6 Best (REALLY FREE) Email Marketing Tools in 2023

Many email marketing services offer free trials or accounts, but most have limited features or allow access for only a short time. Very few serious email marketing tools offer no-cost plans that you could actually use to promote your business successfully.

When my digital agency clients first begin building their email lists, I recommend they start with a free service. Yet any free platform I suggest has to support at least 500 subscribers and have a deliverability rate that instills confidence – as close to 100% as possible. After all, if an email platform can’t meet those basic requirements, then it isn’t worth your time – even if it’s free.

I spent several weeks testing all the major free email marketing plans out there to find the platforms that provide reliable service. My favorite service is Brevo (previously Sendinblue), as its free plan has generous send limits and includes a wide range of marketing features. However, all of my recommended services let you access the most important features without you having to pay a dime.

What We Look For in the Best Free Email Marketing Software

When I try out free email marketing plans, one of my biggest priorities is making sure they don’t have frustrating limitations. If I’m going to use a free platform, it should have features that I’d consider paying for – not restrictions that slow down workflows. In this round-up, all of the options that made the cut include these basic features:

• Subscriber capacity: Free email marketing plans can restrict your number of subscribers and the pacing of your email sends. Any free plan I choose has to allow at least 500 contacts.
• Deliverability: Because I want to make sure the emails I send land in subscribers’ inboxes, I look for free plans from platforms that have deliverability rates as close as possible to 100%.
• Responsive email templates: Designing emails from scratch takes time and skills that you might not have. I look for well-designed templates with mobile-responsive layouts to make everyone’s job easier.
• Contact list segmentation: As your list grows, you don’t always want to send every email to every subscriber – but some free plans make it hard not to do so. I seek out email marketing platforms that allow tagging and segmentation.
• Reliable customer support: Some free plans offer limited support options or no support at all. I look for an email marketing service to have reliable support at convenient times.

1. Brevo: Advanced Automations and 9,000 Free Monthly Sends

Brevo is a solid email marketing platform, and its free plan lets you send a generous 300 emails per day, or about 9,000 per month. Although its gallery of free email templates is a bit smaller than most other options, the premade designs are responsive and easy to adapt to your brand – something we tried out in our expert Brevo review.

Brevo also offers a wide range of marketing tools in addition to email. You can leverage SMS marketing, track contacts with a CRM, and create simple chatbots directly in Brevo, without having to integrate external tools.

What You Get With the Free Plan

With a free Brevo plan, you can access most of the platform’s features. You can set up advanced segmentation and customizable signup forms. The free plan also includes an automated workflow editor, so you can put lead generation campaigns on autopilot.

The free version does have some limitations, of course. Unless you have a paid plan, you can’t access phone support or advanced statistics.

What Do You Get If You Pay?

If you upgrade to a Premium plan, you get access to all Brevo marketing tools, including a landing page builder, Facebook ads, and retargeting ads. You’ll also get A/B testing and send-time optimization, which can improve the results of your email campaigns.

When Should You Upgrade?

Consider upgrading to a paid Brevo plan if you need team access or more support options. Paid plans include email and phone support and remove the daily send limit.

2. AWeber: Free Plan Includes Hundreds of High-Quality Email Templates

AWeber has everything you need to get started with email marketing, as you can add up to 500 subscribers and send up to 3,000 emails per month on its free plan. It also has newsletters, automations, segmentation, and a large stock photo library. It provides one of the largest selections of responsive email templates, with more than 700 options.

Beyond email marketing, AWeber offers an e-commerce solution and more than 1,000 app integrations. When it comes to reporting, however, you’ll only get access to basic subscriber and message analytics with the free plan.

What You Get With the Free Plan

With a free AWeber account, you can create newsletters, automated emails, and one landing page using templates and the drag-and-drop editor. AWeber provides 24/7 email and chat support for free accounts, which is always good to see. Sales tracking and purchase tagging are also available to all users. Even better, AWeber scored highly for the quality of its support in our AWeber review.

What Do You Get If You Pay?

If you upgrade to one of AWeber’s paid plans, you get extra features like split-testing, behavior-based emails, and advanced reporting. With a paid account, you’ll also pay less in transaction fees (from 1% to 0.6%).

