Email marketing is one of the best ways to market your business and boost sales. It’s also an excellent way to grow your list and nurture relationships with your customers.
But when it comes to email marketing, it can be hard to know where to start. How do you choose an email marketing provider? What kind of features should you look for in an email provider? And how do you get started?
We’ve put together a list of 12 of the best email marketing providers for affiliate marketers and small businesses so that you can learn about some of the top options out there and decide which one is best for your business.
1. Sendinblue
If you’re looking to grow your business by building stronger customer relationships, Sendinblue is the all-in-one platform for you.
Sendinblue features email, SMS, Facebook, chat, CRM, and more.
With Sendinblue’s marketing communication platform, you can also track the results of your email performance and learn what campaign works best with detailed statistics. Sendinblue makes it easy to design your emails with over 70 templates that are responsive on any device. You can preview what your email will look like on all screen formats before you send it out to ensure it looks great!
- Strong automation features
- German support with hosting in Germany
- Good pricing
- Transactional email and SMS marketing solution
- WordPress Plugin
- Free Sales CRM software
- Very responsive customer service
- A provider logo is installed in the cheapest Lite tariff
- The free plan and Lite plan has limited features
- Workflow is somewhat challenging to design
Pricing
Sendinblue has 4 plan that comes with unlimited contact storage each.
Free Plan
Lite
Up to 20,000 emails
Everything in Free plan, and;
There is no daily sending limit.
Email support
Add-on: A/B testing, remove Sendinblue logo, advanced statistics
Premium
Up to 20,000 emails
Everything in Lite plan, and;
Marketing Automation
Facebook ads
Landing pages
Multi-user access
Telephone Support
Enterprise
In this plan, you can have everything in Premium, plus:
Custom volume of emails
Priority sending
20+ landing pages
Access for 10+ users
SSO (SAML)
Customer success manager
Priority support
And more!
Conclusion
Overall, Sendinblue is a great tool for designing a campaign within the software. It has some really good features at a great price. The only thing I would caution you about is that this product may be a bit more complicated than you’re expecting—but if you’re open to learning new things and want to make your marketing more effective, then I think it’s worth checking out!
2. Mailchimp
A lot of small businesses don’t know the first thing about marketing. That’s why Mailchimp has all the tools you need to reach your audience and grow your sales. They provide the technology and support needed to make sure your business gets off on the right foot.
With Mailchimp, you can create multichannel campaigns that reach and resonate with your people. Mailchimp got everything you need to make sure that your recipients are getting the messages they want in the ways they like best — whether it’s an email newsletter or a post on Facebook — so that you can focus on what matters: running your business.
- Tons of integrations
- Provides ready-to-use templates
- Highly customizable email templates
- Automatic adaption to different screens
- Unlimited image hosting
- Merge Tags
- Built-in Live Previewer
- Complete comparative metrics
- Removable Mailchimp logo
- Interface is complicated
- Paid plans are too costly
- Marketing automation tools are not as robust or intuitive as other marketing software
- MailChimp has the right to suspend or terminate your account at any time
Pricing
Free Plan
500 daily sending limits
2,500 sending limits per month
Everything you get with Free Plan:
Marketing CRM
Creative Assistant
Website Builder
Mailchimp Domain
Forms & Landing Pages
Essentials
This plan is ideal for email-only senders who want around-the-clock support.
The monthly sending limit is 10x the plan’s contact limit.
You’ll get everything in Free Plan, plus:
Email & Landing Page Templates
Customer Journey Builder
Custom Branding
A/B Testing
24/7 Email & Chat Support
Standard
Data-driven automation and optimization tools for businesses that want to grow faster.
The monthly sending limit is 12x the plan’s contact limit.
You’ll get everything in Essentials, plus:
Customer Journey Builder + Branching Points
Send Time Optimization
Behavioral Targeting
Custom Templates
Dynamic Content
Premium
The premium version has advanced features for professional users who need more customization
The monthly sending limit is 15x the plan’s contact limit.
You’ll get everything in Standard, plus:
Advanced Segmentation
Multivariate Testing
Comparative Reporting
Unlimited Seats & Role-Based Access
Phone & Priority Support
Conclusion
MailChimp is a great email service provider. It has numerous features that provide you with a range of options for designing your emails and reporting on their success. Although you could get by with a cheaper tier, many of the features that make it easier for your channel to grow and thrive are only available at higher tiers.
Overall, it’s a solid choice for anyone who wants to start an email marketing campaign but doesn’t have the resources or expertise to build one from scratch.
3. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a marketing tool that aims to send fewer emails while producing much better results.
It is a solid tool for experienced online marketers who need a robust, customizable tool to manage their email campaigns.
