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Welcome to my definitive guide to 23 of the world’s best email marketing services & software.
In this all-new guide, you’ll learn:
- What are the best free and paid email marketing services on the market today
- How to choose the best email marketing software for your needs
- My personal review from using all tools on the list to create marketing campaigns for over a thousand clients
So if you want to find out what email marketing tool will work best for your goals & budget, you’ll love today’s guide.
Let’s kick things off.
Note of gratitude from the author: Thank you so much for stopping by! If you’d like to help support me create more great content like this, please consider purchasing by using one of the affiliate links in this article. Purchases made with affiliate links incur no additional costs to you and help fund this website. Thanks for your attention; now let’s dive into the article! — James Banks
Chapter One:
Premium Marketing Platforms with Email Marketing Services
Marketing platforms are all-in-one solutions for your business’s marketing needs. Marketing platforms offer more than email marketing, usually including CRM and landing pages.
Combining your marketing efforts into a single all-inclusive platform can offer many advantages. So, if you know that you’ll be doing more than email marketing, investing in a marketing platform may be the best way to go.
In this chapter, we’ll review the best premium marketing platforms that include email marketing software.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a marketing platform packed with advanced automation and machine learning.
The platform supports the following email marketing services:
- Email broadcasts to your marketing list
- Triggered emails based on variable conditions
- Targeted emails via list segmentation
- Email autoresponders, scheduled emails and email funnels
Positives & Negatives
- ActiveCampaign is one of the best platforms for deliverability, with a reported 96% deliverability rate.
- Powerful machine learning with ActiveCampaign’s Predictive Actions. This helps you to advance your customers down your sales funnel.
- Strong email workflow features that are robust yet simple to use. Data syncs with ActiveCampaign’s CRM, giving you a single source of truth.
- More advanced features such as automated workflows come with a learning curve for those who are new to automation.
- The user interface is somewhat clunky and may be intimidating to those who are new to email marketing.
- ‘Marketing lingo’ used to describe in-app features may confuse those who are new to email marketing.
Pricing
Pricing depends on your account features and how large your email list is.
- Lite $9/month
- Plus: $49/month
- Professional $129/month
- $229/month for Enterprises
All plans include a 14-day trial which you can sign up for here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
Constant Contact
Constant Contact has been in email marketing since 1995. It’s part of Endurance International Group, which includes Bluehost, HostGator and Domain.com.
Constant Contact supports the following email marketing services:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, drip sequences
- Drag and drop email template designer with over 240 templates
- A/B testing & list segmentation
- Automatic eCommerce emails using A.I & machine learning
Positives & Negatives
- The drip campaigns are intuitive and easy to use. You can create simple sequences and combine conditions to create advanced filtering and control.
- Over 100+ modern, mobile-optimized designs to convert customers. Having a broad range of templates allows you to get your emails created faster.
- Powerful event management features allowing you to manage registrations, ticks and communication.
- Email workflows are limited to linear sequences which lack the power of branching sequences.
- Templates are rigid in design, limiting design flexibility and customization.
- The pricing versus feature ratio does not offer the best value when compared to other platforms.
Pricing
Constant Contact pricing is based on how many email contacts you have. For up to 500 contacts, their paid plans start at $20 per month
You can get started with your Constant Contact 60-day free trial here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 7 out of 10
ConvertKit
ConvertKit is by creators for creators. This approach has led to the creation of a platform tailored for online creators and publishers.
ConvertKit supports the following email marketing services:
- Email broadcasts, automations, funnels, workflows
- Workflows based on tags, triggers and events
Positives & Negatives
- One of the best at delivering emails on the marketing with a 98% delivery rate and a 30% open rate on average.
- Conversion-optimised webforms automatically group subscribers by engagement rate.
- Advanced email sequences based on-site actions as well as actions in emails. These advanced triggers allow for excellent list segmentation.
- No drag and drop email template designer. This limits your design options to premade templates if you don’t know how to code.
