Best Email Marketing Software: Honest Reviews and Real Pricing

You need an email marketing platform. There are about 500 options. Most "best of" lists just regurgitate marketing copy and rank whoever pays the highest affiliate commissions. Let's skip that.

I've tested these tools, dealt with their support teams, and watched pricing change mid-contract. Here's what you actually need to know.

Quick Summary: Who Should Use What

Brevo (Formerly Sendinblue) - Best Free Tier

Brevo does something clever: they charge based on emails sent, not contacts stored. If you have a big list but don't email frequently, this saves real money.

Brevo Pricing

The catch: Want to remove Brevo branding? That's $12/month extra. Response times for free users can stretch several days according to user feedback.

Best for: Small businesses with large contact lists but low sending frequency. The free tier with 100K contact storage is legitimately generous.

What Makes Brevo Different

Beyond email, Brevo includes SMS marketing, WhatsApp campaigns, and a basic CRM with pipeline management. This multi-channel approach makes it valuable if you need to reach customers across platforms. The automation builder lets you trigger campaigns based on website visits, purchases, and abandoned carts-features typically locked behind premium plans elsewhere.

Read our full Brevo pricing breakdown and Brevo review.

AWeber - Solid for Creators and Affiliates

AWeber has been around since 1998. They're not flashy, but they work. The platform is particularly friendly to affiliate marketers-a space where other providers get weird about compliance.

AWeber Pricing

The catch: AWeber charges by subscribers, not emails. If your subscriber count exceeds your plan, they auto-upgrade you. Downgrades require contacting support-they won't do it automatically.

Best for: Content creators, bloggers, and affiliate marketers who need reliable deliverability and don't mind a slightly dated interface.

Try AWeber Free →

See our detailed AWeber pricing guide.

Mailchimp - The Familiar Name (But Not the Best Value)

Everyone knows Mailchimp. That's the problem-they know it too, and price accordingly. The platform has moved away from its email marketing roots and become a general marketing platform, which dilutes the core experience.

Mailchimp Pricing

The problem: Mailchimp charges for inactive contacts. You pay double for contacts who haven't engaged. The free plan is severely limited compared to competitors, and it's not as intuitive for simple email campaigns as it used to be.

Best for: Honestly? People who already use it and don't want to migrate. For new users, MailerLite or Brevo offer more for less.

Why Mailchimp Lost Its Edge

A decade ago, Mailchimp was the affordable champion for small businesses. Today, at 2,500 subscribers, MailerLite charges $25/month for unlimited sends while Mailchimp hits $60/month with send limits. Interface updates haven't improved usability-some functions remain frustratingly buried in menus.

Moosend - Underrated Value Pick

Moosend flies under the radar but delivers solid value. One thing I actually like: they include all Pro features on a single paid plan. You pay more only to increase contact limits, not to access more tools.

Moosend Pricing

The catch: No free plan (only a trial). But the straightforward pricing makes it easy to budget.

Best for: Small businesses and side-hustle affiliate marketers who want automation without complexity.

Moosend's Automation Advantage

At $7/month, you get the visual workflow builder, product recommendations, website event tracking, and ecommerce integrations that competitors charge 3-4x more for. The landing page builder includes conversion-focused templates. For businesses scaling from 1,000 to 10,000 contacts, Moosend costs $48/month compared to Kit's $139 or ActiveCampaign's higher tiers.

ActiveCampaign - Best for Serious Automation

If you need complex automation workflows-multi-step sequences triggered by user behavior, CRM integration, lead scoring-ActiveCampaign is the standard. It balances user-friendly design with powerful features.

ActiveCampaign Pricing

What Makes It Different

ActiveCampaign connects the entire customer journey from lead generation to sales. You can split test up to five different email versions, track website activity, and build custom automations triggered by onsite behavior. There's even a built-in spam tester.

The catch: It's not cheap. Entry-level pricing is higher than simpler tools, and it gets expensive as your list grows. Overkill if you just need basic newsletters.

