Email marketing isn’t going anywhere. For every $1 spent, businesses see an average return of $36 according to Litmus — that beats every other marketing channel by a wide margin. And yet, most small businesses are either not doing it, doing it with the wrong tool, or doing it badly with a free plan they’ve outgrown.
The problem isn’t lack of options. There are dozens of email platforms. The problem is that most comparisons are written by affiliates who list whichever tools pay the biggest commission, not the ones that actually fit small business needs.
This list is different. These 11 tools were selected based on price, ease of use, automation capabilities, deliverability, and — most importantly — how well they fit teams without a dedicated marketing department.
1. Mailchimp — Best for Absolute Beginners
Mailchimp is still the most recognizable name in email marketing, and for good reason: it’s the easiest platform to get started with. The drag-and-drop editor is intuitive, the free plan covers up to 500 subscribers and 1,000 sends/month, and the onboarding flow is genuinely helpful for first-timers.
Where Mailchimp falls short is in its pricing. Once you grow past that free tier, costs climb fast — and you’ll quickly notice the automation features that feel locked behind expensive tiers. For a solo operator just getting started, Mailchimp makes total sense. For a business actively trying to grow a list of 2,000+ subscribers, you’ll likely outgrow it within a year.
Best for: Complete beginners, businesses with lists under 500, anyone who wants to send a basic newsletter and not think too hard about it.
Pricing: Free up to 500 contacts; paid plans start at $13/month.
2. MailerLite — Best Value for Growing Lists
MailerLite consistently tops independent benchmarks for combining ease of use with powerful automation at a price small businesses can justify. Their free plan is genuinely useful — 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails/month with automation included. That’s significantly more generous than Mailchimp’s free tier.
The platform’s automation builder is visual and surprisingly capable for the price. You can set up welcome sequences, abandoned cart flows (with Shopify integration), and behavior-triggered campaigns without needing a marketing degree. EmailVendorSelection ranks MailerLite as the top pick for businesses just starting with email marketing in 2026.
Best for: Small businesses that want real automation without paying enterprise prices. Especially good for service businesses, consultants, and local retailers.
Pricing: Free up to 1,000 subscribers; paid plans start at $9/month.
3. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) — Best Free Plan with Automation
Brevo flips the pricing model: instead of charging by subscriber count, they charge by email volume. That makes it the best option for businesses with a large list but lower send frequency. Their free plan allows unlimited contacts with 300 emails/day — a structure no other major platform matches.
Brevo also includes SMS marketing, a built-in CRM, live chat, and transactional email — all under one roof. It’s essentially a mini-marketing stack for free. Automation workflows, A/B testing, and segmentation are available on the free tier, which is nearly unheard of.
The trade-off is that Brevo’s email editor is less polished than Mailchimp’s, and the free plan adds Brevo branding to your emails. But at the price (free), it’s hard to complain.
Best for: Businesses with growing subscriber lists who send infrequently; businesses that want email + SMS in one tool.
Pricing: Free forever; paid plans start at $8.08/month.
4. ActiveCampaign — Best for Marketing Automation
If you’re serious about automation, ActiveCampaign is in a different league from most tools on this list. The platform’s visual automation builder is the most capable in its price range — you can build multi-branch flows based on user behavior, site visits, email opens, purchase history, lead scoring, and more.
ActiveCampaign also includes a built-in CRM, which means your sales and marketing data live in the same place. For small businesses where one or two people are handling both sales and marketing, this integration is genuinely useful rather than just a feature checklist item.
It’s not cheap by small business standards — the entry plan starts at $15/month for 1,000 contacts — but the automation capabilities justify the cost if you’re actually using them. If you’re only sending monthly newsletters, this is overkill.
Best for: Businesses running complex nurture sequences, agencies, B2B companies with longer sales cycles, anyone who takes marketing automation seriously.
Pricing: 14-day free trial; paid plans start at $15/month.
5. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — Best for Content Creators and Bloggers
Kit was built specifically for people who build audiences through content — bloggers, podcasters, course creators, and newsletter writers. The platform treats subscribers as fans, not just leads, and the toolset reflects that: clean subscriber tagging, simple automation, a link page builder, and a built-in newsletter referral system.
Kit’s free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, which is among the most generous on this list. You lose automation and some integrations at the free tier, but for a creator just building momentum, it’s a strong starting point. EmailTooltester ranks Kit as the top free tool for newsletter creators in 2026.
Best for: Bloggers, YouTubers, course creators, and newsletter writers. Not ideal for e-commerce or businesses needing heavy CRM integration.
Pricing: Free up to 10,000 subscribers; paid plans start at $25/month.
6. Constant Contact — Best for Events and Retail
Constant Contact has been around since 1995 and still delivers a solid product, particularly for businesses that run events or physical retail operations. The platform includes event marketing tools, RSVP management, and a solid integration with Facebook and Instagram for paid social ad management alongside your email campaigns.
Customer support is a genuine differentiator here — phone support is available on all plans, which is rare in 2026 and valuable for small teams without a dedicated IT person. The reporting dashboards are also cleaner and more actionable than most platforms at this price point.
The downside: it’s not the cheapest option, and the free trial is only 60 days (no permanent free plan). If you can justify the cost, the support alone can be worth it.
Best for: Brick-and-mortar retailers, event-based businesses, nonprofits, and any team that wants real human support.
