Best Free Email Marketing Tools & Platforms

Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to increase business sales. Even in 2024, this still continues to deliver higher ROI than any other marketing strategy. Email marketing isn’t about just randomly sending some emails and hoping customers will respond to them. There are chances that your mail could directly land in the spam section which isn’t good. But this can be changed by trying out the best email marketing tools to increase your success.

These so-called top email marketing tools essentially allow you to send customized emails to your potential customers based on their needs. But there are so many tools on the web which can be overwhelming for those stepping into this area. But don’t worry as we have compiled a list of the top 10 free email marketing tools that will enhance your marketing efforts and save time and money. So, if you are here for that and want to learn more about email marketing, we have covered that in this article, let’s get started.

Why do we need a free email marketing tool?

Before we say why, know this fact that the active number of email users is estimated to reach 4.89 billion by 2027 (up from 4.37 billion in 2023). Most marketers would agree that email marketing campaigns are one of the most cost-effective marketing tools to drive revenue, traffic, engagement and conversions. A personalized email campaign, especially when you’re using a free email marketing platform or even a paid one, can be incredibly powerful for reaching the right people. Choosing the right email marketing free tools or free email marketing software is, therefore, an important task.

Best free email marketing software & platforms

Tool Name	Best Feature	Free Feature	Costing	Rating out of 5
Mailchimp	Comprehensive suite of tools for managing email marketing campaigns	Limited free email marketing tool plan allows managing up to 500 contacts and sending 1,000 emails	Essentials: $4.5/month Standard: $6.72/month Premium: $134/month	4.2
HubSpot	Seamless CRM integration	Limited to 2000 emails per month, making it a viable free email marketing platform	Starter: $15/month Professional: $800/month Enterprise: $3,600/month	4.5
Brevo	Comprehensive email, SMS, & chat capabilities	Free email marketing software offers 300 emails daily for unlimited subscribers	$9/month (Starter) $18/month (Business) Custom quote for Enterprise plan	4.6
EmailOctopus	Clean design and powerful automation features	One of the free email marketing tools for small business to consider	Paid plan: $9/month	4.8
Moosend	Robust marketing automation capabilities	30-day free trial with all core features	30-day free trial plan Paid plan: $9 per month (Pro)	4.6
Salesforce	Highly adaptable and customizable cloud-based platform	Primarily a CRM with paid marketing functionalities	Starter Suite: $25/month Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: $1,500/Org/Month Marketing Cloud Advanced: $3,250/Org/Month	4.2
Mailjet	An all-in-one platform for transactional and marketing emails	Allows sending 6,000 monthly emails	Essential: $17/month Premium: $27/month	4.2
Klaviyo	Comprehensive platform for building personalized user experiences	Allows sending up to 500 monthly emails to 250 profiles	Email: $45 per month Email + SMS: $60 per month	4.6
Sender	Simple to use interface and robust automation features	Can send up to 15,000 monthly emails to 2,500 subscribers	Standard: $10/month Professional: $20/month Enterprise: Custom Price	4.6
Drip	Automation-focused email marketing for e-commerce	14-day free trial with access to most features	Paid plan: Starts at $39 per month (2500 users)	4.6

Checklist: Comparing Free Email Marketing Platforms

Email Infrastructure

One of the vital elements of an email marketing platform is its infrastructure. The infrastructure part can be divided into three major components, namely deliverability, reliability and scalability.

Deliverability – Deliverability is termed as when the email marketing platform can deliver emails from the sender to the receiver. To achieve this communication, the platform utilizes several communication protocols, dedicated IPs, etc. Consider exploring a free email marketing tool to understand the basics of deliverability.

Scalability – Having an email marketing platform means it should be able to scale up as your business grows. This is defined as scalability. Building a free mailing list is often the first step for businesses starting out.

Reliability – Reliability stands for how effectively the particular email marketing tool can deliver emails without any major problems. Whichever platform you choose, make sure that its infrastructure performs reliably. Various free email marketing sites offer reliable services to get you started.

AI in email marketing

Incorporating AI into email marketing helps optimize email campaign tools, create content, provide valuable customer insights and automate tasks efficiently. This leads to better engagement, customer conversion and more.

