If you are looking for a way to enhance your marketing strategy, create targeted email campaigns, and engage your subscribers, email automation software is a powerful way to streamline your marketing and grow your business. Using software, you can increase sales conversion, attract new subscribers and customers, boost the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, and make them more relevant and personal for your contacts.
In this article, you’ll find a list of the best email automation software for you to choose from. So, keep reading to find a solution that suits you.
How to choose email marketing automation software
There are many email marketing automation software services on the market now, so how do you make a good choice for your business? Before selecting a tool, make sure to scan through its website to check the list of its features and other essential information, such as the following:
- Sending limits. Usually, email marketing tools set limits on the number of contacts and email sends. Depending on the size of your business, you can choose a tool and a plan that is suitable for you. Let’s say, you have a small e-commerce business and the list of your contacts is not too long. In this case, you won’t need to purchase a plan that covers too many subscribers.
- A/B testing option. Testing your emails may help you identify what works best for your subscribers. This can also improve the experience of your customers. Most email marketing apps offer split testing for manual one-off email campaigns. However, some tools also offer A/B testing for automated campaigns — the feature is less common but good to have.
- Segmentation and personalization. If you want to make your emails more relevant and improve subscriber interaction, you may need to look for these features. Depending on your business type, look for a tool that supports the level of personalization you require. For example, for an e-commerce company, dynamic product blocks can help drive sales and engage potential customers.
- Price range and free plans. If the automation features that a free plan provides are enough for you, you won’t need to purchase a paid version. Usually, you can find the list of the available plans on the platform’s website.
- Reviews. There’s a lot of intel you can get from reviews. For example, if the tool doesn’t offer a free plan, you can get firsthand accounts on its usability, learning curve, and more. It will also help you learn about repeating issues like deliverability problems, bad tech support, or scammy policies.
There’s no such thing as a 100% perfect email marketing automation tool — however, using all this information, you can find a perfect match for your business.
11 best email automation tools in 2026
The email marketing automation market offers an abundance of tools, differing in features, prices, and other characteristics. To help you find the right fit, we’ve rounded up 11 of the best email automation tools.
Before we begin, here’s a handy table for you (billed monthly):
| Tool | Free plan | Starting price | Best for | Key features |
| Selzy | 1,000 emails / 100 contacts | $7.5/mo | Beginners & small businesses | Pre-made automation templates, no-code builder, personalization, bulk emails |
| Brevo | 300 emails/day | $9/mo | SMBs on a budget | Workflow editor, SMS campaigns, CRM, transactional emails |
| Mailchimp | 500 contacts / 1,000 emails | $13/mo | Marketing teams & agencies | Customer journeys, A/B testing, 300+ integrations |
| Constant Contact | 14-day free trial | $12/mo | Small & midsized businesses | Drag & drop editor, subject line testing, landing pages |
| HubSpot | 1 automation action | $15/mo per user | All-in-one CRM & marketing | Workflow builder, reply tracking, shared inbox |
| Moosend | 30-day free trial | $9/mo | Solopreneurs & SMBs | Unlimited emails, simple workflow builder, landing pages |
| Omnisend | 500 emails/mo | $16/mo | E-commerce stores | Cart recovery, SMS automation, omnichannel campaigns |
| Keap | 14-day free trial | $299/mo | Businesses needing CRM + automation | Sales pipeline automation, ecommerce tools, advanced workflows |
| Kit | 10,000 subscribers | $29/mo | Creators (bloggers, podcasters, etc.) | Email sequences, landing pages, digital product sales |
| EmailOctopus | 2,500 subscribers / 10,000 emails | $40/mo | Budget-conscious users | Drag & drop builder, automation flows, landing pages |
| Ontraport | 14-day free trial | $24/mo | E-commerce & service businesses | CRM, 75+ automation templates, split testing |
Selzy
Selzy is an email marketing service designed primarily for small businesses, solopreneurs, and it is a great start for anyone new to automation in general. It offers a beginner-friendly drag-and-drop email builder that makes it easy to set up automated sequences in minutes, no coding required.
