Top free email marketing services (11 best ones compared)

Most businesses nowadays need an email marketing service provider to manage their email marketing needs.

This is because a good email marketing service can automate and personalize your email marketing campaigns while also providing you with useful insights and reporting tools to help you track your progress and improve your email campaigns over time.

In a hurry? Here are my top three picks:

AWeber

(Overall Best)
Aweber is the best one to start with your email marketing if you are new to this. It has a wide range of integrations and customizable options that make it one of the best in the business.

Visit Website

GetResponse

(Best for eCommerce)
If you want an email marketing tool with the option to build a website, you can go with GetResponse. It’s a bit more limited in terms of integrations and automation, but it’s still a very good tool.

Visit Website

Mailer Lite

(Best for security)
Mailer Lite would be perfect for you if you are looking for top email deliverability and security in your email marketing service provider that is both affordable and easy to use.

Visit Website

Unfortunately, using an email marketing service in the early stages of your business might bring an extra dent in your monthly budget especially if you don’t have any, or, only have a handful of contacts.

And the best way to move forward with it would be to start collecting subscribers with some kind of free email marketing tool that provides the most for your business.

So in this post, I’ll be sharing the top free email marketing services that you can use to grow your business.

If you want to go straight to the list follow this link. However, If you want to have a quick look at what features you should look for while choosing your free email marketing tool. Then read on.

Choosing a free email marketing service

When you are looking for a free email marketing tool, there are certain features that you should be looking for:

• Ease of use: The platform should be easy to use and navigate. You shouldn’t have to spend days trying to learn its basic features.
• Contacts allowed: We should also look at the limits of contacts we can store as free customers.
• Email send capacity: The number of emails we can send with the free email marketing software.
• Segmentation: A basic segmentation feature can be great if it’s available on the free plan.
• Email Automation: Having access to email marketing automation (Even if it’s limited) will be great.
• Email template library: Being a beginner, pre-made email templates can be a great help for a beginner to get started.
• Landing Page builder: A landing page builder with a drag and drop editor would also be great to have if you’re starting out.

So, these are the basic features I usually advise you to look out for if you’re starting out with a limited budget.

Now let’s get into the free email marketing services that you can use to start your business.

Best free email marketing services list

There are hundreds of free email marketing tools out there, but in this post, I’ll analyze the 11(Eleven) best ones that make the most sense for a beginner or for anyone who’s low on budget.

1. AWeber

The first one that I recommend to beginners is non-other than AWeber. I fell in love with it when I used it the first time over. It’s one of the best email marketing tools with a user-friendly dashboard and lots of free features to get started.

AWeber free features:

• Subscriber limit: 500 contacts.
• Email send capacity: 3000 emails per month.
• Segmentation: Tagging and basic segmentation.
• Email automation: Basic automation feature.
• Email templates: More than 700 templates.
• Landing page: Yes (With custom domain feature)

AWeber is generous enough and provides all the basic features in their free account which is great for any business that’s just starting out.

Apart from the ones above, the additional features you get in the free plan are features like AMP emails(ability to embed, carousels and purchase buttons), Google analytics, Sign up forms, WordPress plugin, and web push notifications with up to 50000 subscribers and message capacity.

Further, AWeber can be integrated with more than a hundred different applications including Facebook, WordPress, Shopify, WooCommerce and PayPal.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• AWeber comes with tons of features even in the free plan which is great for any business that’s just starting out. Above all that, the dashboard is user-friendly and it also integrates easily with most websites including WordPress.

Cons:

• The free version comes with a limited template library, I wish they had more templates to choose from.

AWeber Pricing:

The AWeber paid plan starts at $16.15 if paid annually and it’s $19.99 if paid monthly.

Who should use it?

Because of its wide range of free offerings, AWeber can be used by any business. It can be small business owners, bloggers, e-commerce websites and also for marketing agencies.

2. GetResponse

GetResponse is a powerful email marketing tool with an easy-to-use dashboard with a great list of features in its marketing arsenal. It’s used by many large enterprises such as IKEA, Stripe and Zendesk.

The free plan of GetResponse doesn’t have as many features as AWeber, but it’s worth it if you want some modern and elegant email templates and landing page designs.

GetResponse free features:

• Subscriber limit: 500 contacts
• Email sends capacity: unlimited.
• Segmentation: NA.
• Email automation: NA.
• Email templates: Drag and drop template builder (hundreds of templates).
• Landing page: Yes

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Most of GetResponse’s features like templates, website builder, funnel builder and many other such features are straightforward and simple to use.
• There are also some additional features that come with the free plan like an advanced free website with the option to add a custom domain, landing pages, sign-up & popup, spam check and email click tracking.
• And the best part is that GetResponse has a lot of modern-looking free email templates to choose from.