Integrations – You can improve your marketing efforts by integrating essential tools or apps into your preferred email marketing platform. Various third-party tools are available on the web, compatible with different platforms.

Automation – Automating repetitive email marketing tasks does wonders and makes your work a lot more efficient. You can focus on other important work without worrying about your marketing efforts. Most brands opt for a free email newsletter service to automate their newsletters.

Drag-and-drop email builder

Organizing emails can be a chore without the right tools. This is where drag-and-drop email builders make your work easier. You can easily customize the layout, preview versions, etc, in just a few clicks.

Email analytics – Executing and managing email marketing campaigns without utilising analytics won’t get you anywhere. These tools provide key insights on your campaign performance, areas that need improvement, etc.

Email templates library – Having templates helps save time and ensure consistent branding and messaging for your email marketing campaign. Depending on the platform, some offer a limited set of templates while some let you use all the templates for free.

User experience – A user experience can be classified into four different aspects which are namely ease of use, documentation, customer support and integration capabilities. Make sure to check for these factors before choosing your desired email marketing platform. There are several free email marketing tools for small businesses known for their user-friendly interfaces.

Customer experience – Checking out user reviews is an important factor before considering the right email marketing platform. Websites such as G2, Trustpilot, and Capterra provide genuine testimonials and reviews about the tools.

Legal compliance and security – Depending on the country, most email marketing platforms comply with various legal regulations such as GDPR (EU), CCPA and CPRA (US), and so on. The platform you choose must meet these regulations and must have encryption protocols such as HTTPS, AES 256, etc.

Pricing – Most email marketing platforms will offer free and paid plans. It is a good idea to check whether the tool delivers what you need in the free plan itself. Only if it fits your business do you need to upgrade to the paid plan. You can even send a free email blast to your contact list to see how it works.

Top 10 email marketing tools in 2024

What are the best email marketing tools? Well, that isn’t easy to pinpoint, especially with the growing number of such tools in the digital marketing. But, we have some of the top email marketing tools listed down which will be examined one by one so that you can try them out for your successful marketing campaign:

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is probably one of the best email marketing tools available to choose from. It offers various features that include basic email newsletter templates, A/B testing, and even a built-in CRM to help out with your business. What’s more, you can monitor trends, and track campaign performance to understand audience behaviour. You can know the number of users who have interacted with your campaign. Above all, the platform offers you the data of customers’ emails in their spam folder so that you can avoid yours from getting there.

Pros

Intuitive user interface: Mailchimp’s user interface is designed with simplicity in mind. This means that beginners to experts can use the platform with ease.
Integration capabilities: Mailchimp supports over 250+ integrations that allow brands to seamlessly connect the platform with their existing tools.

Cons

Limited free templates: Mailchimp has a limited set of email templates than its competitors, making it difficult for new users to create emails quickly.
Complex Pricing: Pricing plans are based on the number of contacts, which can become expensive as your list grows.

Pricing

Paid plan: Essentials: ($4.5/ month), Standard: ($6.72/ month), Premium: ($134/ month)

Free plan: Limited to up to 500 subscribers and 10,000 emails/month

HubSpot

Want a reliable and feature-packed platform to fuel your email marketing funnel? Make it happen with Hubspot, one of the top email marketing tools available. Create personalized, mobile-friendly emails for each recipient, run A/B tests, and more to measure your emails’ performance and improve click-through rates.

Pros

Integrated Content Management System: HubSpot’s user-friendly CMS eliminates the need for third-party content management tools.
Powerful automation capabilities: The platform’s built-in marketing automation streamlines repetitive tasks and offers data-driven insights, allowing businesses to generate higher revenue.

Cons

Limited Reporting on starter plans: HubSpot’s advanced reporting and analytics features are available only on the higher-tier plans.
Limited email options: Customization options are limited, with no native email forwarding and a limited number of templates.

Pricing

Free plan: Limited to 2000 emails per month

Paid plans: Starter($15/month), Professional($800/month), Enterprise($3,600/month)

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

Pros

Versatile AI Assistant: The tool’s built-in AI assistant is known for its versatility and can be used to generate and refine email content, optimize send times and more.
Cost-effective: Compared to other email marketing platforms, Brevo is much more affordable, making it a good choice for brands with limited budgets.

