Email marketing is one of the most effective and affordable ways for small businesses to build customer relationships and increase revenue. With tools for automation, segmentation, and real-time reporting, the best email marketing software makes sending the right message at the right time easier than ever.
This guide compares the top email marketing tools of 2025 by features, pricing, and ease of use so you find the right platform for your goals and budget.
Guide to selecting an email service provider
According to Gartner's 2025 CMO Spend Survey, email marketing remains one of the most cost-effective digital channels, consistently ranking among the top performers for driving customer engagement, loyalty, and repeat business. Its return on investment (ROI) stems from the ability to automate personalization at scale, delivering the right message to the right person at the right time.
But email service providers aren't all the same. Tools designed for local or service-based businesses may lack behavior-based automation that is critical for e-commerce brands. Most email marketing platforms offer core capabilities, like contact management, templates, and basic automations. Still, they vary significantly in areas like artificial intelligence (AI)-powered segmentation, advanced workflows, and scalability for small-to-mid-sized businesses (SMBs).
This guide shows how features differ between free and paid tiers, highlights which capabilities matter the most for your business model, and explains how to compare top platforms effectively.
What is email marketing software?
Email marketing software is a technology platform for sending and optimizing messages. It lets you send professional emails to large groups of contacts and track their performance. Unlike basic inbox tools, email marketing systems help you automate campaigns, personalize content, and comply with email laws. It's a key tool for turning email contacts into repeat purchases and loyal customers.
Most email service providers offer email design tools, contact list management, and reporting features. Ease of use and feature complexity vary, from basic automation and segmentation to advanced customization made possible through AI and machine learning.
These platforms are used by e-commerce brands, nonprofits, and content creators alike. Use is growing the most among SMBs, according to a Roots Analysis email marketing report, because email is their top customer acquisition channel.
Here's what email automation software helps you do that a basic inbox or spreadsheet can't:
- Automate repetitive tasks: You can send welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders, or follow-up messages without manual effort.
- Segment your audience based on behavior: Personalize email content by grouping contacts by their purchase history, location, or interests.
- Track performance and impact on revenue: Use data to improve email campaigns by tracking which emails drive clicks, purchases, or unsubscribes.
- Ensure your emails land in the inbox: Let your email service provider handle sender reputation and authentication so your emails don't get marked as spam.
- Comply with email laws: Use built-in consent management and unsubscribe tools to reduce legal risks.
What to look for in email marketing software
Choosing the right email software starts with defining your goals and workflows. Think about what matters to your business and how email campaign tools can help those purposes. For example, do you want to recover abandoned carts, build a newsletter audience, or simplify event promotions?
Here’s how to narrow your choices:
- E-commerce businesses: Prioritize cart recovery workflows, product recommendations, customer journey mapping, and integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce.
- Service providers: Consider tools with SMS and email automation for appointment reminders and calendar and customer relationship management (CRM) integrations.
- Creators and publishers: Look for referral tracking, subscriber segmentation by engagement, and monetization tools or integrations.
- Event organizers and nonprofits: Focus on systems that support custom triggers and contact tags, such as donor or VIP, and payment, webinar, or event software integrations.
Deliverability and domain reputation tools
Nearly 1 in 6 emails never reach the inbox, according to Email Tool Tester. Choose software that helps authenticate your domain and simplify setup to boost deliverability.
Shortlist email marketing service providers that support:
- Sender policy framework (SPF): Most email marketing providers support SPF. It tells inboxes which servers are allowed to send emails on your behalf.
- DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM): Many vendors offer built-in tools for DKIM. It adds a digital signature so emails look verified and untampered.
- Domain-based Message Authentication (DMARC): Not all services support DMARC. It helps enforce rules for rejecting spoofed or suspicious emails.
Look for vendors that offer a one-click DNS (domain name system) setup, especially if you're using a custom domain, like your company email. Shared sending domains, like through Mailchimp or MailerLite, mean other users' behavior can affect your deliverability.
