If you want a successful online business these days, you’ve got to have a successful email marketing strategy.
Did you know that no other distribution channel drives engagement and builds customer relationships like email marketing?
Email campaigns deliver a higher ROI (return on investment) than every other type of marketing category. So, if you can set up your emails properly, it can be extremely lucrative for you.
To do this you need to find the best email marketing service to manage your subscribers, content, and campaigns.
What makes one email platform better than others?
Finding the best email marketing software for your business or website can be tricky, especially when they all have similar features. But with so many to choose from, which one is the best choice for your business or website?
Not all email services are the same. Whether you’re starting a new email list from scratch or looking to switch to a new provider, this guide will help you find the best email marketing service.
The Top 10 Email Marketing Services
- AWeber
- HubSpot
- GetResponse
- Mailjet
- Mailchimp
- ActiveCampaign
- Constant Contact
- MailerLite
- Drip
- ConvertKit
Hundreds of providers offer email marketing services, but we’ve narrowed it down to these top ten that you should consider for your business, in no particular order.
We’ve reviewed each of these platforms in greater detail below, highlighting the top features, price, benefits and any potential downsides or drawbacks to be considered.
Here we go!
1. AWeber
AWeber is a traditional email marketing service that’s affordable and very reliable. They’ve been around since 1998. In that time, they’ve delivered email marketing software to over one million small business and entrepreneurs.
It’s simple and straightforward, which is the reason we like it. AWeber offers all of its features with every plan, so you’ll get the same features whether you have 25 contacts or 25,000 contacts, with pricing based strictly on the number of subscribers to your list. This is unlike other platforms who tend to add different features and capabilities for plans at different price points.
Here’s an overview of the pricing tiers.
- 0 – 500 Subscribers — $19 per month
- 501 – 2,500 Subscribers — $29 per month
- 2,501 – 5,000 Subscribers — $49 per month
- 5,001 – 10,000 Subscribers — $69 per month
- 10,001 – 25,000 Subscribers — $149 per month
But it doesn’t just end there. They also have excellent customer support.
Their customer support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can get in touch via email or live chat. They also have phone support available during business hours on weekdays.#
With AWeber, you’ll get all of the basic features you’d expect with any email marketing service:
- 700+ pre-built templates
- Email analytics
- A/B Testing
- Drag-and-drop email builder
- Automation
- Sign up forms
- Third-party integrations
- Subscriber segmentation.
You can also check out their blog that deliverers tips on email marketing.
AWeber is an industry leader in email deliverability rates. They make sure that your content is optimized to reach your subscribers’ inboxes.
2. HubSpot
HubSpot offers a wide range of excellent tools including their robust email marketing platform.
Using their email marketing tools, you can quickly and easily create, personalize, and optimize your emails without the need for designers or IT.
You can choose from dozens of pre-made templates and you can also make your own using their easy drag and drop editor.
The HubSpot editor is easy to use and allows you to customize your layout, add calls-to-action and images, and modify your content and colors to match your brand.
You can also personalize your emails using their advanced personalization tools to boost your open rates and clickthrough rates.
You can use any information in an email subscriber’s contact records to automatically serve up the most relevant subject lines, content, links, attachments, and calls-to-action.
You can also use their detailed analytics and A/B testing tools that will help you maximize all your efforts.
This data is used to determine which subject lines get the most opens, and the content and calls-to-action that will earn you more sales.
The HubSpot email tool is free for up to 2,000 email sends per month, with upgrade solutions starting at $50/month.
3. GetResponse
GetResponse is an all-in-one solution that specializes in automation. Basically, it’s more than just a simple email marketing service.
In addition to traditional email campaigns, GetResponse can help you build high-converting landing pages for lead generation.
They also have a really great feature called Autofunnel that can be used to create funnels for sales, leads, webinars, and more. It’s fully automated and very easy to use.
Funnels include emails, landing pages, marketing automation, exit popups, Facebook ads and ecommerce integration. You can use each of these features depending on your goals.
GetResponse provides all the tools you’ll need to grow your subscriber list and monetize those contacts.
Everything is fully automated by GetResponse when a user enters your funnel.
