As a small business, it is reasonable to spend as much as your budget allows when running a marketing campaign. But why spend on something you can get for free? On this list, you’ll find some of the best free email marketing software for small businesses – services that won’t cost you a dime!
After studying the rate at which customers would want to receive emails from brands they patronize, 49% of customers would like to get promotional campaigns from their favorite brand weekly. So, why refuse your own customers’ promotional campaigns?
Some email services come with unique limitations as well as cons and pros. So, keep reading to get the details about each platform. And, in the end, we’ll share our recommendations.
Recall that each of the free email marketing software for small businesses is unique even in their free plans. So, to look at it objectively, this list is not arranged in any particular order.
7 Top Email Marketing Software for Small Businesses
| Brand | Starting price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 1. MailChimp | Free plan | Great designs and automation |
| 2. Sendinblue | Free plan | Email and SMS marketing |
| 3. OmniSend | Free plan | eCommerce stores |
| 4. Benchmark | Free plan | Busy marketers |
| 5. MailerLite | Free plan | Small and mid-sized businesses |
| 6. Sender | Free plan | Stunning designs |
| 7. MailPoet | Free plan | WordPress |
1. MailChimp – best for great designs and automation
MailChimp has always been a top choice for many small businesses and bloggers because it was one of the first giants in the email services industry to provide a $0 plan. But, even with the “generosity,” it still comes with superb email marketing and eCommerce tools.
How many subscribers/emails come with it?
MailChimp free plan includes up to 2,000 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month.
But, if you decide to upgrade to unlimited emails, it will cost you $10/month. However, this plan also comes with a limitation of 500 subscribers only. There are higher MailChimp plans you can invest in with lesser limitations.
Why is MailChimp one of the best free email marketing software?
- It provides you with pre-built landing pages.
- It comes with a drag-and-drop editor, along with tons of awesome templates known as some of the best out there.
- You can connect with tools like Eventbrite, Salesforce, and Shopify.
- MailChimp has tools for Facebook ads & posts and Instagram.
- Segmentation and A/B testing make your email campaigns more effective.
- It has automation tools for welcome campaigns, product recommendations, and options for abandoned carts.
Why should you use MailChimp?
MailChimp has always been the option for several small businesses and bloggers, mostly for their great designs and automation functionality. And with all of these features, it’s clear that it’s an excellent choice for an eCommerce store.
» MORE: What is Email Marketing? | Why Email Marketing Is Important? | How Effective Is Email Marketing? | Best Omnisend Alternatives
2. Sendinblue – best for email and SMS marketing
Sendinblue has its headquarters in France, which implies that you’re guaranteed to comply with GDPR. The platform also has an exciting free plan that comes with support for SMS messages, all in a centralized dashboard.
How many subscribers/emails come with it?
Their free plan offers you an unlimited number of subscribers but a 300-email limit per day. That’s why it might not be all that awesome if you’re looking to deliver emails to all your contacts at once. However, you can upgrade anytime you want.
The first option to upgrade is the Lite plan which allows 40,000 emails per month at $25 per month.
What makes Sendinblue one of the best free email marketing software?
- An impressive drag-and-drop email builder
- Excellent automation with tools like abandoned cart messages and coupons in emails.
- SMS campaigns that you can link to your email marketing
- Integration with software like Intercom, Shopify, and Salesforce
- A resourceful WordPress plugin that allows you to manage anything from your WordPress dashboard.
- Chat functionality to reach out to your website visitors in real-time. This is one of the exceptional features of an email marketing platform.
Why should you use Sendinblue?
Sendinblue free plan is one of the best options on this list. Even if you have lots of contacts to send emails to, you can enjoy unlimited emails. The only thing is that you don’t have to send them to all your subscribers on the same day. It’s also an amazing option for WordPress users since it’s the official plugin.
Their analytics is also better than most of the free email marketing software on this list.
3. OmniSend – best for eCommerce stores
OmniSend is one of the best email marketing software for small businesses. It’s more suitable if you’re running online stores. It swiftly pulls products from your online store and generates fun and beautiful emails as well as opt-in forms to grow your email list.
How many subscribers/emails come with it?
With OmniSend, there’s no limit to the number of subscribers you can email a day. However, you can only send 2,000 emails per day and 15,000 per month.
Unlike most email services, the premium options for OmniSend are based on whether you want more advanced features or more emails per month. The least paid plan is $16/month for a maximum of 500 subscribers and 15,000 emails. So, the higher your subscribers, the higher the email count and the price.
What makes OmniSend one of the best email marketing software?
- The eCommerce integrations quickly help you pull products you’re looking to sell into the email.
- It comes with creative signup forms like landing pages, popups, and a wheel-of-fortune game.
- The free plan is great for small businesses, and it has flexible upgrades.
- Create A/B test campaigns and automation reports.
- Send out scratch cards or discount codes.
- Send out automated emails for order confirmations and abandoned carts.
- Retain mobile audience through mobile-design email templates.
Who should use OmniSend?
OmniSend is a great platform for eCommerce stores. Nevertheless, you can use it if you don’t have an online store. But you’ll miss out on features that might be perfect for you from other platforms on this list.
4. Benchmark – best for the busy marketers
Benchmark is known as an instant email designer built particularly for busy marketers. You can edit all your photos in the editor. The templates also include a wide variety for various businesses.
How may subscribers/emails come with it?
Benchmark’s free plan allows you to send up to 250 emails per month to an unlimited subscribers list.
For the upgrade, you can go for the $13.99/month plan for unlimited sends to a maximum of 600 subscribers.