Automation and personalization capabilities
Email automation saves time, and personalization drives conversions. Together, these features help you deliver messages that make recipients feel like you're speaking directly to them, even when you’re emailing hundreds of people simultaneously.
Test these features when comparing email marketing platforms:
- Prebuilt workflows: Launch common sequences like welcome emails, reengagement, and cart recovery with minimal setup.
- Behavioral triggers: Send emails based on customer actions, like YouTube downloads, purchases, or site visits.
- Dynamic content: Automatically update emails with a user's name, location, or purchase history.
- Visual automation builders: Use drag-and-drop automation editors to map out triggers and responses.
- Send-time optimization: Use AI to deliver emails when contacts are most likely to open them.
Most email platforms offer some personalization and automation tools. Behavior-based triggers and advanced automation might only be available with mid-tier subscriptions. In contrast, newer AI features like dynamic content blocks or send-time optimization usually come with higher-priced plans.
Analytics, reporting, and AI features
Beyond opens and clicks, the best platforms help you understand what drives engagement and revenue. Look for heat maps, A/B testing, and real-time dashboards, which show how customers interact with your emails. To stay competitive with evolving email trends, prioritize platforms with AI-powered tools. These features can suggest subject lines, optimize send times, and identify high-converting audience segments.
Advanced platforms go further with predictive orchestration, an AI capability that Forrester's 2024 Email Marketing Wave calls a key differentiator. Predictive orchestration adjusts content, offers, and timing in real time based on each user's behavior.
Choose tools with business-specific insights, like:
- Small e-commerce shops: revenue attribution by campaign or automation flow.
- Creators and service providers: audience engagement tracking by device, email client, or subscription age.
- Enterprise sellers: embedded commerce features like interactive carts or one-click checkouts inside the email.
Choosing the right email software starts with defining your goals and workflows. Think about what matters to your business and how email campaign tools can help those purposes.
Integrations
Your email marketing platform should connect to the tools you already use, such as your CRM, e-commerce store, or accounting software. The easiest option for SMBs is to choose a platform with prebuilt integrations that work out of the box.
If direct integrations aren't available, check whether the platform supports Zapier or custom APIs. Zapier connects popular tools without coding, but it may add extra monthly costs. APIs offer more flexibility but typically require developer support.
For performance tracking, look for platforms that integrate with Google Analytics or automatically tag links with UTM codes. These codes let you see which emails drive traffic, sales, or signups in your analytics dashboard.
Ease of use and customer support
The best email tools for beginners offer easy-to-navigate interfaces, robust self-help resources, and live chat support. Customer service via phone is less common, especially on entry-tier plans. Most free marketing tools provide limited support; expect to use knowledge bases and access email assistance for 30 to 60 days.
Forrester found that top vendors offered "in-product guidance and customization." Small teams can onboard faster with contextual help instead of generic documentation. Look for apps that give tooltips explaining what a feature does when you hover over it, or a chatbot or help icon that suggests the next steps based on what you just clicked. These tools guide marketers through processes in real time, helping small businesses avoid setup errors and launch campaigns faster.
Compliance and security
An email marketing platform should simplify tracking and storing recipient preferences, ensuring compliance with email marketing laws. It's important to understand how the platform handles compliance for CCPA (the California Consumer Privacy Act), CAN-SPAM (the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act), and GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation).
If your business handles protected health information, verifying that the email platform supports HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is essential. Check that the platform tracks consents and unsubscribes, encrypts data, and has user permission settings.
Email marketing must-have features
Like other business technologies, email marketing software must meet specific standards to be listed on software marketplaces like Gartner. Since email services are competitive, nearly all vendors provide customizable templates, contact segmentation, one-to-many messaging, and opt-in and opt-out management.
Check out these core features when comparing different email providers:
- Visual email editor: Create and customize emails using templates, drag-and-drop builders, or WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interfaces. Compare design tools by ease of use, mobile responsiveness, and template variety.
- Prebuilt automation workflows: Use ready-made email sequences to welcome new subscribers or send cart reminders. Look for workflows that require minimal editing.