Cons:

• The automation features and segmentation are not available in the free version, but they’re available in the paid ones.

GetResponse pricing:

The basic paid plan starts at $15.58 per month if paid annually and $19.00 per month if paid monthly.

Who should use it?

GetResponse is a great email marketing tool but when it comes to integrating it with other applications such as WordPress it has certain limitations. It is best for eCommerce stores, course creators and affiliate marketers.

3. Mailer Lite

Mailer Lite is an amazing email marketing tool that also happens to have a great free plan for starters. And what makes it more amazing is the strict verification process that they take before approval to open an account with them.

This shows their integrity towards their business and tells us that reputation comes first before money for them. This also indicates that we can expect a strong email marketing service from them.

Mailer Lite free features:

• Subscriber limit: 1000 contacts
• Email send capacity: 12000 emails per month.
• Segmentation: Tagging and basic segmentation.
• Email automation: Basic automation feature.
• Email templates: Drag and drop template builder.
• Landing Page: Yes

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• The file manager to manage emails is a great feature that saves you time, plus the third-party integration & API, embedded sign-ups and pop-ups are a great addition.

Cons:

• There is no option to add a custom domain to your landing page with the free plan. Additionally, the strict signup process might be overwhelming and demotivating sometimes.

Mailer Lite pricing:

The basic plan starts at $9.00 per month if billed yearly and $10.00 if billed monthly.

Who should use it?

Mailer lite is the best option for bloggers, eCommerce, coaches and services like that. If you are an affiliate marketer, you might just get rejected at the beginning itself.

4. Sendinblue

Sendinblue is one of the best free email marketing tools and it has also been rated as one of the top 100 software companies in 2021. This software provides all the marketing automation tools a business would need for its marketing efforts.

SendInBlue not only provides email marketing services but also offers other services like eCommerce tools like SMS, chats, CRM etc. that can help grow your business.

SendInBlue free features:

• Subscriber limit: Unlimited contacts.
• Email send capacity: Up to 300 emails per day.
• Segmentation: Advanced segmentation.
• Email automation: Up to 2000 Contacts.
• Email templates: A library of pre-made templates.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Features like custom API, SMTP relay, custom webhooks and tractional emails make a great addition to the free plan.
• The other great thing is there is no storage limit to your contacts which most other email marketing tools lack.

Cons:

• The landing page builder is absent in the free plan. It would have been nice if they could include this feature.

SendinBlue pricing:

The SendinBlue lite plan starts at $25.00 per month.

Who should use it?

Sendinblue is perfect for any kind of business that’s looking for a free starter plan to take off their business. The API access and the SMTP feature are a bonus for the starters.

5. SendGrid

SendGrid is an outstanding free email marketing platform that has a great delivery rate when it comes to your emails reaching the inbox. It has a reputable user base that includes giant businesses like Uber, Spotify and Airbnb.

The platform is solely dedicated to providing only email-related services, however, you can extend its functionality by integrating with Twilio (SendGrid is a part of Twilio) for other services like SMS and Whatsapp.

Basic free features:

• Subscriber limit: 2000 Subscribers.
• Email send capacity: Up to 100 emails per day/6000 per month.
• Segmentation: Advanced segmentation.
• Email automation: Basic automation.
• Email templates: Drag and drop template builder plus free templates.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• You get a ton of other exciting and useful features in the SendGrid free plan. Like engagement tracking, webhook, API key permission, real-time analysis, SMTP and link branding.

Cons:

• They don’t have a landing page feature as their service is solely focused on email and SMS marketing. Besides that 100 emails per day is a bit too low for most businesses.

SendGrid pricing:

SendGrid has two pricing structures. One for their email API features which start at $19.95 per month and the other for Marketing campaigns which start at $15.00 per month.

Who should use it?

The answer to this question depends on the features you are looking for in an email marketing service. If you only want a basic starter plan with essential features then SendGrid is a great option.

However, if you want something more advanced features like automation and landing pages, then you should go for some other marketing platform.

6. ConvertKit

ConvertKit is a simple yet powerful email marketing platform made with a creator-first approach. Its tools are mostly concentrated on making email marketing easy for creators like bloggers, musicians, coaches and influencers.

It has a good onboarding step. The moment you sign up you are guided through the process of how to use ConvertKit with the help of pop-ups and videos.

