AI & Automation

CRM With Email Marketing Integration: Best Software of 2026

Best CRM systems with email marketing integration in 2023
Natalie Voloshchuk
Natalie Voloshchuk AI-free content
Updated: 02 July, 2026 / 1212 / 00 min

Improving your efficiency, segmenting your audience, personalizing your messages, analyzing your results, and increasing your sales – all of this can be done in one place if you are using a CRM with email integration. In this article, we’ll introduce the 10 best CRMs with email marketing software, and give some tips on how to choose one that best suits your needs.

Quick answer

A CRM with email marketing integration helps you store customer data and use it to send more relevant campaigns, automated follow-ups, and sales messages. The best choice depends on whether you need a sales-first CRM, a marketing automation platform, an all-in-one SMB tool, or an enterprise CRM connected to a separate marketing cloud.

Key takeaways

  • Using a CRM with email integration can improve efficiency, audience segmentation, personalization, analysis, and sales in one place.
  • CRM with email integration allows for collecting and storing data from various sources, segmenting and personalizing emails, tracking performance, and building long-term customer relationships.
  • Benefits include improved efficiency, advanced segmentation, better personalization, real-time analytics, and increased sales through cross-selling and upselling.

What is a CRM for email marketing?

A CRM for email marketing is customer relationship software that either has native email marketing features or allows an easy integration with an ESP. Using CRM for email marketing means automating, managing, and analyzing your campaigns with your customer relationship management software instead of tools designed only for bulk emails.

CRM with email marketing integration allows you to:

  • Collect and store more data from various sources, for example, different departments of your company, marketing channels, and so on.
  • Segment and personalize your emails based on customer behavior, preferences, and history.
  • Track and measure the performance and impact of your CRM emails on business goals.
  • Build and maintain long-term relationships with your customers and turn them into loyal advocates for your brand. Connecting CRM with an email marketing service gives more information about contacts to work with. You can make your emails more personalized, relevant, and better targeted. 

As a result, it can help improve your email deliverability, open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and retention rates. You’ll be able to monitor marketing ROI for each campaign, see the leads, sales and income they bring, and further optimize to get the most out of them. 

Benefits of using CRM with email marketing software integration

Here are some of the benefits of this combination:

  • Improved efficiency. Automate your email campaigns and integrate them with your CRM data and other marketing channels like SMS and push notifications. You can also reduce human error and duplication by having a single source of truth regarding customer information for yourself, your colleagues, and your employees. It’s important for better productivity — according to the Forrester Opportunity Snapshot study, 63% of employees waste time searching for information or the right colleague when there is no good system in place.
  • Advanced segmentation. With CRM and email marketing management integrated, you can segment your email list based on more complex criteria compared to a regular ESP. This will let you send more relevant and targeted messages. 
  • Better personalization. You can personalize your emails with dynamic content, such as names, products, offers, etc. based on your CRM data. According to Dynamic Yield, 70.67% of Asian, 45.45% of North American, and 50.75% of European customers claim that a personalized experience would influence their decision to open and read brand emails.
  • Real-time analytics. You can track and measure how your email marketing efforts affect sales and customer satisfaction by linking them to CRM data.
  • Increased sales. All of the things listed above can boost your sales. Plus, by connecting information from your CRM, you can run effective cross-sell and upsell campaigns — for example, suggest a complementary product to people who just bought something.

Example of an upsell from a cheaper option to a premium with additional services

A customer reserved a regular room in a hotel for 1 person that costs $100 per night, and they plan to stay for a week. They haven’t included anything else in their order. This customer is one of many others who made similar reservations in the hotel.

If you have a CRM, you’ll see this order and its details as soon as it comes. And if you also have an integrated email platform , you can send an email campaign to those customers offering to upgrade to a premium room with breakfast included. 

If all the hotel’s premium rooms are taken, you can offer an upgrade to include services in tier order — a breakfast, a hotel’s taxi service, laundry, etc. Plus, if you partner with some restaurants or bars in the area, you can suggest these places. 

The customers who took your offers and upgraded can bring you an additional revenue of up to $200 or more, all thanks to sending one email campaign.

