May 4, 2022

The Best Email Marketing Services Compared [May 2022]

Reading time about 21 min

Email marketing services make sending your newsletters and email campaigns a breeze. But how do you know which one to go for? To help you decide, we’ve rounded up some of the best emailing platforms for small businesses.

Equipped with advanced features like newsletter design tools, automation capabilities, and ways to personalize content, email marketing services have everything you need to grow your business. They can help you build your mailing list, engage with subscribers, and strengthen customer relationships.

The difficulty lies in choosing the best email marketing software for your business. There are tons of options out there and it can get overwhelming trying to sift through everything they offer.

To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of top email marketing services and their main features.

At a Glance: What Are The Best Email Marketing Services

  1. Sendinblue
  2. Mailchimp
  3. ConvertKit
  4. Hubspot
  5. MailerLite
  6. Klaviyo
  7. AWeber
  8. ActiveCampaign
  9. GetResponse
  10. Constant Contact
  11. Campaign Monitor

Comparing Prices for Email Marketing Services

This is a simple price comparison of the top email marketing services reviewed in this article to give you an overview of what to expect from each one. Free email services like Outlook and Gmail aren’t suitable for mass email campaigns so you need a dedicated email marketing platform.

A Closer Look at the Best Email Marketing Services in 2022

Sendinblue: The #1 Email Marketing Service

Sendinblue email marketing sevice

Sendinblue is much more than an email marketing software. It provides users with a complete sales and marketing toolkit. Each feature slots together to build your email marketing strategy from start to finish.

As an email marketing service, Sendinblue offers powerful features like laser-focused segmentation, personalized content, A/B testing, and send time optimization. On top of the intuitive drag and drop email editor you get access to a selection of fully responsive templates so you can easily create great emails.

You can use Sendinblue’s marketing automation tools to scale your email marketing:

  • Autoresponders like welcome emails 
  • Complex workflows based on user behavior
  • If/then scenarios
  • Lead scoring
  • Automated contact management

Try Sendinblue for free

Sendinblue’s free plan includes access to all core features, 300 emails/day, 40+ email templates, and customizable signup forms. Unlimited subscribers.

Open my free Sendinblue account now >>

Thanks to the Sendinblue Tracker, you can even trigger emails based on how users interact with your website. There are also ready plugins for integrations with ecommerce platforms like Shopify and Woocommerce.

If you need to send transactional emails like account confirmations or order updates, with Sendinblue you can manage these alongside your marketing campaigns. Also, the SMTP relay available means it can work as a bulk email marketing service, depending on your goals and needs. 

Sendinblue not only measures core email KPIs like open rates and click rates, but also gives you detailed heat maps of where people clicked in an email, when they engaged with the campaign and from what geography. This allows you to fine-tune campaigns for optimal results.

Aside from emailing, the service offers SMS marketing features, live chat to connect with customers in real time, and signup forms for lead generation to support all your marketing efforts. Push notifications are also coming soon!

Pricing for Sendinblue’s email marketing service

Sendinblue’s free forever plan lets you send up to 300 emails a day. That’s 9,000 emails a month and we never charge for contact list size. Our paid plans start at $25 for 20,000 emails per month.

When picking a paid plan, pricing will depend on the number of emails you want to send each month. However, all plans — including Free — allow you to store unlimited contacts at no cost. Packages include email support, while chat and phone support are available with the Premium plan.

For inspiration, look at this beautiful email by The Wally Shop, created and sent with Sendinblue.

email example by the wally shop

2. Mailchimp

Mailchimp's email marketing platform

Mailchimp is probably the most popular email marketing service. It’s equipped with all the features you need to run slick email marketing campaigns. The platform’s simple user interface makes it easy for email marketing newbies to get their head around complicated features. 

The drag and drop email builder and professional templates help you create beautiful campaigns in minutes. And you can grow your audience by adding popup signup forms to your website or creating unlimited landing pages using premade templates. 

Digging deeper, Mailchimp offers advanced email marketing tools like A/B testing, prebuilt and custom list segmentation options, and send time optimization. You can also personalize email content, including product recommendations using one of the ecommerce plugins.

For email automation, choose from pre-built workflows such as re-engagement emails or craft your own customer journeys. 

If you want to take your marketing strategy multichannel, the platform also offers social media scheduling and ads. 

For paid plans, the price increases based on the number of subscribers in your contact lists. The free plan doesn’t include customer support but there is an extensive knowledge base to help you out. 

Price: there is a free plan for up to 2,000 subscribers and 10,000 emails. After that, prices start at $11 for 500 contacts.

3. ConvertKit

Email automation workflow with ConvertKit

ConvertKit is an emailing service targeting online creatives like bloggers and YouTubers. Email marketing features include the ability to segment your list and personalize campaigns using tags, as well as A/B testing for subject lines. 

You can grow your audience with customizable landing page templates and signup forms designed to increase conversions. And if you’re using downloadable content as an incentive, it’s easy to automatically send materials after someone fills out your form. 

ConvertKit’s automation software provides a visual way to set up email drip campaigns powered by subscriber behavior. The workflow editor shows you what your sequences look like in action and makes it easy to alter the route subscribers take. And if you need help getting started, there are automation templates for use cases like webinars and product launches.