With ActiveCampaign, you can create automated workflows that help you reach your customers with the right message at the right time. You can also easily send personalized messages, manage subscribers, and measure the effectiveness of your campaigns.
- Easy and intuitive to use
- Great automation features
- Friendly and efficient customer support
- Advanced features for advanced users
- Fully integrated CRM
- The Lite plan has a limited number of features
- The software can sometimes be slow and unresponsive
Pricing
Lite
1 User
Unlimited Email Sending
Sales Emails
Customer Newsletter
Integrate to Over 870 CXA Partners
Plus
Up to 25 Users
Advanced Performance Reporting
CRM with Sales Automation
Customer Success Pipelines
1 GB of file storage
Professional
Up to 50 Users
Website Personalization
Sales Engagement Automation
Split Automations
CXA Strategy Consultation and access to quarterly business reviews
5 GB of file storage
Enterprise
Unlimited Users
Custom Domain
Contact Enrichment
Onboarding and training for custom product functionality
10 GB of file storage
ActiveCampaign offers a 14-day free trial, so you can try it out without risking any money and be able to see whether or not ActiveCampaign is right for you before committing.
Conclusion
In conclusion, ActiveCampaign is a great option for online marketers that need to manage relationships with their customers and manage their sales funnel. Customer support is great at helping you troubleshoot any problems you may have with the software.
ActiveCampaign’s automation is simple to set up and configure, even intuitive, so you can focus on marketing and selling rather than having to spend hours figuring out how to make the software work for you.
4. Convertkit
Convertkit is an email marketing hub that helps you get your word out in a way that makes people want to listen. It creates beautiful landing pages, sign-up forms, and link pages that make your work stand out from the crowd.
ConvertKit saves you money on fees while increasing conversions by helping you market your digital products and subscriptions to drive higher conversions. It features a Visual Email Automation platform that helps you send perfectly-timed and targeted content to the humans in your audience so you can focus on growing your online business.
With Convertkit, you’ll get a wide range of features in one place, meaning no more switching between different apps to manage your email list or organize your social media marketing campaigns.
- Easy-to-use
- Powerful automation
- Smart tagging/Tag-based Subscriber System
- Excellent integration
- Creates dynamic emails
- Visual automation builder
- Live Chat Support
- Prohibitively expensive for new content creators
- Automations can be confusing
- A/B testing is limited
- There are limited options for customizing forms and email templates
Pricing
Free
Suitable for new creators building their email list.
With Free Plan, you’ll get:
Unlimited landing pages Unlimited forms Unlimited broadcasts Audience tagging and segmentation Sell digital products & subscriptions Community support
Creator
This is perfect for growing creators who want to automate their work.
You’ll get everything in Free Plan, plus: Live chat & email support Free migration from another tool Automated email sequences Visual automation builders Third-party integrations One additional team member
Creator Pro
This is suitable for experienced creators looking to expand their business.
You’ll get everything in Creator Plan, plus:
Priority live chat & email support Free migration from another tool Automated email sequences Visual automation builders Third-party integrations Unlimited team members Newsletter referral system Subscriber scoring Advanced reporting
Conclusion
The bottom line is that Convertkit is a platform that makes all of your email marketing tasks easy, and it does so in a user-friendly way. It’s an excellent choice for anyone who wants to get started with email marketing without having to invest too much time or energy into the technical aspects of it.
5. OptinMonster
OptinMonster is the leading customer acquisition and lead generation platform that helps you grow your business by creating highly effective opt-in forms.
OptinMonster integrates with all major email marketing solutions and offers a variety of trigger rules to capture qualified leads. This English-speaking provider has a huge user base, but it is rather unsuitable for the German market.
- Easy-to-use
- Adaptive pop-ups
- Customizable templates
- Unlimited pop-ups
- Great Integration
- Poor Customer Service
- Familiar pop-ups
Pricing
Basic
The Basic plan is packed with essential tools that will help you get more leads from your existing traffic.
Use on 1 Site 2,500 Pageviews Unlimited Campaigns Unlimited Subscribers No Subscriber Fees
Plus
This plan is ideal for expanding businesses that aspire to do more.
Everything in Basic, plus: Use on 2 Sites 10,000 Pageviews Unlimited Campaigns Unlimited Subscribers No Subscriber Fees
Pro
This plan is a must-have if you sell anything on your website and want to increase sales.
Everything in Plus, and: Use on 3 Sites 25,000 Pageviews Unlimited Campaigns Unlimited Subscribers No Subscriber Fees
Growth
This plan includes all of the tools you’ll need to improve your conversions.
