Top 10 Email Marketing Software for Small Businesses That Will Save You Time and Costs

What to look for in email marketing tools for small businesses

With so many email marketing platforms, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. You might not even know where to start with email marketing for small businesses. But once you understand what to look for, it becomes much easier to filter through the options and find a tool that fits your needs. Here are four key factors to consider when evaluating email marketing software:

Segmentation capabilities

Segmentation allows you to divide your email list into smaller, targeted groups based on specific criteria like behavior, demographics, or purchase history. This is important because it ensures your messages are highly relevant to the customers in each group. So look for platforms that offer flexible segmentation options based on several criteria or even AI-powered smart list segmentation.

Cost-effectiveness

Automation, segmentation, or analytics are not just email marketing trends, these are essential features. However, many platforms lock these and other important tools behind higher pricing tiers. This will force you to upgrade just to access what should be standard functionalities. 

Also, as your email list grows, some tools get expensive fast. This can make a once-affordable tool unsustainable for small businesses like yours. So look out for core features that are included in entry-level plans, and confirm that the tool scales reasonably with your business.

User-friendly interface

Some email marketing tools come packed with extra features that you might not need and this adds complexity to the platform. Others require extra clicks just to access the core features or have a cluttered design. All of this gets worse given that most tools provide limited customer support on their lower pricing plans. So when choosing the best email marketing solution, take into account all of this. You can sign up for the free trials and navigate the platforms to get a first-hand experience of their user-friendliness.

Performance tracking

Most tools offer basic reporting features like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. However, advanced reporting features are often locked behind higher pricing plans. So it’s important to carefully review pricing tiers to see which level grants access to specific reporting tools. Think about what kind of analytics you actually need — whether it’s A/B test results or detailed customer journey insights — and ensure the platform you choose offers those features at a price that makes sense for your budget.

Best email marketing platforms for small businesses

Selzy

Selzy is an affordable email marketing and automation platform for small businesses with all the core features and an AI email assistant. You can create subscription forms and emails without any coding experience using the visual builder. You can choose from over 200 templates and customize them to match your brand’s colors and fonts.

Personalization is easy with merge tags — special items that pull details from your contact list to replace placeholders in emails. Instead of sending generic messages like “Dear Customer,” you can automatically insert each subscriber’s name, like “Dear Beth.” You can also use merge tags in subject lines to grab attention, such as “Joan, Here’s Your Exclusive Discount!”

Selzy also automatically scans your campaigns for potential spam triggers. It checks your authentication settings, suggests improvements for subject lines, and optimizes content to boost open rates. The smart algorithm also flags non-existent addresses, spam traps, and inactive recipients.

You can set up dynamic automated email workflows that trigger when a subscriber joins your list or has a specific tag. The visual workflow editor uses drag-and-drop blocks and templates, so you can quickly create sequences like onboarding emails or follow-ups based on subscriber actions. Plus, Selzy’s AI Assistant helps you write better CTAs, subject lines, and email content with predefined roles like proofreader, marketer, and copywriter. You can also generate an entire email campaign from scratch.

Pros

• Selzy provides 24/7 customer support in six languages via email, phone, or live chat. Unlike other platforms, all these channels are available even on the free plan.
• The drag-and-drop email editor is easy to use with its good overall design and interface. 
• Selzy’s visual automation builder is also easy to use even for beginners. 
• Designed with small businesses (SMBs) in mind, Selzy offers budget-friendly pricing without compromising on core features. On the free plan, you even get features like email automation and send time optimization that would be reserved for premium plans on other platforms.
• The AI assistant speeds up your campaign creation efforts by creating subject lines, translating content, and even generating an entire email.

Cons

• Limited integrations. While Selzy integrates with popular platforms like HubSpot, Shopify, and WordPress, it lacks integrations with other tools. But you can use Pabbly to connect Selzy with other platforms.

Pricing

• Free plan: Access to core features, 100 contacts, 1,500 emails/month.
• Lite plan: $7.5 a month for 500 contacts and unlimited emails, core features plus no Selzy branding, segmentation, A/B testing, and shareable email URLs. 
• Standard plan: $15 a month for 500 contacts and unlimited emails. Access to all the Lite plan features plus anti-spam tips, email size optimization, email authentication check, email deliverability tips, subject line assistant, and Telegram chatbots.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing for 500,000+ contacts, unlimited emails, and full access to all features. 

