Skip to content

Best Email Marketing Software in 2026

Email campaign and newsletter tools

106 tools evaluated · 10 top picks · Updated September 2026

Key Takeaways
  • ActiveCampaign is our overall pick for email marketing in 2026. SendPulse is our free pick.
  • We analyzed 106 email marketing tools to create this ranking.
  • 10 tools offer free plans, perfect for getting started.

From the team behind Toolradar

Want an email marketing tool in the next ChatGPT answer?

Sponsored editorial in our 6 newsletters, content that reads like the issue, not an ad.

Native articles in tech newsletters

Email marketing tools differ less in features than in target audience. ConvertKit and beehiiv are built for creators, Klaviyo and Omnisend for e-commerce, Mailchimp and Constant Contact for small businesses, ActiveCampaign and Marketo for nurture-heavy B2B. Picking the right one is mostly picking the one designed for your motion.

7 Top Email Marketing Tools Compared

Starting price, average user rating, and our pick for each category.

ToolOur takeStarting priceRating
Omnisend logo
Omnisend
Best overallFree + paid4.6
ActiveCampaign logo
ActiveCampaign
Best free tier$49/mo4.5
Hubspot Marketing logo
Hubspot Marketing
Most reviewedFree + paid4.4
Mailchimp logo
Mailchimp
Solid pickFree + paid3.9
Brevo logo
Brevo
Most affordable$9/mo4.6
Constant Contact logo
Constant Contact
Solid pickFree + paid4.2
SendPulse logo
SendPulse
Solid pickFree4.6

How the Top Email Marketing Tools Compare

The email marketing category is highly competitive in 2026, with Omnisend and ActiveCampaign both ranking among the top choices on Toolradar's assessment, followed closely by Hubspot Marketing. The tight competition reflects how mature this market has become.

All top-ranked email marketing tools offer free or freemium plans, making this an accessible category for teams of any size. Omnisend stands out by combining a top ranking with freemium (free tier available) pricing.

Computed from live tool ratings, review counts, and editorial scores.Editorial policy

Top Email Marketing tools

01
Omnisend logo

Email, SMS, and push marketing for ecommerce

Freemium4.6/52,080 ratings · Sep 2026

Omnisend is an ecommerce marketing automation platform that runs email, SMS, and web push notifications from one tool built specifically for online stores. Founded in 2014 and now used by more than 150,000 brands, it concentrates on the workflows that drive store revenue rather than general-purpose newsletters. It ships with 27 pre-built automation workflows for the moments that matter to merchants: welcome series, abandoned cart and browse-abandonment recovery, order and shipping notifications, and post-purchase win-back. A product picker drops catalog items straight into emails, and segmentation targets shoppers by purchase history, lifecycle stage, and engagement. Integrations are the main draw alongside price. Omnisend connects natively to Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Wix, and Magento, plus around 160 other apps, syncing product, customer, and order data without custom development. It positions itself as a lower-cost alternative to Klaviyo while keeping the ecommerce-specific depth, with a free plan for up to 250 contacts and paid plans offering paid tiers. Omnisend suits ecommerce teams that want email and SMS in a single platform and value retail-ready automation over the breadth of a general marketing suite. It is a weaker fit for non-retail or B2B senders, where a general-purpose tool serves better.

+Built specifically for ecommerce, with abandoned-cart, welcome, and post-purchase flows ready out of the box
+Email, SMS, and web push managed from one platform and one set of workflows
+Strong native integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Wix, and Magento
Focused on ecommerce, so a poor fit for non-retail or B2B email
Contact-based pricing rises as your list grows
Good value

Omnisend's pricing is fair, especially with a generous free tier for up to 250 contacts.

02
ActiveCampaign logo

Autonomous marketing platform with AI-powered email, SMS, and WhatsApp automation.

