Last updated February 8, 2024
Best Email Marketing Tool: 1-minute summary
What’s the bottom line? (Click on it for a detailed explanation)
You can trust our reviews✔️ We spend days testing and comparing this software to help you find the best marketing tool. Click here to find out more about how we test products. Some of these software tools are our partners, i.e., we may earn a commission when you purchase through them at no extra cost to you.
Why not use these 3 email marketing tools
Firstly, we have Mailchimp. Mailchimp is relatively expensive while not offering the best product features, i.e., I don’t recommend it because I feel there are better alternatives available, which might be weird to you since they are highly recommended on some of the top pages of Google when searching for best email tool. It does make me wonder how much time and effort those websites put into their reviews. Read my full Mailchimp review here.
Secondly, there’s Constant Contact. Constant Contact was a popular email tool back in the day, but no longer (see Google Trends). It doesn’t offer the best marketing features, and it also doesn’t provide the best price. In other words, what’s the ideal Constant Contact customer? I don’t know. That I’m not recommending Constant Contact might surprise you since many websites recommend them. Read my Constant Contact review here to understand why I’m not a fan.
Third, AWeber. Do I recommend using AWeber for your email marketing? The short and generalized answer is no. AWeber has many great features, so I’m not saying it’s a bad product or that my opinion cannot change when it adds/improves on its product. In my view, looking at all its features, AWeber doesn’t stand out. Read my full AWeber review here to understand my opinion better.
Pricing
The hardest part for email marketing companies is to stand out from the competition. Brand loyalty is entirely different with email marketing companies compared to companies like Apple or Nike. People spend more money on a Nike shoe or an Apple product because of the status it gives them. It’s cooler to showcase your new Apple laptop than your new Dell. The challenge for email marketing companies is that you cannot see from the outside what email tool a business uses. So it’s not necessarily cooler that a business uses email marketing tool X over Y.
Long story short, if an email marketing tool is more expensive than its competitor, it should also offer a better product, i.e., a better user experience or more extensive features. The emphasis is on should because this isn’t always the case. Currently, the email marketing tool MailerLite offers the best price and, in some cases, even a superior product over its competitors, which is almost impossible to beat.
In this pricing section, I’ll discuss the topics below. Click on […] and skip to that section.
- Different plans […]
- Price comparison […]
- Discounts […]
- Discounts for non-profits […]
- Extra discounts (special occasions) […]
- Cancellation process […]
- Refunds […]
- Hidden fees […]
Different plans
Aside from Klaviyo, most email tools offer multiple tiers, i.e., payment plans. Warning: don’t let some email tools’ first tiers fool you into thinking that those are inexpensive, i.e., worthwhile your time and money. I advise avoiding these tiers: Constant Contact Core, ActiveCampaign Lite, AWeber Lite, Mailchimp Essentials, and GetResponse Email Marketing. This is mainly because these tiers either lack essential features or are overpriced. Most often, it’s a combination of both, lacking features and more expensive than other tools that offer more features. For more details, please read the individual software reviews.
Price comparison
The table below shows the annual prices of the most popular email marketing companies, including discounts for purchasing annually, if applicable. Remember that Sendinblue isn’t included in the table below because it doesn’t calculate its price based on the number of subscribers in your account.
By scrolling to the right, you can find higher contact numbers up to 20,000. Click here for a full-width version if you’re on a laptop or PC.
