Top 7 Email Marketing Software Platforms

Top 7 Email Marketing Software Platforms

Business owners are constantly seeking ways to improve their marketing efforts. Email marketing remains an effective marketing strategy across various industries, offering a remarkable return on investment. The ROI of email marketing is 44$ for every 1$ spent (according to the DMA, 2021).

Email marketing software enables users to create, send, and track emails to their list of subscribers, simplifying the process and providing valuable insights such as open rates and click-through rates. Moreover, advanced platforms can automate sending emails based on user behavior, delivering personalized content that boosts engagement.

For instance, e-commerce businesses can automate follow-up emails for users who leave items in their cart, encouraging them to complete their purchases. Similarly, SaaS products can entice users to try a demo and adjust follow-ups based on their responses.

Choosing the platform that will be effective for your business is crucial for success. Join us in exploring the top seven email marketing software platforms, where we'll assess their features, pricing, and the pros and cons of using each.

Hubspot

HubSpot is a top all-in-one CRM platform with integrated email marketing capabilities, simplifying email campaigns, social media management, and blog publishing. Its native CRM integration personalizes emails and offers enterprise-level features like send-time optimization, high deliverability, detailed analytics, and drip campaigns. The platform integrates smoothly with popular marketing and sales tools, and provides a free plan allowing up to 2,000 emails per month, along with marketing, sales, service, and operations tools for a strong start in your email marketing efforts. E-mails will include the HubSpot logo. If you need more advanced capabilities, paid plans start at $20 per month for 1,000 marketing contacts. Discounts available upon annual commitment. Best suited for larger companies, especially in the SaaS sector.

Pros:

Generous free plan allowing up to 2,000 emails
Comprehensive marketing suite with integrated CRM, social media, blogging, and email marketing capabilities
Effective lead tracking throughout the buying journey
Valuable online training resources

Cons:

Integration with separate CRMs, like Salesforce, can be challenging
May not be ideal for businesses primarily seeking email marketing tools
Steep learning curve, which might be overwhelming for small or medium businesses.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a top-rated tool primarily due to its free plan. The platform simplifies email marketing with its intuitive drag-and-drop email builder, autoresponders, contact segmentation and email tracking for analytics. However, the free plan comes with very limited features for up to 500 contacts and 1000 monthly emails and requires Mailchimp branding in emails. For those seeking more extensive features, paid plans starting at $13 per month provide campaign scheduling, A/B testing, SMS-marketing, and in-depth reporting. Mailchimp is exceptionally user-friendly, making it an excellent choice for solopreneurs and startups. However, as your business grows, you may find more robust and cost-effective email marketing software options better suited to your needs.

Pros:

Free plan for up to 500 contacts and 1000 monthly emails
Simple campaign creation and customization
Comprehensive reporting for optimizing future campaigns in paid plans
Extensive integration options
Recently introduced SMS marketing to drive campaign engagement

Cons:

No email scheduling on the free plan
Limited phone support even for paid plans
Not tailored for advanced marketing teams

MailerLite

MailerLite has built a reputation for its user-friendly approach. It offers a versatile set of features, including a website builder for landing pages, pre-built workflows for marketing automation, an email verifier for list optimization, a drag-and-drop email design interface, and a diverse array of email templates to select from. There is a free plan that supports up to 1,000 subscribers and permits 12,000 monthly emails. This plan includes essential features like newsletter and form builders, landing pages, popups, and automation capabilities. Paid plans start at $10 monthly for up to 500 subscribers and unlimited monthly emails. Discount for annual subscription is available. Additionally, there's a 30-day free trial upon signup. MailerLite is a straightforward, easy-to-use email marketing solution best for small ecommerce businesses.

Pros:

User-friendly drag-and-drop interface
Free plan for up to 1,000 contacts and 12000 monthly emails using all the essential features
Offers a variety of email templates
Offers an extensive library of how-to articles, video tutorials, and even email marketing courses

Cons:

Lacks CRM functionalities but allows for integrations with CRM-focused apps
Requires extensive company information for account setup
Provides only basic analytics and reporting features

Drip

Drip is top-tier e-commerce email marketing software featuring advanced workflows and precise list segmentation for personalized, behavior-triggered emails. User-friendly drip campaigns, complemented by reliable customer support, ensure a seamless customer journey. Streamlined customization and precise list segmentation empower e-commerce entrepreneurs to deliver outstanding customer experiences. No free plan is available. Drip's pricing plan is based on list size and send volume. It offers a 14-day free trial and flexible pricing starting at $39 monthly for 2,500 contacts, scaling up to $1,899 monthly for 170,000 contacts. The platform is tailored specifically to e-commerce with its seamless integration with e-commerce platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce.

Pros:

Easy to set up and use automated workflows
Powerful drip campaigns
Advanced contact list segmentation
Offers SMS marketing to drive campaign engagement

Cons:

No free plan
No drag-and-drop template design
Gets expensive fast

AWeber

AWeber excels in creating professional emails with its user-friendly email editor and seamless Canva integration. With 600+ pre-built email templates and strong deliverability, it's a solid choice for email marketing. Notable features include a drag-and-drop editor, landing page creator, email segmentation, automated campaigns, and web push notifications. AWeber provides a free plan for up to 500 subscribers with limited features and necessitating Aweber’s logo. Paid options start at $15 per month for unlimited subscribers. Opting for annual plans offers additional savings. Best for small businesses and entrepreneurs who value a wide range of email templates

Pros:

Extensive library of email templates, includes web push notifications
Canva integration for easy image editing
Powerful email marketing features include AMP emails, automatic RSS-to-email for bloggers, and tag-based subscriber segmentation
Advanced analytics, including revenue-based metrics

Cons:

Limited customer support available in English
Recipient selection, segmentation options and ability to remove AWeber’s logo are limited until the higher plans

Brevo

Brevo, formerly known as Sendinblue, is a fast-growing email and SMS marketing software. It offers user-friendly tools, including a drag-and-drop email editor, marketing automation, transactional emails, workflow creation, and smart scheduling for better deliverability. Brevo provides a free plan allowing up to 300 emails daily, but it includes basic features and requires usage of the Brevo logo. Paid plans start at $25 per month for up to 20,000 emails with no daily limits and basic analytics. Advanced features like A/B testing, send time optimization, and advanced statistics are available for $65 monthly. It's an excellent choice for budget-conscious small businesses.

Pros:

Budget-friendly pricing
Plans are based on email volume, not the number of subscribers, making it suitable for those sending not frequent but highly targeted email
Email and SMS marketing integration
Good variety of easy-to-use email templates

Cons:

Free plan send has a limit of 300 emails
Limited email layout options
Limited customer support
Advanced features are limited until the higher plans

Moosend

Moosend stands out as the most affordable choice, offering flexibility in payment by allowing you to choose between billing based on the number of subscribers or emails sent, whichever suits your budget better. It allows creating and customizing an email newsletter within minutes by choosing from pre-made templates or designing a custom one. While it provides easy template customization, there are limitations like the inability to send emails from Gmail or Hotmail addresses, a less sophisticated user interface, and limited integrations. The platform offers detailed email analytics with open rates, clicks, bounces, product views, purchases, event tracking, and predicted demographics. There is no free plan, but a 30-day trial is available. Automation features are included in all plans. Pro Plan starts at $9 per month for 500 subscribers, with discounts for annual billing. You can also pay by email credits with unlimited subscribers, starting at 350,000 emails for $350, equating to $1 for 1,000 email sends. It makes Moosend the most budget-friendly choice for small business email marketing.

Pros