Tasks/Sales

Which tool for email marketing?

Email marketing tools send newsletters, campaigns and automated emails to people who opted in, and the biggest difference between them is how they count your bill. Brevo charges for emails sent, so storing a large list is cheap. Kit and Mailchimp charge by subscribers or contacts, Klaviyo by active profiles (everyone you can email, including shoppers who gave an address at checkout), and HubSpot by marketing contacts and seats. Pick by what you sell and how you grow: an online store needs automations built on order data, a creator needs landing pages and paid newsletters, and a sales-led business needs email tied to its CRM. Mailchimp, the best-known tool, now has a free plan of 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, and Essentials costs $13 and Standard $20 at 500 contacts but $110 and $135 at 10,000. MailerLite and beehiiv are worth a look too (see the FAQ). We ranked the tools on how price grows with your list, the free plan, automations and segmentation, integrations, and deliverability tools. Prices checked November 13, 2026 on each vendor's pricing page or help center, US, monthly unless noted; Mailchimp's, Kit's and Klaviyo's tier tables load with scripts or block automated reads, so those tier prices come from captures of their pricing pages dated October 25 to November 11, 2026.

Analyst verdictBrevo8.3

The best email marketing software for most small businesses is Brevo: it charges by emails sent rather than contacts, is free for 300 emails a day and starts at $9 a month, so a big list you email a few times a month stays cheap. Klaviyo is best for ecommerce stores, Kit for creators and newsletters (free up to 10,000 subscribers), and HubSpot when email should live in the same CRM as your sales team.

Updated 2026-11-134 tools rankedEditorial, not sponsored
Ranking · Updated 2026-11-13

Best email marketing software in 2026

01
Best for most small businesses

Brevo

Priced by emails sent: free for 300 emails a day with up to 100,000 stored contacts, Starter from $9 a month for 5,000 emails and Standard from $18 with A/B testing. Email, SMS, WhatsApp, transactional email and a basic CRM in one account.

8.3Freemium
02
Best for ecommerce stores

Klaviyo

Abandoned-cart, browse and post-purchase flows run on your store's order data from Shopify, WooCommerce or BigCommerce, with product recommendations and SMS on the same profile. $20 a month at 500 active profiles, but $150 at 10,000 and $350 at 15,000.

8.4Freemium
03
Best for creators and newsletters

Kit

Free up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, landing pages and forms; Creator from $39 a month ($33 yearly) adds automations and sequences. Paid newsletters, digital products and cross-recommendations are built in, and no plan has a sending limit.

8.2Freemium
04
Best for email tied to a CRM

HubSpot

Marketing email lives on the same contact record as sales and service. Free sends 2,000 emails a month with HubSpot branding; Starter is $20 a seat ($7 under a new-customer offer) for 1,000 marketing contacts, but automation-heavy Professional jumps to $800 a month plus a $3,000 onboarding fee.

8.6Freemium
FAQ

Questions buyers ask

What is the best email marketing software?

Brevo for most small businesses, because pricing by emails sent keeps large lists cheap: free for 300 emails a day, paid from $9 a month. Klaviyo for online stores, Kit for creators and newsletters, and HubSpot if you want email inside your CRM.

What is the best free email marketing software?

Kit if you send a newsletter: free up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, but no automations. Brevo for a business list you email occasionally (300 emails a day, up to 100,000 stored contacts). MailerLite's free plan includes automations for 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, and HubSpot sends 2,000 emails a month free with its branding.

Is MailerLite good for email marketing?

Yes, for small businesses that want a simple editor and automations on a budget. Its free plan covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, and paid plans start at $12 a month ($10.80 billed yearly) for 500 subscribers. We have not reviewed it in depth yet; compare it with Brevo at your list size.

What is the best email marketing software for newsletters?

Kit for creators who sell products or paid newsletters, free up to 10,000 subscribers. beehiiv is built for publishers who want growth tools and an ad network (free up to 2,500 subscribers, Lite from $49 a month billed yearly at 1,000), and Ghost when you want a newsletter and website with 0% fees on paid subscriptions from its Publisher plan. Our Substack alternatives page compares them.

What is the best email marketing software for Shopify?

Klaviyo. It uses your store's orders, products and browsing to drive abandoned-cart, browse and post-purchase flows and product recommendations. Its price grows with every profile you can email, so it gets expensive past 10,000 profiles ($150 a month on the Email plan).

Is Mailchimp still worth it?

For small lists that need good templates and ecommerce features, it is fine, but it is rarely the cheapest. The free plan dropped to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, and Essentials and Standard cost $110 and $135 a month at 10,000 contacts. Our Mailchimp alternatives page compares the switch.

Can I use email marketing software for cold email?

No. Email marketing tools are for people who opted in, and their terms prohibit purchased or scraped lists. For outreach to people who never signed up, use a cold email tool with separate sending domains and warm-up.

Leaving Mailchimp? Best Mailchimp alternatives.

Publishing a newsletter? Best Substack alternatives.

Emailing people who never signed up? Best cold email tools.

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