500 | 1,000 | 1,500 | 2,000 | 2500 | 3,000 | 4,000 | 5,000 | 6,000 | 7,000 | 8,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 50,000 | 100,000 | 200,000 | 300,000 | 500,000 | 700,000 | 900,000 | 1,200,000 | 1,500,000 | 2,000,000 | 2,500,000 | 3,000,000 | 4,000,000 | 5,000,000 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MailerLite Growing Business | $10 | $15 | $25 | $25 | $25 | $39 | $39 | $39 | $59 | $59 | $59 | $73 | $109 | $139 | $139 | $289 | |||||||||||||
MailerLite Advanced | $20 | $30 | $40 | $40 | $40 | $50 | $50 | $50 | $80 | $80 | $80 | $110 | $150 | $180 | $180 | $340 | $440 | $820 | $1,200 | $1,900 | |||||||||
ConvertKit Creator | $29 | $29 | $49 | $49 | $49 | $49 | $79 | $79 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $119 | $149 | $179 | $179 | $379 | $679 | $1,279 | $1,879 | ||||||||||
ConvertKit Creator Pro | $59 | $59 | $79 | $79 | $79 | $79 | $111 | $111 | $139 | $139 | $139 | $167 | $209 | $251 | $251 | $519 | $879 | $1,579 | $2,179 | ||||||||||
Zoho Standard | $4 | $7 | $17 | $17 | $17 | $18 | $24 | $31 | $35 | $38 | $41 | $49 | $61 | $74 | $74 | $138 | $242 | ||||||||||||
Zoho Professional | $6 | $12 | $29 | $29 | $29 | $30 | $40 | $52 | $58 | $63 | $69 | $81 | $101 | $123 | $123 | $230 | $403 | $748 | $1,035 | $1,380 | |||||||||
Sender Standard | $19 | $19 | $19 | $19 | $19 | $33 | $33 | $33 | $57 | $57 | $57 | $57 | $87 | $107 | $107 | $227 | $367 | $697 | |||||||||||
Sender Professional | $35 | $35 | $35 | $35 | $35 | $60 | $60 | $60 | $120 | $120 | $120 | $120 | $200 | $250 | $250 | $460 | $860 | $1,660 | |||||||||||
Constant Contact Lite | $12 | $30 | $50 | $50 | $50 | $80 | $80 | $80 | $120 | $120 | $120 | $120 | $180 | $230 | $230 | $430 | |||||||||||||
Constant Contact Standard | $35 | $55 | $75 | $75 | $75 | $110 | $110 | $110 | $160 | $160 | $160 | $160 | $210 | $260 | $260 | $460 | |||||||||||||
Constant Contact Premium | $80 | $110 | $150 | $150 | $150 | $200 | $200 | $200 | $275 | $275 | $275 | $275 | $325 | $375 | $375 | $575 | |||||||||||||
ActiveCampaign Marketing Lite | $39 | $39 | $61 | $61 | $61 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $174 | $174 | $174 | $174 | $286 | $286 | $286 | $486 | |||||||||||||
ActiveCampaign Marketing Plus | $70 | $70 | $125 | $125 | $125 | $186 | $186 | $186 | $287 | $287 | $287 | $287 | $474 | $474 | $474 | $699 | |||||||||||||
ActiveCampaign Marketing Professional | $187 | $187 | $187 | $187 | $187 | $262 | $262 | $262 | $424 | $424 | $424 | $424 | $686 | $686 | $686 | $1,011 | |||||||||||||
ActiveCampaign Bundles Plus | $116 | $116 | $171 | $171 | $171 | $232 | $232 | $232 | $333 | $333 | $333 | $333 | $520 | $520 | $520 | $745 | |||||||||||||
ActiveCampaign Bundles Professional | $482 | $482 | $482 | $482 | $482 | $557 | $557 | $557 | $719 | $719 | $719 | $719 | $981 | $981 | $981 | $1,306 | |||||||||||||
GetResponse Email Marketing | $19 | $19 | $29 | $29 | $29 | $54 | $54 | $54 | $79 | $79 | $79 | $79 | $174 | $174 | $174 | $299 | $539 | ||||||||||||
GetResponse Marketing Automation | $59 | $59 | $69 | $69 | $69 | $95 | $95 | $95 | $114 | $114 | $114 | $114 | $215 | $215 | $215 | $359 | $599 | ||||||||||||
GetResponse Ecommerce Marketing | $119 | $119 | $139 | $139 | $139 | $169 | $169 | $169 | $199 | $199 | $199 | $199 | $299 | $299 | $299 | $444 | $699 | ||||||||||||
Mailchimp Essentials | $27 | $45 | $45 | $75 | $75 | $110 | $110 | $110 | $180 | $180 | $180 | $180 | $230 | $270 | $270 | ||||||||||||||
Mailchimp Standard | $20 | $45 | $45 | $60 | $60 | $100 | $100 | $100 | $135 | $135 | $135 | $135 | $230 | $285 | $285 | $450 | $800 | ||||||||||||