ConvertKit basic free features:

• Subscriber limit: 300 Subscribers.
• Email sends capacity: Unlimited.
• Segmentation: Basic segmentation.
• Email automation: NA.
• Email templates: Drag and drop template builder plus free templates.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• While the free feature is somewhat limited, Convert Kit’s free plan shines in other areas like unlimited landing pages, unlimited emails and audience segmentation.
• The ability to sell digital products and offer recurring subscriptions for your service is definitely a plus point.

Cons:

• The automation feature and third-party integration are not available in the free plan.

ConvertKit pricing:

ConvertKit pricing starts at $9.00 per month for up to 300 subscribers.

Who should use it?

As mentioned earlier, ConvertKit is best for you if you’re looking forward to increasing your audience and selling digital products and services or if you’re about to provide coaching for different online courses.

7. MailChimp

If it comes to the most popular one, MailChimp might just surpass many of its competitors. The list of services that MailChimp provides is also outstanding compared to other email marketing tools.

However, the free plan is somewhat limited and the other downside is that I really found MailChimp’s dashboard a bit confusing. I don’t know why? but I never really got used to it.

MailChimp basic free features:

• Subscriber limit: 2000 Subscribers.
• Email send capacity: Daily sending limit of 2000 but not more than 10000 per month.
• Segmentation: Basic segmentation.
• Email automation: Single-step.
• Email templates: Basic email templates.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• The free plan extends to other features like social posting, landing pages, basic reports, FaceBook and Instagram ad support, a website with a custom domain plus an integration capability to 200 other apps.

Cons:

• As I’ve stated earlier, MailChimp’s dashboard is quite confusing and complicated. Another downside of their platform is email scheduling. For some reason, MailChimp doesn’t allow you to schedule your email in advance.

MailChimp pricing:

The paid plans for MailChimp start at $11.00 per month for 500 contacts and go up to $299 per month for 100,000 contacts.

Who should use it?

MailChimp, other than its rather confusing dashboard and various tool placement, is a complete marketing suite that can be used by most businesses.

8. SendPulse

The eighth email marketing service that did make it to this list is SendPulse. Just like all the other email marketing services above SendPulse has all the features.

However, I mentioned SendPulse in my list because of the other additional tool that it offers, which is its chatbot service.

They have a free plan for businesses to build bots for their social channel messengers like Facebook messenger, Telegram, Whatsapp, Instagram and VK.

Basic free features:

• Subscriber limit: 500 Subscribers.
• Email send capacity: 15000 per month.
• Segmentation: NA.
• Email automation: 1 event with 5 flows.
• Email templates: Basic email templates.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• With the free plan, you can create a single landing page, and use 3 (Three) senders and a single domain. One more tool that can really be beneficial in the free plan is the email verifier which allows you to verify 100 emails per month.

Cons:

• The free plan for SendPulse doesn’t include the segmentation of your contact lists. Plus you get only a single landing page.

SendPulse pricing:

The paid plans for SendPulse start at $6.40 per month with a 20% discount if paid yearly for 500 contacts and go up to $66.93 per month for 100,000 contacts.

Who should use it?

Sendpulse with all its free features is really an awesome marketing software that can benefit any kind of business. Plus the chatbots make it an exciting tool that can really help boost your business especially if you are starting an eCommerce store.

9. HubSpot

HubSpot is a great free email marketing tool for beginners. It’s easy to use and has a lot of powerful features, like contact management and subscription forms.

You can also send 2,000 emails per month for free. However, there are some downsides to HubSpot. There aren’t many different email templates to choose from, and you can’t load your own HTML code.

Additionally, HubSpot’s automation features are only available for landing pages and sales/marketing hubs.

Basic free features:

• Subscriber limit: 1000 Subscribers.
• Email send capacity: 2000 per month.
• Segmentation: 5 active lists.
• Email automation: 1 automated action.
• Email templates: Basic email templates (Limited).

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• HubSpot is one of the most popular CRMs, so it integrates well with other software. The interface is very user-friendly and easy to use.

• There are a lot of powerful features, like contact management, subscription forms, and email automation.

Cons:

• HubSpot is primarily a CRM tool, and because of that, it lacks email design customization. You can use only basic HubSpot email templates, and you can’t load your own HTML code.

HubSpot pricing:

The paid plans for HubSpot start at $45.00/month. The paid plans come with more email sends, segmentation, and automation features.

Who should use it?

HubSpot is best suited for small businesses that are looking for an easy-to-use CRM with email marketing features. If you want more customization and control over your email marketing, then HubSpot might not be the best option for you.