And this is how you can boost your average order value — automatically! These are just some of the benefits that a good CRM with email marketing automation brings.

Tips for choosing CRM with email marketing integration

When you compare CRM and email marketing tools, look beyond the lowest monthly price. A useful CRM-email setup should sync data reliably, keep consent and unsubscribe data clean, support the automation depth you need, and show whether campaigns influence pipeline or revenue.

Consider these factors when choosing CRM software with email marketing integration:

  • Key CRM features available. Does the tool have features to help you manage your business goals? Key features include pipeline management, functionality to manage customer support, project management, marketing automation, reporting, and analytics. For example,  Engagebay and Brevo platforms offer all or most of the options from this list as native features. 
  • Email & marketing automation. The software should help you create and send automated triggered, behavior-based, and transactional email campaigns. For example, ActiveCampaign, one of the most powerful platforms on the market, has advanced email automation and personalization options.
  • Usability. A platform that is easy to use and has a short learning curve will make it easier and quicker to start with.
  • Tracking and analytics. You need to find a tool that tracks and reports customer data, email data, and sales data, so you can measure and improve your performance.
  • Third-party integrations. Look for CRM with email marketing integration software that can integrate with your other apps directly. For example, Zoho, HubSpot, and Salesforce have many integrations available. Plus, there are more integrations to choose from if you use an automation tool like Zapier.
  • Security and compliance. Non-compliance with the relevant laws and regulations like GDPR or CCPA can lead to legal and financial fallout. So when choosing a platform, make sure it can help your business comply — for example, by giving a conspicuous opt-out link in emails. It’s important to protect user data so you can avoid hefty fines, maintain trust with customers, and uphold your company’s reputation. 
  • Pricing and plans. There are different pricing options — from a fixed annual payment to flexible monthly plans that depend on the number of your contacts or the type of emails you want to send. There are also pay-as-you-go plans (for example, Mailchimp has such), and some platforms offer free plans with basic features. 
  • Customer support. How quickly do they answer? How many channels are available? Is support available on all pricing tiers? These are some of the questions to consider.

You can get an idea about a tool’s reputation from reviews on G2, Trustpilot, or other sites, but the only reliable test is the exact plan you would use. Compare native vs integration-based email marketing, automation depth, deliverability tools, consent controls, reporting attribution, sales pipeline depth, support access, and total cost at your expected contact and user count. Most platforms offer a free plan or trial, but limits vary by region, plan, and contact volume.

Newbie in email marketing? Check out our list of the best email marketing resources to discover the wonderful world of emails and grow your business.

Best CRM with email marketing by use case

Use case Best-fit tools Why
All-in-one SMB platform EngageBay, Brevo, HubSpot They combine CRM, campaigns, forms, automation, and support or sales features in one workspace.
Sales-first CRM Pipedrive, Salesforce, Capsule They are strongest when pipeline management, contact history, tasks, and sales reporting matter most.
Advanced email automation ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Keap They support deeper workflow logic, segmentation, and lifecycle follow-up than simple newsletter tools.
Enterprise CRM Salesforce, HubSpot They are better suited to complex teams, permissions, reporting, integrations, and multi-cloud setups.
Simple or low-cost CRM Capsule, Zoho CRM, Brevo They can cover core contact management and basic campaigns without starting with an enterprise stack.
Ecommerce or multichannel marketing Brevo, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp They connect email with channels, store data, segmentation, and campaign reporting.
Large integration ecosystem HubSpot, Salesforce, ActiveCampaign, Pipedrive They are safer choices when your CRM has to sync with many sales, support, analytics, and ecommerce apps.

10 best CRMs for email marketing

HubSpot

Best for: teams that want CRM, sales, service, content, data, and marketing tools in one ecosystem.

Choose it if: you need a free CRM foundation and can upgrade as automation, contact volume, or reporting needs grow.

Pricing note: HubSpot pricing is tiered by hub, seat, and contact needs; confirm the current Marketing Hub and CRM bundle pricing before buying.

Inside HubSpot CRM’s sales dashboard — view key sales activities, track prospects through the pipeline, identify roadblocks to more deals
Source: HubSpot

HubSpot CRM is a cloud-based platform that helps businesses of all types and sizes track and nurture leads, manage sales pipeline, automate email marketing, and analyze business metrics. 

