Choosing an email marketing platform should not require a 14-tab comparison spreadsheet and a call with a sales rep named Gary.
But somehow that's where we are. Several hundred platforms, each with its own pricing tiers, "advanced" features that turn out to be conditional logic from 2009, and free plans that become invoices the second you hit 501 subscribers. I've tested these platforms across real accounts, real lists, and campaigns with real consequences. Here's what actually works.
Quick Comparison: Best Email Marketing Platforms
| Platform | Best For | Free Plan | SMS | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Klaviyo | Ecommerce | Yes (250 contacts) | Yes | ~$45/mo (1k contacts) |
| ActiveCampaign | B2B & automation | No | Add-on | ~$15/mo |
| Kit | Creators & newsletters | Yes (10k subs) | No | ~$25/mo |
| Brevo | Budget-first senders | Yes (300/day) | Yes | ~$9/mo |
| Mailchimp | Beginners | Yes (500 contacts) | Yes | ~$13/mo |
| MailerLite | Small lists | Yes (1k subs) | No | ~$10/mo |
| Omnisend | Ecommerce + SMS | Yes (500/mo) | Yes | ~$16/mo |
| HubSpot Email | Enterprise / CRM users | Yes (2k/mo) | Yes | ~$20/mo |
| Drip | Ecommerce | No | No | ~$39/mo |
| GetResponse | All-around use | Yes (limited) | No | ~$19/mo |
Pricing approximate. Check each platform for current rates.
What Actually Matters (And What Doesn't)
Deliverability first. Every platform will tell you their deliverability is "industry-leading." Ignore that. What matters is how your emails perform with your list, your domain, and your sending volume. Some platforms run shared IP pools that get dragged down by bad senders you've never met. Others give you dedicated IPs once you scale. Worth asking before you sign anything.
Automation logic. Most modern platforms support basic automation. The difference is in complexity. Can you branch flows based on purchase behavior? Trigger emails from webhooks? Set a conditional wait that only moves forward if someone clicks a specific link? For simple sequences, this doesn't matter much. For sophisticated multi-step flows, it matters enormously.
Pricing structure. Some platforms charge by contacts. Some by emails sent. Some by both. This is where people get burned. Running a contacts-based platform with a dirty list is expensive. Clean your email list hygiene before you migrate anywhere, and run the math on both models before you commit.
Support that exists. Chat support at 11pm during your Black Friday campaign is not the same as a 48-hour email ticket. Know what you're paying for before the crisis hits. It will hit.
Recent industry data puts email marketing ROI at around $36-42 for every dollar spent. That number only happens if your emails actually arrive somewhere. Platform choice affects that more than most people realize.
The Best Email Marketing Platforms, Ranked
1. Klaviyo - Best for Ecommerce
Klaviyo is the default answer for ecommerce, and it earned that position. The Shopify and WooCommerce integrations are genuinely good. The pre-built flow templates for abandoned cart, post-purchase, and browse abandonment work out of the box without requiring a developer.
The segmentation is the best you'll find at this price point. You can slice by purchase history, product category, LTV, predicted LTV, and behavioral signals most platforms don't even track.
The catch: the pricing scales fast. A list of 10,000 contacts runs close to $175/month. If you're not generating at least 10x that in attributed revenue, you're overpaying.
The verdict: best-in-class for ecommerce. Expensive to scale. Worth it if you're actually using it.
2. ActiveCampaign - Best for Automation
B2B, SaaS, or anyone who needs complex multi-step sequences usually ends up here. The visual automation builder is genuinely excellent. You can build conditional flows that would require a spreadsheet and a lot of prayer to replicate in Mailchimp.
The CRM functionality is decent—not as full-featured as a dedicated CRM, but enough for small sales teams that want email and pipeline in one place. Deliverability is consistently reliable across the accounts I've worked with.
The interface rewards people who already know what they want. Beginners will feel like they're learning to drive a manual in rush-hour traffic. Fun.
3. Kit - Best for Creators
Kit (formerly ConvertKit, rebrand in 2024 that helped approximately no one) is built specifically for newsletters, course creators, and content businesses. Everything in the product is optimized for that world.
The free plan goes up to 10,000 subscribers, which is genuinely useful rather than a bait-and-switch. The recommendation network, where Kit creators recommend each other's newsletters, is a legitimate list growth tool you won't find anywhere else.
Kit isn't built for ecommerce automation or complex purchase-triggered sequences. If you're moving product, look elsewhere.
4. Brevo - Best Budget Option
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) charges by emails sent, not by contacts. That is the entire pitch, and it is a good one if your situation fits it.
Large list, low send frequency: Brevo is significantly cheaper than any contact-based platform. The free plan includes 300 emails per day, which is real utility. SMS is built in, which most platforms charge extra for.
Where Brevo falls short: the advanced segmentation and ecommerce integrations aren't as deep as Klaviyo or ActiveCampaign. You're trading sophistication for cost efficiency. For many businesses, that's the right trade.
5. Mailchimp - Proceed With Caution
Mailchimp is the platform everyone has heard of. It's also the platform professionals quietly stop recommending once businesses get serious about email.