Mailchimp Premium | $350 | $350 | $350 | $350 | $350 | $350 | $350 | $350 | $350 | $350 | $350 | $350 | $465 | $535 | $535 | $815 | $1,025 | $1,600 | |||||||||||
AWeber Lite | $15 | $25 | $25 | $25 | $25 | $45 | $45 | $45 | $65 | $65 | $65 | $65 | $145 | $145 | $145 | $388 | $788 | ||||||||||||
AWeber Plus | $30 | $40 | $40 | $40 | $40 | $60 | $60 | $60 | $80 | $80 | $80 | $80 | $160 | $160 | $160 | $403 | $803 | ||||||||||||
AWeber Unlimited | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 | $899 |
Klaviyo Email | $20 | $30 | $45 | $60 | $60 | $70 | $100 | $100 | $130 | $150 | $150 | $150 | $350 | $375 | $375 | $720 | $1,380 | $2,070 | |||||||||||
Klaviyo Email & SMS | $35 | $45 | $60 | $75 | $75 | $85 | $115 | $115 | $145 | $165 | $165 | $165 | $365 | $390 | $390 | $735 | $1,395 | $2,085 | |||||||||||
Beehiiv Launch | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Beehiiv Grow | $49 | $49 | $49 | $49 | $49 | $49 | $49 | $49 | $49 | $49 | $49 | $49 | |||||||||||||||||
Beehiiv Scale | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | $99 | ||||||||||||
HubSpot Marketing Hub - Starter | $20 | $20 | $40 | $40 | $60 | $60 | $78 | $96 | $112 | $128 | $144 | $176 | $256 | $336 | $336 | $816 | $1,616 | ||||||||||||
HubSpot Marketing Hub - Professional | $890 | $890 | $890 | $890 | $1,140 | $1,140 | $1,140 | $1,140 | $1,140 | $1,140 | $1,390 | $1,390 | $1,640 | $1,890 | $1,890 | $3,190 | |||||||||||||
HubSpot Marketing Hub - Enterprise | $3,600 | $3,600 | $3,600 | $3,600 | $3,600 | $3,600 | $3,600 | $3,600 | $3,600 | $3,600 | $3,600 | $3,600 | $3,700 | $3,700 | $3,700 | $4,000 | $4,450 | $5,250 | $5,950 | $7,350 | $8,550 | $9,750 | |||||||
Moosend Pro | $9 | $16 | $24 | $24 | $32 | $32 | $48 | $48 | $64 | $64 | $64 | $88 | $160 | $160 | $160 | $315 | $624 | $1,216 | $1,808 | $2,896 | $4,080 | $5,840 |
The table below shows the regular prices of Sendinblue’s email marketing tool. The numbers in the top horizontal line (see the table below) represent the emails you can send monthly. On all levels, there are unlimited contacts/subscribers. Remember that these are annual prices, including the 10% discount. Also, note that the prices of the Starter tier include the add-on to remove Sendinblue’s branding.
Company | Tier | 20,000 | 40,000 | 60,000 | 100,000 | 150,000 | 250,000 | 350,000 | 500,000 | 750,000 | 1,000,000 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brevo | Starter | $396 | $504 | $660 | $876 | x | x | x | x | x | x |
Brevo | Business | $696 | $804 | $960 | $1,392 | $1,824 | $2,580 | $3,120 | $4,308 | $6,036 | $7,224 |
Aside from subscription pricing models, Mailchimp and Sendinblue also offer pay-as-you-go credits (see table below), which can be handy if you’re an infrequent sender, i.e., don’t send monthly emails. The left column shows the number of email credits, columns 2 and 3 show the total price, and columns 4 and 5 show the cost per email credit.
Brevo | Mailchimp | Brevo | Mailchimp | |
---|---|---|---|---|
5,000 | $32 | $200 | $0.0064 | $0.0400 |
10,000 | $59 | $260 | $0.0059 | $0.0260 |
15,000 | x | $390 | x | $0.0260 |
20,000 | $95 | x | $0.0048 | x |
50,000 | $165 | $1,300 | $0.0033 | $0.0260 |
75,000 | x | $1,950 | x | $0.0260 |
100,000 | $275 | x | $0.0028 | x |
200,000 | x | $2,600 | x | $0.0130 |
500,000 | $940 | x | $0.0019 | x |
1,000,000 | $1,600 | x | $0.0016 | x |
2,000,000 | x | $3,300 | x | $0.0017 |
5,000,000 | x | $6,500 | x | $0.0013 |
25,000,000 | x | $13,000 | x | $0.0005 |
Remember that Mailchimp’s email credits expire after 12 months, and Sendinblue doesn’t have an expiration date on its email credits.
