Updated: January 2026
Email marketing and management
Transactional email with high deliverability
Postmark delivers transactional email reliably. Email that reaches inboxes—transactional delivery that prioritizes reputation. The deliverability is excellent. The focus is transactional. The reputation is guarded. Applications needing reliable transactional email choose Postmark for delivery that works.
Newsletter platform built for growth and monetization
Beehiiv is where serious newsletter operators build their businesses. The platform handles everything—writing, sending, growing, and monetizing—with tools designed for creators who see newsletters as a business. Growth features include recommendations and referral programs. Monetization options go beyond simple subscriptions. Analytics show what content resonates. Newsletter creators who've outgrown Substack's limitations migrate to Beehiiv for more sophisticated growth and monetization capabilities.
Email marketing built for creators
ConvertKit serves creators who make a living from their audience. Email marketing with automation, landing pages, and monetization—tools designed for writers, podcasters, and creators building businesses. Sequences nurture subscribers through designed journeys. Commerce features sell digital products. The creator focus shapes every feature. Creators who see their newsletter as a business choose ConvertKit for email tools that understand how they make money.
Email marketing for modern SaaS
Loops provides email for SaaS products. Marketing and transactional email designed for product companies—email that understands software. The focus is SaaS specific. The templates fit the use case. The experience is modern. SaaS companies wanting focused email marketing choose Loops for product-oriented email.
Transactional email API trusted by developers worldwide
SendGrid delivers email at scale. Transactional and marketing email—email infrastructure from Twilio. The volume is handled. The deliverability is established. The features cover both types. Applications sending email use SendGrid for scalable email delivery.
Marketing automation for customer engagement
Customer.io sends messages triggered by what users do. Welcome sequences, re-engagement campaigns, transactional updates—automated communication that responds to behavior, not just schedules. The segmentation is powerful. Workflows handle complex logic. Integration with your data means messages stay relevant. Product and marketing teams wanting behavioral messaging choose Customer.io for automation that responds to how users actually use the product.
Developer-first email API
Resend delivers emails for developers with modern DX. Email API built for how developers work—transactional email that feels right. The developer experience is prioritized. The React integration exists. The delivery works. Developers wanting modern email API choose Resend for developer-focused email.
Newsletter platform for writers
Substack powers newsletter businesses. Writing platform for paid newsletters—where independent writers build audiences. The platform defined independent newsletters. The discovery helps growth. The business model is clear. Writers building newsletter businesses often start on Substack.
Email and SMS marketing built specifically for e-commerce
Klaviyo powers e-commerce email and SMS marketing. Behavior-triggered messages, segmentation, and analytics—marketing automation built for online stores. The e-commerce integration is deep. The segmentation is sophisticated. The results are measurable. E-commerce brands serious about email marketing choose Klaviyo for store-integrated automation.
Transactional email service from AWS
Amazon SES sends transactional email at scale without running email infrastructure. Password resets, order confirmations, notifications—any email your application needs to send. The service handles deliverability reputation, bounce processing, and compliance requirements. Pay only for what you send. Integration with AWS makes it a natural choice for applications already on Amazon. Transactional email seems simple until you try to build it yourself. SES handles the complexity of reliable delivery so you can focus on your application.
Email marketing software lets you build email lists, create campaigns, and automate communications with subscribers and customers. Despite being one of the oldest digital marketing channels, email consistently delivers the highest ROI—averaging $36-42 for every dollar spent.
Modern email platforms do far more than send newsletters. They offer visual builders, automation workflows, segmentation, personalization, A/B testing, and analytics. The best platforms also handle transactional emails, SMS, and increasingly, full marketing automation.
The email marketing landscape is bifurcating. Enterprise-focused platforms (Salesforce Marketing Cloud, HubSpot) offer full marketing automation. Creator-focused tools (ConvertKit, Beehiiv) optimize for newsletter businesses. E-commerce platforms (Klaviyo, Drip) specialize in product-driven emails. General-purpose tools (Mailchimp, Brevo) try to serve everyone.
Drag-and-drop visual editor for creating emails without code. Template libraries, mobile preview, and brand consistency tools.
Triggered emails based on behavior—welcome sequences, abandoned carts, re-engagement. Set up once, runs forever.
Organize subscribers, create segments based on behavior/attributes, and maintain list hygiene. Better targeting = better results.
Open rates, click rates, conversions, revenue attribution. Understand what's working and optimize continuously.
Getting to the inbox, not spam. Dedicated IPs, authentication, reputation monitoring. Often overlooked until problems arise.
Connect to your e-commerce platform, CRM, website, and other tools. Data sync enables better personalization.
Email marketing serves vastly different needs across business types:
The right email platform depends on your business model:
Email's ROI remains unmatched despite social media competition. Privacy changes (Apple MPP, Google updates) continue reshaping metrics and targeting. AI is entering email—subject line optimization, send time prediction, and content personalization. The newsletter creator economy drove innovation in subscriber growth tools. E-commerce email keeps getting more sophisticated with better behavior tracking and product integration.
Klaviyo is the clear leader for e-commerce. It integrates deeply with Shopify, BigCommerce, and others—syncing product data, purchase history, and browsing behavior. Its e-commerce-specific features (abandoned cart, browse abandonment, product recommendations) are best in class. More expensive than alternatives but delivers measurable ROI.
Mailchimp remains solid for small businesses and those starting out. Its free tier is generous, the builder is excellent, and it's easy to learn. However, it's lost ground in specific niches—Klaviyo for e-commerce, ConvertKit for creators, ActiveCampaign for automation. Mailchimp's pricing gets expensive at scale. Good starting point, but evaluate alternatives as you grow.
ConvertKit is the established player—excellent automation, good landing pages, proven at scale. Beehiiv is newer with modern features—better analytics, built-in referral programs, and ad network. ConvertKit charges by subscribers; Beehiiv has more generous free tier and different scaling. Creators serious about growth increasingly choose Beehiiv; established creators often stay with ConvertKit.
Industry average is 15-25%, but this varies wildly. B2B tends higher (20-30%); promotional e-commerce lower (10-15%). Newsletters often see 30-50% if engaged audience. Apple's Mail Privacy Protection inflates open rates artificially. Focus more on click rates (2-5% is decent) and conversions. Compare against your own history, not benchmarks.
Authenticate your domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Clean your list regularly—remove bounces and unengaged subscribers. Avoid spam trigger words and excessive images. Warm up new IPs gradually. Monitor your sender reputation. Send consistently—irregular sending patterns hurt deliverability. Test with tools like Mail Tester before major campaigns.
At Toolradar, we combine editorial expertise with community insights:
Rankings are updated regularly. Last updated: January 2026.
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