Top 17 Email Marketing Platforms for Churches

TL;DR: Best email marketing platforms for churches at a glance

What to look for in a church email marketing platform

• Ease of use for volunteers. Church communications are often managed by rotating volunteers; but a platform only the pastor can operate is a bottleneck. Prioritize drag-and-drop builders that any team member can learn in an afternoon.
• Automation. The visitor welcome sequence is the single highest-impact automation a church can run. Make sure the platform supports it.
• Segmentation. A youth group parent, a worship team volunteer, and a first-time visitor all need different messages. Look for platforms that let you tag and group contacts by ministry, role, or engagement level.
• Nonprofit-friendly pricing. Many platforms offer discounts for registered churches and nonprofits. Always ask before signing up — you typically just need to provide proof of status.
• Integration with church management software. If your church uses Planning Center, Breeze, or a similar ChMS, check whether the email platform connects with it directly or via Zapier.

17 best email marketing platforms for churches

1. Selzy — Best overall for churches

Selzy earns the top spot because it gives churches exactly what they need without the bloat built for e-commerce businesses. 

The drag-and-drop editor with AI capabilities is intuitive enough for any volunteer, with 1,000+ professionally designed templates suited for weekly newsletters, event invites, Easter and Christmas campaigns, and year-end giving appeals. 

Automation workflows let you set up a visitor welcome sequence in minutes, and once running, it works without any manual effort week after week. 

Deliverability is strong, support is available 24/7, and pricing stays affordable as your church grows.

Key features:

• AI-powered drag-and-drop editor with 1,000+ templates
• Automation workflows for welcome sequences and event follow-ups
• Contact segmentation by ministry group, role, or engagement
• A/B testing for subject lines and content
• Real-time analytics and deliverability reporting
• 24/7 customer support
• Omnichannel automation via email and Telegram chatbots

Pros: 

• Exceptionally easy to use
• Affordable pricing with unlimited sends on paid plans from $7.5/month
• Strong deliverability
• 24/7 support even on the free plan

Cons: 

• Smaller brand recognition than Mailchimp
• Lack of native ChMS integrations (Zapier bridges the gap)

Selzy pricing:

Selzy offers two pricing models: by contact list size or by prepaid email volume.

Why Selzy is the best church email platform: 

It combines ease of use, affordability, and genuine functionality in a way that fits how churches actually operate — with lean teams, rotating volunteers, and a deep need for consistent, personal communication.

2. Mailchimp — Best for familiarity and getting started

Mailchimp is the name most churches recognize first, and it was long a reasonable starting point for small congregations. 

As of early 2026, however, Mailchimp cut its free plan significantly — down to just 250 contacts and 500 emails per month — and removed email automation from the free tier entirely. That makes the free plan hard to use for most churches. 

The template library remains extensive, the drag-and-drop editor is easy to learn, and a 15% nonprofit discount is available on paid plans, but the days of Mailchimp being a generous free option are over.

Pros: 

• Familiar interface with abundant tutorials
• Strong template library
• Canva integration for event graphics
• 15% nonprofit discount on paid plans.

Cons: 

• Free plan now nearly unusable — 250 contacts, 500 emails/month, no automation
• Pricing escalates sharply with list growth
• Interface cluttered with e-commerce features irrelevant to churches.

Mailchimp pricing:

3. Constant Contact — Best for event management

Constant Contact’s standout feature for churches is its built-in event management: you can send invitations, collect RSVPs, and manage attendance all from the same platform where you send your weekly newsletter. 

It’s also one of the most volunteer-friendly tools available, backed by real phone support — when a new volunteer coordinator needs help, they can call and talk to a person. Automation is basic, but for churches that prioritize events and simplicity over complex workflows, it’s a reliable choice.

Pros: 

• Built-in RSVP and event management
• Phone, chat, and email support
• 20-30% nonprofit discount
• Very easy to learn.

Cons: 

• Basic automation — no behavior-based triggers
• Templates feel dated
• No free plan (60-day trial only).