Let’s take a closer look at GetResponse’s plans and pricing.
Basic — Starting at $15 per month
- Autoresponders
- Unlimited landing pages
- 1 sales funnel
- Unlimited lead funnels
- Sell e-products
Plus — Starting at $49 per month
- Automation builder with 5 workflows
- 5 sales funnels
- Contact scoring capability
- Webinars with up to 100 attendees
- CRM software
Professional — Starting at $99 per month
- Automation builder with unlimited workflows
- Paid webinars with up to 300 attendees
- Unlimited sales funnels
- Unlimited webinar funnels
Enterprise — Starting at $1,199 per month
- Transactional emails
- Dedicated IP
- Webinars with up to 500 attendees
- Consulting services for email campaigns
- Dedicated account manager
These prices are all based on 1,000 subscribers. The rate increases as your list grows. Even the entry-level plan comes with advanced features like autoresponders, lead funnels, and sales funnels.
Each plan comes with 220 email templates, 180 landing page templates, 700 form templates, 150 integrations, 40 autofunnel templates, and a live chat support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
With GetResponse, you’ll be benefiting from building automated lead funnels, landing pages, webinars, and lots of other extras that many other providers don’t include.
4. Mailjet
Mailjet is unique as it offers real-time collaboration, making it one of the best options for businesses that have multiple departments weighing in on an email campaign. Without this feature, it’s easy for things to get messy and complicated.
Mailjet makes it easy for you to manage the permissions for team members collaborating on email campaigns.
When it comes to creating emails with Mailjet, the platform has a drag-and-drop builder that allows for complete customization. There are also tools that will allow you to personalize content for your subscribers. So you can send dynamic content and view advanced statistics and reports for all of your email campaigns.
As for the pricing structure, rather than your rate being based on subscribers, it’s based on how many emails you send each month.
Mailjet’s free plan will allow you to send up to 6,000 emails per month, limited to 200 emails per day, which isn’t great if you’re looking to run a successful campaign. This free plan however is great way for you to test out the platform.
Here’s an overview of the plans and pricing:
Basic
- 30,000 emails per month — $9.65
- 60,000 emails per month — $18.95
- 150,000 emails per month — $68.95
- 450,000 emails per month — $166.95
- 900,000 emails per month — $333.95
Premium
- 30,000 emails per month — $20.95
- 60,000 emails per month — $41.95
- 150,000 emails per month — $96.95
- 450,000 emails per month — $229.95
- 900,000 emails per month — $398.95
Mailjet offers a 10% discount on all plans if you get billed annually instead of month-to-month.
Mailjet is best recommended for those of you who plan to take advantage of the team collaboration tools. You’ll require a Premium membership to access the multi-user collaboration.
5. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a very popular email marketing solution. It’s geared toward startups, as it’s affordable, flexible, and can grow with your business.
With Mailchimp you can start for free. You won’t be charged anything until you reach 2,000 subscribers on your list. It gives you time to grow your list and get the most out of it before paying for anything. This is great if you’re a new business, as by the time you reach 2,000 subscribers, your business is likely to be in a position where it can afford the cost.
Mailchimp has templates designed specifically for the goals of each message. It’s a great choice for building and managing relationships with your customers.
Here’s a list of the plans and rates offered by Mailchimp.
Free — $0
- Up to 2,000 contacts
- 7 marketing channels
- 1 audience
- Basic templates
- Behavioural targeting
Essentials — Starting at $9.99 per month
- Up to 50,000 contacts
- 3 audiences
- Access to all Mailchimp templates
- A/B testing
- Custom branding
- 24/7 support
Standard — Starting at $14.99 per month
- Up to 100,000 contacts
- 5 audiences
- Event-based automation
- Retargeting capability
- Custom templates
- Advanced insights
Premium — Starting at $299 per month
- Up to 200,000 contacts
- Unlimited audiences
- Advanced segmentation
- Multivariate tests
- Phone support
The Standard Plan is our top recommendation for Mailchimp as it comes with plenty of advanced features to get the most out of every campaign.