You can start with a pre-built template for welcome emails, event reminders, or seasonal campaigns, or create your own sequence from scratch. Selzy also supports omnichannel workflows, so you can combine email with other channels like Telegram to capture new subscribers and keep conversations flowing.
Advanced users can use API-triggered automations with dynamic Liquid elements that are perfect for use cases like abandoned cart recovery, onboarding, post-purchase follow-ups, or transactional emails.
Free plan: Up to 1,000 emails and up to 100 contacts.
Pricing: Starts from $7.5 a month.
Automation: Available on the free plan. Welcome, reactivating new subscribers, event reminders, and other email templates available.
Other features: Bulk emails, personalization, send time optimization, and more.
Brevo
Brevo is a multichannel, as they themselves call it, “relationship marketing SaaS solution”. Its pricing model is a bit convoluted, and includes several packages that include a lot of stuff from CRM features to live chat. We’re mostly interested in Brevo’s Marketing Platform, since it contains all the email-related features.
Brevo’s email automation tool is available for free but with a catch: you can’t send more than 300 emails per day.
Free plan: Up to 2,000 contacts, workflow editor, page tracking.
Pricing: Paid plans start from $9 a month.
Automation: Automation for unlimited contacts available on Business and Enterprise paid plans. Abandoned cart, product purchase, anniversary date, and other email templates available.
Other features: A/B testing, drag & drop editor, personalization, and more.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a marketing and automation platform. Using Mailchimp’s email marketing automation features, you can choose pre-made chains with set timelines and triggers or create a custom email flow.
Mailchimp is one of the most popular marketing services these days. However, if you want to try some other Mailchimp alternatives, keep reading to find something new for your business.
Free plan: 1,000 email sends per month and up to 500 contacts, 1 user, customer support via email for 30 days, single-step automation builder.
Pricing: Paid plans start from $13 a month.
Automation: Available for free. Welcome, abandoned cart, order notification, and other email templates available.
Other features: Landing pages, email scheduling, A/B testing, and more.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is an email marketing platform that also offers tools for SMS and social media marketing like content scheduling and other features. The platform is relatively affordable, which makes it a good choice for small and midsized businesses. Constant Contact also offers landing pages, easy integrations with other apps like Shopify, and an in-built AI assistant for quicker and easier email writing.
Free plan: 14-day free trial.
Pricing: Starts from $12 a month.
Automation: Automated welcome email available on Lite plan, resend to non-openers and automation path templates available on Standard plan, custom automation paths available on Premium plan.
Other features: Drag & drop email templates, subject line A/B testing, reach and engagement reporting, and more.
HubSpot
HubSpot is a customer service, sales, and marketing platform. If you are looking for an all-in-one solution, HubSpot might be a good fit for you. You can build and manage several business processes on a single platform, which will improve both customer experience and your experience as a marketer. HubSpot is especially useful for e-commerce business owners and employees.
Free plan: 1 automated action available.
Pricing: Start from $15 a month per user.
Automation: Up to 10 automated actions available on Marketing Hub Starter, and more on other paid plans.
Other features: Email reply tracking, email health reporting, shared inbox, and more.
Moosend
Moosend is an email marketing and automation tool. It has a simple interface, so it makes a good solution for solopreneurs and self-promoting business owners.
Free plan: 30-days free trial.
Pricing: Start from $9 a month.
Automation: 1 automation workflow available on free plan, unlimited automation workflows available on Pro Plan.
Other features: Unlimited emails, automation workflow, landing page, email templates, and more.
Omnisend
Omnisend is another marketing automation platform to use for email automation. On its website, you can also find information on the platform’s SMS marketing solution and the list of other helpful features that you can use for your business.
Free plan: 250 contacts, 500 web push notifications, and 500 email sends per month.
Pricing: Starts from $16 a month.
Automation: Available on the free plan. Welcome, abandoned cart, order confirmation, and other templates available.