- Simple ‘if this then that’ email workflow logic may not work for more advanced applications.
- Advanced personalization features require coding knowledge which may put it off-limits to some users.
Pricing
Pricing starts at $29 per month and there’s a 14-day trial.
Launch your email marketing campaign with ConvertKit by signing up here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
GetResponse
GetResponse offers all-in-one marketing tools to help you grow your business. Their webinar software, high-converting landing pages and email marketing features are second-to-none.
Some key email marketing services include:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, automation & trigger-based workflows
- Visual drag and drop email template designer
- Custom segmentation and dynamic content for personalization
- eCommerce automation based on added products, cart abandonment and purchase history
- End-to-end webinar email marketing automation
Positives & Negatives
- Autofunnel feature comes with 30+ pre-made landing pages, templates for emails, and sequences that can be used to generate sales.
- Autofunnels can help you drive lead generation, product sales or webinar registrations. They are optimized to nurture your email lists and increase your funnel’s conversion rate.
- Smart automation tools are, however, GetResponse’s greatest strength. These features allow you to create advanced conditions that automatically segment your lists.
- Some of the 500 email templates are a little outdated and have lower deliverability than others on this list.
- A large number of features and customization may be overwhelming to those who are new to online marketing.
- Reporting tools and marketing analytics are limited in contrast to the number of features GetResponse has.
Pricing
Start with a 30-day trial, then upgrade to the $15/month Basic plan.
Annual plans can save you between 18-30%.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
Ontraport
Ontraport is not the first name that comes to mind when you think about email marketing. In most cases, it is perceived as a CRM first and an email marketing service second.
Some of Ontraport’s key email marketing software features are:
- Drag and drop email campaign designer
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, automation and branching workflows
- Segmentation using CRM relationship data
- Branching workflows
- Integrated email, SMS and call marketing campaigns
- Premade marketing funnels, workflows and email templates
Positives & Negatives
- Campaign Builder features allows for visual marketing automation and live reporting. It also allows you to create complex sequences and work with other users in real-time.
- Ontraport’s block-based editor is powerful and provides contextual help. The hover help buttons can help you solve any problem you may encounter while creating a campaign.
- The tool tends to work best for high-end B2B and B2C companies that are sales-driven. In other words, companies where automation and sales workflows are more important than bulk emailing large lists.
- A large plethora of features can bury away simple tasks and actions, taking several clicks to get to.
- A steep learning curve can make it difficult for entry-level marketers to set up and come to grips with.
- The mobile app user interface is not the most intuitive which can make it difficult to complete tasks when compared to other solutions.
Pricing
The Basic paid plan costs $79 per month and allows only 1,000 contacts. However, the monthly cost of the Basic plan almost doubles when your email list grows to 1,000 subscribers or 2,500 subscribers.
Start your Ontraport free 14-day trial here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 7 out of 10
Salesforce Pardot
Pardot is a complete marketing automation solution. It has few competitors due to its extensive feature set and deep native integration with Salesforce.
The platform comes with the following key email marketing software features:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, scheduling and automation
- Drag and drop email template builder
- Visual branching workflows
- Automated content personalisation and audience segmentation
Positives & Negatives
- A wide range of features is available in email marketing and automation. Automated branching is possible in unlimited numbers.
- White glove onboarding service means most of the complicated setup is done for you.
- Deep integration with Salesforce and Salesforce products is simple and easy to achieve.
- High entry costs can make it prohibitive to small businesses. In most cases, Pardot is best reserved for businesses that are already using Salesforce.
- Mobile apps are not available as standalone applications. This can make managing your campaigns while on the move difficult.
- Depth of features can be surprisingly limited when you consider it against the cost of the platform.
Pricing
Standard Growth Pardot plans cost $1,250 per month/year for up to 10,000 contacts.
After that, the Advanced plan costs $4,000 per month/year and allows for up to 10,000 contacts. This plan includes:
- Einstein AI technology
- Custom user roles and permissions
- Custom object integration
- Dedicated IP address.