When Should You Upgrade?

Consider upgrading to a paid account if you want to split-test your emails or set up behavioral automations. With the Plus (or Unlimited) plan, you can tackle both of these tasks and build landing pages without the AWeber logo.

3. Omnisend: Free Email Marketing Tools for E-Commerce Businesses

Omnisend’s easy-to-use email marketing tools center around e-commerce. If you have an online store, it’s probably one of the best options. You can use beautiful templates to craft your emails, set up complex automations, and see how your strategy affects your bottom line with in-depth sales reports when you connect your store.

Although it comes with all the core email marketing features we look for, Omnisend doesn’t offer as many email templates as other top competitors. Its landing pages and forms options are also somewhat limited. That said, Omnisend’s free option is pretty generous, so you can get a good idea of what the platform can do before upgrading.

What You Get With the Free Plan

Omnisend’s free plan is pretty standard stuff, as it lets you send 500 monthly emails to a maximum of 250 contacts. You’ll also get 60 SMS and 500 web push notifications. I know these numbers don’t sound too impressive, but Omnisend’s great free plan unlocks almost all of the platform’s features, including advanced segmentation, A/B testing, and 24/7 email and live chat support.

What Do You Get If You Pay?

I like how Omnisend doesn’t limit free users in terms of features. Once you get a good taste of what the platform can do, you can easily increase your subscriber number with the Standard plan. If you need help setting things up, you can even get your own success manager for an extra cost.

When Should You Upgrade?

There’s no rush – upgrading to the Standard plan doesn’t unlock any new features. The Pro plan throws advanced reporting and priority support into the mix. Take advantage of Omnisend’s generous free plan to test everything and upgrade once your list grows.

4. MailChimp: Excellent EMS for Beginners

With more than 90 responsive templates, email newsletters, and signup forms, Mailchimp has all the email marketing tools you need to start growing your list. The free plan also includes over 80 pre-made automations and a customized automation builder. These are ideal for nurturing leads and driving sales, as we found in our Mailchimp review.

In addition to email tools, Mailchimp also provides landing pages, a website builder, social ads, and a design assistant, essentially allowing this platform to serve as an all-in-one marketing suite. If you need help navigating these features, the free plan gives you 30 days of email support.

What You Get With the Free Plan

With Mailchimp’s free plan, you can send up to 3,000 emails a month, including standard email broadcasts, behavioral targeting, and single-step automations. The free plan includes a marketing CRM with tagging and basic segmentation to help you organize your subscribers.

You’ll also have the opportunity to build a website and create Facebook and Instagram ads.

What Do You Get If You Pay?

If you opt for a paid Mailchimp plan, you get more sends, additional features, and 24/7 support. The Essentials plan allows monthly sends 10x the number of your subscribers. The Standard plan offers retargeting ads and more complex conversion funnels, which would be ideal for sales campaigns.

When Should You Upgrade?

Consider upgrading to a paid Mailchimp plan if you want more support or optimization tools. You get round-the-clock support with the Essentials plan and behavior-based automated emails with the Standard plan.

5. GetResponse: Introduction to An Excellent Platform

GetResponse offers one of the most robust email marketing experiences on the market. There are over 200 fully-customizable templates to choose from, thousands of integrations, advanced automation and segmentation, as well as plenty of e-commerce tools.

Unfortunately, GetResponse’s free plan doesn’t allow access to all those advanced features that make it stand out. Still, I believe it’s a decent choice for new marketers and small businesses looking to get started with email marketing. The interface is easy to navigate, and the email editor is simple to use.

If you want to experience everything that GetResponse has to offer without committing to a premium plan, the 30-day trial will unlock more features – depending on the plan you choose.

What You Get With the Free Plan

GetResponse’s free plan will let you send 2,500 emails to a maximum of 500 contacts. You’ll gain access to all of GetResponse’s beautiful templates, and you’ll get the chance to design your own newsletters using one of the best email editors out there.

You can also use this free plan to set up sign-up forms and popups, a landing page, and even create and host one website. That said, you’ll have to manage without support, segmentation, autoresponders, and automation.