- Basic personalization fields: At a minimum, email marketing tools should automatically add your customer's name or product details to the email body.
- Contact segmentation: Group your email subscribers by activity or traits to improve campaign results. Verify that you can filter contacts by behavior, such as opens or purchases.
- Performance tracking dashboards: See key email campaign metrics like the open rate, unsubscribes, and the click-through rate. Make sure the dashboards are easy to understand and that you can filter results by segment or campaign.
- Sign-up forms and pop-ups: Email marketing software helps grow your list with tools to build and add landing pages, forms, and pop-ups to your website. Look for customization and mobile-friendly tools.
- Unsubscribe and compliance tools: The best email marketing systems handle opt-outs automatically and ensure GDPR and CAN-SPAM compliance. Check that it provides a one-click unsubscribe and auto-update contact status.
Advanced email marketing features to consider
If you already have an email marketing plan established, consider tools that help your campaigns scale or reach audiences across more channels. By aligning your email efforts with social media and public relations strategies, you can deliver a cohesive experience across the customer journey. These advanced features are found on higher-tier plans and dedicated e-commerce or sales-focused platforms.
Look for these powerful capabilities:
- Cross-channel automation: Reach customers across SMS (text messages), browser-based web notifications, or in-app messaging. These can be built-in or through integrations.
- Predictive segmentation: Use AI to predict and group contacts according to characteristics, like how likely they will engage, unsubscribe, or convert.
- Revenue and conversion tracking: Tie your email marketing campaigns to sales, signups, or donations to track e-commerce or event ROI.
- Custom reporting dashboards: Create personalized dashboards to track performance or A/B tests for multiple campaigns or agency clients.
- Multivariate testing: Test various email elements to see which versions deliver the best results.
How much does email marketing software cost a small business?
Email marketing pricing ranges from $10 to $450 monthly, depending on list size, monthly email sends, features, and the number of users. The costs and capabilities between platforms vary significantly, and many platforms start cheap but get expensive as your subscriber numbers grow.
Usage-based pricing — when platforms charge fees based on email sends, not the number of subscribers — can be more economical for businesses with large contact lists but infrequent email volumes. Regardless, check the vendor's pricing for 10,000 or more subscribers to see if it scales.
Best free email service options
Experts agree that email marketing is the best way for B2B and B2C companies to stay in touch with their audience. You can start building your email list today, even if you have a small budget to work with. Here are free email marketing tools to consider.
MailerLite
MailerLite is free for up to 1,000 subscribers, one user, and 12,000 monthly email sends. It’s a good option for beginners since it walks you through the basics of setting up an email marketing campaign. You can design emails using the software's drag-and-drop email builders or create pop-ups and landing pages.
Kit
Kit, formerly ConvertKit, offers a free Newsletter Plan for one user and 10,000 subscribers. It allows unlimited email sends, landing pages, and customizable sign-up forms. Kit supports digital product sales (3.5% plus 30 cents per transaction) and recurring subscriptions, making it a popular option for businesses that regularly create content for their audience.
Mailjet
Mailjet is free for 1,500 subscribers, and you can send up to 200 emails per day or 6,000 monthly. This flexibility makes it a great option for small businesses that are new to email marketing. The email software also provides over 100 predesigned templates, an advanced email editor, and basic statistics.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp’s free email marketing plan allows 500 contacts, one user, and a maximum of 1,000 monthly email sends (no more than 500 daily until you hit the limit). It provides basic features like email scheduling, templates, and audience insights.
How do you set up a new email service provider?
Once you've selected a platform, getting started usually takes less than a day.
Here's how to begin:
- Import or build your contact list. Ensure you have consent from email recipients.
- Authenticate the domain you are sending using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
- Design your first email campaign using a template.
- Set up a basic automation, like a welcome email or purchase follow-up sequence.
- Integrate your email platform with tools like Shopify, Zapier, or Stripe.
- Send test emails, preview across mobile and desktop devices, and check for broken links.
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