10. MailJet

MailJet is one of the many free mail marketing companies that offer pay-per-click growth, and pricing models. This may be helpful to you if you’re on a budget.

With MailJet, you can easily create email templates with drag-and-drop features. Basic segmentation features are also available to make creating email ads easy and efficient.

Basic free features:

• Subscriber limit: Unlimited Subscribers.
• Email send capacity: 6000 per month, 200 per day.
• Segmentation: NA.
• Email automation: NA
• Email templates: Yes.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• MailJet’s free plan offers a wide range of features for its users. You can easily create beautiful email templates with MailJet’s drag-and-drop editor.
• Additionally, MailJet’s deliverability is pretty good, so you don’t have to worry about your emails getting caught in spam filters.

Cons:

• The free plan is very limited. You can only send 200 emails per day, which is not enough for most businesses.
• Additionally, MailJet doesn’t offer any automation or segmentation features on its free plan.

MailJet Pricing:

MailJet’s paid plans start at $15.00/month. The paid plans come with more email sends, segmentation, and automation features.

Who should use it?

MailJet is best suited for small businesses that are looking for a free email marketing service with good deliverability. If you need more than 200 emails per day, then MailJet might not be the best option for you.

11. Benchmark Email

If you’re looking for a popular, easy-to-use email marketing service, Benchmark Email is a great option. With a strong presence in over 15 countries worldwide, it’s a great choice for businesses of all sizes. The intuitive user interface and responsive templates make it a great choice for beginners.

Basic free features:

• Subscriber limit: 500 Subscribers.
• Email send capacity: 3500 per month.
• Segmentation: Basic segmentation.
• Email automation: Basic automation.
• Email templates: Basic email templates.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Benchmark Email has a wide range of features for both beginners and advanced users. The user interface is easy to use and the templates are responsive.

Cons:

• The free plan has a very low subscriber limit and you can only send a limited number of emails per month.

Benchmark Email pricing:

BenchMark pro starts at $11.00/month for up to 500 contacts and goes up to $499.00/month for 100,000 subscribers.

Who should use it?

Benchmark is a great choice for small businesses and individuals who are just getting started with email marketing. It is also a good choice for advanced users who need more features than the free plan offers.

12. Omnisend

If you’re just starting out with email marketing, Omnisend is a great tool to consider. It offers many unique features, including automated workflows that can help you automatically include your store’s products in your newsletters.

Additionally, the Free Plan also offers specialized reporting, web tracking, and landing pages. All of these features can help you get the most out of your email marketing campaigns and improve your overall results.

Basic free features:

• Subscriber limit: 250 Subscribers.
• Email send capacity: 500 per month.
• Segmentation: 20 Segments.
• Email automation: Yes.
• Email templates: Basic email templates.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Omnisend is a great tool for beginners. It offers many features that can help you get the most out of your email marketing campaigns. Additionally, the Free Plan also offers specialized reporting and web tracking.

Cons:

• The free plan has a very low subscriber limit. Plus, you can only send a limited number of emails per month.

Omnisend pricing:

Omnisend plans start at $16.00/month for up to 500 contacts and go up to $399.00/month for 100,000 subscribers.

Who should use it?

Omnisend is a great tool for small businesses and individuals who are just getting started with email marketing. It is also a good choice for advanced users who need more features than the free plan offers.

My Take:

It’s difficult to make a choice from amongst all the free email tools. All of the above-mentioned services are some of the best free email marketing tools.
They all come with different sets of benefits and setbacks.

However, when it comes to choosing a free plan for email marketing, my personal favourite is AWeber as it offers the most features and is the most user-friendly.

However, because of the custom domain feature and a free website builder, I’ll go for GetResponse if I had to start an affiliate marketing business or a website for CPA campaigns.

Visit AWeber

Summary – Free email marketing services for beginners

Although an old way of marketing, Email marketing is still believed to be the when it comes to your ROI of any digital marketing solutions out there.

But when your start out you might not get your desired result, and the best way to move forward is to use a free service and later upgrade if the need arises.

However, there will always be some limitations with the things that come for free, but if you are ready to burn some cash a paid plan would remove most of the restrictions.

In addition, if you want some advanced features and are ready to go for the paid plan. You can also explore some other email marketing services like Active Campaign, Constant Contact, Moosend, Drip and Campaign monitor.

But you don’t have to worry about spending your money before you can test the tools, as they all have free trials. Most of them are for a period of 14 days and some up to 1 month.

Lastly, I hope you found this article helpful and if you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll be more than happy to help you out.

To your success!