Best Email Marketing Platform of 2025!

Last updated January 16, 2025

Email marketing saw big updates, last year, in 2024—with tools adjusting prices, adding new features, and updating subscription tiers.

Welcome to the best (and worst) email marketing platforms of 2025! I’ve tried and tested every tool I mention, and this comparison review is 100% unsponsored—no company paid me to say nice things about them.

You’re welcome to watch my video below or continue reading—whichever you prefer. Enjoy!

Most Simplistic

What’s the most simplistic or user-friendly email marketing tool? A few come to mind: Kit, Substack, and MailerLite.

Kit, for instance, feels incredibly intuitive—everything is logically designed to minimize clicks, making tasks like setting up a giveaway or writing newsletters fast and straightforward.

But then I discovered Flodesk, which truly stands out as the simplest email marketing tool.

It’s not just fast and easy to use but also competitively priced, offering unlimited newsletters, automations, landing pages, and forms. It’s perfect for growing your list with freebies like eBooks. Flodesk is my pick for the most user-friendly and simplistic email marketing tool.

By the way, if you sign up for any of these tools using my link, it won’t cost you extra. As a thank-you, you’ll get free access to Email Marketing University, including my 12-page ebook, 50 to 100 Daily Newsletter Signups, packed with actionable tips to grow your list. Email info@creatoregg.com to request access.

Best for newsletter businesses

What’s the best email marketing tool for newsletter businesses?

If you’re planning to run a paid newsletter or sell sponsorship ads, three tools stand out: Substack, Beehiiv, and Kit (formerly ConvertKit).

Substack is ideal for beginners, with its built-in reader network driving 50% of free and 25% of paid subscriptions, helping you grow your audience. It’s free to use, taking only a 10% cut of paid subscriptions.

To see if your newsletter idea fits, explore Substack’s categories and leaderboards for successful newsletters.

However, Substack doesn’t offer sponsorship features.

Beehiiv and Kit provide Ad Networks connecting newsletters to advertisers. Kit charges 23.5% of sponsorship revenue, while Beehiiv doesn’t charge fees and is more cost-effective for larger lists, potentially saving over $10,000 in three years compared to Kit.

For free plans, Substack is free forever, charging only when you earn. Kit offers a free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers and claims “no catch.” But there is a catch—it requires you to promote other newsletters to your new subscribers, which I find a dealbreaker.

Beehiiv’s free plan supports up to 2,500 subscribers and would be my first choice for those starting with sponsorships in mind.

Best for Automation

What’s the best email tool for email automation?

Most email tools offer basics like welcome email series or automations for link clicks or email opens.

However, ActiveCampaign stands out for its flexibility and creativity, enabling businesses to automate complex workflows effortlessly.

It’s not just one or two features that set ActiveCampaign apart—it’s the hundreds of small, impactful ones.

Example 1: Automations Based on Link Clicks

Let’s say I’m sending a newsletter promoting a podcast episode with links to sponsors and social media.

If someone clicks the sponsor link, they’re probably interested in that sponsor.

With ActiveCampaign, I can enable link tracking, customize links, and set up automations for specific link clicks—all while writing the email.

Budget tools like MailerLite can track clicks, but they can’t create automations for specific links within a single campaign—a major limitation.

Example 2: Automatically Deleting Inactive Contacts

Cleaning your email list is extremely important for maintaining healthy open and click rates. While every tool offers manual list cleaning, ActiveCampaign automates the process. By contrast, budget tools like MailerLite or even tools like Mailchimp lack this feature, forcing you to manage it manually.

Example 3: A/B Testing in Automations

ActiveCampaign offers advanced A/B testing, allowing splits based on dates, numbers, or specific conditions. For instance, if launching an online course, you can send a 20% discount to the first 100 clicking on the link and a smaller discount afterward. Tools like Mailchimp or MailerLite only offer basic percentage-based splits—or none at all.

If you need flexibility and creativity to automate and test your workflows, ActiveCampaign is unmatched.

And by the way, if you sign up for ActiveCampaign using my link, it won’t cost you extra but as a thank you, I’ll give you free access to my ActiveCampaign University, including my 12-page ebook, 50 to 100 Daily Newsletter Signups, and step by step tutorial videos.

To access this offer: To claim access to ActiveCampaign University and your free ebook, sign up for ActiveCampaign using my link, then email info@creatoregg.com to request access.

Best for enterprise

What’s the best enterprise email marketing tool?

There’s no one-size-fits-all definition for “enterprise.” While companies like Netflix often build in-house tools, most businesses don’t need that level of complexity.

For teams of a few dozen marketers and salespeople, the focus is on finding an all-in-one platform to manage websites, CRM, email marketing, sales, and customer service.

3 tools stand out:

  • HubSpot: A great solution offering tools for everything from website creation to sales, customer service and email marketing.
  • ActiveCampaign: A more affordable option compared to HubSpot focused on sales, CRM, and email marketing – still great for bigger teams to collaborate.
  • Brevo: A budget-friendly choice that combines CRM, sales, and email marketing, and basic customer service tools.

Best for ecommerce

What’s the best email tool for ecommerce?
Most email marketing tools integrate with platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce, but for the best email and SMS tools, Klaviyo and Omnisend are top choices.

Key features for ecommerce include automatic discount codes, multi-step popups, and powerful automation builders to create essential automations.