It offers a range of tools across five hubs: Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, CMS, and Operations. Its CRM platform comes with all the software, integrations, and you’d need. 

Key features:

  • Drag-and-drop builder with free goal-based email templates
  • List segmentation based on triggers, behavior, or transactions
  • Automated follow-ups, reminders, and other workflows
  • A/B testing
  • Built-in customizable dashboards for monitoring sales performance, email marketing effectiveness, customer satisfaction, and overall business growth
  • The public beta version of a generative AI for better and quicker email copies
  • Integrations with many popular apps and an API for custom integrations

Advantages:

  • There is a free plan that comes with a lot of functions. 
  • The learning curve is short and HubSpot offers various resources and tutorials to help you get started and learn more about the platform.
  • It is a powerful and comprehensive platform that covers all aspects of your business needs. It also allows you to customize your platform with different hubs, plans, and features according to your specific goals and preferences.
  • HubSpot has an ISO 27001:2013 certificate, which is an internationally recognized security standard. This standard provides guidelines for organizations on how to effectively handle the security of their information. It involves creating an Information Security Management System (ISMS) and includes tasks such as implementing security measures, keeping an eye on them, ensuring they stay in place, and continually enhancing the ISMS.

Disadvantages:

  • It can get expensive if you need to upgrade to a paid plan or add more features or users to your platform. The pricing of HubSpot CRM is based on a per-user-per-month basis, which can add up quickly for larger teams or businesses.
  • You have to upgrade to the Professional plan to get phone support from HubSpot’s team, and for free users, support is not available at all.
  • HubSpot pricing can be confusing with all of the options to consider. 

Pricing (CRM Suite):

  • Free: $0/month, has limited features and a limited number of templates, contact lists, automated email sequences, and more.
  • Free trial: 14 days for Professional and Enterprise plans.
  • Starter: $30/month or $240 annually.
  • Professional: $1,781/month or $19,201/year.
  • Enterprise: Starts at $5,164/month but has to be paid annually at $60,000/year.

You can also buy additional features. For example, the Starter plan includes 1,000 marketing contacts and up to a million of non-marketing, meaning those you do not market to. You can increase this limit by paying $20 on top of its price for every additional 1,000 contacts. 

Zoho

Best for: small and midsized teams already using Zoho apps or looking for a customizable CRM at a moderate price.

Choose it if: you want CRM records, sales automation, analytics, and email marketing through Zoho Campaigns or connected Zoho tools.

Pricing note: Zoho CRM has a free edition for up to 3 users and paid CRM editions. The official pricing page localizes currency, so select USD on the page before comparing exact monthly prices. Standard includes mass email and workflows; Professional adds stronger process and inventory tools; Enterprise adds Zia AI and journey orchestration.

Email analytics in Zoho that show individual customer statistics: how many emails they opened, clicked, received, and responded to
Source: Zoho

Zoho CRM is a cloud-based platform that helps businesses of all sizes and types manage their sales, marketing, customer service, and operations.

Zoho consists of several apps for sales, marketing, finance, HR needs, and more. Since email marketing and CRM are our main interests, let’s take a look at their Campaigns and CRM apps:

Key features:

  • Condition- and topic-based segmentation mechanics.
  • Dynamic personalization.
  • Drag-and-drop automated workflow builder with templates.
  • Send time optimization.
  • Contact path tracing.
  • Analytics and revenue tracker.
  • Lead and deal management, performance management, KPI tracker, predictive sales, and more advanced CRM features.
  • Zia, the conversational sales AI assistant.
  • Integrations with 800+ third-party apps, such as Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Zapier, Shopify, WordPress, and more. There are also Zoho’s APIs and plenty of integration options via Zapier.

Advantages:

  • It is easy to use and understand, with a simple and intuitive interface that guides you through the setup and usage. The learning curve is short and comes with various tutorials to help you get started.
  • It lets you customize the CRM to your specific needs and preferences. You can use Canvas, Zoho CRM’s drag-and-drop interface editor, to tailor how your CRM looks and works without relying on developers or consultants.
  • Upgrading to a paid plan gives access to 24/7 phone and email support from Zoho’s team, in addition to online support via email or chatbot.
  • Zoho has the ISO 27001:2013 certification.