Discounts
Most email tools offer a discount when purchasing an annual subscription. When done heavily testing the tool, I suggest you buy a yearly subscription because it can save you a lot of money in the long run. Remember that I already added the discount for purchasing an annual subscription in the pricing tables above.
Company | 12-month plan | 24-month plan |
MailChimp | ❌ | ❌ |
GetResponse | 18% | 30% |
AWeber | 2% – 33%* | ❌ |
ConvertKit | +- 17% | ❌ |
MailerLite | 15% | ❌ |
Sendinblue | 10% | ❌ |
HubSpot | 10% | ❌ |
ActiveCampaign | +- 20% | ❌ |
Constant Contact | 15% | ❌ |
*AWeber – AWeber offers up to 33% off annual plans, but the discount rapidly decreases as the subscriber count increases. At 25,000 subscribers, the yearly discount is minimal and not worth it, i.e., only a few percent.
Discounts for non-profits
Aside from ConvertKit, all email tools offer a discount for non-profit organizations.
HubSpot | 40% |
Constant Contact | 30%* |
GetResponse | 30 – 50%* |
AWeber | 25%* |
ActiveCampaign | 20% |
Sendinblue | 15%* |
MailChimp | 15% |
MailerLite | 15 – 30%* |
ConvertKit | ❌ |
- *GetResponse – If you add a link on your website to the GetResponse website, you can get a 50% discount on monthly plans. If you prefer not to link to their website, you can get a 30% discount on monthly plans, which is still relatively good. Further reading: check this page on GetResponse’s website.
- *AWeber – Non-profits can receive three free months of AWeber Pro and a 25% discount. Further reading: check this page on AWeber’s website.
- *MailerLite – If you purchase an annual plan as a non-profit organization, you receive a 30% discount because you can stack the annual discount plus the non-profit discounts. You aren’t obligated to purchase the annual plan while still benefiting from the 15% non-profit discount.
- *Sendinblue – Sendinblue only offers a 15% discount to non-profit organizations that subscribe to their most expensive plan, the Enterprise plan, which starts from $1,000 per month. For more information, visit this page on Sendinblue’s website.
- *Constant Contact – To receive the 30% discount for non-profit organizations, you must purchase the annual subscription.
Extra discounts (special occasions)
Some companies go all-out on special occasions, e.g., Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etcetera, which might be an excellent opportunity for you to subscribe at that moment.
Click on […] to read further about how special discounts work with these companies (see table below).
MailerLite | ✔️ 25% […] |
Sendinblue | ✔️ 30% […] |
ConvertKit | ✔️ 31% […] |
Constant Contact | ✔️ Up to 40% […] |
GetResponse | ✔️ Up to 40% (lifetime!) […] |
MailChimp | ❌ |
AWeber | ❌ |
HubSpot | ❌ |
ActiveCampaign | ❌ |
Cancellation process
Most software tools have an easy cancellation process, but some don’t.
✔️ = You can cancel a paid account online
❌ = Not the best cancellation process
MailChimp | ✔️ |
GetResponse | ✔️ |
AWeber | ✔️ |
MailerLite | ✔️ |
Sendinblue | ✔️ |
HubSpot | ✔️ |
ActiveCampaign | ✔️ |
ConvertKit | ❌ By email or chat support |
Constant Contact | ❌ By phone |
Warning: Constant Contact has the worse cancellation process because the only option to cancel is by phone, on specific days, and between certain hours. You probably will be charged hefty phone provider fees if you’re not from the US.
Refunds
Most software companies do not offer refunds – especially not for unused time or unused credits resulting in reviews like the one below. This Mailchimp customer had unused email credits and wanted a refund that Mailchimp didn’t provide. Remember that, most likely, no email tool will give you a refund.
Furthermore, in most of their terms of use policies, you can read that they also won’t provide a refund when they deny you access to their platform, i.e., block your account, when you violate their terms. Term violations often happen when you have a high spam score or use content in your emails that their terms prohibit.