Best for: Growing businesses that need marketing automation, not just email blasts. Particularly good for B2B and SaaS companies with longer sales cycles.

Recent deliverability tests show ActiveCampaign hitting 94.2% inbox placement rates-among the highest in the industry. The platform earned recognition for consistent performance across Gmail, Outlook, and other major providers.

Compare it with other options in our CRM software comparison.

GetResponse - All-In-One Marketing Platform

GetResponse combines email marketing with webinars, landing pages, and conversion funnels. It's been around since 1998 and serves over 350,000 customers.

GetResponse Pricing

Why Consider GetResponse

The Starter plan includes unlimited emails, landing pages, website builder, and 24/7 support at $19/month-competitive value. The visual automation builder rivals ActiveCampaign's capabilities at a lower entry price. Webinar functionality (up to 100 attendees on Marketer plan) sets it apart from pure email platforms.

The downside: Price jumps between tiers feel steep. The Starter plan's basic automation might frustrate advanced users. At 10,000 contacts, you're paying $79/month-not the cheapest option.

Best for: Marketers who need webinars integrated with email campaigns, or course creators wanting an all-in-one solution without juggling separate tools.

MailerLite - Best for Simplicity

MailerLite's Forever Free plan gives you 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails monthly (not the 500/12K mentioned earlier-they've upgraded it). The trade-off? A small MailerLite logo in your email footer. For most people starting out, that's fine.

MailerLite Pricing

The platform includes a form builder and landing page builder-even on free. It's genuinely easy to use without being stripped down.

What's missing: No spam testing or design testing (you can preview and send test emails though). Advanced reporting is basic compared to Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign.

Why MailerLite Wins on Deliverability

In independent testing, MailerLite achieved 94.41% average deliverability over five rounds-earning "best of 5" recognition. Their infrastructure maintains strong sender reputation across shared IPs. At 5,000 subscribers, you pay $35/month compared to Kit's $75 or Mailchimp's $100+.

If you're evaluating website builders too, check our website builder comparison.

Kit (Formerly ConvertKit) - Creator-Focused Platform

Kit targets creators-bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, and course sellers. Founded in 2013 by creator Nathan Barry, it's purpose-built for audience building and monetization.

Kit Pricing

Recent price increase: Kit raised prices significantly. What was $15/month is now $33/month for 300 subscribers. At 5,000 contacts, you're paying $89/month compared to MailerLite's $35.

What Kit Offers Creators

Visual automation builder, creator network for cross-promotion, ability to sell digital products and paid newsletters directly through the platform. TeachKit lets you create and sell online courses. Kit Ads connects creators with sponsors.

The downside: Limited email templates. Basic reporting on lower tiers. Price increases make it less competitive-MailerLite, Beehiiv, or Sender offer 70-80% of functionality at half the cost.

Best for: Creators who need monetization features and creator-specific integrations built in, and can afford premium pricing.

Klaviyo - The Ecommerce Specialist

If you run an online store, Klaviyo speaks your language. It's built specifically for ecommerce with over 60 integrations, pre-built behavior-based workflows, and segmentation based on purchase history and predicted customer lifetime value.

Klaviyo Pricing

Pricing scales with contacts: 10,000 contacts runs approximately $100-150/month depending on email volume.

Why Ecommerce Stores Love It

Klaviyo's segmentation goes deep-you can segment by engagement, purchase history, predicted next order date, or customer lifetime value. The SMS and MMS support is included, making it a true multi-channel platform. Pre-built flows for abandoned carts, browse abandonment, win-back campaigns, and post-purchase sequences save hours of setup time.

Product recommendations engine analyzes purchase patterns to suggest relevant items. Revenue attribution shows exactly which emails drive sales.

The catch: Can get expensive quickly as your list grows. The learning curve is steeper than simpler platforms. Best suited for stores doing $10K+/month in revenue where the ROI justifies the cost.