Freemium4.5/517,363 ratings · Sep 2026

ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation platform that leverages AI (Active Intelligence) to help businesses create, personalize, and optimize cross-channel campaigns across email, SMS, WhatsApp, and more. It is designed for small to enterprise-level businesses, marketing agencies, and e-commerce stores looking to automate repetitive tasks, improve deliverability, and drive revenue. The platform includes a drag-and-drop email designer, multi-step automation builder, 1,000+ integrations, CRM with sales pipelines, and advanced segmentation. AI agents assist with campaign creation, image generation, brand kits, predictive sending, and content personalization, enabling teams to launch campaigns up to 8x faster and cut marketing busywork by 13 hours per week.

+AI agents dramatically speed up campaign creation and personalization.
+Excellent email deliverability with dedicated IP management and monitoring.
+Robust integration ecosystem connects with most major business tools.
Pricing can become expensive as contact lists grow, especially with add-ons.
Advanced features like WhatsApp, SMS, and enhanced CRM are paid add-ons.
03
Hubspot Marketing logo

Marketing automation by HubSpot

Freemium4.4/514,991 ratings · Sep 2026

HubSpot Marketing Hub provides marketing automation integrated with HubSpot CRM. Email, landing pages, workflows, and analytics-marketing that connects to sales. The integration with CRM is the strength. Automation is accessible. Analytics show what works. Marketing teams using HubSpot CRM add Marketing Hub for integrated marketing automation.

+Complete inbound marketing platform
+Excellent CRM integration
+Powerful marketing automation
Very expensive, with paid tiers starting at a high price point
Steep learning curve
Good value

HubSpot Marketing's pricing is generous for small businesses with its robust Free Tools and Starter tier at $20/month.

Watch out

Contact overage fees not specified

04
Mailchimp logo

Grow your business with email, SMS, and AI marketing

Freemium3.9/531,997 ratings · Sep 2026

Mailchimp is an email marketing and automation platform serving millions of businesses worldwide, now part of Intuit. It enables users to create, send, and analyze email and SMS campaigns with drag-and-drop builders, pre-designed templates, and AI-powered content generation tools. The platform includes marketing automation workflows, audience segmentation, A/B and multivariate testing, landing pages, and a website builder. Mailchimp integrates with over 300 apps including Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce, and social ad platforms. With predictive analytics and behavioral targeting, it helps small-to-midsize businesses convert subscribers into customers across email, SMS, and social channels.

Mailchimp screenshot
+Intuitive drag-and-drop editor accessible to non-technical users
+Comprehensive free plan to get started with basic email marketing
+Powerful automation workflows rivaling dedicated automation platforms
Free plan capped at just 250 contacts and 500 sends per month
Pricing scales steeply as contact lists grow beyond initial tiers
Fair value

Mailchimp was once the default email marketing tool for small businesses, and its free tier was legendary.

Watch out

ALL contacts count: subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed, and 'cleaned' contacts all count toward your plan limit. You pay for contacts who unsubscribed last year unless you manually archive them. This inflates costs by 20-40% for most lists

05
Brevo logo

All-in-one marketing platform for email, SMS, and customer engagement

Freemium4.6/56,219 ratings · Sep 2026

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is an all-in-one marketing platform offering email marketing, SMS campaigns, chat, CRM, and marketing automation. Founded in France in 2012, Brevo has grown to serve over 500,000 customers worldwide with a focus on affordability and ease of use. The platform is known for its generous free tier and competitive pricing compared to Mailchimp. Brevo offers transactional email services, landing pages, Facebook ads integration, and a sales CRM - making it a comprehensive solution for growing businesses.

+Very generous free tier (300 emails/day)
+Affordable paid plans
+All-in-one platform
Interface can be clunky
Limited templates
Good value

Brevo's pricing is quite competitive, especially at the entry level.

Watch out

Removing branding is an add-on

06
Constant Contact logo

Established email marketing for small businesses

Freemium4.2/510,413 ratings · Sep 2026

Constant Contact has done email marketing for small businesses since before most competitors existed. The platform handles the basics well-email campaigns, automation, contact management-without overwhelming complexity. Templates make creating emails straightforward. The list management is reliable. Deliverability benefits from years of sender reputation. Small businesses wanting established, reliable email marketing without learning curves choose Constant Contact for proven basics.