GetResponse’s free plan acts more as an introduction to the platform than a fully-fledged email marketing experience. I see it as an opportunity to learn the ropes and test out some of its core features before upgrading to a premium plan.

What Do You Get If You Pay?

You can’t really unlock GetResponse’s full potential until you upgrade to one of its premium plans. With a paid plan, you’ll be able to import more contacts, as well as unlock a number of advanced features that will help you take your email marketing strategy to the next level.

The Email Marketing plan enables users to utilize A/B testing, create an unrestricted count of landing pages and conversion funnels (excluding webinar funnels), and access 24/7 support, integrations, segmentation, autoresponders, and fundamental automation templates.

When Should You Upgrade?

You should think of GetResponse’s free plan as a convenient way to get a taste of what the platform has to offer. If you’re serious about your email marketing goals, you should upgrade to a premium plan as soon as possible. Read our expert GetResponse review for more details.

6. Benchmark: 1,500+ Integrations on the Free Plan

Benchmark’s free plan has all the email marketing basics covered. With a free account, you can add 500 subscribers and send up to 3,500 emails per month. You can also send both email newsletters and simple drip campaigns, which my colleague tested in our Benchmark review. Because I prefer using premade email layouts rather than designing my own, Benchmark’s gallery of 60+ responsive email templates came in handy.

Benchmark doesn’t have some of the built-in features that other platforms offer, such as a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, social ads, or SMS marketing. But this isn’t a problem, since it does integrate with more than 1,500 third-party marketing apps. That means you could link it with an external CRM or SMS platform to set up a more full-featured marketing tool.

What You Get With the Free Plan

When you sign up for a free Benchmark account, you get access to basic versions of almost all of the platform’s features. This includes basic segmentation, simple automations, and signup forms.

However, the free version doesn’t include behavioral emails, advanced segmentation, or pre-built customer journeys. It doesn’t offer landing pages either (which you get for free with AWeber, for instance).

What Do You Get If You Pay?

If you sign up for a paid plan, you can design landing pages for lead generation, send targeted behavior-based emails, and create an image library with unlimited storage (the free plan only has 1 GB). Benchmark’s Pro plan also includes list verification, which could help improve deliverability.

When Should You Upgrade?

Consider upgrading to a paid Benchmark account if you need more contacts. Although the free plan lets you send 3,500 emails a month, it has a limit of 500 contacts.

Which Free Email Marketing Solution Should You Choose?

If you’re looking to begin email marketing without any cost, there are now various reliable choices to think about. Besides fundamental email marketing, each platform provides a special benefit. Here are my best suggestions:

• If you’re looking for a free automation tool, go with Brevo. You can send 9,000 monthly emails and build custom automated workflows without having to pay for an account. Advancned segmentation, push notifications, and SMS marketing are also available on the free plan.
• If you’re looking to design beautiful templates as painlessly as possible, I recommend you choose AWeber. You can access many responsive templates for free, and the email builder is easy to use. You’ll also get decent live chat and email support if you need it.
• If you’re looking to set up email marketing for your online store, Omnisend’s excellent free plan is the best option. Although you’ll be limited to 250 contacts and 500 monthly emails, you’ll access most of the platform’s features, including various e-commerce integrations, sales and performance reports, pre-built automations, and email A/B testing.

FAQs

What is the best free email marketing service?

Brevo is the best free email marketing service. It allows you to send up to 9,000 emails to unlimited contacts, which is hard to beat. The free plan also includes marketing automation, advanced segmentation, and SMS marketing (features that many other competitors include with their paid plans).

What email marketing service is best?

Overall, ActiveCampaign is the most robust email marketing service but doesn’t offer a free plan. You can, however, test out the platform’s advanced features with the 14-day trial. Brevo is a close second and AWeber follows right behind. Check out our list of the best email marketing services for more options.

What are the best free email marketing templates?

For the best free templates, take a look at Brevo and AWeber. The AWeber email template gallery is massive, with hundreds to choose from, while Brevo has dozens of free templates in categories like e-commerce, blogging, and more.

Which service is the best for getting free email marketing automation?

Brevo offers the best free automation options. With a free plan, you can create automated emails and design workflows that will help your business run more smoothly.