Constant Contact pricing:

4. Brevo — Best for email and SMS on a budget

Brevo’s free tier covers roughly 9,000 emails per month — enough for many mid-sized churches at zero cost. When you upgrade, pricing is based on email volume rather than contact count, so you’re never penalized for keeping years of visitor records. The addition of SMS is a genuine differentiator: same-day service cancellations, urgent prayer chain alerts, or last-minute volunteer requests reach people far faster via text than email, and Brevo handles both from one dashboard.

Pros: 

• Email and SMS in one platform (SMS is paid separately)
• Pricing based on volume not list size
• Generous free plan
• Works well for multilingual congregations.

Cons: 

• Automation builder less intuitive than MailerLite or Selzy
• SMS pricing varies by country
• Brevo branding on free tier.

Brevo pricing:

5. AWeber — Best for simplicity and reliability

AWeber has been around since 1998. It lacks modern polish, but delivers rock-solid reliability, excellent deliverability, and accessible phone support. For a church that just needs to send a consistent weekly newsletter and a simple welcome sequence without any complexity, AWeber does the job — and the free plan covers up to 500 subscribers with autoresponders included.

Pros: 

• Excellent deliverability
• Phone support available
• Good free plan
• Simple interface any volunteer can manage.

Cons: 

• Interface and templates feel datet
• Limited advanced automation
• Less innovation than newer platforms.

AWeber pricing:

6. ActiveCampaign — Best for large churches with advanced needs

ActiveCampaign offers the most powerful automation on this list. For large churches managing multiple ministries, tracking member engagement, and running complex follow-up pathways, its visual workflow builder with conditional logic and 500+ pre-built automation recipes are hard to match. 

Note that while a basic marketing CRM is included in all plans, the full sales pipeline CRM (“Enhanced Pipelines”) is a paid add-on at $68/month. 

The honest caveat: the steep learning curve makes it unsuitable for volunteer-managed communications. This is a platform for churches that treat communications as a serious, staffed discipline.

Key features:

• Visual automation builder with conditional logic and branching workflows
• A library of pre-built automation recipes for welcome series and event follow-ups
• Basic marketing CRM included
• Deep segmentation combining email behavior, event data, and custom fields
• Lead and engagement scoring to identify at-risk or highly engaged members
• WhatsApp marketing integration
• A/B testing and split automations

Pros: 

• Most powerful automation engine on this list
• 500+ pre-built recipes
• Excellent for multi-ministry churches
• Great deliverability
• WhatsApp integration.

Cons: 

• Steep learning curve
• Full CRM requires a paid add-on
• Overkill and expensive for smaller churches
• Complex interface.

ActiveCampaign pricing:

ActiveCampaign offers a 14-day free trial without requiring a credit card.

7. MailerLite — Best for design quality and nonprofit discount

MailerLite consistently earns high marks from churches and nonprofits for making professional-looking email genuinely easy. 

The interface is clean enough that a volunteer with no design experience can build an attractive newsletter in 15 minutes. 

Note that MailerLite reduced its free plan from 1,000 to 500 subscribers, but the 12,000 monthly email limit stayed the same — it remains one of the more generous free tiers available. The 30% nonprofit discount on paid plans makes it one of the best value choices on this list.

Pros: 

• Exceptionally clean interface
• 30% nonprofit discount
• Generous free plan
• Good balance of design and automation.

Cons: 

• Account approval can take 3-7 days
• Advanced features require the Advanced plan
• No native SMS.

MailerLite pricing:

8. GetResponse — Best for online ministry

GetResponse bundles email marketing with webinar hosting in one platform — and now also offers a free forever plan for up to 500 contacts (with a 30-day premium trial on top of that). If your church runs virtual events, having your webinar tools integrated with your email list means automatic follow-up with every attendee — no manual exports or separate tools required. 

Landing pages and automation workflows cover standard church communication needs alongside the online ministry features. GetResponse also offers a 50% nonprofit discount on all paid plans, making it one of the most generous nonprofit programs on this list.