- Predictive lead and behaviour scoring
Salesforce Engage is a $50 per month add-on option that gives you real-time alerts whenever contacts open and read a marketing email.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 6 out of 10
Pipedrive
Pipedrive is an all-in-one sales and marketing communication platform. The company differentiates itself as it is the first CRM designed by salespeople, for salespeople.
The platform comes with the following key email marketing features:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, scheduling and automation
- Full-featured sales CRM including deal management and pipeline visualization
- Visual branching workflows & task automation
- Native iOS and Android app for tracking your communication on the go
Positives & Negatives
- The simple, intuitive and easy-to-use interface makes it easy to pick up and understand.
- Powerful workflow automation features allow you to automate mundane tasks, saving you time and money.
- Well-designed mobile applications allow you to sync your calls and emails from your mobile device to Pipedrive.
- Reporting is limited and somewhat difficult to grasp. You may need a third-party reporting tool to visualize certain campaign data.
- Workflow automation triggers and actions are limited when compared to other tools. You may not be able to automate as many tasks as you would like to.
- Most useful features are locked to higher-tier pricing plans only. Features versus value are not as good when compared to other premium marketing platforms.
Pricing
Pipedrive comes in four different plans:
- Essential at $18/month
- Advanced at $33/month
- Professional at $49/month
- Enterprise at $99/month
The ‘Leadbooster’ feature that contains chatbots, live chat & webforms starts at $32.50/month.
The ‘Web Visitor’ website analytics feature costs an additional $49/month.
All plans offer savings if billed annually.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 7 out of 10
Chapter two:
Free Marketing Platforms with Email Marketing Services
Marketing platforms are all-in-one solutions for your business’s marketing needs.
There’s been an increase in all-in-one marketing platforms adopting ‘freemium’ models. Most freemium plans allow you to run basic email marketing campaigns without any cost to you.
Although free plans restrict your features, you can pay to unlock premium features as your business grows. In this chapter, we’ll review the best freemium marketing platforms that include email marketing.
Sendinblue
Founded in 2007, Sendinblue is a relationship marketing platform that delivers over 100 million emails each day.
Sendinblue supports the following email marketing software features:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, welcome emails and nurturing sequences
- Drag-and-drop email template builder
- Supports combined email and SMS marketing
- A/B testing
Positives & Negatives
- The platform’s simplicity makes it easy to create templates and automated welcome emails. You can even use their live chat or CRM to create automated workflows.
- Sendinblue uses machine learning and AI for emails so they can be sent at the most engaging times of the day. It can also automate actions such as sending SMS messages and emailing your contacts.
- You can set triggers to allow your subscribers to go through customized workflows based on their actions.
- Email templates are basic and design options are somewhat dated. You can create your own unique designs, but this requires HTML code knowledge.
- There’s a limited number of native integrations meaning you may need pay for Zapier to integrate with your software.
- The system can be unstable at times, causing bugs and crashes which can hurt your productivity.
Pricing
Their Lite plan is $25/month, allowing for advanced email marketing automation.
Explore Sendinblue by signing up for your free account here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 7 out of 10
HubSpot
HubSpot, one most well-known marketing platforms, offers powerful email marketing features.
Some of those key email marketing software features include:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, linear and branching workflows
- A/B testing includes personalization based on location, device or segment
- Easy to use visual email template builders
- Account-based marketing (ABM) support
- Personalization based on location device and segmentation
- Integration and syncing with the HubSpot CRM including Gmail & Office email tracking
Positives & Negatives
- HubSpot has a strong email deliverability rate, usually scoring in the high nineties. This is due to domain validation with DKIM/SPF records and the ability to fully preview and test email.
- Their email editor is one of the most intuitive on the market. It is faster and easier to use than most other tools on the list.
- HubSpot’s personalization feature is another strength. You can personalize content using standard tools like email merge tags, such as the first name of the recipient.