❌ = no refund
ConvertKit | ✔️ 30-day refund guarantee* |
Constant Contact | ✔️ 30-day refund guarantee* |
MailChimp | ❌ |
GetResponse | ❌ |
AWeber | ❌ |
MailerLite | ❌ |
Sendinblue | ❌ |
HubSpot | ❌ |
ActiveCampaign | ❌ |
* Keep in mind that these refunds only apply to new accounts, i.e., if you forgot to cancel your annual subscription, I’m unsure if they would grant you a refund.
The number of contacts (subscribed vs unsubscribed)
Some email tools like Mailchimp charge you for contacts that are either subscribed or unsubscribed from your email list. In other words, with Mailchimp, if 500 people unsubscribed from your email list, you still pay for those email addresses. Others only charge you for active contacts, i.e., real subscribers to your email list. I call these the hidden fees since, in most cases, they don’t clearly explain them on their pricing pages.
❌ = charges you for non-active contacts, too, i.e., unsubscribed email addresses
✔️ = charges you only for active contacts
GetResponse | ✔️ |
ConvertKit | ✔️ |
HubSpot | ✔️ |
ActiveCampaign | ✔️ |
Constant Contact | ✔️ |
MailerLite | ✔️* |
Sendinblue | ✔️* |
MailChimp | ❌ |
AWeber | ❌ |
*MailerLite doesn’t charge you for inactive contacts, i.e., unsubscribed contacts, but it uses the Unique active subscriber principle. It means that it counts the number of contacts you have sent an email to in the last 30 days and not the number of contacts subscribed to your mailing list. Not a big fan of this either. See this page on MailerLite’s website for further reading.
*Sendinblue uses a different pricing structure, so charging for contacts doesn’t apply; instead, it charges you for the number of emails you send.
Best Newsletter Features
In this best newsletter features section, I’ll discuss the topics below. Just click on […] to skip to that part.
- Maximum contacts & monthly emails […]
- Google Analytics UTM builder […]
- Newsletter […]
- Segmentation […]
- Email Scheduling […]
- Audiences / Email lists […]
Maximum contacts & monthly emails
In the table below, you can find how many emails you can send monthly.
- 10X = 10 times your contact number, e.g., if you are on a 1,000 subscriber tier, you can send 10,000 monthly emails
- N/a = the platform doesn’t allow you to choose that particular plan on higher contact numbers; see, for example, MailerLite’s Business plan.
- Unknown = the platform doesn’t provide details. You have to contact them for custom pricing.
20,000 | 50,000 | 100,000 | 200,000 | 300,000 | 500,000 | 700,000 | 900,000 | 1,200,000 | 1,500,000 | 2,000,000 | 2,500,000 | 3,000,000 | 4,000,000 | 5,000,000 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MailerLite | Growing Business | Unlimited | Unlimited | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
MailerLite | Advanced | Unlimited | Unlimited | 12X | 12X | 12X | 12X | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
Mailchimp | Essentials | 10X | 10X | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Mailchimp | Standard | 12X | 12X | 12X | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Mailchimp | Premium | 15X | 15X | 15X | 15X | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
Klaviyo | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | |
HubSpot Marketing Hub | Starter | 5X | 5X | 5X | 5X | 5X | 5X | 5X | 5X | 5X | 5X | 5X | 5X | 5X | 5X | 5X |
HubSpot Marketing Hub | Professional | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X |
HubSpot Marketing Hub | Enterprise | 20X | 20X | 20X | 20X | 20X | 20X | 20X | 20X | 20X | 20X | 20X | 20X | 20X | 20X | 20X |
GetResponse | All tiers | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
ConvertKit | All tiers | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
Constant Contact | All tiers | 24X | 24X | 24X | 24X | 24X | 24X | 24X | 24X | 24X | 24X | 24X | 24X | 24X | 24X | 24X |
AWeber | All tiers | Unlimited | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
ActiveCampaign | All tiers | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X | 10X |
The bottom line is that if you’re a high-frequency email sender, you have to consider that some tiers have limits, i.e., you have to purchase a higher tier to send more emails resulting in a higher monthly price. In other words, at first, it might seem that tool X is cheaper than tool Y, but if you consider the sending limitation, it might be the other way around (just food for thought).