All plans let you send unlimited emails and come with live chat and email support. For paid plans, pricing is based on how many subscribers you have. 

Price: the free plan lets you have up to 300 subscribers. After that, prices start at $15 per month for 300 contacts and more advanced features.

4. Hubspot

Hubspot user dashboard.

Hubspot’s email marketing features are spread between their Marketing Hub and Sales Hub (CRM). The Marketing Hub focuses on tools for growing traffic and leads such as emails, landing pages, social media ads, live chat, video, SEO, and content.

The Sales Hub adds email tracking and scheduling, meeting scheduling, CRM, predictive lead scoring, sales automation, email sequences, and reporting. Their Service Hub offers ticketing and support features. 

Overall, Hubspot covers all digital marketing areas and caters to sales-oriented businesses like SaaS. 

Price: The free plan allows you to send up to 2,000 emails per month and store up to 1,000,000 contacts. The Starter Marketing plan begins at $50 per month for 1,000 contacts.

5. MailerLite

Screenshot of MailerLite's user dashboard. Current view shows campaign statistics overview.

MailerLite is an email marketing service covering all beginner needs. You can create any kind of email campaign with their drag-and-drop editor. You can also grow your email list with signup forms, create dedicated landing pages, and even a whole website with their website builder. Transactional emails can be sent through a third-party, MailerSend.

MailerLite also offers email automation and personalization based on user behavior. Abandoned cart emails are available for Shopify and WooCommerce stores. Contact management and segmentation are also covered. 

A/B testing and smart delivery by time zone features let you optimize campaign results. On top, MailerLite has reports and analytics for you to track your performance. 

MailerLite has a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month.

Price: The free plan allows you to send 12,000 emails per month to 1,000 contacts. Paid plans start at $10 per month for 1,000 subscribers.

6.  Klaviyo

Klaviyo user dashboard showing the business overview page.

Klaviyo caters to online shops mainly. It provides SMS and advanced email functionality to marketers looking to increase revenue. Their editor is easy to use and there are ready responsive templates available. You can personalize emails with product recommendations and dynamic blocks.

Klaviyo tracks website interactions and events that you can use for emails, automations and segmentation. All customer data goes into individual profiles, a CRM, where to dive deeper into understanding your buyers.

Klaviyo also offers advanced reporting capabilities. In addition to metrics dashboards, it provides customized benchmarks for your business.

Klaviyo’s free plan includes up to 250 email contacts and 50 SMS contacts, 500 emails sent, and 150 SMS sent.

Price: The free plan includes 500 emails per month for 250 contacts. Paid plan prices start at $20 per month for 500 contacts.

7. AWeber

Aweber email campaign design page featuring automation options.

AWeber’s email marketing service has some handy tools for beginners. On top of a drag and drop editor and extensive library of email templates, the platform offers an AI-powered design assistant. This tool uses your website and social media accounts to automatically build on-brand templates for your business’ email newsletters.

AWeber makes it simple to connect with individual customers at scale using tags that you can add manually or automatically. For example, you can tag subscribers based on signup information or when they open an email or click a link.

Email automation features let you run your campaigns on autopilot, including drip campaigns for welcoming subscribers or launching a new product. To save you time the campaign marketplace offers pre-made workflows with email templates for each campaign stage.

All you have to do is customize them to your brand and target audience.

Elsewhere, there’s a drag and drop landing page builder that comes with ready-to-use templates and a gallery of stock images to quickly create attractive pages. All templates include signup forms and you can automatically tag subscribers from each form to better manage your lists.

AWeber’s pricing is based on your subscriber count and all plans include chat, email, and phone support.

Price: The free plan includes 3,000 emails for up to 500 subscribers. After that, prices start at $19.99 per month for the pro version.

8. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign email marketing service dashboard

ActiveCampaign’s email marketing service is just one feature of its overall marketing capabilities. 

The software makes it easy to personalize your emails using contact data. You can also split test up to five different email versions to work out what content performs best. Plus, there’s also a built-in spam tester to check if emails are likely to go to junk. 

For more targeted messages, segment your audience using insights like contacts’ email activity. There’s even website tracking features for collecting data on contacts’ page visits and other onsite actions.

To get you started, there is an extensive selection of premade automation workflows. You can also create custom automations from scratch using a range of triggers, including website activity thanks to the tracking features. 

Upgrading from the Lite to Plus plan gets you more advanced automation features. For example, you can score contacts based on their engagement, split test different workflows, and get a visual overview of all your automations and how they link together.

With the Plus package you’ll also get features for different marketing channels, including SMS and landing pages. 

The 14-day free trial option lets you test the platform with a limited number of contacts and email sends. All plans include live chat and email support. 

Price: Prices start at $15 per month for up to 500 subscribers

9. GetResponse

GetResponse email marketing service dashbaord.

GetResponse provides small businesses with a suite of marketing tools, including a fully-equipped email marketing service.

The platform has a library of professionally designed email templates with a drag and drop editor that makes it easy to transform your emails into beautifully branded messages. 