Disadvantages:

  • The pricing of Zoho CRM is based on a per-user-per-month basis, so it can rise quickly for larger teams.
  • There is limited customer support for the free plan users. You can only access online support via a community forum, a Twitter account, or email. There is no phone option available. You’d need to upgrade to a paid plan to get 24/7 phone and email support from Zoho’s team.
  • The structure of Zoho’s services is a little complicated, so new users may get confused choosing what they really need to pay for.

Pricing:

Zoho CRM has a free edition for up to 3 users. Paid CRM editions are sold per user and include Standard, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate tiers; the official page also shows team-user add-ons and localized pricing. To combine CRM and email marketing, compare the CRM edition with Zoho Campaigns or a Zoho bundle, and verify the final currency on Zoho’s pricing page before buying.

Zoho CRM Flex bundle works like a Lego puzzle - there are multiple plan tiers and optional features to choose from
Source: Zoho

Capsule

Inside Copper’s interface — Opportunities, Recently Contacted People, Open Tasks, Sales Forecast and Pipeline Summary dashboards
Source: Copper

Best for: small teams that want a simple CRM with lightweight marketing features and integrations.

Choose it if: you need contact management, pipelines, tasks, basic automations, campaign builder options, and a straightforward interface.

Pricing note: Capsule publishes pricing on its own pricing page, but that page was not accessible in the official-source readback for this update. Keep exact Capsule prices out of the article unless the pricing page can be reopened and verified directly.

Capsule is a CRM for small teams that need a clear place to manage contacts, opportunities, tasks, and customer history. It is not a heavy marketing suite, but it can support lightweight marketing workflows through campaign tools, conversations, automations, and integrations.

Key features:

  • Contact and organization records with sales history, notes, tasks, and opportunity tracking.
  • Pipeline management for sales teams that want a simple CRM instead of an enterprise system.
  • Marketing and communication features such as campaign builder options, conversations, and social campaign support.
  • 100+ integrations, including tools for email, accounting, support, and automation.

Advantages:

  • Capsule is easier to learn than many larger CRMs.
  • It works well for teams that want CRM basics plus practical marketing connections.

Disadvantages:

  • It is not the best fit if you need advanced native email automation or enterprise reporting.

Pricing:

  • Capsule has public pricing, but the official pricing page could not be verified in this update environment. Avoid exact price claims until the page is checked directly; describe Capsule as a lightweight CRM with paid plans and marketing-related integrations instead.

ActiveCampaign

Best for: marketers who need deeper email automation and segmentation with CRM and ecommerce integrations.

Choose it if: you care more about automated customer journeys than a traditional sales pipeline-first CRM.

Pricing note: ActiveCampaign pricing is contact- and plan-based. Its official pricing page lists Starter, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise tiers, a 14-day free trial, email-send multipliers by contact limit, and Enhanced CRM add-ons for Pipelines and Sales Engagement.

Inside ActiveCampaign’s interface — Deals pipeline
Source: ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is one of the best email marketing tools with an in-built CRM on the market. It’s popular among small and midsize businesses.

Key features:

  • Email segmentation — for crafting targeted emails.
  • Workflows and sequences to automate your email campaigns based on triggers, actions, conditions, and logic.
  • Templates, drag-and-drop editor, or HTML editor for creating stunning messages, and more. 
  • Email testing.
  • Forms and landing pages for list growth.
  • Create forms to collect contact information, track website visitors, and segment them based on their behavior and interests.
  • Analytics for email performance, campaign revenue, attribution, and customer lifetime value. 
  • Integrations with 940+ apps, including Zapier, Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce, Facebook, Google Analytics, and more.

Advantages:

  • ActiveCampaign can automatically send your emails at the optimal time for each contact, based on their previous interactions.
  • ActiveCampaign allows you to send text messages to your contacts as part of your marketing campaigns or as a standalone channel.
  • ActiveCampaign can assign scores to your contacts based on their actions, such as opening an email, clicking a link, visiting a page, or making a purchase. This helps you identify your most engaged and qualified leads.
  • ActiveCampaign offers live chat and email support for all plans, as well as phone support for Professional and Enterprise plans. It also has a comprehensive knowledge base, a community forum, webinars, podcasts, and courses.