Other features: SMS automation, A/B testing, segmentation, and more.
Keap
Keap is a platform that provides email marketing, CRM, and sales services. On its website, it is stated that the service strives to help businesses grow by offering its service.
Free plan: 14-day free trial.
Pricing: Starts from $299 a month.
Automation: Available on all plans. Easy automation available on Pro and Max Plans, advanced automation, marketing, sales pipeline, and workflow automations available on all plans.
Other features: Email marketing, e-commerce tools, sales and workflow automation, and more.
Kit
Kit is a marketing platform for creators. It provides an email automation service along with other marketing tools. On its website, the platform offers various plans including a free one. The tool has been built with musicians, podcasters, bloggers, writers, and other creative workers. However, its features are also suitable for more “classic” email marketing niches like e-commerce.
Free plan: Up to 10,000 subscribers.
Pricing: Starts from $29 a month.
Automation: Available on paid plans. Welcome, product launch, subscriber reactivation, and other email templates available.
Other features: Landing pages, segmentation, selling digital products, and more.
EmailOctopus
EmailOctopus is an affordable platform for email marketing management. According to the website, the tool strives to make email marketing simpler. They’re quite good at fulfilling the premise — many Capterra reviews note how user-friendly and straightforward the platform is.
Free plan: 2,500 subscribers, 10000 email sends per month, up to 3 automations with max 5 steps, and more.
Pricing: Paid plans start from $40 a month.
Automation: Unlimited automations available on Pro Plan.
Other features: Email templates, drag and drop editor, landing pages, and more.
Ontraport
Ontraport is a sales and marketing platform with an in-built CRM system. It is another good solution for managing various ecommerce business processes in one place. The platform also offers an email automation feature with an in-built split testing different emails in the flow. For example, you can compare the efficiency of two welcome emails in no time.
Free plan: 14-day free trial.
Pricing: Start from $24 a month.
Automation: Available on all plans. 75+ automation templates available.
Other features: Unlimited email sends and contacts, drag and drop automation, transactional emails, and more.
FAQ about email marketing software
What is email automation software?
Email marketing automation lets you send messages triggered by specific actions, such as a new signup, a purchase, or a subscriber’s birthday. It’s a good way to grow your business, get more subscribers, and build trusting relationships with your customers.
What’s the difference between email automation and regular email marketing?
Regular email marketing is about sending one-off email campaigns. Email automation runs in the background, sending personalized, triggered emails based on customer behavior.
How do I choose the right email automation software?
To find a tool that would work best for you, you should refer to its website to check the list of its features and other details, such as the following:
- Sending limits — how much does your business need now?
- Email A/B testing — does the tool have the feature and can you test automated emails?
- Segmentation and personalization — how many options does the tool offer?
- Price range and free plans — is there an opportunity to test the waters and does the tool fit your budget?
- Reviews — are there a lot of complaints about the same (and quite serious) issues with the tool?
Which email automation software is best for small businesses?
Budget-friendly options such as Selzy, Moosend, MailerLite, and EmailOctopus are great for small businesses. They’re easy to use, offer free plans or low-cost starter tiers, and cover all the basics like welcome sequences, segmentation, and reporting.
Is there free email automation software available? What are the limitations?
Yes. Many providers offer free plans with limited features. For example, Selzy lets you automate emails for up to 100 contacts, while Brevo and Mailchimp also provide free tiers.
Free plans usually limit the number of subscribers or emails you can send each month. They may also restrict advanced features like A/B testing or customer support.
How much does email automation software cost in 2026?
Prices range widely. Entry-level tools like Selzy start at $7,5/month, while most providers charge $9-20/month for small lists. Advanced platforms with CRM or e-commerce automation (like Keap) can cost $200+ per month.
Need more guidance? Check out our email marketing tool finder. Take a quiz of 11 questions about your business niche and what you want from emails — and get a list of 3 tools that might be the best for you. And, who knows, maybe you’ll end up matching with Selzy 😉
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