- The high cost to unlock all features of the Marketing Hub can make it prohibitive for small businesses.
- To get the most value out of the paid platform you need to be using most of the features. This may require a steep learning curve for most entry-level marketers.
- Reporting is basic and limited compared to the depth and power of all other features within HubSpot on offer.
Pricing
I recommend that you start for free and then upgrade to the Marketing Hub Starter Package at $50/month.
Start HubSpot Email Marketing for free by signing up here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
Moosend
Moosend, an email automation tool, helps you to build your email list and personalize your messages. In addition, it also automates tasks so that you can concentrate on customer relations.
The platform supports the following email marketing services:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, triggers, automation, linear and branching workflows
- Advanced personalization including weather, previous purchases, cart abandonment,
- Visual drag and drop email template builder
Positives & Negatives
- Moosend’s campaign builder allows you to create intuitive drag-and-drop email templates. You can add images, text blocks and social icons to your emails with this tool. You can also choose from a variety of responsive email templates that look great on mobile or desktop.
- Automation is the area where Moosend excels. You can automate customer engagement and loyalty messages using pre-built automation templates.
There are three components to any automation: triggers, control steps and actions. You can combine them all to filter your email list and send sequences when the specified actions occur. - Customer Support: All paid plans include phone support. All custom enterprise plans include a dedicated account manager who can provide support via email, telephone, or live chat. You can also access video tutorials and a vast knowledge base to help you answer any questions.
- No mobile app for reviewing your marketing campaign data while on the move.
- Reported reputation issues with major email platforms such as Yahoo, AOL and Verizon. This can lead to your emails not being received or sent to the spam folder.
- App UI/UX doesn’t have the same level of polish and ease of use when compared to other competing marketing platforms.
Pricing
Pricing for Moosend depends on how many subscribers you have. For example, users with less than 1,000 subscribers can get a free plan that gives them the ability to send unlimited emails.
The Moosend monthly paid plans start at $8 per month and scale with the number of subscribers. All paid plans include access to transactional email, page builders and SMTP servers. Enterprise plans include migration and onboarding support and Security Assertion Markup Language.
Get started with Moosend for free by signing up here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
Mailerlite
Mailerlite has over 600,000 users around the globe. The platform offers flexible tiered plans that are based on your contact list size.
The marketing platform offers the following email marketing services:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, automation, linear and branching workflows
- Drag and drop visual email template builder
- eCommerce email automation based on purchase history, cart abandonment,
- A/B testing, delivery by timezone and auto-resending
Positives & Negatives
- Mailerlite is a great option if you are looking for flexibility in pricing and excellent delivery, but don’t have a lot of customers yet.
- Their user interface is simple and responsive, as well as their excellent 24/7 email support and phone support.
- Mailerlite allows you to track your email marketing results using a click map or opens by location reports.
- It lacks a CRM, limiting your ability to customize and tailor your emails based on your custom relationships.
- Their strict approval process means it may take some time before you can be broadcasting to your entire list.
- If you are wanting a landing page builder as well as email marketing, Mailerlite’s version is not great.
Pricing
If you have less than 1000 email subscribers, you can get their forever free plan. This plan is free and only allows for 12,000 emails per month.
Upgrade to the $10/month plan to get all the features you need to help your marketing strategy. This includes a landing page creator, embedded forms, pop-ups, and pop-ups.
Start Mailterlite for free by signing up here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
Mailchimp
MailChimp is a major player in email marketing, with more than 1 billion emails sent each day via their platform.
The platform comes with the following key email marketing software features:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, automation and workflows
- Branching email workflows support triggers, logic, engagement, tags
- Drag and drop email template builder
- Transactional emails support order notifications, cart abandonment and purchase follow-ups
Positives & Negatives
- The free plan offers a user-friendly interface, up to 2,000 subscribers, and 12,000 emails per month. This is more than enough for small businesses. The free plan includes transactional emails, autoresponders and analytics.
- Being one of the most popular marketing tools, Mailchimp integrates with almost all major business software.