To clarify, your actual rate will be based on the number of subscribers on your list. For example, if you sign up for the Standard Plan with 5,000 contacts, the rate is $74.99 per month.
In addition to award-winning customer service, Mailchimp has an extensive knowledge base with guides and tutorials for learning and self-help.
6. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a sales CRM (customer relationship management) with email marketing capabilities. You can run split tests, send dynamic content, and segment your subscribers for enhances personalization.
Below is a list of campaign types you can easily run using the email software from ActiveCampaign:
- Broadcast emails
- Targeted emails
- Scheduled emails
- Triggered emails
- Autoresponder emails
- Email funnels
One of our favourite things about ActiveCampaign is their email builder, which simplifies complex and personalized messages. You can add personalization and contingencies to nearly every element of a message.
Another great feature of ActiveCampaign is that it integrates with over 250 apps like Shopify, WooCommerce, Facebook, Zapier, Unbounce, Stripe and PayPal.
You can also set up campaigns and improve your customer database with geotracking, site behaviour tracking, custom data, and link actions. Additionally, ActiveCampaign sends you reports showing which content is generating the most conversions and revenue.
Here’s a list of the plans price points based on the amount of subscribers you have:
Lite
- 500 contacts — $15 per month
- 1,000 contacts — $29 per month
- 2,500 contacts — $49 per month
- 5,000 contacts — $89 per month
- 10,000 contacts — $139 per month
- 25,000 contacts — $225 per month
Plus
- 1,000 contacts — $70 per month
- 2,500 contacts — $125 per month
- 5,000 contacts — $169 per month
- 10,000 contacts — $249 per month
- 25,000 contacts — $339 per month
Professional
- 2,500 contacts — $159 per month
- 5,000 contacts — $239 per month
- 10,000 contacts — $349 per month
- 25,000 contacts — $599 per month
ActiveCampaign offers enterprise-level plans as well. All you have to do is contact their team to get a custom quote if you have a large list of contacts.
If you’re currently using another CRM or email software, ActiveCampaign will give you a free migration from any platform.
You can take advantage of a 14-day free trial and save roughly 20% per month if you sign up for an annual billing instead of month-to-month.
7. Constant Contact
An industry leader in the email marketing space, Constant Contact has been around for more than 20 years providing software that has been a top choice for small business owners and large corporations alike.
It’s really easy to create new email campaigns with Constant Contact. You can choose from more than 100 of their pre-built and mobile-optimized templates. Then, using the easy to use drag-and-drop builder, you can customize your message. Adding text, image, video, polls, events, and coupons to any message is straightforward.
You can also track the results of your campaigns in real-time. Everything from open rates to click-through rates, as well as data for each individual subscriber.
With Constant Contact, automation is a key benefit. You can trigger welcome messages for new subscribers and set up drop campaigns based on their actions.
They also have easy integration with other platforms you may be using, such as Shopify, Eventbrite, WordPress, QuickBooks, Gmail, Salesforce and much more.
Constant Contact offers a 60-day free trial, which is one of the best offers you’ll find in the industry.
Pricing for Constant Contact email software is straightforward, as there are two plans for you to choose from; Email and Email Plus.
Like many email marketing platforms, your rate will be based on the number of subscribers on your list. Here’s what some of the prices look like for each plan:
Email
- 0 – 500 Subscribers — Starting at $20 per month
- 501 – 2,500 Subscribers — Starting at $45 per month
- 2,501 – 5,000 Subscribers — Starting at $65 per month
- 5,001 – 10,000 Subscribers — Starting at $95 per month
Email Plus
- 0 – 500 Subscribers — Starting at $45 per month
- 501 – 2,500 Subscribers — Starting at $70 per month
- 2,501 – 5,000 Subscribers — Starting at $95 per month
- 5,001 – 10,000 Subscribers — Starting at $125 per month
These tiers continue all the way up 50,000. Once you eclipse 10,000 subscribers, you’ll automatically be upgraded to the Email Plus plan.
For those of you who want to get the most out of your email campaigns, we highly recommend Email Plus. The advanced features on this plan, such as subject line A/B testing, dynamic content and automated behavioural campaigns, are a powerful advantage.