Pros: 

• Webinar hosting included
• Free forever plan available
• 50% nonprofit discount
• Good automation tools
• All-in-one value for digital-first churches
• AI email generator.

Cons: 

• Interface can feel cluttered
• SMS only on Enterprise plan
• More expensive than simpler alternatives for mid-tier plans.

GetResponse pricing:

9. Klaviyo — Best for data-driven communication teams

Klaviyo is primarily known as the leading e-commerce email platform, and most of its standout features — purchase tracking, cart abandonment, product recommendations — are irrelevant to churches. 

That said, large congregations with dedicated communications staff may find value in its deep behavioral segmentation and advanced analytics. 

For most churches, the cost and complexity don’t justify choosing it when tools like Selzy or ActiveCampaign offer comparable functionality at a fraction of the price.

Pros: 

• Industry-leading segmentation
• Powerful automation with complex conditional logic
• Strong deliverability.

Cons: 

• Expensive — very limited free plan
• E-commerce focus means many features are irrelevant
• Steep learning curve
• Slow support.

Klaviyo pricing:

10. HubSpot — Best for large churches wanting CRM + email in one place

HubSpot’s value for churches lies in its CRM integration — every interaction a member has with your church (emails opened, events attended, forms submitted) lives in a single contact record. Up to 40% nonprofit discounts help justify the cost for large organizations. 

The honest caveat: HubSpot was built for B2B sales teams and the complexity reflects that. For most churches, especially those managed by volunteers, it’s significant overkill.

Pros: 

• Powerful CRM + email integration
• Up to 40% nonprofit discount
• Comprehensive analytics.

Cons: 

• Complex and overwhelming for most church teams
• Expensive even with discount 
• Overkill for churches under 1,000 members.

HubSpot pricing:

Costs increase significantly as the number of marketing contacts grows, making HubSpot more suitable for larger organizations.

11. Benchmark Email — Best for simplicity and a/B testing

Benchmark Email offers a straightforward email experience with better-than-expected A/B testing tools at an accessible price. 

The interface is uncluttered and volunteer-friendly. For churches that want to start experimenting with what subject lines or content work best — without moving to a more complex platform — Benchmark is a practical and underrated choice.

Pros: 

• Clean, simple interface
• Solid deliverability
• Easy for volunteers
• A/B testing is available on paid plans

Cons: 

• Fewer advanced automation features
• Smaller template library; less widely known.

Benchmark Email pricing:

12. Moosend — Best for tight budgets with full automation

Moosend consistently earns among the highest user ratings in this category because it delivers capabilities you’d expect from platforms twice the price. 

At $9/month for unlimited email sends to 500 subscribers, with behavior-based automation triggers and landing pages included, it punches well above its weight class. Paid plans include automation workflows, landing pages, transactional email capabilities, and SMTP server access.

Pros: 

• Full automation at the lowest price point on this list
• High user ratings (4.7/5)
• Behavior-based triggers
• Landing pages included.

Cons: 

• No free plan (30-day trial only)
• Fewer integrations
• Smaller template library.

Moosend pricing:

Moosend offers a 30-day free trial, after which a paid plan is required to continue using the platform.

13. Omnisend — Best for multi-channel outreach

Omnisend’s multi-channel approach works well for churches communicating across more than just email. A single automation can send an email Monday, an SMS reminder Friday, and a browser push notification Saturday — all from one workflow. 

Limited SMS credits are included only in the Pro plan, while on other plans SMS is charged separately based on usage.

Pros: 

• True multi-channel from one platform
• Strong automation
• Limited SMS credits included in paid plans.

Cons: 

• Built for e-commerce — some features are irrelevant
• Limited free plan
• More expensive than single-channel alternatives.

Omnisend pricing:

14. Zoho Campaigns — Best for multi-channel outreach

If your church already uses Zoho products, Zoho Campaigns is the natural email choice — contact data, giving records, and event history sync automatically into your email segments. 