- Solid iPhone and Android mobile apps make managing your campaigns from your smartphone a breeze.
- Paid plans cost can ramp up quickly when compared to other competing platforms.
- Reporting is basic, making it difficult to extract in-depth information to better improve your emails.
- The minimalistic user-interface design may be difficult to grasp for those who are new to marketing platforms.
Pricing
The size of your email list is what they charge. If you exceed the threshold of 2000, you will need to pay $30 per month for the 2,000-2,500 plan.
You can try Mailchimp by signing up for a free account here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
Gist
Gist is a complete marketing solution that includes event management, live chat and automation. This is great for companies looking to increase sales leads.
The platform offers the following email marketing software features:
- Email broadcasts, drip sequences, scheduled emails, automation & funnels
- Branching workflows that support triggers, conditions actions and logic
- Drag and drop email template designer with pre-made templates
- Email personalization based on demographics, location, behaviour & shopping activity
Positives & Negatives
- Includes advanced tools such as event tracking, which allows you to see what visitors do on your site. The knowledge base feature helps to provide customer support in an automated manner.
- You can create visual workflows with their automation tools to engage and convert customers.
- To understand your customers’ behaviour and segment your audience, you can create actions and tags. Then, you can use timing variables to deliver the right message at exactly the right moment.
- Native integrations are limited when compared to other platforms. That means you may need to pay for Zapier to handle integrations.
- Large amounts of features and options available may overwhelm some users making it difficult to find what you are looking for.
- The Mobile app only covers administration features meaning you cannot access your campaign data while on the move.
Pricing
Start free for 500 subscribers then upgrade to the professional plan as you grow.
You can try any one of Gist’s plans by signing up for your free account here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
SendPulse
SendPulse is a relatively new and free email provider that started in 2015, receiving great acclaim.
The platform comes with the following email marketing software features:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, automation and workflows
- Drag and drop email design editor
- Email, SMS and push notification branching workflows
- Segmentation based on behaviour, ratings and demographics
Positives & Negatives
- The simple, easy-to-use interface makes it easy to set up your email marketing campaigns, automation and workflows.
- A generous free email plan allows for up to 2,500 subscribers, and 15,000 emails per calendar month.
- Includes advanced features such as SMS workflows and push notifications to multiple devices.
- The free plan has high email sending limits, but some users complain about slow performance and limited templates.
- The email approval process takes a long time which can make it challenging if you need to release email communications fast.
- Drag and drop creator does not have as many layout options on offer when compared to other platforms.
You can upgrade to a premium plan to remove all limits. Premium plans start at $6.4/month bill annually. Additionally, you can opt for a pay-as-you-go plan that includes 10,000 emails and costs $32 ($0.0032 each email).
Sign up for SendPulse and start free of charge.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
Chapter three:
Premium Email Marketing Services
If you already have a CRM or a landing page solution in place, standalone email marketing platforms may fit your needs better.
Rather than paying for features that you don’t need, standalone email marketing software can offer great value. If all you need is simple email marketing software to run your email campaigns, the following email marketing providers may be the best for you.
In this chapter, we’ll review the best premium email marketing platforms.
Campaign Monitor
Campaign Monitor, founded in 2004, is an all-around email marketing platform.
The platform’s key email marketing software features include:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, scheduling and automation
- Branching workflows that support triggers, rules,
- Drag and drop email template designer
- Segmentation based on customer details, engagement, campaign & workflow activities
Positives & Negatives
- Their email builder allows users to customize their designs, down to choosing individual web fonts or colour options. Their Premier Plan allows you to lock certain sections of email if your brand standards are important. This extra security helps to preserve brand consistency.
- Their automation suite is also comparable to other platforms that use triggers and email actions. Campaign Monitor’s data segmentation feature is a big winner. You can create advanced rules and exclude multiple segments before you send them.
- There are over 250 integrations that can be used to connect with third-party apps such as Salesforce, Magento, or WordPress.