Google Analytics UTM builder
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that allows website owners to track visitor behavior and gain valuable insights into their website’s performance.
Most tools offer a feature where you can easily enable a setting that automatically adds UTM parameters to your emails’ HTML links. For example, in the screenshot below, you can see an example of the email tool MailerLite where you can check a box to enable the UTM tags.
Although it might seem obvious to offer such a feature, not every email tool does, i.e., you have to manually create and add the UTM tags to your HTML links, which costs lots of time and is error sensitive.
❌ = the tool doesn’t have an automatic UTM tag builder/setting
✔️ = the tool does have a UTM tag builder
MailChimp | ✔️ |
GetResponse | ✔️ |
ConvertKit | ✔️ |
MailerLite | ✔️ |
Sendinblue | ✔️ |
HubSpot | ✔️ |
ActiveCampaign | ✔️ |
AWeber | ❌ |
Constant Contact | ❌ |
Newsletter
First, I mean by newsletters regular newsletters and not automation builders/emails.
Secondly, some differences make one newsletter builder more flexible than others, but overall, there’s no newsletter builder where I have had a bad experience.
For example, ConvertKit’s newsletter has fewer features than GetResponse’s newsletter, but that doesn’t mean ConvertKit has a bad newsletter builder.
See the table below for a ranking of best to least-best in terms of having a feature-rich newsletter editor. Click on […] for further reading.
MailChimp | 5-star […] |
ActiveCampaign | 4-star […] |
Constant Contact | 4-star […] |
GetResponse | 4-star […] |
HubSpot | 4-star […] |
MailerLite | 4-star […] |
Sendinblue | 4-star […] |
AWeber | 4-star […] |
ConvertKit | 3-star […] |
Segmentation
Every email tool allows you to segment your contacts before sending a newsletter. The screenshot below shows an example of MailerLite’s segmentation feature when sending a newsletter.
Email Scheduling
Every email tool allows you to send your newsletter at a future date, i.e., email scheduling.
The difference is that some email tools have extra scheduling features, e.g., delivering the email at a specific time despite timezone differences or finding the best time for individual contacts to send the newsletter. Especially the one to deliver the email at a particular time for each timezone can be handy if you have a worldwide audience and prefer to deliver your emails at 9 am sharp.
❌ = the tool doesn’t offer extra scheduling features
✔️ = the tool does provide extra scheduling features
MailChimp | ✔️ |
GetResponse | ✔️ |
MailerLite | ✔️ |
Sendinblue | ✔️ |
HubSpot | ✔️ |
ActiveCampaign | ✔️ |
ConvertKit | ❌ |
Constant Contact | ❌ |
AWeber | ❌* |
*AWeber has a delivery by Time Zone feature for its automation emails but not for its regular newsletter emails.
Audiences / Email lists
Some email tools allow you to create multiple email lists. For example, if your business has B2B and B2C customers, you probably communicate differently with these two audiences. Creating two email lists in the same email account will help you do that. Another example is if you also have an internal newsletter, i.e., for your employees. If you want to segment your audience on interest, I usually prefer to use tags or custom fields instead of different email lists. I see the use case for email lists to separate one audience from the other, but not so much that you need a different account.
As you can see in the table below, there are email tools that don’t offer the option to create more than one email list.
MailChimp | 5-star |
GetResponse | 3-star |
AWeber | 3-star |
Sendinblue | 3-star |
HubSpot | 3-star |
ActiveCampaign | 3-star |
Constant Contact | 3-star |
ConvertKit | ❌ |
MailerLite | ❌ |
Mailchimp has a 5-star rating because they are the only tool that allows you to set up a custom default from email address, from name and physical address for each email list (or audience, as Mailchimp calls it). The other email tools don’t have this option resulting in a higher risk of you sending an email to email list X with the incorrect from email address, from name, or physical address.
Best Email Automation Features
The bottom line is that ActiveCampaign offers the most comprehensive email marketing automation functionalities.
Click on […] for further reading and examples.
ActiveCampaign | 5-star […] |
GetResponse | 4-star […] |
Sendinblue | 4-star […] |
HubSpot | 4-star […] |
ConvertKit | 3.5-star […] |
MailChimp | 3-star […] |
AWeber | 3-star […] |
MailerLite | 3-star […] |
Constant Contact | 2-star […] |
Do note that a lower rating for email automation isn’t a bad sign, i.e., if you don’t need fancy email automation, please don’t spend money on software that offers it.