Moosend

Moosend is an email marketing platform with a focus on automation. Its newsletter builder lets you start with one of the 90+ customizable templates or design your own from scratch using the drag-and-drop editor. Moosend also supports asynchronous collaboration. Team members can leave comments, compare versions, and restore previous designs.

You can also run targeted campaigns using custom fields. You can, for instance, add the recipient’s name or even specific dates like birthdays into your emails. Custom fields, however, go beyond basic personalization and offer options like dropdown menus, checkboxes, or numeric inputs. For example, if you’re running a campaign for pet owners, you could collect data on pet types and send tailored promotions for dog or cat supplies.

When it comes to automation, Moosend provides preconfigured automation recipes for common workflows, such as welcome emails or cart abandonment sequences. If you prefer to start fresh, Moosend’s visual automation editor lets you define triggers, actions, and conditions. Triggers can range from signing up for a newsletter to making a purchase, while actions might include sending an email, tagging a contact, or updating their profile. You can also add conditional logic to create branching workflows based on user behavior.

Pros

• The comments mode is great for sharing feedback during campaign creation.
• Moosend’s custom fields and segmentation tools allow for hyper-targeted campaigns.
• Prebuilt workflows simplify campaign setup.

Cons

• Restrictive form design. Most customers can’t make a form entirely from scratch without a predefined layout. And the templates themselves are limited.
• The pricing is a bit high. There’s a steep price increase as you go past 500 contacts.
• The unsubscribe link isn’t added by default in the email editor.

Pricing

Moosend has four pricing plans:

• Free 30-day trial: 1,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, access to core features like automation and A/B testing.
• Pro plan: $9/month for 500 subscribers and unlimited emails, access to landing pages, subscription forms, and email automation.
• Moosend+: Custom pricing, access to all features in the Pro plan, but you can also pick the enterprise add-ons you want like transactional emails, hosted files, audience discovery, custom reports, account manager, etc. You’ll still have to pay for the add-ons, though.
• Enterprise plan: Custom pricing, access to all features and add-ons without restrictions.

Zoho Campaigns

Zoho Campaigns is the email marketing and SMS solution within the Zoho ecosystem of tools and services. It allows you to create dynamic content by modifying interactive elements like CTAs and images or changing template backgrounds and spacing.

Zoho Campaigns also organizes contacts through topic preferences. Contacts can choose their interests or you can assign topics when importing a contact or in campaigns themselves. For instance, a subscriber signing up for “Product Updates” can automatically be mapped to that topic and segmented for targeted emails.

The platform’s pre-designed automation workflow templates cover everything from onboarding to re-engagement. You can customize workflows with the drag-and-drop editor, define triggers and actions, and use filters to deliver personalized emails. Features like reply tracking let you monitor responses and create unique workflow paths. For example, recipients who reply to an email can be added to a personalized email series or flagged for a follow-up by the sales team.

You can also A/B test variables like subject lines, sender names, or email content to determine what resonates best with your audience. The platform will then automatically send the winning email to the rest of your list or let you analyze the results manually.

Pros

• Cost-effective. It’s way cheaper than most email marketing tools.
• Impressive email automation.

Cons

• It’s clunky and buggy according to customers’ reviews.
• The user interface isn’t that user-friendly as it requires extra clicks to navigate.
• Limited email templates.

Pricing

Zoho campaign has three pricing plans:

• Forever Free plan: up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails/month, 5 users, sign-up forms, and basic email templates.
• Standard plan: $4/month for 500 contacts and unlimited emails. Access to advanced email templates, A/B testing, inbox preview, basic segmentation, basic automated workflows, and up to 10 users.
• Professional plan: $6/month for 500 contacts and unlimited emails, RSS campaigns, advanced segmentation, customizable pop-ups, dynamic content, email polls, advanced automation, and more.

GetResponse

GetResponse makes email marketing easier for small companies with tools that are simple to use, especially if you’re a retailer. Its OpenAI-powered email generator allows you to create engaging, optimized emails in minutes. Simply input keywords, your industry, and target audience details, and the tool generates email content complete with text and image suggestions.