- Does not support multivariate split testing, increasing the time it takes to optimize your campaigns.
- The limited number of native integrations when compared to other competitors. You may need a paid Zapier account to achieve your integrations.
- Strict design editor can limit your ability in achieving your desired email design and layout.
Pricing
The pricing for this tool is slightly more expensive than the others. The Basic Plan costs $9/month and allows you to send 2,500 emails. After you reach this limit, I recommend the Unlimited Plan at $29/month.
Be aware of the size and composition of your list. Pricing scales are based on this.
The Unlimited Plan is $699 for a list with over 25,000 subscribers.
To test their features, you can create a free account.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 9 out of 10
Drip
Drip is a relative newcomer to the email marketing software space. Its specialization in eCommerce separates it from the other general email marketing platforms. Drip is a great compliment to many eCommerce builders thanks to its powerful features and robust integrations.
The platform comes with the following key email marketing software features:
- Drag and drop email creator
- Combined email and SMS marketing
- Visual workflow builder supports branching workflows
- Automatic segmentation based on behaviour, purchase history & demographics
Positives & Negatives
- Drip allows you to track important commerce metrics such as customer intent and purchase behaviour.
- You can target customers who have abandoned their carts with Drip. This helps you recover otherwise lost revenue.
- Drip offers revenue attribution, which allows you to see which campaigns are making you money.
- Price increases sharply as you add more contacts to the platform which can make it expensive to operate.
- Lacks native integrations when compared to other platforms meaning you may need a paid Zapier account.
- There’s a limited number of email templates to choose from when compared to other competing platforms.
Pricing
Pricing depends on how many customers you have. All plans include the same benefits and features.
- 1-500 subscribers — $19/month
- 501-2,000 subscribers — $29/month
- 2,001-2500 subscribers — $39/month
- 2,501 to 3,000 subscribers — $49/month
- 3,001-3500 subscribers — $59 per month
- 3,501-4000 subscribers — $69 per month
- 4,501 to 5,000 subscribers — $79/month
- 5,001-6,000 subscribers — $99/month
- 6.001-7 000 subscribers — $109/month
With that said, plans can scale up to 140,000 subscribers before custom pricing is implemented.
All Drip plans include 24/7 email and live chat support. It’s free to try for 14 days, and you have full access to all features.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 9 out of 10
Pabbly
Pabbly offers a complete suite of email marketing tools for marketing campaigns and much more.
The platform supports the following email marketing software features:
- Drag-and-drop email editor that is easy to use
- 500+ email templates customizable in any way
- Subscribe to its newsletter forms to collect leads and other business-related information
- Route multiple emails through multiple vendors, connect multiple SMTPs
- Increase open rates by removing invalid emails from your email list using MX cleaner
- Not-opens will receive follow-up emails automatically
- Autoresponders allow you to interact with users without having to do any manual work
- Send emails automatically according to pre-set times for subscribers’ engagement
Positives & Negatives
- Strong deliverability rates, ofter scoring in the high nineties. They’re a great choice if you need to periodically clean up your list and keep it current.
- It is possible to integrate 50+ external SMTPs, and send emails without extra charges.
- It also handles spam complaints for all popular SMTP services such as Amazon SES and MailGun, saving you the hassle.
- Setting up and validating your SMTP can be overwhelming to those who have not done it before.
- App user interface can feel clunky and cumbersome when compared to other competing alternatives.
- Email automation and workflow features are limited when compared to other platforms.
Pricing
Pricing for Pabbly Email Marketing depends on the number of subscribers. You can get started with Pabbly for as little as $19/month for 2,500 subscribers.
Sign up for your free Pabbly Email Marketing account here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
Mailigen
Mailigen, a cloud-based email marketing platform, caters to small and medium-sized businesses.
The platform has the following email marketing software features:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, automation and workflows
- Drag and drop visual email builder
- A/B split testing for the subject line, content, send time & from name
- Workflow automation supporting triggers, tags, segmentation, behaviour and activities
Positives & Negatives
- Mailigen provides design tools, templates and design styles to help users create and manage campaigns.