+Easy to use
+Good for beginners
+Event marketing
Expensive for features
Limited automation
Fair value

Constant Contact's pricing is on the higher side compared to some market alternatives, especially for the Lite tier at $12/month which offers limited features and contacts.

Watch out

Potential for increased costs with additional users on Lite.

07
SendPulse logo

Multi-channel marketing automation platform for email, chatbots, CRM, and online courses.

Free4.6/54,303 ratings · Sep 2026

SendPulse is a comprehensive multi-channel marketing automation platform designed to help businesses of all sizes manage their customer communications and sales processes. It offers a suite of integrated tools including email marketing, chatbot builders, a CRM system, a website builder, and an online course creator. The platform enables users to automate personalized offers, manage sales pipelines, and engage with customers across various channels like email, web push, and chatbots. The platform is ideal for sales managers, eLearning businesses, industry experts, business owners, and marketers looking to streamline their marketing efforts without needing multiple integrations. It provides drag-and-drop editors, pre-made templates, and AI-powered tools to simplify content creation and campaign management. SendPulse aims to boost conversion rates, improve customer engagement, and provide detailed analytics to optimize marketing performance. Key benefits include saving time with pre-integrated tools, enhancing team collaboration, segmenting audiences for personalized communication, and monitoring marketing performance with built-in analytics. It also offers 24/7 multi-language support and a knowledge base to assist users.

SendPulse screenshot
+Comprehensive suite of integrated marketing tools on one platform.
+Offers a generous free plan with significant features.
+User-friendly drag-and-drop editors and pre-made templates.
Advanced features like unlimited emails and users are only available on higher-tier paid plans.
Pricing for larger subscriber lists can increase significantly.
Great value

SendPulse's Free tier is incredibly generous, offering a vast array of features including email, chatbots, CRM, and even an online course builder, which is rare for a free plan.

08
Mailerlite logo

Simple, affordable email marketing for growing businesses

Freemium4.7/53,514 ratings · Sep 2026

MailerLite provides email marketing with simplicity and value. Clean interface, solid features, and pricing that works for growing lists. The interface is intuitive. The automation is capable. The pricing is friendly. Growing businesses wanting straightforward email marketing choose MailerLite for accessible email.

+Affordable email marketing
+Good free tier
+Easy to use
Less powerful automation
Basic segmentation
Great value

Mailerlite's pricing is very fair and generous, especially with its robust free tier.

09
Systeme.io logo

All-in-one marketing platform for entrepreneurs

Freemium4.8/52,880 ratings · Sep 2026

Systeme.io is an all-in-one marketing platform for entrepreneurs that combines sales funnels, email marketing, online course hosting, website building, affiliate management, and marketing automation in a single tool. Used by over 500,000 businesses, it offers a generous free plan with up to 2,000 contacts and unlimited emails. Paid plans offer tiers that unlock webinars, higher contact limits, and white-labeling with no transaction fees on any tier.

Systeme.io screenshot
+Genuinely useful free plan with 2,000 contacts and unlimited emails
+Replaces multiple tools, funnels, email, courses, and automation in one
+No transaction fees on sales across all plans
Webinar functionality locked behind a higher-tier plan
Limited design customization compared to dedicated page builders
Good value

systeme.io's own pricing FAQ (updated April 2026) lists Free at 2,000 contacts, Startup at $17/month, Webinar at $47/month, and Unlimited at $97/month.

Watch out

The JS price cards on systeme.io/pricing do not render dollars in HTML. The $17 / $47 / $97 figures are from the page's own FAQ, last updated April 2026.

10
GMass logo

Mass email & mail merge from your Gmail inbox

Freemium4.8/52,756 ratings · Sep 2026

GMass is an email marketing and mail merge tool that works directly inside Gmail. It lets you send mass emails, automated follow-ups, and track results without leaving your Gmail inbox.

GMass screenshot
+Integrates directly into Gmail's compose window for ease of use.
+Bypasses Gmail's native sending limits for mass email campaigns.
+Offers advanced mail merge personalization using Google Sheets, including fallback values.
Requires the Google Chrome browser to function.
Relies on Gmail's infrastructure, which might not be suitable for all enterprise-level email marketing needs.
Good value

GMass offers a generous free tier, making it accessible for light users.