Best for: Shopify stores, DTC brands, and any ecommerce business serious about email-driven revenue.

Omnisend - Klaviyo Alternative for Ecommerce

Another ecommerce-focused platform. Omnisend combines email, SMS, and web push notifications. The pre-made workflows for abandoned carts and product follow-ups save time.

Omnisend Pricing

Works seamlessly with Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. If Klaviyo feels too expensive, Omnisend is worth testing. At comparable contact levels, Omnisend typically costs 30-40% less than Klaviyo while offering similar core features.

HubSpot - When You Need Everything

HubSpot is a CRM giant that includes email marketing in its Marketing Hub. You get drag-and-drop editors, sophisticated automation, personalization, and detailed analytics-all tied to your CRM data.

The Reality Check

HubSpot's Professional plan starts at $1,250/month per organization, billed annually. That includes email marketing, content tools, and analytics. The price reflects the full platform, not just email.

The Starter tier ($20/month) includes basic email marketing with 1,000 contacts but limited automation. For true marketing automation, you need Professional tier or higher.

Best for: Mid-to-large businesses already using HubSpot CRM, or companies that need tight integration between sales and marketing. The unified platform eliminates data silos between departments.

For smaller operations, see our CRM for small business guide.

Constant Contact - Event Marketing Integration

Constant Contact focuses on small businesses, nonprofits, and organizations that host events. Founded in 1995, it's one of the oldest email marketing platforms still operating.

Constant Contact Pricing

What Sets It Apart

Event management tools built into the platform let you create registration pages, send invitations, and manage RSVPs. Social media posting directly from the platform. Hundreds of industry-specific templates. Strong customer support with phone support on all paid plans.

The downside: More expensive than MailerLite or Brevo for similar features. The interface feels dated compared to newer competitors. Deliverability has been inconsistent in independent tests.

Best for: Organizations that regularly host events and need integrated event management, or businesses that value phone support.

Drip - Ecommerce Automation Powerhouse

Drip positions itself as an "ECRM" (ecommerce CRM) focusing exclusively on online stores. The platform emphasizes revenue attribution and customer journey mapping.

Drip Pricing

Drip's Strengths

Visual workflow builder rivals ActiveCampaign's sophistication. Revenue tracking shows which emails generate sales. Tagging and segmentation based on purchase behavior, cart contents, and browsing history. Multi-channel campaigns combining email, SMS, and social media.

When Drip makes sense: Established ecommerce brands ($50K+/month revenue) needing advanced segmentation and revenue attribution. The price point sits between Omnisend and Klaviyo.

Sender - Aggressive Free Tier

Sender offers one of the most generous free plans in the industry: 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails monthly-5x more than GetResponse's free tier.

Sender Pricing

Features include automation workflows, abandoned cart recovery, product recommendations, and ecommerce integrations. The ability to automatically pull product information from websites saves time for online stores.

Best for: Startups and small ecommerce brands wanting to test email marketing without financial commitment.

What Actually Matters When Choosing

Pricing Models Explained

Most email marketing tools charge one of two ways:

Entry-level pricing typically starts around $7-20/month. Enterprise solutions can run $1,500+/month. Mid-tier plans with automation usually fall between $30-100/month depending on features and scale.

Understanding Cost Per Contact

At 5,000 contacts, monthly costs range dramatically:

The cheapest option isn't always best. Consider features included, deliverability rates, and whether you'll outgrow the platform in six months.

Hidden Costs to Watch

Most tools charge monthly or annual subscriptions with pricing tied to contact volume, email frequency, and automation features. Review limits carefully before scaling campaigns-automatic upgrades can surprise you.

Features That Actually Matter

Automation: Welcome sequences, abandoned cart emails, behavior triggers. Brevo includes this free; many platforms lock it behind premium tiers. Advanced users want multi-step workflows with conditional splits based on user actions.