- Offers a wide variety of premium email marketing features at a low price point when compared to other platforms.
- Allows you to test your campaigns across multiple email domains in real-time.
- Integrations are limited meaning you may need a paid Zapier account or custom API work done.
- Email template builder is clunky and somewhat difficult to use. It does not offer mobile-responsive templates.
- Reporting and data analytics is limited when compared to other competing platforms. For example, you cannot export reports.
Pricing
Pricing is tied and scaled based on the number of subscribers. It’s $10 per month for small lists with 500 subscribers. For 2,500 subscribers, it’s $25/month.
If you have 100,000 subscribers, the cost goes up to $400/month.
With that said, if you have more than 150,000 subscribers, they can offer high-volume pricing.
Get started with Mailigen with a free 30-day trial.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
Moonmail
MoonMail is a cloud-based email marketing platform that works with Amazon AWS.
The platform has the following key email marketing services:
- A/B testing
- Event-based segmentation
- Event-based automation
- SMS, WhatsApp, voice and push notifications support
Positives & Negatives
- Moonmail can be used to send messages via voice, SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and even chatbots. This type of event-based communication is a great way to expand your message beyond email.
- The uncluttered and simple user-interface makes it easy for new users to get up to speed quickly.
- The Shopify App allows e-commerce merchants to send abandoned cart emails and autoresponders.
- Requires technical knowledge of SMTPs to set up and send emails. This may put it off-limits for those who are not familiar with SMTPs.
- The best templates need to be purchased at an additional cost via the Template Marketplace.
- The only condition you can add to create a segment is when the contact had last been active. There are no options to add conditions such as location, past purchase behaviour, or website visits.
MoonMail’s free plan has a limited number of recipients. You can send up to 10 campaigns per day to as many recipients as you like.
In fact, you only pay for the emails they send, rather than based on how many subscribers you have.
Their $23.99/month Starter plan is your best option. This plan allows up to 25,000 subscribers to your email list and unlimited email campaigns per month.
You can create a MoonMail account for free to try out their features and then upgrade to the $23.99/month Starter plan.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
Chapter four:
Free Email Marketing Services
The freemium model has been a popular plan for many email software companies over the years. Some freemium email providers can offer you full feature access while restricting subscribe and send count.
As with the freemium marketing platforms, freemium email providers allow you to start for nothing and scale up as your business grows.
In this chapter, we’ll review the best freemium email marketing services and software.
AWeber
AWeber helps small businesses build stronger connections with their audience through email marketing.
The platform supports the following email marketing software features:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, scheduled messages and linear workflows
- Drag and drop email designer that integrates with Canva
- Segmentation based on tags, behaviour and purchase history
- A/B testing, personalization and eCommerce email automation
Positives & Negatives
- The straightforward user interface makes it easy to use and fast for new users to get comfortable with.
- Strong email deliverability rates mean less of your emails end up in your subscribers’ spam folders.
- Their 700+ design templates are a big selling point. While some of their templates are dated, others look fantastic and remind me of high-quality Instagram ads.
- Automation workflows do not support branching workflows. This can limit your ability to automate your communication processes.
- Personalization is limited to contact and geographic IP data. Other platforms that provide personalization offer a wider range of features.
- The price vs. features ratio doesn’t offer the best value when compared to other similar email marketing platforms.
Pricing
AWeber’s free plan gives you access to almost all their features including unlimited landing pages and sign-up forms. Additionally, you can access automation, hundreds of integrations, 24/7 support and much more.
AWeber’s Pro Plan starts at $19 per month and is dependent on how many subscribers you have.
You can sign up for AWeber Pro here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 8 out of 10
Omnisend
Omnisend is used by over 40,000 marketers across 130+ countries. The platform makes email marketing more efficient by integrating email across social media. This includes text, push notifications and Whatsapp.
