly making it a hit among many, as they serve an increasingly large international audience, and the tool supports multiple languages.
If you are a beginner in the email marketing world, then you can heave a sigh of relief when you come across this platform.
The interface is among the best intuitive ones out there, which allows you to make your emails fairly quickly. The templates are also flexible and basic enough for customization, giving your emails a minimalist and modern look.
The main disadvantage though is the lack of super-advanced analytics or automation features, but this will not be much of an issue for you if you are the type to keep things simple and running smoothly.
Who should use it?
If you want an affordable and easy to use solution, this is your best pick. It will work well for you regardless of whether you are a website owner, freelancer, or own a small business.
What are the costs?
- Sending 12,000 emails, and having 1 to 1,000 subscribers – Free
- Sending unlimited emails and having 1 to 1,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $10
- 1,001 to 2,500 subscribers – monthly payment of $15
- 2,501 to 5,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $30
- 5,001 to 10,000 subscribers – monthly payment of $50
Note that a year’s payment in advance will get you a 30% discount.
It is also important to remember that the platform does not have a money-back guarantee or refund policy, although their Forever Free plan should give you plenty of background to decide whether it is suitable for your needs.
Click here to check out MailerLite
10. Drip
Compared to most email service providers, Drip is quite new in the market – and they have set out to target eCommerce site owners, marketers, and bloggers.
They particularly stand out due to the user-friendly user interface, as well as the sophisticated marketing tools, all automated, which will easily outshine everything else on the market.
If you own an eCommerce website and deal with a variety of digital products, this platform is probably your best bet.
Thanks to the tools you will have at your disposal, you will be in a better place to cultivate an improved understanding of the intentions of your customer base as well as their purchasing behavior.
For instance, you can use it to track metrics such as:
- Visitors that abandoned their cart
- New visitors and returning visitors
- People who clicked on email links and those who did not
In addition to this, it also comes with a variety of WooCommerce and WordPress integrations, and can send text messages for Facebook ad integration, follow up purposes, and so much more.
Who should use it?
If you find yourself having trouble when trying to create complex marketing sequences, even as you try to handle the increased sales of your products online, Drip will go a long way to helping you stay organized without stressing you out.
What are the costs?
Starter plan
- This is free forever
- Handles a maximum of 100 subscribers
- Unlimited sending of emails
Basic plan
- Costs a monthly fee of $49
- Unlimited email sends
- A maximum of 2,500 subscribers
Pro plan
- Costs a monthly fee of $122
- Handles up to 5,000 subscribers
- Unlimited sending of emails
Enterprise plan
- You will get a customized quote when you sing up for this plan
- Handles anything beyond 5,000 subscribers
The free plan is quite limited in scope, and this also includes a 2-week trial for the Pro and Basic membership levels. If you continue with the service after the two-week lapse, then they will charge your card.
The refund window is 30 days from when you begin the service, but the company has the sole discretion of determining whether you get a full refund or not.
Final thoughts
When it comes to email marketing services, many providers will offer very similar features at very similar prices. Therefore, the best way to make a decision is by taking your marketing requirements and budget into consideration.
Hopefully, the list above will help you to make the best decision for your business or website, and you can also move to another provider if you are unsatisfied with your current service.