Disadvantages:

  • ActiveCampaign offers marketing automation (including emails) and CRM. You either pay for them separately or get a bundle that offers both CRM and emails. However, it can get expensive.
  • There are a lot of features and options, which can make it overwhelming and confusing for some users.

Pricing (for Marketing Automation + Sales CRM):

  • No free plan but there’s a 14-day free trial for all the pricing tiers.
  • The Plus plan starts at $93/month billed annually or $116/month billed monthly for 1,000 contacts, 12x contact email sends a month, and 5 users.
  • The Professional plan starts at $386/month billed annually or $482/month billed monthly for 10 users, 2,500 contacts, and 15x contact email sends a month.
  • The Enterprise plan is custom, it’s designed for scaling businesses and includes more advanced features not added to previous tiers.

Pipedrive

Best for: sales teams that want clean pipeline management first and email marketing as an add-on.

Choose it if: your main workflow is deals, tasks, follow-ups, email sync, and sales reporting, not full marketing-suite management.

Pricing note: Pipedrive has a 14-day free trial. Its current pricing page shows Lite, Growth, Premium, and Ultimate CRM plans in the localized currency, while Campaigns is a separate email marketing add-on starting from €13.33/month in the page readback.

Inside Pipedrive showing 5-stage sales pipeline
Source: Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a cloud-based CRM software that focuses on sales pipelines and workflows.

Key features:

  • A user-friendly drag-and-drop email builder.
  • Workflow automation for lead nurturing and triggered sequences.
  • List segmentation.
  • Real-time email campaign analytics.
  • A seamless integration with the native CRM for leveraging the most out of customer data.
  • CRM features include lead and pipeline management, workflow automation, reporting and forecasting.
  • Custom reports and dashboards for visualizing data and tracking metrics.
  • Integrations with over 400 apps, such as Gmail, Google Workspace, Zapier, Mailchimp, Slack, and more, and a Pipedrive API to build custom integrations.

Advantages:

  • Pipedrive is very easy to use and has a drag-and-drop interface for managing sales pipelines. You can create unlimited and customizable pipelines and stages to suit their sales process.
  • Pipedrive supports workflow automation for most plans.
  • There is a machine learning-powered sales assistant for all plans, which offers insights and suggestions to improve sales performance. 
  • Pipedrive has the ISO 27001:2013 certification.

Disadvantages:

  • Pipedrive does not have a free plan or a pay-as-you-go option. The cheapest plan costs $14.90 per user per month when billed annually. 
  • There are limitations on the number of users, contacts, custom fields, workflows, and integrations depending on the pricing plan. 

Pricing:
Pricing:

  • Pipedrive offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
  • The current localized pricing page shows Lite, Growth, Premium, and Ultimate tiers; in this readback, Growth is €39/seat/month, Premium is €59/seat/month, and Ultimate is €79/seat/month when billed annually.
  • Email marketing is not included as a default CRM plan feature: the Campaigns add-on starts from €13.33/month in the official page readback.
  • Other add-ons include LeadBooster, Projects, Web Visitors, and Smart Docs, each priced separately.

Keap

Field history detail report in Insightly
Source: Insightly

Best for: service businesses that want CRM, sales follow-up, email marketing, landing pages, forms, and automation in one higher-touch suite.

Choose it if: you need automated lead follow-up, broadcast and triggered emails, client management, and sales process automation.

Pricing note: Keap’s official pricing page confirms CRM, marketing automation, email marketing, sales pipeline, appointments, invoices, payments, and a free trial. Text marketing is U.S.-only, with Tier 1 text/voice allowance included and paid upgrades starting at $24/month.

Keap combines CRM, marketing automation, email marketing, forms, landing pages, appointments, invoicing, and sales pipeline tools. It is built for businesses that want to automate follow-up and client management rather than only send newsletters.