Omnisend supports the following email marketing software features:
- Email broadcasts, autoresponders, automation and workflows
- Combined email, SMS and push notification marketing campaigns
- eCommerce email marketing including cross-selling, product and cart abandonment
- A/B testing includes advanced personalization features across a wide range of fields
Positives & Negatives
- Omnisend allows you to send more relevant messages to your customers across devices and platforms. This is achieved by understanding user browsing habits and preferences, based on custom events you create.
- To segment your messages better, you can track user activities on your website. This also includes welcome emails, abandoned cart emails and post-purchase automation sequences.
- They integrate with the most popular eCommerce platforms. You can connect Omnisend to increase sales, no matter if you are using BigCommerce or Shopify, WooCommerce or Magento.
- Omnichannel marketing features may be overkill for those who need simple email marketing.
- Reporting data is limited and does not include behaviour data over custom timeframes.
- The email template layout and design choices are lacking when compared to other competing platforms.
Pricing
You can send 15,000 emails per month with their $16 per month Standard Plan and have access to their automation tools. These features include interactive signup forms, email elements, SMS notifications and product recommendations.
This feature is great for increasing eCommerce conversion rates. Users will receive messages based on the products they have interacted with on your website.
Plans start at $16/month. Start with your 14-day free trial by signing up here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 7 out of 10
Automizy
Automizy is designed to increase open rates by giving you all the tools to make your messages stand out in a crowded inbox.
The platform supports the following email marketing software features:
- Email broadcasting, autoresponders, scheduling and automation
- Drag and drop email template builder
- Linear and branching automation workflows that supports A/B testing
- AI subject line analyzer that offers recommendations for improvement
Positives & Negatives
- Access to email marketing best practices that will help you increase open rates and save you time using email templates.
- Automizy offers an email subject line tester to help you get scores for your subject lines prior to sending them. This will allow you to maximize your email open rate. This feature uses data from more than 1 million campaigns to help predict the performance of subject lines.
- Automated emails can be AB tested. Let our AI optimize by writing up to four subject lines.
- Email personalization is basic, being limited to only contact record personalization.
- Integrations, even with Zapier, are limited when compared to other email marketing platforms.
- Basic email designer with a small number of templates on offer limiting your design options.
Pricing
Start for $9/month to get all the features, including the email workflow creator that will help you map out your most profitable email sales funnel.
Get started with your free Automizy by signing up here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 7 out of 10
Benchmark
Benchmark is an intuitive, fully-featured email marketing tool. It offers a smart email builder, advanced automation, and tools such as surveys, polls, opt-in popups.
The platform supports the following email marketing services:
- Drag and drop email template builder
- Automated Onboarding email workflows
- Cart abandonment email workflows
- Post-purchase follow-up emails
Positives & Negatives
- Benchmark is easy to use, with a simple design, straightforward navigation and a smart email editor.
- Includes an inbox checker that allows you to see how your email will look across all platforms.
- Wide variety of mobile-response email templates on offer. You can preview how your templates will look on mobile from within the editor.
- There’s a small amount of storage per plan, meaning you may need to pay more if your emails contain a lot of images.
- Reported deliverability issues can result in your emails not getting to your subscribers.
- Email automation is limited to linear workflows as it does not have the power when compared to competing platforms.
Pricing
Benchmark can be tested for free, and you can upgrade to their premium plans starting from $13.99/month.
Get started with your free Benchmark email account by signing up here.
My Score & Recommendation
Score: 7 out of 10
Your next steps…
So there you have it. That’s my definitive guide to 23 of the best email marketing services and software for 2021. Now I want to hear from you: which one of these 23 tools will you choose to handle your email marketing?
Will you dive straight into a full-blown marketing platform? Or will you start on a simple free one and scale up to a paid solution later?
Are marketing platforms overkill for your needs? Perhaps all you need is a simple email marketing tool and nothing else?
Whichever way you decide to go, let me know by leaving me a quick comment below.
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