Why these email marketing tools didn't make our top 10.

We evaluated 106 email marketing tools and these 20 ranked 11 through 30. They're solid options that fell short on one or two axes (review depth, pricing transparency, feature parity), but worth a look if the leaders don't fit your stack or budget.

Popular email marketing comparisons

See how the leading email marketing tools stack up head-to-head.

Email Marketing pricing, compared

Real plans and the hidden costs for each tool.

Browse all email marketing tools

106 tools
Iterable logo
Iterable
Growth marketing platform for cross-channel campaigns
contact· Web
Aweber logo
Aweber
Email marketing for small business
paid· Web
Mailercloud Email API Platform logo
Mailercloud Email API Platform
Send transactional and marketing emails with high deliverability and real-time visibility.
freemium· Web
Flodesk logo
Flodesk
Beautiful email marketing for creators who care about aesthetics
freemium· Web
Really Simple Systems logo
Really Simple Systems
Simple CRM for small businesses
freemium
iContact logo
iContact
Easy email marketing platform to boost engagement and drive conversions for small businesses.
paid· Web
Litmus logo
Litmus
Email testing and analytics platform
enterprise· Web
Higher Logic logo
Higher Logic
Community and marketing automation
paid· Web
Keap logo
Keap
CRM and automation for small businesses
paid· Web
ConvertKit logo
ConvertKit
Email marketing for creators: newsletters, landing pages, and monetization
freemium· Web
Splash logo
Splash
Create branded event pages, manage registration, and track ROI
paid
Smartlead logo
Smartlead
Scale cold email outreach with high-volume deliverability
paid· Web, iOS, Android
Drip logo
Drip
Ecommerce marketing automation
paid· Web
Mailjet logo
Mailjet
Email marketing and transactional email
freemium· Web
Eloqua logo
Eloqua
Enterprise marketing automation by Oracle
paid
beehiiv logo
beehiiv
Newsletter platform for growth
freemium· Web
Act! logo
Act!
CRM and marketing automation for small businesses
paid· Web, iOS, Android
Campaigner logo
Campaigner
Advanced email marketing and automation platform for growing businesses.
paid· Web
Elastic Email logo
Elastic Email
Modern email communication platform for growing businesses, offering marketing, transactional, and team chat solutions.
freemium· Web
Mailmodo logo
Mailmodo
Automate and optimize email marketing campaigns with AI-powered creation, journey building, and segmentation.
freemium· Web
Buttondown logo
Buttondown
Minimalist newsletter platform for simplicity and privacy
freemium· Web
Privy logo
Privy
The fastest way to grow sales with email & SMS for e-commerce.
paid· Web
Getsitecontrol logo
Getsitecontrol
Grow lists, run promotions, and send emails with one tool
freemium· Web
Sendlane logo
Sendlane
Unified email, SMS, reviews, and forms to drive e-commerce sales and customer retention.
paid· Web

Showing the top 24 of 106. Filter to narrow down.

In-depth: why these tools made the cut

ActiveCampaign logo

ActiveCampaign's automation builder is the most powerful in the category for nurture-heavy use cases: complex branching, conditional logic, score-based gating, and a CRM tightly coupled to email behavior. For B2B service businesses, consulting, courses, or any sales motion where the journey from lead to customer involves a long email sequence, ActiveCampaign is hard to beat.

The downside is the learning curve. The same flexibility that wins B2B nurture makes the tool feel heavy for someone who just wants to send a weekly newsletter. Teams that pick ActiveCampaign for the wrong use case often migrate to Mailchimp or ConvertKit within a year.

Mailchimp logo

Mailchimp's strength is breadth — campaigns, automations, landing pages, signup forms, and a generous free tier wrapped in a beginner-friendly UI. For a small business that wants 'send the newsletter, run a couple of automations, done,' it remains the lowest-friction option. The free tier (500 contacts) is genuinely usable.