Key features:

  • CRM records for leads, clients, activity history, and follow-up tasks.
  • Marketing automation for lead capture, nurturing, reminders, and sales follow-up.
  • Email broadcasts, forms, landing pages, and AI-assisted features.
  • Sales pipeline, appointments, invoicing, payments, and reporting tools.

Advantages:

  • Keap is strong when sales follow-up and marketing automation need to work together.
  • It can replace several separate tools for service businesses.

Disadvantages:

  • It can be more expensive and more involved than a simple CRM or email platform.

Pricing:

  • Keap offers a free trial and includes CRM, marketing automation, email marketing, forms, landing pages, appointments, invoicing, payments, and sales pipeline tools on its pricing page.
  • Text marketing is available only in the U.S.; Tier 1 includes 500 messages and 100 voice minutes, with upgrades starting at $24/month and overage charges listed by message/minute.
  • The page is package/contact based, so verify the exact base subscription and onboarding requirements before quoting a single monthly price.

EngageBay

Best for: startups and small businesses that want CRM, marketing, sales, and support in one affordable suite.

Choose it if: you need contact management, branded emails, lists, segmentation, forms, autoresponders, deals, and support tools together.

Pricing note: EngageBay has a free tier and paid all-in-one tiers; confirm current per-user pricing and contact/email limits before quoting.

Inside EngageBay interface. The Sales and CRM reporting tab with Sales Dashboard, Deals Forecast and Deals Funnel reports
Source: EngageBay

EngageBay is an all-in-one CRM software that comes with marketing, sales, and customer support products.

Key features:

  • Bulk email service with a WYSIWYG email editor and template builder.
  • Email automation with follow-ups, send time optimization, personalization, and segmentation.
  • A/B testing.
  • Robust analytics that include financial metrics like revenue per email.
  • Integrations with 450+ apps by using Integrately. Zapier is also in the list, which opens a path to many more apps to integrate with.

Advantages:

  • Comes with a user-friendly interface that is easy to customize and navigate.
  • It has a free plan and its paid plans are quite affordable compared to other tools on the market.
  • EngageBay has the ISO 27001:2013 certification.

Disadvantages:

  • EngageBay does not include live support options like phone or chat in its free plan. You have to pay extra for priority or premier support.
  • Phone support is available only on the Pro plan.
  • There is no free trial for paid plans. You have to sign up for a free account first and then upgrade later.
  • Even the most expensive CRM and Sales Bay plan has a limit of 30,000 branded emails per month.

Pricing (CRM and Sales Bay):

  • The free plan includes 250 contacts, all the basic email marketing features, autoresponders, marketing automation, and more.
  • Paid plans start from $11.04 per user per month for 500 contacts and 2,500 branded emails a month and differ in available features and contact/email limits.
  • The most expensive plan costs $67.99 per user per month and includes call records, call scripts, a tool for account-based marketing, and other advanced sales tools.

Brevo

Best for: teams that want email marketing, CRM-style contacts, transactional messages, SMS, WhatsApp, and automation from one platform.

Choose it if: you prefer a marketing-first platform with sales tools rather than a deep sales CRM.

Pricing note: Brevo has Free, Starter, and Standard marketing tiers; Standard adds marketing automation, while Sales Essentials is priced separately.

Transactional email statistics in Brevo
Source: Brevo

Brevo (ex-Sendinblue) is a cloud-based email marketing software that offers a CRM with marketing automation, transactional emails, and SMS messages functionalities within a suite.

Key features:

  • Drag-and-drop editor with templates.
  • Behavior-based segmentation.
  • A/B test and campaign optimization.
  • An AI assistant that can generate marketing content. 
  • Automated personalized campaigns and triggered emails.
  • An API for transactional emails.
  • Sales pipeline management and reports.
  • Phone calls recording and management.
  • Workflow automation.
  • Native videoconferencing service for holding meetings with customers.
  • Shared inbox for team work.

Advantages:

  • Easy to use and has a clean user interface.
  • Despite simple functionality, Brevo’s CRM allows users to manage prospects with ease, automate repetitive business processes, and grow business faster and cheaper.
  • There are many available integrations with popular apps like WordPress, Shopify, Zapier, Google Analytics, and more.
  • Brevo has the ISO 27001:2013 certification.