Segmentation: Split your list by behavior, purchase history, engagement. Essential for anything beyond basic newsletters. Look for platforms offering tag-based organization, custom fields, and dynamic segments that update automatically.

Deliverability: The best features don't matter if emails land in spam. AWeber, MailerLite, and ActiveCampaign have solid reputations here. Independent testing shows average deliverability across platforms is 83%-anything above 89% is excellent.

Landing pages: Most tools include basic builders. Moosend and MailerLite do this well on affordable plans. GetResponse includes unlimited landing pages even on the $19/month Starter plan.

Email templates: Mailchimp offers 225+ templates, but quality varies. MailerLite's smaller library (200+) focuses on modern, mobile-responsive designs. GetResponse provides 100+ templates plus an AI-powered generator.

A/B testing: Essential for optimization. Test subject lines, send times, content variations. Most platforms include basic A/B testing; advanced options (3-5 way split tests) require higher tiers.

Analytics and reporting: Basic metrics (opens, clicks, unsubscribes) are universal. Advanced features include revenue attribution, subscriber engagement scoring, predictive analytics, and custom report builders.

Deliverability: The Make-or-Break Factor

Based on independent testing from EmailToolTester, here are recent deliverability scores:

Industry average is 83.1%, meaning nearly 17% of emails either disappear or hit spam folders. Anything above 89% is considered excellent.

Deliverability depends on multiple factors: sender reputation, email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), list hygiene, engagement rates, and the ESP's infrastructure. Even perfect practices can't compensate for an ESP with poor IP reputation.

Integration Capabilities

Check whether your email platform connects with tools you already use:

MailerLite offers 150+ integrations, Mailchimp has 330+, Kit provides 70+ creator-focused connections. ActiveCampaign exceeds 900 integrations.

Email Marketing Benchmarks: What to Expect

Understanding industry benchmarks helps evaluate your performance:

Average Open Rates by Industry

Average Click Rates

Most industries see click-through rates between 2-5%. Higher engagement typically indicates better list quality and targeting.

ROI Expectations

Email marketing delivers an average ROI of $36-42 for every $1 invested-among the highest of any marketing channel. Ecommerce businesses report email driving 20-30% of total revenue.

Migration: Switching Platforms Without Losing Your Mind

Switching email platforms mid-campaign feels daunting. Here's what matters:

What Transfers Easily

What's Harder to Move

Several platforms offer free migration services: Kit migrates accounts with 5K+ subscribers free, MailerLite provides migration support, GetResponse includes setup assistance on higher tiers.

Plan migrations during low-activity periods. Test automations thoroughly before going live. Keep the old account active for 30 days as backup.

Specialized Use Cases

Best for Nonprofits

Constant Contact offers 15% discount for nonprofits. Mailchimp provides discounts up to 15% for registered nonprofits. Both include donor management features, event registration, and survey tools.

Best for Agencies

Look for white-labeling options and multi-client management: Moosend offers white-label solutions, Mailchimp has Agency Partner program, ActiveCampaign provides sub-account management.

Best for Bloggers and Content Creators

Kit remains top choice despite price increases due to creator network, monetization features, and simple tag-based organization. MailerLite offers similar functionality at lower cost but lacks creator-specific features.

Best for B2B Companies

ActiveCampaign excels with CRM integration, lead scoring, sales automation, and attribution reporting. HubSpot works well for companies already in their ecosystem.

Best for High-Volume Senders

Brevo's email-based pricing benefits high-volume senders with large lists. Dedicated IPs become important above 100K contacts for maintaining sender reputation.

Email Marketing Strategy Essentials

List Building Best Practices

Average email lists decay 22.5% annually due to job changes, abandoned accounts, and unsubscribes. Continuous list building is essential:

Segmentation Strategies

Segmented campaigns generate 58% of all revenue despite representing smaller portion of sends. Common segments:

Automation Workflows Worth Building

  1. Welcome series: 3-5 emails introducing new subscribers to your brand
  2. Abandoned cart recovery: 2-3 emails reminding customers of items left behind
  3. Post-purchase follow-up: Thank you, request review, cross-sell
  4. Re-engagement campaigns: Win back inactive subscribers
  5. Birthday/anniversary emails: Personalized with special offers

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Buying email lists: Destroys sender reputation, violates GDPR/CAN-SPAM, generates minimal ROI.