Its AI-powered landing page creator also lets you generate professional designs and messaging in just a few clicks. For even more control, you can customize your page with sections and blocks, such as forms, product boxes, and live chat windows in the drag-and-drop editor.

GetResponse offers customizable conversion funnels — end-to-end funnels that integrate with Facebook and Instagram ads. You can, for example, target a specific audience with social ads, direct them to a high-converting landing page, and follow up with personalized email workflows. You can also A/B test different layouts, messages, or calls-to-action on both landing pages and emails. 

GetResponse simplifies e-commerce integration, too. You can connect your shopping cart and import products from platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, or Etsy. From there, automate abandoned cart emails or create custom sales pages to showcase and sell your products directly on GetResponse.

Pros

• Their customer support is exceptional. According to reviews from customers, the support agents are fast and helpful.
• Easy to use with a straightforward interface.

Cons

• There’s no notification over email if you are about to go over your contracted number of contacts. You’ll just be billed extra, making it hard to budget your expenses.
• GetResponse’s cheaper plan offers most of the core email marketing features but is still expensive compared to other platforms.
• Marketing automation is locked on a more expensive plan compared to other email marketing tools.

Pricing

GetResponse has four pricing plans:

• Starter plan: $19/month for 1,000 contacts, unlimited emails, basic segmentation, landing pages, sign-up forms, and popups.
• Marketer plan: $59/month for 1,000 contacts, starter plan features plus unlimited marketing automation, advanced segmentation, sales funnels, contact scoring, e-commerce tools, web push notifications, and email scheduling.
• Creator plan: $69/month for 1,000 contacts, marketer plan features plus unlimited courses, up to 500 students, paid newsletter subscription, webinars, and website builder.
• Enterprise plan: Custom pricing for all features plus priority support, dedicated IP address, FTP reports, SMS marketing, mobile push notifications, and unlimited users.

MailerLite

MailerLite is a beginner-friendly email marketing service that specializes in efficient automation workflows. You can use triggers like form completions, link clicks, or product purchases to send targeted emails. For e-commerce, specialized triggers (e.g., “Purchased a specific product” or “Purchased from a category”) create vast opportunities for personalized upselling and cross-selling. However, only the Advanced plan users can add up to three triggers per workflow for multiple entry points for your automation.

Like some other email marketing tools for small companies, MailerLite features an AI-powered email generator to quickly draft entire emails using industry-specific keywords.

You can also improve your campaigns through A/B testing the subject lines, content, and send times. You can run up to three workflow variations and unlimited tests. Additional tools like landing pages, pop-ups, and embedded forms improve your lead-generation efforts.

Pros

• It has one of the best UIs and it’s easy to use.
• The free plan includes several key features.
• Affordable compared to other email marketing software for small businesses.

Cons

• Lacks migration support.
• Lacks complex automation triggers.

Pricing

MailerLite has four pricing tiers:

• Free plan: 1,000 subscribers, 12,000 monthly emails, 1 user, email automation, 1 website, 10 landing pages, segmentation, subscription forms, A/B testing, and timezone-based email delivery.
• Growing business plan: $10/month for 500 subscribers, unlimited monthly emails, 3 users, newsletter templates, no MailerLite logo, RSS campaigns, unlimited websites, landing page templates, digital products sales, paid newsletters, and more
• Advanced plan: $20/month for 500 subscribers, unlimited monthly emails, unlimited users, enhanced automation, promotion pop-ups, AI assistant, multiple automation triggers, 24/7 live chat and email support, and more.
• Enterprise plan: Custom pricing with over 100,000 subscribers, dedicated success manager, onboarding consultation, dedicated IP, and deliverability consultation.

Campaigner

With its SMS and integration with WooCommerce, Campaigner is one of the top email marketing tools for SMBs. Its main asset is the automation builder. Actions can be triggered based on customer engagement metrics, such as opens, clicks, or goal completions. You can combine email and SMS to reach your customers on their preferred channel and also switch between the two in your workflows.

With dynamic email timing, you can send messages precisely when your subscribers are most likely to engage. For example, you can trigger follow-up emails based on inaction or specific events like clicking a product link. You can also build subscription forms and landing pages. But it lacks landing page templates and other features like AI assistants that other email tools provide (its AI can only write subject lines).