While budget tools like MailerLite may work initially, they often fall short for ecommerce businesses.

So, who should you choose? Omnisend or Klaviyo. If you’re looking for the best, choose Klaviyo.

Why? Well, it’s not just one or two features that set Klaviyo apart—it’s the hundreds of small, impactful ones.

Example 1: If you’re looking for information on how to create certain ecommerce flows/automations for your business, Klaviyo provides resources detailing every single step. There are also videos showcasing each step. They’ve even created an entire university for this purpose. Omnisend doesn’t offer such a service.

Example 2: These 9 ecommerce automations likely drive 80% of your email automation results. For instance, the VIP campaign requires creating VIP segments like a “Big Spender” segment, where customers who spent, for example, more than $120 in the last 300 days are targeted. While Klaviyo supports such segments, Omnisend lacks the ability to filter contacts by revenue (confirmed by their support).

Example 3: Klaviyo’s reporting features are far superior to Omnisend’s after reviewing both.

The bottom line: Omnisend is more affordable, particularly for businesses with large subscriber bases; at 100,000 subscribers, Klaviyo costs $500 more monthly. However, Klaviyo’s $778.5M funding, public company status, and larger team (2,000 employees vs. Omnisend’s 200) result in a better product.

I’d suggest Klaviyo, but don’t take my word for it: both tools offer free plans with full features, so test their automations, popups, and newsletter builders to decide for yourself.

Best Deliverability

Is there a winner for the best deliverability among the email marketing software tools in this comparison? No—all these tools have solid systems and are trusted by thousands, if not millions, of businesses. Instead of focusing solely on deliverability, choose a platform that fits your needs: features, integrations, ease of use, and pricing.

Best budget

What’s the best budget email marketing tool?

For 1,000 subscribers, MailerLite Growing Business is the best option at $15/month, offering automation, landing pages, and popups—features missing in competitors like Beehiiv, Brevo, and Mailchimp.

At 5,000 subscribers, Flodesk ($38/month) stands out with a fixed price regardless of subscriber count, ideal for basic newsletters. MailerLite ($39/month) offers more advanced features, while Bento ($50/month) provides flexibility and direct support from its founder via Discord, making it a great choice for tech-savvy users.

At 10,000 subscribers, Flodesk remains the most budget-friendly for simple newsletters. Brevo Starter ($69/month) charges based on email volume, making it even cheaper for businesses sending fewer than 100,000 emails monthly. It also serves as a budget enterprise tool with CRM and sales integrations. MailerLite remains one of the top budget-friendly choices here.

For 50,000+ subscribers, Flodesk is unbeatable at $38/month for simple use cases. Beehiiv becomes a strong contender at this Subscriber tier, offering features specifically designed for monetized, sponsored newsletters. MailerLite, at $289/month, continues to offer excellent value.

A Note on Annual Discounts: Paying annually typically provides discounts, but GetResponse stands out with a 24-month plan offering a 30% discount. This makes its advanced eCommerce Marketing tier surprisingly affordable. Packed with features like website and popup builders, automation tools, and a built-in webinar platform (often priced at $100+/month elsewhere), GetResponse is an excellent option for businesses needing flexibility and creativity.

Conclusion: MailerLite remains the best overall budget tool, but Flodesk, Brevo, and GetResponse cater to specific needs, making them strong alternatives depending on your situation.

To claim access to Email Marketing University and your free ebook, sign up for any of these tools using the link below, then email info@creatoregg.com to request access.

Best Free

What’s the best free email marketing tool?
3 different tools stand out: MailerLite, Klaviyo, and Substack.

MailerLite offers 1,000 subscribers, 12,000 emails per month, and automation tools like welcome series—all on its free plan. Klaviyo gives full access to features but is tailored for ecommerce, especially Shopify users. Substack is perfect for newsletter businesesses launching newsletters but not for business campaigns. For flexibility and professional features, MailerLite is the top choice.

So why not the others? Some lack a forever free plan. Kit, for example, allows up to 10,000 subscribers but forces you to promote other newsletters via opt-in forms—a dealbreaker for me. Others, like Mailchimp or HubSpot, restrict automation or heavily limit emails and subscribers on free tiers.

To claim access to Email Marketing University and your free ebook, sign up for any of these tools using the link below, then email info@creatoregg.com to request access.

Worst

Who’s the worst email marketing tool?

The nominees for the worst email marketing tools are Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and AWeber. But what makes a tool the worst? It’s not that these 3 email marketing tools are outright terrible—they’re just fine.

But that’s precisely the problem.

They don’t stand out in any category: not simplicity, automation, tools for running paid newsletters or selling sponsorship ads, enterprise features, ecommerce, free plans, or budget options. Whatever your needs, there’s likely a better tool for the job.

For example, need a budget option? Avoid these three. Looking for the best free plan? Skip them too. They’re average across the board, making them the “worst” for anyone seeking excellence.

If Money is No Object

What’s the best email tool if money is no object?

Well, you already know MailerLite is my top pick for budget-friendly email marketing—it’s what I use for my online dog training business, and it offers unbeatable value for its price. But if budget isn’t a concern, my ultimate go to platform is ActiveCampaign. Its advanced automation, testing features, and robust marketing tools make it an extremely useful choice for businesses ready to scale and invest in more powerful capabilities.

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Sincerely,

Robbin 👋