The problem: expensive for what you get once you grow past a small list. The automations are limited compared to ActiveCampaign. The interface hasn't improved as fast as its competitors. The contact-based pricing gets painful fast, and the free plan is more restrictive than it used to be.
For a complete beginner with a small list who just wants to send monthly newsletters, Mailchimp works fine. For anyone running sophisticated sequences, aggressive segmentation, or serious deliverability management, there are better options at the same price point.
Mailchimp leads in brand recognition. That's a marketing win, nothing more.
6. MailerLite - Best for Small Lists
MailerLite does one thing extremely well: it's simple, affordable, and doesn't make you feel like an idiot for using it.
The free plan covers 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month. For a small business or personal brand starting out, that's legitimately useful. The drag-and-drop builder is clean. Automations are basic but functional. You can build a solid welcome series, a simple post-purchase sequence, and a newsletter cadence without needing a tutorial.
Once you hit 50,000 subscribers and need aggressive segmentation, you'll need to graduate. For everyone else, it's an underrated choice.
7. Omnisend - Best Ecommerce + SMS Combo
If you want email AND SMS in one platform, Omnisend is the most cohesive version of that I've seen. The ecommerce integrations are solid, and the SMS workflow lives inside the same automation builder as email.
That means you can build real multi-channel sequences: email day 1, SMS day 3, push notification day 5, all in one flow. Most platforms bolt SMS on as a separate product with a separate interface. It's weird. Omnisend doesn't do that.
It's not quite as deep as Klaviyo on the email side, but the cross-channel setup is genuinely good. If SMS marketing is part of your retention strategy, Omnisend is worth serious consideration.
8. HubSpot Email - Best If You're Already in the Ecosystem
HubSpot email makes sense in exactly one scenario: you're already using HubSpot for your CRM and sales pipeline.
If that's you, adding email gives you full attribution from lead source to closed deal. Native integration, no workarounds. That's valuable.
If you're not on HubSpot already, the email tool alone is not worth HubSpot prices. You're paying for the ecosystem, not just an email sender. The free tier includes 2,000 emails per month, which is a reasonable way to test.
9. Drip - Ecommerce Without the Fanfare
Drip doesn't have Klaviyo's market share or its funding. What it does have is a clean, capable ecommerce email platform with solid automation and a price that's easier to justify early on.
The pre-built ecommerce workflows are good. Revenue attribution is solid. The interface is arguably cleaner than Klaviyo's.
The tradeoff: Drip doesn't have the community, the deep integration marketplace, or the brand recognition Klaviyo has spent years building. If you're starting fresh and want to hedge against Klaviyo's pricing trajectory, Drip is a legitimate alternative.
10. GetResponse - Reliable, Unremarkable
GetResponse has been around for decades and still powers a lot of businesses. It's functional and has a complete feature set for the price.
Email plus automation plus landing pages plus webinars plus basic CRM, all in one product. Decent at all of them. The kind of platform your accountant would pick. Which isn't an insult.
How to Actually Choose
Stop picking based on features you'll never use. Pick based on your actual situation.
Ecommerce brand: Klaviyo if budget isn't the constraint. Omnisend if you want email and SMS combined. Drip if you want Klaviyo-level functionality at a lower entry price.
B2B company or SaaS: ActiveCampaign. It's not close.
Creator or newsletter: Kit. The recommendation network alone is worth it.
Budget constrained, large list: Brevo. You pay for sends, not contacts.
Small list, just starting: MailerLite. Clean, generous free plan, won't overwhelm you.
Already on HubSpot: Stay there for email too.
One more thing: pick a platform and learn it properly before migrating. Migrating email lists costs you momentum, a warm sender reputation, and the hours you spent rebuilding automations. Recent data suggests businesses that switch ESPs more than once in two years rarely see a deliverability improvement from the move. The problem usually isn't the platform.
The best email marketing platform is the one you actually use well.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best email marketing platform for beginners?
MailerLite or Mailchimp. Both have free plans and simple interfaces. MailerLite has a more generous free tier (1,000 subscribers vs. 500) and a cleaner UI. Mailchimp has more name recognition—that's about it.
Is Mailchimp still worth using?
For absolute beginners with a small list, yes. For growing businesses that need serious automation and segmentation, there are better options at similar price points. Mailchimp is coasting on brand recognition while its competitors have built better products.
What is the best email marketing platform for ecommerce?
Klaviyo for established stores with budget. Omnisend if you want email and SMS in one platform. Drip as a solid alternative to Klaviyo. All three integrate well with Shopify and WooCommerce.
How much does email marketing software cost?
Most platforms start between $9-45/month for small lists. Expect $100-500+/month once you're above 10,000 active subscribers, depending on platform and sending volume. Always run the math on your actual list size and send frequency before committing.
Which email marketing platforms have the best deliverability?
ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo consistently perform well. That said, deliverability is heavily influenced by your own email warmup practices, sender reputation, and list hygiene. A good platform won't save a bad sender. Ask me how I know.