Pricing: 60-day free trial; paid plans start at $12/month.
7. HubSpot Email Marketing — Best for CRM-Integrated Teams
If your business is already using or considering HubSpot’s CRM, their email marketing tool is a natural extension. Every contact who receives an email is automatically tracked in the CRM — you see their full history, page visits, form submissions, and deal stages alongside their email engagement.
The free plan is generous: unlimited sends to up to 2,000 emails/month with HubSpot branding removed on paid plans. Where it gets powerful is when you connect email to workflows, lead scoring, and sales sequences — turning your marketing emails into genuine sales pipeline tools.
For small businesses not yet in the HubSpot ecosystem, this may feel like overkill. But if you’re looking to scale and want your marketing and sales data unified from day one, HubSpot’s free tier is the best starting point on the market.
Best for: B2B small businesses, professional service firms, and teams that want marketing and sales in one platform.
Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $20/month.
8. Klaviyo — Best for E-Commerce
Klaviyo was built for e-commerce and it shows. Deep native integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and BigCommerce mean you can trigger emails based on granular shopping behavior: cart abandonment, product browsing, purchase frequency, predicted lifetime value, and more.
Klaviyo’s pre-built flows — welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase, win-back — are the most sophisticated out-of-the-box automation in the e-commerce space. Businesses using Klaviyo report average ROI of 119x from their email and SMS flows, making it a top performer for online stores.
It’s priced higher than alternatives, which can sting for smaller shops. But for an e-commerce business doing more than $10K/month, the revenue Klaviyo drives typically dwarfs the subscription cost.
Best for: E-commerce businesses on Shopify, WooCommerce, or similar platforms.
Pricing: Free up to 250 contacts; paid plans start at $45/month.
9. Omnisend — Best for Omnichannel E-Commerce Marketing
Omnisend occupies a similar space to Klaviyo but focuses on combining email, SMS, and push notifications into a single automation workflow. That means you can build a sequence that starts with an email, follows up with an SMS if the email isn’t opened, and sends a push notification after that — all from one workflow builder.
For small e-commerce businesses that want omnichannel reach without paying for three separate tools, Omnisend is the most practical option. The free plan includes 500 emails/month with full automation — unusually generous for a platform this capable.
EmailVendorSelection calls Omnisend one of the strongest free e-commerce solutions available in 2026 thanks to its automation depth and multi-channel reach.
Best for: Small online stores wanting email + SMS + push in one platform without enterprise pricing.
Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $16/month.
10. GetResponse — Best with Built-In Website Builder and Funnels
GetResponse started as an email marketing tool and has grown into a full marketing platform — landing page builder, website builder, webinar hosting, conversion funnels, and email automation are all included. For small businesses that want to consolidate multiple tools under one subscription, that breadth is genuinely useful.
The free plan includes a website builder and landing pages, which makes GetResponse one of the few email platforms where you can build your entire online presence and email marketing infrastructure without spending a dollar to get started.
Automation quality is solid, though not quite at ActiveCampaign’s level. Deliverability rates are consistently high across independent audits, which matters more than most features once your list reaches a few thousand subscribers.
Best for: Solopreneurs and small businesses that want to consolidate email, landing pages, and website into one affordable subscription.
Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $19/month.
11. Moosend — Best Budget Option for Small Teams
Moosend delivers a clean, capable email marketing experience at one of the lowest price points in the industry. The platform includes automation workflows, A/B testing, real-time analytics, and a visual email editor — features that typically require a mid-tier subscription elsewhere.
For small businesses operating on tight margins, Moosend’s 30-day free trial gives enough time to fully evaluate the platform. Their paid plans start at $7/month for up to 500 subscribers, making it the most affordable option on this list once you’ve outgrown free tiers.
EmailVendorSelection specifically recommends Moosend for small businesses that need full-featured automation without the pricing that typically comes with it.
Best for: Budget-conscious small businesses, startups, and teams that need automation without paying mid-market prices.
Pricing: 30-day free trial; paid plans start at $7/month.
How to Choose the Right Email Marketing Tool
Before picking a platform, answer these three questions:
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What’s your list size and growth rate? If you’re under 1,000 subscribers, start with MailerLite or Kit’s free tier. If you’re growing fast, plan for where you’ll be in 12 months — not where you are today.
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Do you need automation or just broadcasts? Basic newsletters need basic tools. If you want sequences, behavior triggers, and lead scoring, budget for ActiveCampaign or HubSpot from the start.
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Are you e-commerce or service-based? E-commerce businesses should seriously consider Klaviyo or Omnisend. Service businesses and B2B companies typically do better with ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, or MailerLite.
The wrong email platform is worse than no email platform — it creates technical debt, migration headaches, and wasted time. Pick one that fits where you’re going, not just where you are.
Your Website Is Where Email Starts
Every email marketing campaign eventually sends people back to your website. If your landing pages are slow, confusing, or not built to convert, even the best email tool won’t save you.
We build websites and landing pages designed to turn email traffic into real leads and customers. Get started here — we’ll show you exactly what it takes to make your website the engine your email campaigns deserve.
Richard Kastl
Founder & Lead EngineerRichard Kastl has spent 14 years engineering websites that generate revenue. He combines expertise in web development, SEO, digital marketing, and conversion optimization to build sites that make the phone ring. His work has helped generate over $30M in pipeline for clients ranging from industrial manufacturers to SaaS companies.