Pros

• Offers a free trial.
• Reusable content blocks will help you save time when creating email campaigns.

Cons

• For what features it has, Campaigner is very expensive. The Starter plan is $59/month but your emails will still have the Campaigner branding. 
• No advanced segmentation, even on the pricier plans.
• Automations are only available in the Advanced plan which costs $649/month. It also lacks automation templates.
• No unlimited monthly emails even for the most expensive plan.

Pricing

Campaigner has three pricing plans with a monthly send limit of 6 times the number of contacts in your plan:

• Starter plan: $59/month for 5,000 contacts, A/B testing, autoresponders, 50 MB CDN media hosting, and basic segmentation.
• Essential plan: $179/month for 25,000 contacts, no Campaigner branding, dynamic content, custom footer, 1GB CDN media hosting, and exclusion lists.
• Advanced plan: $649/month for 100,000 contacts, automation workflows, purchase behavior, API access, and more features.

The service also has tailored e-commerce plans with slightly different features and prices. For example, the Starter plan tailored to e-commerce starts from $79.95 for up to 30,000 emails, abandoned cart emails, and a Magento integration. However, the full list of features for these plans isn’t indicated on the website.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the oldest and most well-known email marketing services. It offers a content studio that acts as a central hub for your marketing assets, so you won’t have to re-upload an image when you want to use it again in another campaign. This allows you to upload, organize, and edit the files in one place and even use Mailchimp integration with Adobe Photoshop. 

When importing or adding your contacts, you can organize them into an audience — this is a unique Mailchimp contact management feature. So if you have different customer groups, you can create two separate audiences and segment your customers further using pre-built segments and merge tags. You can also send dynamic emails targeting specific segments without multiple drafts. You can also set up automations for these email variations using audience data, like website interactions. 

Mailchimp also offers AI tools like Intuit Assist for content creation and product recommendations based on customer interactions. Apart from that, there are also landing pages, sign-up forms, a website builder, and social media marketing tools. 

Pros

• An all-in-one solution for most small businesses.
• Integrates with most content management services and other platforms.
• Easy to use with a well-designed interface for sending emails, running automations, and tracking campaigns.

Cons

• Unlike most email marketing tools, Mailchimp will bill you even for unsubscribed and inactive contacts.
• Their billing is questionable and the tool charges additional fees if you exceed your contact limit.
• Poor customer support according to many customers.

Pricing

Mailchimp has four pricing plans:

• Free plan: up to 500 contacts, 1,000 monthly emails or 500 a day, basic segmentation, basic reporting, pop-up forms, and campaign engagement.
• Essentials plan: $13/month for 500 contacts, up to 5,000 monthly email sends, 3 audiences, no Mailchimp branding, email scheduling, single-step automations, A/B testing, basic reporting, email, and live support.
• Standard plan: $20/month for 500 contacts, 6,000 monthly email sends, 5 audiences, advanced segmentation, predicted demographics, multi-step automations, custom reports, multivariate testing, dynamic content, and 1 personalized onboarding session.
• Premium plan: $350/month for 10,000 contacts, 150,000 monthly email sends, unlimited audiences, phone support, 4 personalized onboarding sessions, migration support, and customer success manager.

Constant Contact

Constant Contact is a platform that is especially well-suited for multi-channel marketing, from email to SMS and social media. Its automation path builder uses triggers like calendar dates, contact activity, or shopping behavior to send targeted email campaigns at the right time. You can also run SMS marketing campaigns with Constant Contact. The platform offers a live preview editor, a dedicated phone number, and ready-to-use privacy policy templates. You can then quickly grow your SMS contact list with sign-up landing pages that include consent fields and customizable forms to collect phone numbers.

The segmentation builder lets you create highly targeted segments based on contact profiles, shopping activity, or engagement. You can even use click segmentation to automatically add contacts to lists based on the links they click in your emails.

Constant Contact is also one of the few email marketing software that also offers social media management. Create and schedule posts tailored to each platform, track performance through analytics, and even respond to comments directly from within the tool. There’s also an event management feature that lets you create registration forms, ticket options, and promote events.

Pros

• Niche features like event management and social media marketing.
• Modern and intuitive user interface.
• Ability to run omnichannel marketing campaigns.