Mailchimp gets criticized fairly often for pricing escalation past 5k–10k contacts. The platform has also leaned more into the 'all-in-one marketing platform' positioning rather than pure email, which can feel bloated if you really just want email. If you outgrow Mailchimp, the most common migration paths are Klaviyo (e-commerce), ConvertKit (creators), or ActiveCampaign (B2B nurture).

Constant Contact logo

Constant Contact targets the same audience as early Mailchimp — local services, restaurants, nonprofits, real estate — with a simpler UI and a stronger phone-based support reputation. For non-technical owners who want to send a monthly newsletter without learning marketing automation, it's still the friendliest option.

The ceiling is lower than Mailchimp's. Advanced automations, segmentation, and integrations are all weaker. Constant Contact is a great pick if you'll never need more than 'send emails to my list'; if you'll grow into multi-channel marketing within 18 months, Mailchimp or one of the specialist tools is a better starting point.

How to choose email marketing software

Most email platforms can send a campaign. The differences show up in segmentation, automation, deliverability, and how easy it is to integrate with the rest of your stack. Match the tool to your business model, not your wishlist of features.

  1. Identify your primary use case

    Newsletter publisher (creator monetization): ConvertKit, beehiiv. E-commerce: Klaviyo, Omnisend, Drip. SMB local business: Constant Contact, Mailchimp. B2B nurture: ActiveCampaign, Marketo, HubSpot Marketing. Mixing categories usually means compromise on either pricing or the depth that matters most to you.

  2. Audit deliverability, not feature count

    A polished UI doesn't matter if 30% of your emails land in spam. Check the tool's deliverability reputation (G2 reviews mention this), whether it supports your domain authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), and whether shared IPs or dedicated IPs match your volume. SendGrid and Postmark dominate transactional deliverability; the marketing tools are more variable.

  3. Test segmentation against your real data

    Sign up for a free trial, import your actual contact list (or a sample), and try to build the segmentation you'll actually use — last purchase date for e-commerce, content tags for newsletters, lead score for B2B. The depth here is the difference between Mailchimp and Klaviyo for an e-commerce brand.

  4. Plan for the price curve

    Most tools price by contact count, list size, or send volume. Plot what your bill will be at 10x your current scale, not today. Mailchimp gets steep fast for engaged lists; Klaviyo's percentage-based pricing scales with revenue. ConvertKit's flat creator pricing is cheaper for newsletters above 10k subscribers than Mailchimp.

Honorable mentions

Tools that didn't crack the headline list but deserve a look depending on what you optimize for.

  • Klaviyo logo
    KlaviyoAlready covered above — top pick for e-commerce

    Listed in the main picks since it's a top-volume tool, but worth re-emphasizing: if you run a Shopify/WooCommerce store, Klaviyo is the default. The opportunity cost of using a generalist tool for e-commerce is real.

  • Sendinblue logo
    SendinblueBest price-performance for SMBs at scale

    Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) prices by emails sent rather than by contact count, which makes it dramatically cheaper than Mailchimp for businesses with large but lightly-engaged lists. Worth a trial if Mailchimp's contact-based pricing has gotten painful.

  • Marketo logo
    MarketoBest for enterprise B2B nurture

    Marketo (Adobe) is the enterprise pick when ActiveCampaign and HubSpot Marketing aren't enough. Long implementation, expensive, but the lead scoring and account-based marketing capabilities are unmatched for large B2B revenue teams.

Best Email Marketing for

How we ranked these email marketing tools

We rank by real-world signal: verified user ratings aggregated from G2, Capterra, and our own community, the volume and recency of media coverage, and hands-on editorial review for the tools we cover in depth. Pricing is re-checked and the ranking refreshed monthly. We do not sell placement in this list.

Tools reviewed
106
With free tier
58%
Last updated
September 2026

Toolradar Research

The data behind email marketing

First-party analyses built from our full catalog, methodology published.

All Toolradar research

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best email marketing tool in 2026?

Based on our analysis of 106 email marketing tools, ActiveCampaign is our overall pick. The next tools on the list are ActiveCampaign, Hubspot Marketing, Mailchimp. Rankings use G2/Capterra review strength, media mentions, and editor-featured picks — the same verdict as /best/free/email-marketing and our comparison pages.