Cons

Limited templates: Brevo consists of a limited set of templates as compared to its competitors.
Deliverability issues: Brevo doesn’t have a consistent deliverability feature

Pricing

Free plan: Includes 300 emails per day for unlimited subscribers

Paid plans: $25/month (Lite), $65/month (Premium), and a custom quote for the Enterprise plan.

EmailOctopus

Does your business involve the mass sharing of emails? EmailOctopus is what you need for your business, providing all the essential features to grow your mailing lists. Being one of the free email blast options, this comes with an easy-to-use email editor with which you can build HTML, rich, and simple plain text emails. Other amazing features include a drag-and-drop interface and condition-based automation for creating custom onboarding sequences, etc.

Pros

One of the best, easy-to-use email marketing platforms
Offering 24/7 support on both free and paid plans

Cons

The tool consists of limited automation features.
There is no A/B testing option, which means that testing requires sending separate emails

Pricing

Free plan: Can send up to 10,000 emails to 2,500 subscribers.

Paid plan: Starts at $9 per month, which allows sending 10,000 emails per month to up to 500 subscribers.

Moosend

If your business has a small email list, Moosend is a better alternative as you can send unlimited emails to 1000 subscribers monthly. It offers a segmentation feature that helps increase conversions and email open rates. Opening a Moosend account gives you access to its robust reporting and analytics dashboard. This can be used to track and monitor the campaign performance. For those looking for free email marketing sites, Moosend is a good choice.

Pros

Users get access to pro-level features at affordable prices. This includes unlimited emails, multi-step marketing automation workflows, design testing, etc.
Moosend offers well-detailed reports, heatmaps, geolocation insights and other essential information.

Cons

Lackluster set of templates, especially in the signup forms and landing pages.
There is no free plan apart from a 30-day trial, after which you must upgrade

Pricing

Free plan: offers unlimited emails per month to 1000 people

Paid plan: $9/month (Pro), and custom plans (Enterprise).

SalesForce

The list of email marketing tools cannot be completed without Salesforce, the premium trusted CRM tool for sales. Having a ton of highly useful features that help manage sales, and perform email marketing and comes with several integrations that enhance its functionalities. Key features include customer journey builder, SMS marketing, Ad optimization and more. Salesforce is a good option if you’re looking for a free email newsletter service with robust CRM integration.

Pros

Plenty of customization options: The platform offers a ton of email customization options to cater for your unique customer needs.
24×7 customer support: Salesforce customer team offers 24/7 service through live chat and phone.

Cons

Salesforce is quite expensive and offers enterprise-level features, which isn’t ideal for businesses looking for basic marketing.
The tool has a difficult learning curve due to its complexity and variety of tools.

Pricing

Starter Suite ($25/month), Marketing Cloud Growth Edition ($1,500/Org/Month), Marketing Cloud Advanced ($3,250/Org/Month)

Mailjet

If your priority is to build effective email marketing campaigns, then Mailjet is one of the best free email marketing tools for small business that help you with that. The drag-and-drop features make creating personalised email campaigns simpler than ever, and in real-time too. Mailjet also offers the capability to integrate the platform into your CRM tool. Not only does this help get better results, but it also makes the whole email marketing process a lot easier.

Pros

Easy-to-use features: Mailjet offers a comprehensive suite of features that are easy to use.
Affordable pricing: Mailjet offers cost-effective pricing plans that offer access to most of the features.

Cons

Limited automation: Automation features offered by the tool are limited. It is not possible to make edits once the automation is live.
Hectic list management: List management isn’t user-friendly. It is not possible to remove unsubscribed or bounced users automatically.

Pricing

Free plan: 6,000 emails/month (200 emails per day)
Paid plans: Essential: $17/month, Premium: $27/month

Klaviyo

When it comes to e-commerce brands, Klaviyo has been one of the most popular email marketing tools out there. Known for its wide range of features, such as automating email marketing flows, managing omnichannel campaigns, list segmentation, 350+ pre-built integrations, etc., this is one of the must-try best email marketing tools.

Pros

Easy-to-use AI Tools: The built-in AI tools help businesses predict customer behaviour, generate content, create targeted campaigns, etc.
Seamless Integration: Klaviyo offers seamless integration and works well with all major platforms. This makes it easy to track customer data for marketing.