Cons

• Lacks full HTML email editing.
• Limited customization.
• Expensive, considering the features and what other tools offer.
• Lacks a free plan.

Pricing

Constant Contact has three pricing plans:

• Lite plan: $12/month for 500 contacts, 5,000 monthly email sends, 1 user, 1GB storage, email templates, only 1 automation template, and event management.
• Standard plan: $35/month for 500 contacts, 6,000 monthly email sends, 3 users, 10GB storage, subject line optimization, scheduled email sends, basic segmentation, and social media ads manager.
• Premium plan: $80/month for 500 contacts, 12,000 monthly email sends, unlimited users, 25GB storage, dedicated support, dynamic content, heatmaps, unlimited automation templates and builder.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is an email marketing service for experienced marketers with many advanced features. The platform makes automation easy, even if you’re not tech-savvy. You can describe what you want to achieve — like welcoming new subscribers or following up with leads — and ActiveCampaign’s AI will build the automation for you.

One of its standout features is predictive sending, which helps you send emails at the perfect time. The tool looks at how your contacts have interacted with past emails to figure out when they’re most likely to open your message. Even if you’re starting from scratch, it can use data from similar audiences to predict the best send times.

ActiveCampaign’s win probability feature uses AI to predict how likely your leads are to convert based on their actions. For example, if someone books a meeting with you or clicks on multiple links in your emails, their win score goes up. On the flip side, if they stop engaging, you’ll know it’s time to try a different approach, like a follow-up call.

You’ll also find it easy to integrate your email campaigns with other channels like social media and ads. ActiveCampaign lets you sync your contacts with Facebook, Google Ads, and Instagram so you can create targeted ads or find new leads similar to your best customers. 

Pros

• Advanced automation capabilities.
• All-in-one CRM and email marketing solution.
• Integrates with most of the popular platforms.

Cons

• Steep learning curve if you’re only looking for simple email marketing software.
• Expensive as the number of contacts increases.

Pricing

ActiveCampaign has four pricing plans:

• Starter plan: $15/month for 1,000 contacts, 10,000 monthly email sends, 1 user, multi-step automation, 5 actions per automation, limited segmentation, and limited reporting.
• Plus plan: $49/month for 1,000 contacts,10,000 monthly email sends, unlimited automation triggers and actions, web forms, landing pages, landing page templates, generative AI, standard segmentation, and standard reporting.
• Pro plan: $79/month for 1,000 contacts, 12,000 monthly email sends, 3 users, conditional/dynamic content, predictive sending, advanced segmentation, advanced reporting, attribution, and conversion tracking.
• Enterprise plan: $145/month for 1,000 contacts, 15,000 monthly email sends, 5 users, A/B testing emails and automations, premium segmentation, custom objects, and a dedicated account team.

Drip

Drip is much simpler to use compared to other tools and it’s best for you if you just need a tool to send email campaigns and run automations. One of Drip’s standout features is the trigger filters to fine-tune which subscribers enter an automation workflow based on specific criteria. For example, if a customer is already part of a welcome workflow, you can prevent them from being added to a post-purchase workflow to avoid overwhelming them with unnecessary emails.

With subscription topics, Drip also allows your subscribers to manage their preferences by opting in or out of specific content, so they only receive messages that match their interests. 

Pros

• One of the best email marketing platforms for e-commerce brands as it has over 200 e-commerce integrations and automatic social retargeting.
• It gets the basics right as it only offers email marketing features.

Cons

• Limited feature set, no landing pages, for example.
• Expensive given the limited features it provides.

Pricing

Drip only has one pricing plan — $39/month for 2,500 contacts, unlimited email sends, dynamic segments, sign-up forms, automations, and email support. The pricing changes depending on the number of contacts in your list.

Conclusion

Choosing the right email marketing tool isn’t easy. That’s why we’ve given you a list of 10 options that work. Still, the best choice depends on your specific needs. 

If you’re looking for a budget-friendly tool that lets you send campaigns and set up simple automations without unnecessary complexity, Selzy, Zoho Campaigns, and Moosend are great options. But if you need advanced automation, deeper analytics, and an all-in-one marketing solution — and you’re open to a slightly higher budget — then Constant Contact, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, and GetResponse offer more flexibility. 

With free trials and entry-level plans, you can test these platforms and find the one that feels right for you.