Best Email Marketing Software 2021

Email marketing software helps businesses execute successful email marketing campaigns. These solutions offer features that assist with the entire email marketing lifecycle from creating email templates to email delivery, and tracking email campaign performance.

There are a few different types of email marketing software. The email marketing software created for business-to-business companies is materially different from the email marketing software created for business-to-consumer companies. In addition, email marketing software varies greatly depending on the size of the company using it. Smaller companies need more basic solutions, while enterprises require highly customized solutions.

Email marketing software is often used in combination with SMS marketing software, social media management software, and SEO software by marketers at larger organizations. Read our full introduction to email marketing software.

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Highest Rated Email Marketing Software

Email marketing software helps businesses better understand their audiences and execute successful marketing campaigns. We tested the best and most popular email marketing solutions currently available, and ranked them from best to worst.

Mailchimp
Rating: 90
Starting Price: $9.99 per month

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Atlanta, MailChimp has quickly grown into one of the most recognized email marketing services in the world, and is currently used by over 14 million businesses. One of MailChimp's primary selling points is that it requires minimal technical expertise, and no coding capabilities, in order to create professional marketing campaigns.

Pros:
  • The platform includes a wide range of marketing tools thare are well-organized and easy to use
  • Using Mailchimp does not require advanced technical expertise
  • Mailchimp includes over 250 built-in integrations to third-party platforms
Cons:
  • Paid plans are less affordable than many of its competitors
  • Marketing automation tools are less robust than some competitors
  • Mailchimp does not offer built-in integrations with Shopify
Campaign Monitor
Rating: 90
Starting Price: $9 per month

Campaign Monitor is an email marketing platform used by more than 250,000 businesses worldwide. This solution is typically used by small to medium size B2C businesses. Campaign Monitor is well priced, and includes unlimited email sends in every subscription plan. Its features are well organized, easy to use, and is sufficient for most moderately-advanced marketing needs.

Pros:
  • Great overall email marketing tool ideal for most small to medium size B2C companies
  • Features are well organized and easy to use
  • All paid plans include unlimited email sends
Cons:
  • Limited to 50 custom data fields
  • Free plan is less generous than many competitors
  • A/B testing may not be robust enough for advanced marketing needs
Klaviyo
Rating: 87
Starting Price: $20 per month

Klaviyo is a popular email marketing solution used by over 50,000 businesses. Klaviyo is ideal for e-commerce businesses, and offers integrations with many e-commerce platforms. This solution is less affordable than many of its competitors. However, its sophisticated data integration & storage, segmentation, and A/B testing tools make it an ideal option for businesses that are willing to invest in a robust platform.

Pros:
  • Offers seamless integrations with many e-commerce platforms
  • Segmentation is more robust than many of its competitors
  • Allows you to test up to 25 email variations simultaneously
Cons:
  • Ideal for e-commerce businesses, but not suitable for other business types
  • Less affordable than many of its competitors
  • Does not offer multivariate testing
ActiveCampaign
Rating: 86
Starting Price: $9 per month

ActiveCampaign is a Chicago-based tech company with over 250 employees. Their SaaS-based marketing platform helps small and medium-sized businesses automate a wide range of marketing processes, to help grow their business. ActiveCampaign is reasonably priced, making it a suitable option for small and medium-sized businesses.

Pros:
  • ActiveCampaign includes a sales CRM platform
  • ActiveCampaign offers advanced automation capabilities including customizable triggers and workflows
  • ActiveCampaign allows you to split test automation workflows
Cons:
  • CRM and A/B testing is not included in ActiveCampaign’s Lite Plan
  • Some users find ActiveCampaign to have a steep learning curve
  • ActiveCampaign limits the number of conditions you can add to a segment
SendPulse
Rating: 86
Starting Price: $8 per month

SendPulse is a email marketing platform used by more than 1,300,000 customers. Most SendPulse customers are small and medium-sized businesses with an average email volume of 6,000 to 20,000. This solution includes features such as data integration and storage, segmentation, A/B testing, subscription forms, and a drag-and-drop email builder. SendPulse is more affordable than many other solutions that offer similar functionality.

Pros:
  • Offers phone, email, and 24/7 live chat support in all plans
  • More affordable than many of its competitors
  • Allows you to send and automate SMS messages on its platform
Cons:
  • Reporting is limited compared to competitors
  • SendPulse only allows you to create 50 custom data fields
  • Zapier is required to integrate with many popular third-party platforms
Moosend
Rating: 83
Starting Price: $10 per month

Moosend is an affordable email marketing platform used by businesses of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. With an easy-to-use interface, intuitive automation and advanced list segmentation, Moosend provides a robust set of tools needed to build and maintain strong customer relationships.