What are the top 3 email marketing tools?

The top 3 email marketing tools in 2026, ranked by Toolradar, are: 1) Omnisend, Email, SMS, and push marketing for ecommerce. 2) ActiveCampaign, Autonomous marketing platform with AI-powered email, SMS, and WhatsApp automation.. 3) Hubspot Marketing, Marketing automation by HubSpot. Our named overall pick is ActiveCampaign.

Are there free email marketing tools?

Yes. SendPulse is our free pick (100% free, no paid upgrade path). 10 of the tools on this page offer a free or freemium plan.

How do I choose the right email marketing tool?

Start by defining your team size, budget, and must-have features. ActiveCampaign is our overall pick. SendPulse is our free pick. Compare all 106 options side-by-side on Toolradar.
Email Marketing statisticscatalog size, ratings and pricing data, updated monthly

What is Email Marketing Software?

Email marketing software lets you send targeted emails to your subscriber list, newsletters, promotional campaigns, automated sequences, and transactional messages. The best email marketing tools in 2026 combine easy email creation with powerful automation, segmentation, and analytics.

Despite predictions of its death, email marketing consistently delivers the highest ROI of any marketing channel. The tools have evolved from simple bulk email senders into sophisticated platforms that handle personalization, behavioral triggers, and AI-powered send-time optimization.

The market splits into two segments. All-in-one marketing platforms (HubSpot, ActiveCampaign) bundle email with CRM, landing pages, and automation. Dedicated email tools (Mailchimp, Kit, Brevo) focus on doing email exceptionally well at competitive prices. Your choice depends on whether email is your primary channel or part of a broader marketing stack.

Editor's Take

“After evaluating 10 email marketing software tools, Omnisend stands out as our top pick, ahead of ActiveCampaign. For budget-conscious teams, Omnisend (free tier available) delivers strong value. The competition is fierce, the gap between top tools is narrower than ever, so the best choice comes down to your team's specific workflow and priorities.”

Key Data Points

10+
Tools analyzed on Toolradar
10
Offer free or freemium plans
2026
Last updated

According to Toolradar's analysis across 10+ products, 100% offer free or freemium plans. Omnisend leads the category based on features, user reviews, and overall value.

Key Features in Email Marketing Tools

Email Builder

Drag-and-drop editor with responsive templates. Should produce emails that look good on mobile without requiring HTML knowledge.

Automation Workflows

Welcome sequences, abandoned cart emails, re-engagement campaigns. Visual workflow builders let you design multi-step automated sequences triggered by subscriber behavior.

Segmentation

Group subscribers by behavior, demographics, purchase history, or engagement level. Better segmentation means higher open rates and less unsubscribing.

Deliverability

Getting into the inbox, not the spam folder. Look for dedicated IPs, authentication setup (DKIM, SPF, DMARC), and deliverability reporting. This matters more than any feature.

Analytics & A/B Testing

Open rates, click rates, conversions, and revenue attribution. A/B test subject lines, content, and send times to optimize performance over time.

List Management

Import, clean, and manage subscriber lists. Double opt-in, unsubscribe handling, and bounce management keep your list healthy and compliant.

Who Uses Email Marketing Software?

Email marketing tools serve anyone building an audience or nurturing customer relationships:

Content creators and bloggers: Building and monetizing newsletter audiences. Kit and Beehiiv dominate this segment.
E-commerce businesses: Sending promotional campaigns, cart abandonment emails, and post-purchase sequences that drive repeat purchases.
B2B marketing teams: Nurturing leads through the sales funnel with educational content, product updates, and event invitations.
Small businesses: Staying in touch with customers through newsletters, promotions, and seasonal campaigns on a limited budget.

Related Guides

Have experience with these tools?

Your review helps thousands of others make better decisions.

Write a Review

For email marketing vendors

Selling a email marketing product? Reach 720K+ buyers through Toolradar & Dupple.

Newsletter ads and directory listings: the same surfaces buyers use to shortlist. Max 2 sponsors per issue, done-for-you creative.