What makes Benchmark one of the best free email marketing software?
- You can instantly custom code your campaigns.
- It takes very little time to create an email campaign.
- It comes with surveys and polls.
- The software’s automation options include abandoned carts, follow-ups, and welcome emails.
- You are given tools for integrating with various applications as well as A/B testing.
Who should use Benchmark?
Since Benchmark offers one of the best free plans in the market, we would recommend it if you’re running a low or zero budget for an email campaign. Otherwise, it’s great for eCommerce stores and bloggers.
» MORE: Best Email Marketing Software for 10,000 Contacts | Outsource Email Marketing | Outbound Email Marketing | What is an Email Marketing Strategy?
5. MailerLite – best for small and mid-sized businesses
Within the last three years, MailerLite rose to popularity as one of the best free email marketing software. This platform makes it easier for users to improve interaction using surveys and pop-ups.
How many subscribers/emails come with it?
The free plan allows you to send up to 1,000 emails without spending a single dime. Although the free plan comes with access to almost all the vital features, you might be left out of some advanced features.
By implication, you won’t be able to build templates, perform A/B testing, check CTR through heatmap, or get help via live chat. However, you can unlock all these features at the cost of $10 per month. Plus, if you choose to increase your contacts limit to 2500, you have to purchase the $15/month instead.
What makes MailerLite one of the best email marketing software?
- You can easily create a mobile-friendly email template at no cost.
- You can design fantastic email pop-ups, newsletters, and surveys.
- You’d granted control over your backend through the custom HTML editor.
- You can send a newsletter to global contacts at the right time through “delivery by time zone.”
- You are provided with a special support team for offering a helpful live chat experience (paid plan)
- Access to over 49 pre-built newsletter templates for eCommerce, blogs, businesses, and more.
- Identify the most effective landing page using heatmap analysis and A/B testing.
Who should use MailerLite?
MailerLite is great for creating popups, surveys, and landing pages from a centralized dashboard. All of these and the heatmap testing make it an excellent option for small businesses, eCommerce stores, and small to mid-sized businesses.
6. Sender – best for stunning designs
Sender is another great email service with an amazing free plan for small businesses. The free plan is fantastic as it comes with features like segmentation, stunning designs, and integrations to go along with push notifications.
How many subscribers/emails come with?
The free version of Sender lets you send 15,000 emails monthly to up to 2,500 subscribers. Simultaneously, the upgraded version is $10 monthly for 60,000 emails per month to 5,000 subscribers.
What makes Sender one of the best email marketing software?
- You can convert videos into animated GIFs inside emails.
- The sender provides plugins for several popular content management systems.
- Adding eCommerce products is done instantly by copy and paste.
- The analysis tools come with Google Analytics and click maps.
Who should use Sender?
The sender provides excellent tools, and the cost remains reasonably low even as you upgrade.
7. MailPoet – best for WordPress
MailPoet is another top email marketing software for small businesses. The most exceptional feature about MailPoet is that it’s a WordPress plugin that allows you to manage your email campaign efforts from within your WordPress dashboard. This makes it one of the best free email marketing software to take advantage of.
How many subscribers/emails come with it?
Just like MailChimp, MailPoet free plan allows up to 2,000 subscribers, but it’s a bit better because you get to send unlimited emails to all those 2,000 contacts. However, you’ll need a separate sending tool.
For the paid plan, you can choose to purchase the premium pack to pay a one-time fee and using a sending service you prefer or are already using. Or you may also pay MailPoet a monthly fee to have them send the emails for you.
Price
- One-time $99 fee, but you’ll have to pay for sending service. Although, the price is based on the service. For instance, Amazon SES will cost you $1 per 10,000 emails.
- Recurring monthly payments to allow MailPoet to manage your mailings for you. This will cost you $10/monthly (for the monthly payment) or $4.17/month (for annual payment)
What makes MailPoet one of the best free email marketing software?
- Drag-and-drop newsletter builder
- Autoresponders
- Works within your WordPress dashboard
- Delivers your latest uploads automatically
- Both double and single opt-in
- Analytics and statistics (clicks, opens, unsubscribes)
- More than 70 themes, including Photoshop files
- Mobile-friendly newsletters
- List organization in categories and segmentation
- Drag-and-drop designer for a subscription form
Why should you use MailPoet?
For one, if you like the idea of doing all your email campaign work from within your WordPress dashboard.
Also, it can turn out to be cheaper than MailChimp and some other free email marketing software, especially if your business has a lot of customers. For a $99 one-time plan, you can reach any number of subscribers you want. Then you’ll have a pay a token of $1 per 10,000 emails using Amazon SES as your sending service.
This is a fantastic option you don’t want to let slide!
After all considerations, here are our final recommendations:
- MailChimp is arguably the best all-in-one free email marketing software. That is only if the 2,000 subscribers limit is not an issue for your business.
- If your business has a large number of subscribers to whom you must send emails, Sendinblue is the best solution, especially if your contact list is likely to grow in the future. You also get to use their awesome SMS feature.
- If you have an online store to run, your best option would be MailerLite or OmniSend.
- If you’re willing to let go of more money for long-term cost-effectiveness, then your best option would be MailPoet. Their pricing shows how beneficial it can be in the future. And you also get to run everything from your WordPress dashboard.
Wrap Up
If you haven’t made up your mind after reading up to this stage, then you can try reading our brief recommendations first before going further to have a detailed look at the features and pricing of your choice.
Nonetheless, irrespective of your choice, you can hardly go wrong with any of our selections as they are the best free email marketing software for small businesses you can find in the industry.