Pros:
  • Automation workflows are robust relative to similarly-priced competitors
  • Free plan includes most of the features found in paid plans
  • You can create unlimited custom data fields and segments in this platform
Cons:
  • Moosend only includes about 70 pre-designed email templates
  • Customer support in free plan is limited
  • Moosend’s third-party integrations are limited compared to competitors
MailMunch
Rating: 78
Starting Price: $6.99 per month

Mailmunch is a lead generation and email marketing platform used by more than 100,000 businesses. Mailmunch’s core offering is lead capture, but has grown to include other tools like landing pages and email marketing. Mailmunch is primarily used by B2B businesses, and about 80% of Mailmunch customers are SMBs. Mailmunch’s email marketing features are very limited compared to standalone email marketing systems, like Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor.

Pros:
  • Mailmunch allows you to easily embed lead capture forms into your website
  • Mailmunch offers a wide range of feature types - lead generation, landing pages, and email marketing
  • Mailmunch's email marketing module is basic, but is more affordable than standalone email marketing systems
Cons:
  • Mailmunch’s email marketing tools are far more limited than competitors
  • Mailmunch does not allow you to create complex drip campaigns
  • Mailmunch does not include A/B testing for email marketing campaigns
Sendinblue
Rating: 77
Starting Price: $25 per month

Sendinblue is a marketing automation platform used by more than 200,000 businesses worldwide. Sendinblue’s core offering is email and SMS marketing, but includes other tools including a CRM and live chat. The majority of Sendinblue customers are small and medium-sized businesses. Sendinblue is a solid option if you prefer to pay solely based upon monthly email volume.

Pros:
  • Sendinblue includes unlimited contacts in all subscription plans
  • Sendinblue’s free plan includes many of the major features found in its paid plans
  • In addition to email marketing, Sendinblue includes SMS marketing, live chat, and CRM in all subscription plans
Cons:
  • Sendinblue does not offer as many pre-designed email templates as competitors
  • Sendinblue integrates with less third-party platforms than many of its competitors
  • Sendinblue does not include live chat support, and only includes phone support in its high-tier plans
Robly
Rating: 75
Starting Price: $19 per month

Robly is an email marketing platform used by more than 25,000 businesses. The majority of Robly customers are B2C companies with an average email send of about 2,500 emails. Robly is worth considering if you’re looking for a lightweight email marketing solution. However, Robly is not as sophisticated as many other similarly-priced email marketing solutions. 

Pros:
  • Robly includes unlimited custom data fields and segments
  • Robly allows you to A/B test up to 4 email variations at a time
  • Robly includes unlimited email sends for accounts that have less than 50,000 contacts
Cons:
  • We experienced brief moments where we could not access Robly due to heavy user load during our tests
  • Robly does not include automation workflows with branching points
  • Robly’s segments are limited to five conditions which is less than many competitors
AWeber
Rating: 74
Starting Price: $19 per month

With over 150,000 customers, AWeber has gained a strong reputation in the industry with its easy-to-use software and award-winning customer service. The software incorporates an intuitive drag-and-drop editor and has over 700 customizable templates, making it quick and easy to build simple autoresponder sequences. The company is available 7-days per week via phone or online chat, while an online knowledge base of video tutorials helps to educate customers and provide valuable email marketing information.

Pros:
  • AWeber is more affordable than many of its competitors
  • AWeber includes unlimited email sends and lists
  • AWeber offers 24/7 customer support by email, live chat, and phone
Cons:
  • AWeber is not as robust as many of its competitors
  • Automation functionality is limited to sequential emails
  • Contacts that have unsubscribed or on multiple lists count towards your total subscriber quota
Constant Contact
Rating: 71
Starting Price: $20 per month

Constant Contact is an email marketing platform used by more than 600,000 businesses worldwide. Its target audience is small businesses with basic email marketing needs. Pricing starts at $20 per month, and subscription costs increase depending on your number of contacts. Constant Contact offers a large library of integrations and email templates, but its segmentation, automation, and A/B testing capabilities are not as robust as top competitors.

Pros:
  • Includes over 300 pre-designed email templates
  • Offers live chat and phone support in all subscription plans
  • Offers over 500 built-in integrations to third-party platforms
Cons:
  • Drip campaigns are very limited – they do not allow for workflow branching
  • A/B testing is not as robust as competitors – you can only A/B test subject lines
  • Segmentation capabilities are also limited compared to competitors

Email Marketing Software Prices

Email marketing software ideal for SMBs typically cost between $10 to $350 per month. Here are some details that will help you compare prices for the most popular email marketing tools.