Ignoring mobile optimization: 60%+ of emails are opened on mobile devices. Templates must be responsive.

Sending without testing: Always send test emails to multiple clients (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail) before sending to full list.

Neglecting list hygiene: Remove hard bounces immediately, suppress unengaged subscribers after 6 months, verify emails before importing.

Overlooking authentication: Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Most ESPs provide step-by-step guides.

Frequency extremes: Too frequent causes unsubscribes and spam complaints; too infrequent loses engagement. Test to find your audience's sweet spot.

Compliance: GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and CASL

Email marketing regulations vary by region but share common requirements:

GDPR (European Union)

CAN-SPAM (United States)

CASL (Canada)

Most email marketing platforms include compliance features: consent checkboxes, automatic unsubscribe links, required footer elements. Still, responsibility ultimately falls on the sender.

The Bottom Line

Just starting out? Go with Brevo's free tier or MailerLite. Both let you test email marketing without commitment. Brevo offers more contacts, MailerLite provides unlimited sends.

Running an ecommerce store? Klaviyo or Omnisend-the ecommerce-specific features justify the cost if you're doing $10K+/month in revenue. For smaller stores, Omnisend offers better value.

Need serious automation? ActiveCampaign balances power and usability. Worth the premium if automation drives your business. GetResponse offers similar capabilities at slightly lower cost with webinar functionality as bonus.

Already in the HubSpot ecosystem? Stick with their Marketing Hub. Adding another tool creates more problems than it solves. The integration is seamless when everything lives in one platform.

Tight budget but need features? Moosend at $7/month or Sender at $7/month give you advanced features without nickel-and-diming for each capability.

Creator or solopreneur? Consider whether Kit's creator-specific features justify the premium pricing over MailerLite's simpler, cheaper alternative.

Most platforms offer free trials or free tiers. Test 2-3 options with your actual use case before committing. Import a small list, build a sequence, see how the interface feels. The "best" platform is the one that fits how you actually work.

My Personal Recommendations by Budget

$0/month budget: Start with MailerLite's free plan (1,000 subscribers, 12,000 emails). Upgrade when you exceed limits.

Under $50/month: MailerLite, Moosend, or Brevo depending on whether you prioritize unlimited sends (MailerLite), all features unlocked (Moosend), or multi-channel capability (Brevo).

$50-150/month: ActiveCampaign if you need automation and CRM, GetResponse for webinar integration, Omnisend for ecommerce.

$150+/month: At this level, your choice depends on specific needs: Klaviyo for advanced ecommerce, HubSpot for full marketing suite, ActiveCampaign for complex B2B automation.

Questions to Ask Before Choosing

Future-Proofing Your Choice

Consider not just current needs but where you'll be in 12 months:

Scalability: Can the platform handle 10x your current list size? Check upper-tier pricing before committing.

Feature roadmap: Are they actively developing new features? Stagnant platforms fall behind quickly.

API access: Even if you don't need it now, API access provides flexibility for custom integrations later.

Support quality: As you grow, you'll need help. Check whether support is email-only, includes chat, or offers phone support at your tier.

Final Thoughts

The email marketing software landscape changes constantly. Prices shift, features get added, companies get acquired. What remains constant: email delivers the highest ROI of any digital marketing channel when done right.

The platform matters less than consistency, segmentation, and providing value to subscribers. A simple platform used well beats a complex platform used poorly.

Start simple, test thoroughly, scale gradually. Your first choice doesn't have to be your forever choice. Most successful email marketers have switched platforms at least once.

For broader marketing needs, explore our guides on email marketing for small business and best CRM software.