Everything in Pro, plus: Use on 5 Sites 100,000 Pageviews Unlimited Campaigns Unlimited Subscribers No Subscriber Fees
Conclusion
Overall, OptinMonster is a great tool for starters and those trying to build an email list for lead creation and business growth. It contains a lot of features and is simple to use.
6. CleverReach
CleverReach is the leading provider in the segment of German DIY newsletter tools. With their unique customer-centric approach and their innovative features, they have quickly become one of the most popular providers in this niche.
This German-language provider is used especially by store operators. With CleverReach, you can create your own newsletter without any difficulties. The tool is very simple to use and allows you to create a professional newsletter quickly and easily.
- Easy-to-use
- High deliverability rate
- Wide range of features
- Member of the Certified Senders Alliance (CSA)
- Great Integrations
- Good customer service
- GDPR-compliant provider
- Not the most cost-effective alternative
- Extra charges apply for phone support
Pricing
Lite
This Lite plan is intended for trial and for newsletter newbies with a small number of subscribers.
Lite Tariff includes:
Up to 1,000 emails per month Up to 250 recipients Basic functions only
Essential
Up to 250 receiver
This plan is ideal for frequent email sending and automation.
Essential tariff includes:
Send unlimited emails Ideal for email automation Premium features included
Flex
Up to 1,000 emails
Email quota to be used as needed. Available as a one-time booking or as a subscription.
Flex tariff includes:
Unlimited number of recipients Unused emails do not expire Premium features included
Enterprise
Up to 300,000 emails
Monthly email quota for huge teams and businesses with a significant amount of email
Enterprise tariff includes:
Unlimited number of recipients Monthly new email quota Premium features included
Conclusion
We’ve looked at the overall experience and weighed it against the existing reviews. We believe that for small to large-size newsletters, CleverReach is a decent choice.
The wide range of features on offer makes it a good choice for users sending both small and larger volumes of emails. On the whole, working with this newsletter tool is pleasant and straightforward.
There are a few things that clearly need improvement, but they’re not deal breakers.
7. Getresponse
GetResponse is an online marketing tool designed for small to medium-sized enterprises and claims to have a global reach of 183 countries and to connect over 1 billion subscribers each month.
It includes tools for sending emails, creating pages, and automating your marketing.
GetResponse now offers a website builder, chat functions, e-commerce tools, webinar hosting, landing pages, and marketing automation funnels in addition to email marketing functionality.
- User-friendly
- Powerful list automation
- Spam and Design Testing
- Conventional funnel feature
- Live Chat
- Excellent Integration
- Meets GDPR Requirement
- Great webinar functionality
- Automation is only available in higher plans
- Limited building forms
- Only Max plan users have access to dedicated customer support
Pricing
Free
Up to 500 contacts
The free Plan includes:
Unlimited newsletters 1 landing page Website Builder Connect your domain Signup forms and popups
Email Marketing
Up to 1,000 contacts
Everything in Free plan, plus:
Autoresponders Unlimited landing pages Unlimited Website Builder Basic segmentation Email Scheduling Integrations and API
Marketing Automation
Up to 1,000 contacts
Everything in Email Marketing, plus:
Marketing automation Event-based automation Webinars Advanced segmentation Contact scoring Sales funnels
Ecommerce Marketing
Up to 1,000 contacts
Everything in Marketing Automation, plus:
Quick transactional emails Ecommerce segmentation Abandoned cart recovery Promo codes Product recommendations Web push notifications
Max
Solution for demanding users looking for advanced marketing features and reliable support.
MAX Features General support Shared IP address Email marketing Marketing automation SMS marketing – up to 1000 SMS Webinars for up to 500 attendees Landing pages Web push notifications 10 users per account
Max2
All-inclusive solution with a dedicated Customer Experience Manager (CEM) and infrastructure.
MAX PLUS Premium Features Dedicated CEM and priority support Unlimited email marketing volume Marketing automation strategy consulting SMS marketing – up to 5000 SMS Webinars for up to 1000 attendees Enterprise-grade API limits Transactional emails Unlimited users Single sign-on (SSO)
Conclusion
GetResponse is a true comprehensive marketing platform. It truly delivers, not just delivering functionality that many other newsletter programs lack, but also providing a convenient interface that is straightforward and simple to use.
But if there’s one thing that truly distinguishes GetResponse from the competition, it’s their iOS and Android app, which allows you to not only track but also send newsletters and answer live conversations on the move.
Final Thoughts
Email marketing can be tough to get into if you don’t have the right tools. We recommend Sendinblue as the best email marketing software for beginners because of its generous free plan and user-friendly interface. You can start using Sendinblue very easily as a beginner, and then upgrade when you’re ready to add more features. Do you use email marketing in your business? What’s your favorite email tool? Let us know in the comments below.