Best Landing Page Features
Nowadays, every email tool offers you to create and publish landing pages. Below is a list of functionalities of how an email marketing tool can differentiate itself from its competitors:
- Pricing, i.e., from what tier (plan) can I start using the landing pages?
- The number of pages you can create (some offer unlimited pages while others limit you to X pages)
- Landing page customization features (some allow you to change everything while others are very limited in what you can do)
- Custom domain (Constant Contact is the only email tool that doesn’t allow you to add a custom domain)
- The flexibility to add and edit a sign up form on your landing page
- Website features, i.e., can I create a website-ish look and feel?
- Landing page templates
Click on […] for more information and screenshots of the landing page features of all the email tools.
ActiveCampaign | 4-star […] |
GetResponse | 4-star […] |
HubSpot | 4-star […] |
Sendinblue | 3.5-star […] |
AWeber | 3.5-star […] |
MailerLite | 3.5-star […] |
ConvertKit | 3-star […] |
MailChimp | 3-star […] |
Constant Contact | 2-star […] |
The reason why ConvertKit has a 3-star rating is that they don’t have a lot of extra functionalities. On the other hand, ConvertKit is one of the most user-friendly tools because it doesn’t have a massive library of features. In other words, the question is; what do you need? Do you need a tool that allows for maximum flexibility? In this case, ConvertKit wouldn’t be my top choice for you. But if you’re looking for a tool to create a landing page for your free ebook quickly, ConvertKit does a fantastic job.
Best Opt-in Form Features
Opt-in forms will be your number one tactic for growing your email list if you have an active blog.
Every email tool allows you to create a sign-up form. Below is a list of functionalities of how an email marketing tool can differentiate itself from its competitors:
- Different opt-in forms: pop-ups (e.g., banner pop up, welcome pop-ups, exit pop-ups, page-specific pop-ups), sign-up forms (e.g., newsletter sign-up form, free ebook giveaway sign-up form), and banner pop up.
- Great flexibility regarding displaying the form (e.g., start and end dates, frequency, link-click pop-ups, page-specific pop-ups, etcetera)
- Design options (some tools offer limited design customization)
- Limited in the number of forms you can create (e.g., Mailchimp and Constant Contact limit you to only one pop-up and sign-up form)
- GDPR options (i.e., does the tool allows you to receive consent from your subscribers?)
- Double-opt-in setup (e.g., Sendinblue doesn’t have a smooth process for setting up double-opt-in emails)
- Opt-in form design templates
- Pricing
- Already subscribed setting (i.e., is there a feature that recognizes already subscribed contacts?)
The table below shows that many email tools can improve their opt-in form features. However, none offer a 5-star opt-in form experience, and some aren’t even close (e.g., Mailchimp and Constant Contact).
Click on […] for more information and screenshots of all email tools’ opt-in form features.
GetResponse | 4-star […] |
MailerLite | 3-star […] |
ConvertKit | 3-star […] |
AWeber | 2.5-star […] |
ActiveCampaign | 2-star […] |
HubSpot | 2-star […] |
Sendinblue | 2-star […] |
MailChimp | 1-star […] |
Constant Contact | 1-star […] |
Best CRM Features
If you’re unsure what CRM features are and whether you need them, read this part of ActiveCampaing’s review, where I cover their CRM features and how they can help you.
As shown in the table below, only a few email marketing companies offer CRM features besides email features.
❌ = doesn’t offer CRM features
✔️ = does offer CRM features
Sendinblue | ✔️ |
HubSpot | ✔️ |
ActiveCampaign | ✔️ |
MailChimp | ❌ |
GetResponse | ❌ |
AWeber | ❌ |
ConvertKit | ❌ |
MailerLite | ❌ |
Constant Contact | ❌ |
Best Support Features
Every tool offers support (duh!), but not all of them offer great support. What weighs the heaviest for me is a combination of 24/7 chat support and knowledgeable customer service reps.
Disclaimer: not every company offers chat support on all its tiers. For example, MailerLite only offers chat support on its Advanced tier. For more information regarding support for the free plan, users check this page.
Click on […] for more information.