For basic and professional emails, the cheaper plan will work just fine.
8. MailerLite
MailerLite is a basic email marketing service that sticks to the essentials.
The platform still offers tools for automation, landing pages, surveys and pop-ups, so you won’t be too limited.
MailerLite has a drag-and-drop editor, which makes it easy for anyone to design a high-quality message. You can optimize your campaigns with features like A/B testing, and segment your subscribers to enhance personalization.
We recommend MailerLite for those of you who require simple email software at an affordable rate. Here’s a quick look at the price points for MailerLite:
- Up to 1,000 subscribers — $10 per month
- 1,001 – 2,500 subscribers — $15 per month
- 2,501 – 5,000 subscribers — $30 per month
- 5,001 – 10,000 subscribers — $50 per month
- 10,001 – 15,000 subscribers — $75 per month
- 15,001 – 20,000 subscribers — $100 per month
- 20,001 – 25,000 subscribers — $120 per month
- 25,001 – 30,000 subscribers — $140 per month
The pricing tiers continue to rise at about $20-$40 per 10,000 subscribers.
They also offer a forever free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers, but you’re limited to just 12,000 emails per month. You can however use this option as an extended free trial when you’re just starting out, which is also a great way to get to know the platform.
9. Drip
Drip is a relatively new platform. It’s a CRM (customer relationship management) that offers email marketing for ecommerce businesses.
It’s a great choice to consider if you’re selling physical or digital products online. You can track valuable commerce metrics related to customer intent and purchase behaviour.
You can segment new website visitors from returning customers. You can also target users who abandoned their carts.
Drip integrates with WooCommerce, WordPress, Facebook Ads, and many more tools that you may be using to sell online.
The CRM helps you reach customers through multiple online touchpoints, including email, which is one of the reasons why we like DRIP.
They also have a revenue attribution feature, giving you a clearer view of which campaigns are actually making you money.
Again, this is ideal for ecommerce shops.
Drip has everything you need to succeed with email marketing, with personalization capabilities, powerful segmentation options, and detailed analytics.
Pricing is based on the number of customers in your account. All plans come with the same features and benefits.
- 2,500 subscribers — $49 per month
- 5,000 subscribers — $122 per month
- 10,000 subscribers — $184 per month
- 15,000 subscribers — $246 per month
- 20,000 subscribers — $308 per month
- 25,000 subscribers — $370 per month
- 35,000 subscribers — $494 per month
- 50,000 subscribers — $680 per month
- 130,000 subscribers — $1,630 per month
All of the plans on Drip come with live chat and email support, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You can also try it for free for 14 days and have access to all its features.
10. ConvertKit
We really like ConvertKick. However, it’s definitely not for everyone.
If you’re looking for drag-and-drop builders and tons of pre-built templates, then you’ll be better off using another software. In fact, ConvertKit only has a few templates, all of which are pretty plain. But that’s not to say they don’t get the job done. It really depends on what your goals are.
ConvertKit is great for creators selling products as the platform focuses more on building integrations with landing pages, ecommerce platforms, and membership sites.
For those of you who want to build automated email funnels at an affordable price, ConvertKit will be a top option for you to consider.
When you set up automated emails, you’ll be guided through a simple visual flow chart.
ConvertKit groups all of your subscribers into one list, instead of having multiple lists of contacts. But you can still tag them manually, or with auto tags based on their behaviour to improve the personalization of your campaigns.
ConvertKit are great for sending quick emails with clean formatting as the designs are simple and have no distracting elements.
ConverKit’s pricing is based on the number of subscribers you have. Here’s an overview:
- 0 – 1,000 Subscribers — $29 per month
- 1,000 – 3,000 Subscribers — $49 per month
- 3,000 – 5,000 Subscribers — $79 per month
They offer a free concierge migration service if you choose to switch to ConvertKit with more then 5,000 subscribers. You can save some money and get two months for free if you sign up for an annual plan.
ConvertKit has more than 70 third-party direct integrations, customizable forms, and custom reporting.
Their support is available Monday-Friday for 12 hours per day, via email and live chat. Support is limited on nights and weekends.