Disadvantages:

  • Brevo’s customer support sometimes can not help with technical problems.
  • Weaker CRM functionality compared to other products, lacking advanced features.

Pricing:

  • Sales and Marketing platforms in Brevo are separate services.
  • The Sales platform has a free plan with 50 open deals and 1 deal pipeline. The paid plan costs $12 per user per month and includes unlimited deals and pipelines, and more advanced features.
  • The Marketing platform has a free plan with a limit of 300 emails a day. Paid plans start from $25/month and differ in features and daily email sending limits.

Mailchimp

Best for: small businesses that want familiar email marketing, audience tools, templates, automations, and many integrations.

Choose it if: you need marketing campaigns and lightweight customer data tools more than a full sales CRM.

Pricing note: Mailchimp pricing depends on contacts, sends, and plan. The official page confirms a Free tier under 250 contacts, a 14-day Standard trial, Essentials/Standard/Premium paid tiers, overages if contact or send limits are exceeded, and 300+ integrations.

Mailchimp’s Audience tool for contact path tracing and tracking the growth of your contact list
Source: Page Flows

Mailchimp calls itself the “#1 email marketing and automations brand”, and there is truth to it. The platform offers three hubs of features — the “Marketing Platform”, the “Website & Commerce”, and the “Transactional Email” hubs, each with its own subscription plans. A simple CRM is included in the “Marketing platform” hub, let’s break it down.

Key features:

  • Powerful email marketing tools that let you design, deploy, and automate email campaigns.
  • Robust marketing automation, based on the customer’s behavior and interests.
  • Intuit Assist, an AI assistant that helps with generating content, segmentation, and marketing automation for ecommerce.
  • The CRM system with contact management, automated messages, and tools to analyze your audience. Its functionality is very basic but, if you want more, many integrations with other CRM tools are available.

Advantages:

  • Beginner-friendly and easy to use.
  • A free forever plan for one user and up to 1,000 emails sent per month — great choice for small businesses and those who are just starting out.
  • A very simple CRM system compared to competitors like Salesforce, which can be great for beginner CRM marketers.
  • Mailchimp has the ISO 27001:2013 certification.

Disadvantages:

  • Mailchimp’s pricing depends on how many contacts you have in your email list, and each “tier” has a cap on the number of emails you can send per month.
  • The free plan is too limiting, compared to competitors on the email marketing market like Selzy.
  • Mailchimp is an email-centric tool, so the native CRM features are not enough for more advanced tasks aside from automation and data storage — for example, there’s no lead scoring or deal management.

Pricing:
Pricing:

  • Mailchimp has a Free tier for under 250 contacts; sending pauses if contact or email-send limits are exceeded.
  • The Standard plan has a 14-day risk-free trial and supports up to 6,000 monthly sends for the 0-500 contact tier in the current page readback.
  • Paid tiers include Essentials, Standard, and Premium; Premium supports much higher send volume, while larger lists may require custom pricing or sales contact.
  • Mailchimp pricing is contact-based and localized by currency selector, so confirm the final USD amount for the chosen contact tier before purchase.

Salesforce

Best for: larger teams that need enterprise CRM, governance, reporting, integrations, and optional Marketing Cloud products.

Choose it if: you need a sales CRM that can connect to a broader Salesforce stack rather than a simple email campaign tool.

Pricing note: Treat Salesforce CRM and Marketing Cloud as separate purchases. Sales pricing shows Free Suite, Starter Suite at $25/user/month, Pro Suite at $100/user/month, and Enterprise at $175/user/month. Marketing Cloud Next Growth Edition starts at $1,500/org/month, billed annually.

Inside Salesforce’s agent console Patient Contact Center that gives a comprehensive view of the patient (for healthcare organizations)
Source: Salesforce

Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM platform that offers a wide range of products and services. It has a few hubs (called “clouds”)  that can be used both autonomously from the others and together with other Salesforce clouds. 