On its own, the free plan is the most contact-generous on this list, and paid plans start at just $3/month. Outside the Zoho ecosystem, simpler tools like Selzy or MailerLite offer a better standalone experience.

Pros: 

• Most generous free contact limit (2,000)
• Lowest paid starting price ($3/month)
• Excellent Zoho ecosystem integration.

Cons: 

• Interface less modern than competitors
• Basic standalone automation
• Support quality varies.

Zoho Campaigns pricing:

15. Twilio SendGrid — Best for tech-savvy churches and developers

Twilio SendGrid (previously just SendGrid) is not a beginner-friendly email builder — it’s primarily an email infrastructure platform (API and SMTP-based) designed for transactional and high-volume email sending, rather than a traditional email marketing tool.

For large churches managing custom communication tools, automated donation receipts, or member portal notifications at scale, Twilio SendGrid’s infrastructure is hard to beat. For everyone else, the other 16 platforms on this list are a better fit.

Pros: 

• Best-in-class deliverability
• Powerful REST API
• Handles very high volumes.

Cons: 

• Requires technical knowledge
• Limited visual campaign builder
• Not built for church-specific needs.

SendGrid pricing:

16. Kit — Best for churches with a strong content focus

Kit was built for content creators, and that makes it a surprisingly natural fit for churches that produce consistent written or audio content beyond standard announcements. 

Its free plan is one of the most generous available — up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcast emails, landing pages, and forms. If your pastor writes a weekly devotional newsletter, your church publishes a podcast, or you run a regular Bible study email series, Kit handles subscriber management and content delivery.

The tag-based subscriber system is one of Kit’s standout features for churches: rather than maintaining separate lists for different ministries, you keep one unified list and use tags to segment by ministry involvement, interest area, or engagement level. For standard church communication with event announcements and week-to-week logistics, other platforms on this list are a better fit.

Key features:

• Tag-based subscriber system — one list, no duplicate billing across segments
• Visual automation builder for subscriber journeys and content sequences
• Landing pages and signup forms included on the free plan
• Digital product sales for devotional guides, courses, or resources
• RSS-to-email for automatically delivering blog or podcast content
• Clean, distraction-free email editor optimized for written content

Pros: 

• Most generous free plan on this list (10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcast emails)
• Tag-based system prevents duplicate billing
• Great for devotional newsletters and podcast follow-up
• Intuitive visual automation on paid plans
• Sell digital products without third-party tools.

Cons: 

• Minimal design customization — not ideal if visual presentation is important
• Pricing jumped significantly in September 2025 (Creator now $39/month, up from $15/month)
• Not well-suited for event-heavy or announcement-heavy church communication
• Limited analytics.

Kit pricing:

17. Drip — Best for data-driven churches running complex campaigns

Drip is primarily an e-commerce platform, and most of its headline features — cart abandonment, revenue attribution, product recommendations — are irrelevant to the ministry. That said, for large churches with dedicated communications staff who want deep behavioral segmentation, sophisticated multi-step campaign logic, and detailed engagement analytics, Drip’s automation engine is genuinely powerful. 

The honest assessment: for most churches, the $39/month starting price is hard to justify when tools like Selzy or ActiveCampaign offer comparable automation at lower cost and with less e-commerce baggage. Drip earns its place on this list for the specific church that has outgrown simpler tools, has staff who can leverage its depth, and needs a level of segmentation and campaign logic that general-purpose platforms don’t quite reach. 

Key features:

• Visual workflow builder with complex branching logic and conditional splits
• Dynamic behavioral segments that update in real-time
• Multi-step campaign builder for email and onsite messaging
• Detailed engagement analytics and campaign performance tracking
• Pre-built playbooks for welcome series and re-engagement campaigns
• Open API for custom integrations with church management software

Pros: 

• Powerful behavioral segmentation
• Sophisticated multi-step automation
• Strong analytics
• Good deliverability
• Unlimited sub-accounts.