GetResponse | ✔️ 24/7 chat support […] |
ConvertKit | ✔️ 24/7 chat support […] |
AWeber | ✔️ 24/7 chat support […] |
MailerLite | ✔️ 24/7 chat support […] |
HubSpot | ✔️ 24/7 chat support […] |
MailChimp | ✔️ 24/7 chat support […] |
ActiveCampaign | ❌ […] |
Sendinblue | ❌ […] |
Constant Contact | ❌ […] |
Best Reporting Features
Especially when you’re reporting to your manager or client, having great reporting features is a must.
What weighs the heaviest for me are features to see my subscriber growth, statistics of my regular newsletter, automation emails, sign-up forms, and landing pages. So important to add is that I preferably want the option to add a custom period, i.e., I want to see the results of month X.
Surprisingly, excellent reporting features are too much to ask since most email marketing companies don’t offer them, or it’s not great.
Keep track of subscriber growth
Ideally, you want to see your growth in any custom period you enter. Most likely, you report monthly reports to your manager, client, or yourself, i.e., you want to know how much your email list grew or shrunk in the last month.
❌ = No great feature to keep track of subscriber growth
✔️ = Offers a feature to keep track of subscriber growth
GetResponse | ✔️ |
ConvertKit | ✔️ |
ActiveCampaign | ✔️ |
Constant Contact | ✔️ |
MailerLite | ❌ |
MailChimp | ❌ |
Sendinblue | ❌ |
AWeber | ? |
HubSpot | ? |
Email reporting
Note that every email tool offers individual email reporting, i.e., you can see how many people opened, clicked, etcetera. When reporting to your manager, client, or yourself, you want to see the overall results of the entire month or year, not individual email results.
I want to see how many emails I sent last month or any other custom period. Note that some email tools mix automated emails with a regular newsletter, which will mess up my data, i.e., I prefer to have access to that data separately.
❌ = No great feature for email reporting
✔️ = Offers a feature for email reporting as described above
GetResponse | ✔️ |
MailerLite | ✔️ |
MailChimp | ✔️ |
Sendinblue | ✔️ |
ConvertKit | ❌ |
Constant Contact | ❌ |
AWeber | ? |
HubSpot | ? |
ActiveCampaign | ? |
Automation reports
Note that every email tool offers reports of your individual automated campaigns. You don’t want to report individual results when reporting to your manager, client, or yourself. Instead, you want to share the data of an entire month or year.
I want to see how many emails I sent last month or any other custom period with my automated campaigns. Remember, preferably, I don’t want to see mixed data, i.e., I don’t want to see regular newsletter data included in my automated campaign’s data.
❌ = No great reporting feature for automated campaigns
✔️ = Offers a reporting feature for automated campaigns
Constant Contact | ❌ |
MailerLite | ❌ |
MailChimp | ❌ |
Sendinblue | ❌ |
GetResponse | ? |
AWeber | ? |
HubSpot | ? |
ConvertKit | ? |
ActiveCampaign | ? |
Sign-up form reports
Ideally, I want to see how many new sign-ups I generated last month or any other custom period. Moreover, I want to know my top-performing forms, the conversion rate of my forms, the number of opt-ins versus the number of people confirming their email addresses, etcetera.
❌ = No great reporting feature for sign-up forms
✔️ = Offers a reporting feature for sign-up forms
ActiveCampaign | ✔️ |
GetResponse | ❌ |
AWeber | ❌ |
ConvertKit | ❌ |
Constant Contact | ❌ |
MailerLite | ❌ |
MailChimp | ❌ |
Sendinblue | ❌ |
HubSpot | ? |
Landing pages reports
Ideally, I want to see how many people visited my landing pages, how many opted-in, how many confirmed their email addresses, and my conversion rate. Furthermore, I want to see what my top-performing landing pages are. And don’t forget; I need the option to see last month’s data or any other custom period.
❌ = No great reporting feature for landing pages
✔️ = Offers a reporting feature for landing pages
ActiveCampaign | ? |
GetResponse | ❌ |
AWeber | ❌ |
ConvertKit | ❌ |
Constant Contact | ? |
MailerLite | ❌ |
MailChimp | ❌ |
Sendinblue | ? |
HubSpot | ? |
Frequently asked questions
Sincerely,
Robbin 👋