Key features:

  • All the email marketing features are a part of the Marketing Cloud.
  • Salesforce provides AI-powered segmentation for better targeting.
  • Salesforce offers 3 types of email templates: plain text, text with images and links, and regular HTML templates for the no-code email builder.
  • Salesforce has a powerful automation tool for sophisticated workflows.
  • Salesforce is a tool that’s overloaded with features but if you need more, you can use one of 400+ integrations with other ESPs, platforms for analytics, and other apps.

Advantages:

  • Salesforce is one of the most popular and trusted CRM platforms in the world, with over 150,000 customers and a 21% market share.
  • Salesforce can grow with your business and adapt to your changing needs. You can customize it to fit your specific requirements or use one of the many industry-specific solutions available.
  • Salesforce is constantly adding new features and capabilities to its platform, such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, voice, and augmented reality. You can leverage these technologies to enhance your business processes and customer experiences.
  • Salesforce offers a complete suite of products and services that cover every aspect of your business. You can also integrate Salesforce with over 3,000 other apps, or use APIs to connect with your own systems.

Disadvantages:

  • Salesforce can be expensive compared to some of its competitors. Extra costs can also occur for paid add-ons.
  • Salesforce can be overwhelming and confusing for some users, especially beginners. The learning curve can be steep, and you may need to invest time and money in training and support.
  • Salesforce can be time-consuming and challenging to maintain. You may need to hire or outsource developers or consultants to help you with customization, integration, or troubleshooting. You may also need to update or migrate your data regularly to keep up with the latest releases.

Pricing:

  • Sales CRM and Marketing Cloud pricing are separate. Do not treat Salesforce as one simple CRM-plus-email bundle.
  • Sales pricing currently lists Free Suite at $0/user/month, Starter Suite at $25/user/month, Pro Suite at $100/user/month, and Enterprise at $175/user/month.
  • Marketing Cloud Next Growth Edition starts at $1,500/org/month, billed annually, in the official Salesforce Marketing pricing readback.
  • Enterprise needs may involve more clouds, add-ons, implementation, and custom pricing.

FAQ about CRM with email marketing

What is a CRM with email marketing integration?

It is customer relationship software that either includes native email marketing features or connects easily with an email service provider. This lets you automate, manage, and analyze campaigns inside your CRM instead of using only a tool built for bulk emails.

What are the benefits of using CRM and email marketing together?

The main benefits are improved efficiency, advanced segmentation, better personalization, real-time analytics, and increased sales. A shared system also reduces human error and duplication by keeping customer information in one place.

Can a CRM send marketing emails?

Yes, if it has native email marketing features or is integrated with an email marketing service. With that setup, you can send personalized, targeted campaigns based on CRM data and track how they affect business goals.

What should I look for when choosing a CRM with email marketing?

Look for strong integration, good segmentation options, personalization features, and analytics that connect email performance to sales and customer satisfaction. The article also emphasizes choosing a solution that fits your needs and helps you use CRM data across channels.

How do HubSpot, Zoho, and ActiveCampaign compare for email marketing?

The article mentions these as examples of CRMs with email marketing software, but it does not provide a direct feature-by-feature comparison. It only indicates that each can be considered when looking for a CRM with email integration.

Do I still need a separate email marketing tool?

Not always. If your CRM has native email marketing or integrates well with an ESP, you can manage campaigns from the CRM and use its data to make emails more relevant and better targeted.

Conclusion

CRM with email marketing integration is a powerful tool that can help you grow your business and improve your customer relationships. Consider these factors while choosing a CRM platform for your business:

  • Both CRM and email marketing automation features
  • Ease of use and learning curve
  • Tracking and analytics
  • Third-party integrations
  • Security and compliance
  • Pricing and plans
  • Customer support

Updated: 02 July, 2026

In this article
What is a CRM for email marketing? Benefits of using CRM with email marketing software integration Tips for choosing CRM with email marketing integration 10 best CRMs for email marketing Conclusion
Natalie Voloshchuk

Written by Natalie Voloshchuk

Natalie is a content writer and blog writer that specializes in SEO and on-page optimization. Her specialty is marketing and sustainability niches, with years of actual hands-on experience in the roles like digital marketer generalist, webmaster and Facebook advertiser. Outside and in the course of work, Natalie remains an animal lover and a human-nature coexistence enthusiast.