Cons: 

• Built for e-commerce — many features are irrelevant to churches
• Expensive starting price ($39/month)
• No built-in SMS
• Single pricing tier
• Steep learning curve
• Overkill for most congregations.

Drip pricing:

All 17 platforms compared

Best for data-driven churches running complex campaigns

• Small churches (under 200 members) can use free tiers from Kit (up to 10,000 subscribers), MailerLite (500 subscribers), or Zoho Campaigns (2,000 contacts) without paying anything. 

Selzy’s free plan (100 contacts) works for very early-stage churches just getting started. Note that Mailchimp’s free plan is now limited to 250 contacts with no automation — no longer a practical starting point for most churches.

• Mid-sized churches (200–1,000 members) should calculate the real cost at their actual database size — not just the starting price. MailerLite’s nonprofit discount and Selzy’s flat pricing both hold up well at this scale.
• Large churches (1,000+ members) need platforms that scale affordably. ActiveCampaign is the strongest choice for staffed communications teams. Brevo’s volume-based pricing prevents costs from spiraling as your contact database grows.

Most importantly: choose the tool your team will actually use. Selzy and MailerLite are simple enough for any volunteer. ActiveCampaign and HubSpot require dedicated staff to use effectively.

FAQ about the best email marketing platforms for churches

Is email marketing expensive for churches?

It doesn’t have to be. Selzy, Kit, MailerLite, Brevo, and Zoho Campaigns all offer genuinely usable free plans. Several platforms also offer nonprofit discounts of 15–40%. Selzy’s paid plans start at ~$7/month. Most churches can start for free and only pay as their needs grow. Note that Mailchimp’s free plan has become very limited in 2026 — it now covers only 250 contacts with no automation.

What’s the best free email platform for churches?

Kit has the most generous free plan by far — up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcast emails. For a more full-featured marketing tool on the free tier, MailerLite supports 500 subscribers and 12,000 emails/month including automation. Selzy’s free plan covers 100 contacts with 1,000 emails/month and free trial with up to 10,000 emails to 2,000 contacts for new users. Mailchimp’s free plan is now largely unusable for churches — 250 contacts, 500 emails/month, with no automation.

How often should churches email their congregation?

One weekly newsletter is the baseline. Add event-specific emails when needed. Avoid more than 3–4 emails per week — beyond that, engagement drops and unsubscribes increase.

Do platforms integrate with church management software?

Several do. Mailchimp has the most native ChMS integrations. Selzy and MailerLite connect with Planning Center, Breeze, and others via Zapier.

Can email marketing help with church fundraising? 

Yes. Automated donation appeals, year-end giving campaigns, and targeted outreach to lapsed givers are all well-supported use cases — especially on platforms with behavioral segmentation like Selzy and ActiveCampaign.

Final breakdown

• Best overall — Selzy. For most churches, regardless of size, Selzy is the strongest choice: easy enough for any volunteer, affordable enough for any budget, and capable enough for everything from a welcome sequence to a full annual communication calendar.
• Best budget alternative — MailerLite. The most polished experience per dollar on this list, especially with the 30% nonprofit discount applied.
• Best for events — Constant Contact. No other platform makes event invitations, RSVPs, and attendance management as seamless for churches.
• Best for large churches — ActiveCampaign. For large congregations with dedicated staff and complex automation needs, ActiveCampaign’s power is unmatched.
• Best for multi-channel — Brevo. If SMS is part of your strategy, Brevo gives you email and text from one platform at the lowest combined cost.
• Best purpose-built solution — Kit. For churches where a compelling weekly devotional or sermon-based content series is the primary communication goal, Kit’s creator-focused tools are unmatched on this list.
• Best for advanced segmentation — Drip. For large churches with dedicated staff who need deep behavioral segmentation and complex campaign logic and have outgrown simpler tools.

Pricing and features are current as of early 2026 and may be subject to change. Always verify with each platform before subscribing.