Software VendorStarting Monthly PriceFree TrialAdditional Information
Mailchimp$9.99Yes
  • Monthly fee increases depending on contact size
  • Monthly send limit is 10 to 15 times contact size
  • Free plan includes 2,000 contacts and 10,000 monthly email sends
ActiveCampaign$9Yes
  • Monthly fee increases depending on contact size
  • Includes unlimited email sends
  • No free plan available
Moosend$8Yes
  • Monthly fee increases depending on contact size
  • Includes unlimited email sends
  • Free plan includes 1,000 contacts
Klaviyo$20Yes
  • Monthly fee increases depending on contact size
  • Includes unlimited email sends
  • Free plan includes up to 250 contacts
SendPulse$6.40Yes
  • Monthly fee increases depending on contact size
  • Free plan includes 500 contacts and 15,000 monthly email sends
Mailmunch$6.99Yes
  • Includes unlimited contacts
  • Free plan available
Mailshake$59No
  • Includes 5,000 recipients per campaign
Sendinblue$25Yes
  • Monthly fee increases depending on monthly email send volume
  • Includes an unlimited number of contacts
Robly$19Yes
  • Monthly fee increases depending on contact size
  • Includes unlimited email sends up to 50,000 contacts
  • No free plan available
AWeber$19Yes
  • Monthly fee increases depending on contact size
  • Free plan that includes 500 contacts and 3,000 monthly email sends
Constant Contact$20Yes
  • Monthly fee increases depending on contact size
  • No free plan available

Email Marketing Software FAQs

Email marketing software helps grow businesses by improving communications with their audiences. This type of solution is used to collect & analyze contact data, and create & send personalized emails to their recipients.

Email marketing software pricing ranges from $10 to $1500 per month. Pricing typically depends on the customer's number of contacts and email volume sent.

The best email marketing solution for you depends on the specific needs of your business. Here are some questions to consider throughout the purchasing process.

  • What is your budget?
  • How many contacts do you currently have?
  • Do you desire sophisticated segmentation tools?
  • Do you conduct complex A/B tests, and do you require multivariate testing?
  • Do you want to integrate your e-commerce platform?

The most popular email marketing solution is Mailchimp. Currently, Mailchimp is used by over 14 million customers and owns more than 60% of the market share.

The most common email marketing software features are:

  • A/B testing
  • API
  • Analytics dashboard
  • Data integration and storage
  • Deliverability
  • Drip campaigns
  • Email editor
  • Marketing automation
  • Reporting
  • Segmentation
  • Third-party integrations

Email Marketing Industry Research & Advice

ActiveCampaign vs. Mailchimp

By Lloyd Park |

Is ActiveCampaign or Mailchimp the better solution for you? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you decide which email...Read More >

Constant Contact vs. Mailchimp

By Lloyd Park |

Is Constant Contact or Mailchimp the better solution for you? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you decide which email...Read More >

Email Marketing Statistics

By Lloyd Park |

The data-rich email marketing channel produces numerous insightful statistics. We have aggregated statistics across several categories...Read More >

Why You Should Trust Our Recommendations

The team at SoftwarePundit has been testing software since 2017. We’ve hand-tested over 250 software products in that time, including 10 in the email marketing category. We applied the same rigorous process to each piece of email marketing software that we analyzed. The specifics of our email marketing software category research process are outlined below.

Lloyd led our analysis of email marketing software. He has spent more than 150 hours evaluating leading email marketing software systems.

In addition, all research and content was overseen by Bruce Hogan, SoftwarePundit’s Co-founder & CEO. Bruce has more than a decade of experience researching, building, and reviewing the world’s best software products. His technology advice has been featured on a wide range of media sites such as AngelList, CMSWire, Dental Economics, iPhone Life, Reader’s Digest, Thrive Global, U.S. News, and the Zapier Blog.

How We Selected the Best email marketing software

We selected the best email marketing software based upon a number of criteria. The most important criteria were each software tool’s features, usability, price, and customer support. The details of our analyses are captured in the in-depth reviews we publish about each software tool.

There are a handful of critical features that you should look for in email marketing software. We prioritized the following features in our analysis:

  • Data Integration and Storage: Good email marketing solutions allow you to easily and efficiently collect and store audience data.
  • Segmentation | The best email marketing solutions allow you to create complex segments of your audience. Good segmentation tools are key to increasing the relevancy of your emails, and saving cost by reducing send volume.
  • A/B Testing: Most email marketing solutions have A/B testing to optimize different variables like email content, send times, and subject lines. The best solutions allow you to test more variables and email variations in a single test.
  • Drip Campaigns: Email marketing solutions allow you to send a series of automated emails to your audience. The best solutions allow you to build complex workflows with splits and branching points based on your contacts' behavior and data.

How We Evaluated Email Marketing Software

We used the same rigorous process to evaluate email marketing software as all other software categories. For the email marketing category, Lloyd invested several months researching, testing, and writing about the tools.

We interviewed the teams at the software companies listed above. Our conversations with the companies included questions about each company’s product, customer base, pricing, customer support, and business strength. After a general interview, Lloyd spent additional time participating in a product demo led by each company. This provided Lloyd with the opportunity to ask detailed questions about the features and functionality of the email marketing software.

Lloyd also obtained a free trial of each software tool listed above. He spent several hours testing the key user journeys in each software product. This allowed us to validate the features offered by each product, and to gain an understanding of the software’s usability.