Collect data on customer behavior and interests, then use powerful segmentation tools to personalize your email campaigns. Or automatically tag and score contacts with marketing automation to trigger targeted emails. 

Other automation capabilities include time-based drip campaigns, with the option to view your email sequence on a calendar to see exactly when subscribers will receive messages. 

The software also allows you to send transactional emails alongside your marketing campaigns, while ecommerce plugins let you promote products in emails and landing pages. 

Aside from email marketing, you can create and manage Facebook ads using the built-in tool and free templates. The platform even offers tools for running your own webinars. The conversion tunnel feature helps you bring everything together with pre-made automated sales funnels designed for different industries and purposes. 

GetResponse offers a free plan for sending 1 email to 300 contacts per month. All plans come with live chat and email support.

Price: The free plan includes unlimited email sends to 500 contacts. Paid plan pricing starts at $15 per month for 500 subscribers.

10. Constant Contact

constant contact drag and drop editor.

Constant Contact is a fully-equipped marketing toolbox that offers much more than just email. Its emailing service comes with a wide choice of free email templates. Or there is a tool to automatically build your own branded templates based on your website or Facebook page. 

Other email marketing features include A/B testing for subject lines and automated resends to subscribers who don’t open a campaign. The Email Plus package gets you additional functionality like multi-step automated email series and tools for surveys and online donations. 

Advanced segmentation lets you automatically manage contacts based on email link clicks. Or you can create custom segments using criteria like subscriber engagement or purchase activity via the Shopify or WooCommerce plugins. 

On top of email marketing tools, with Constant Contact you can create landing pages or even build an entire website or online store from scratch. You can also manage social media activity from the platform, including post scheduling, responding to messages and comments, and running ads.

While there is no free plan, paid plans include unlimited emails and email and chat support. Prices increase the more contacts you have.

Price: Prices start at $9.99 per month for up to 500 subscribers.

11. Campaign Monitor

Creating a newsletter using Campaign Monitor's email marketing service

Campaign Monitor email marketing service offers a range of easy-to-use features to help beginners build an engaged audience. 

The platform has a large choice of responsive email templates that you can customize using the drag and drop builder. Plus, it’s easy to add personalizations using your contact data. And with send time optimization you can deliver emails at the best time for each contact. The segmentation tool lets you go even further, creating custom segments of subscribers using multiple filters.

Within the same platform you can create and send branded transactional emails with content that is just as personalized. 

For email automation, use the simple visual journey editor to drag and drop each email into a sequence, with conditions based on subscriber behavior and past interactions. 

You can try out the platform free for an unlimited time, though you’ll only be able to send campaigns to up to five contacts. The Basic plan is limited to 2,500 emails a month, while Unlimited — as the name suggests — has no sending limit. Pricing increases as your contact lists grow. Both plans offer email support but you’ll get priority with an Unlimited plan. 

Price: Prices start at $9 per month for up to 500 subscribers.

Why Your Business Needs an Email Marketing Service

Unsure about investing time and energy into finding an email marketing solution? Here are some reasons you can’t ignore:

Email is still one of the most effective marketing channels

In recent years, marketers have voted email marketing as the most effective digital channel. And here’s why:

  • It’s affordable. With email marketing you can reach a large audience at a low cost, leading to an average return on investment of $38 for every $1 spent
  • It’s personal. Email campaigns let you reach contacts directly. Plus they’ve actively chosen to hear from you and so are more likely to engage. 
  • It’s accessible. With around 4 billion email users worldwide, email has a greater reach than other digital channels. 

Email marketing services are essential for mass campaigns

Internet service providers (ISPs) like Gmail and Outlook aren’t made for sending newsletter and campaigns. A professional email marketing service is your best option because it enables you to:

  • Achieve better deliverability rates. Sending mass campaigns with a dedicated email marketing service helps you avoid the spam folder. 
  • Get performance analytics. Email marketing platforms track metrics like open and click-through rates to measure your campaigns’ success. 
  • Manage unsubscribes more easily. Your email marketing service will automatically update contact records when they unsubscribe so you don’t keep sending them campaigns.
  • Send more emails. ISPs have daily sending limits, while email marketing platforms let you choose a plan that meets your needs. 
  • Design attractive emails. Email marketing services come with design tools for creating professional and responsive HTML emails that match your brand. 

All the platforms on this list offer these essential functionalities for your email marketing campaigns. Below you’ll find details on other key features of each service along with their pricing.

Find the Best Email Marketing Service for Your Business

When comparing email marketing service providers, it’s important to bear in mind your specific needs. This might be advanced automation and segmentation capabilities, a rich choice of email templates you can easily edit to fit your brand, or additional tools for multichannel campaigns. 

Each solution will offer different plans and pricing structures. So it’s worth doing some digging to work out how much each platform costs for the features you need and the number of contacts you plan to send campaigns to. The best email marketing service for your business will not only help you grow in the short term but it should also remain a viable solution as your needs develop.

Try Sendinblue for free

Test core email marketing features and start growing your email list with signup forms (unlimited contact storage!) for free. Enjoy 40+ pre-made email templates.

Open my free Sendinblue account now >>

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