Cons

Higher pricing plans: Compared to its competitors, Klaviyo’s paid plans are typically on the higher side.
Lack of Landing Pages: The tool doesn’t have a dedicated landing page builder, unlike other tools.

Pricing

Free plan: Send up to 500 emails monthly
Paid plans: Email: $45 per month, Email + SMS: $60 per month

Sender

Still want to know the best free email marketing tools to carry out your marketing strategy? Sender would suit you well. You can create newsletters from scratch by choosing the right set of templates and customizations. The tool supports one-click plugins and API integrations that make your email marketing campaign a lot easier to manage.

Pros

The tool’s free plan allows sending up to 15,000 emails per month
Offers automation features and deliverability at budget-friendly pricing

Cons

Emails sent through the free plan have the Sender’s branding
There is a lack of advanced segmentation options

Pricing

Standard: $10/month
Professional: $20/month
Enterprise: Custom Price

Drip

Another email marketing automation platform specifically built for e-commerce is Drip. Its features include pre-built workflows, an advanced drag-and-drop email builder, advanced audience segmentation, and native integration with 100+ best e-commerce platforms. It also has a specialized analytics feature that lets you know the lead score and lifetime value of each subscriber on your mailing list.

Pros

Detailed Analytics: Drip delivers well-detailed data insights and seamless integration capabilities.
Amazing email workflow builder: One of Drip’s highlight features is its automation builder tool. It offers prebuilt workflows and plenty of customization options to get started with.

Cons

No free plan: Drip doesn’t have a free plan, however, you get a 14-day free trial that gives access to every feature.
No cancellation or refunds: Drip doesn’t offer any sort of refunds except for extenuating circumstances.

Pricing

Starts at $39 per month (2500 users)

FAQs: Email marketing tools

What is an email marketing platform?

This is an online tool whose primary function is to create, manage and automate email marketing tasks. Opting for a free email marketing platform allows you to create email lists, target specific audiences and connect with them on a deeper level, track results, etc.

What is the best email marketing platform?

There isn’t a specific answer to that question because there are several tools that have the best features and pricing. It is better to search for the top 10 email marketing tools online and do a comparison.

What costs should you expect to pay for an email marketing tool?

Most email marketing platforms offer free and paid plans that are based on the number of contacts and emails sent monthly. Do some research, and you will find several free email marketing tool plans with limited features and their paid versions. If you are a beginner, it’s okay to start with a free or a cheap email marketing software.

What are the main features to look for in an email marketing platform?

As most email marketing platforms offer a plethora of features, some of the important ones would be an email list management, automation features, higher deliverability, detailed reporting, etc.

Is email marketing still worth it?

Email marketing remains one of the highly affordable marketing strategies. Not only does it allow you to reach out to your audience faster, but you can also get higher returns by utilizing email campaign tools.

What is the best email platform for small businesses?

Choosing the best free email marketing tools for small business depends on your preferences. As a general rule of thumb, it is better to opt for tools offering a striking balance of ease of use, affordability and essential features.

What makes a good free email marketing software?

Several email marketing free tools offer good features. The point to note is that if the tool meets your business needs well without difficulties, then it is considered good software.

Why use an email marketing software?

Communicating with your large customer base and managing their needs in real time isn’t easy. This is where email marketing platforms make the job easier and efficient. It offers the right set of tools to create and manage your email marketing campaigns.

Can I start email marketing for free?

Of course, most free email marketing sites offer free plans to get started with. However, the perks associated with it will be lower compared to a higher-paid plan.

How to email blast for free?

Certain email marketing platforms do offer free email blast options, but there will be limitations. This is important and has to be checked before choosing the ideal tool for your purpose.

Do people pay for email newsletters?

Most email newsletter services are free and are used by brands to promote their products and services. If there is exclusive content or data, a free email newsletter service might evolve into a paid subscription model over time.

Winding up

Understanding and choosing the free email marketing tools for your purpose makes a big difference when it comes to lead generation, budget and business growth. Checking out the various free and paid email marketing tools explained above will give an idea about which one to choose since all of them have their own set of advantages. If you are in doubt, it’s worth trying the free versions of all and knowing which of them suits your business well. Or, you can consult with the best email marketing company in Dubai, GTECH where our team will assist you with ease.