9 Best Free Email Marketing Software for Growing Businesses

Email is the channel consumers prefer to receive brand info from, and you don’t need a big budget to take advantage. Today, many platforms offer free email marketing software you can start with that is reliable, feature-rich, and user-friendly, with email sends ranging from 500 to 15,000 a month.

After reviewing dozens of providers, here are our top picks for the best free email marketing software for growing your small business:

• Best for experienced email marketers: MailerLite
• Highly scalable for small businesses: Zoho Campaigns
• Free email plus SMS text marketing plan: Omnisend
• Best all-in-one free marketing, sales, and customer service bundle: HubSpot
• Great free plan for beginners: Enginemailer
• Most generous monthly email sends: Sender.net
• Free email marketing with AI site builder: GetResponse
• Free email software with unlimited landing pages: Mailchimp
• Best for marketing automation: Brevo (SendinBlue)

Best Free Email Marketing Platforms at a Glance

	Monthly Email Sends	Contact Limit	Expert Score Out of 5	Learn More
	12,000	1,000	4.44	Visit MailerLite
	6,000	2,000	4.36	Visit Zoho Campaigns
	500	250	4.31	Visit Omnisend
	2,000	1,000	4.26	Visit HubSpot
	10,000	Unlimited	4.25	Visit Enginemailer
	15,000	2,500	4.22	Visit Sender
	2,500	500	4.15	Visit GetResponse
	1,000	500	4.03	Visit Mailchimp
	9,000	Unlimited	3.92	Visit Brevo

MailerLite: Best for Experienced Email Marketers

Overview Free Plan Paid Plans

Overall Score: 4.44 / 5

Pros

• Up to 12,000 emails a month (second-highest on this list) with no daily limit
• All email reporting types are available for free
• Highly clean and intuitive interface and editors
• Premium-level automation with unlimited automated email sequences
• Powerful free optimization like custom variables, A/B testing, and delivery by time zone

Cons

• No access to email or landing page templates in the free plan
• 24/7 support is only for the first 31 days

Visit MailerLite

MailerLite offers one of the best free email marketing services that is hard to beat. Aside from the generous 12,000 monthly emails, second to only Sender, it also includes all of the reporting and analytics you can access on its premium plans. This includes list growth reporting, individual subscriber profiles, email click maps, automation real-time reports, and custom date range reports for more focused monitoring. You can also get sales tracking reports.

For businesses that rely heavily on data for optimizing and growing their campaigns with automation, MailerLite is one of the best free email marketing tools you can choose. Additionally, the fact that there is no daily limit is a huge advantage for businesses sending newsletters to all of their subscribers (as long as your list doesn’t exceed 1,000 contacts).

The biggest issue businesses can have with the free plan is the lack of access to email templates. Although MailerLite has one of the easiest and most intuitive drag-and-drop editors on this list, it may still be a deal-breaker for absolute beginners who are not confident with creating their newsletters from scratch.

All in all, MailerLite is the best option for growing businesses that can benefit from in-depth reporting and premium-level automation. The 12,000 monthly emails, no daily limit, unlimited segmentation, and A/B testing further solidified its top ranking on our list. We recommend it for advanced email marketers who can create newsletters from scratch and take advantage of the range of premium features.

Zoho Campaigns: Easy & Scalable Free Email Marketing Software

Overview Free Plan Paid Plans

Overall Score: 4.36 / 5

Pros

• 6,000 monthly emails and 2,000 subscribers
• No daily limit and up to 5 users
• Highly scalable, with unlimited emails to 500 contacts as low as $3/month
• Integrates with other Zoho tools (customer relationship management, surveys, etc.)
• Advanced analytics on all pricing plans

Cons

• Limited functionality, especially with templates, automation, and segmentation

Visit Zoho Campaigns

• Overview
• Free Plan
• Paid Plans

• 6,000 monthly emails, 2000 subscribers
• Basic predesigned newsletter templates
• Responsive templates
• Reporting and analytics
• Customizable signup forms
• Zoho integrations
• 25 third-party integrations

Zoho Campaigns has two paid plan tiers and a pay-as-you-go pricing option. There is a marked difference in functionality between the free plan and the paid plans, particularly for automation and contact management features. However, the paid plan starts at just $3 per month and increases depending on the number of contacts and the level of the plan.

Standard: From $3/month for 500 contacts

• Unlimited emails
• 10 users
• Advanced templates
• A/B testing
• Custom sign-up forms
• Basic drag-and-drop automation workflows
• Basic segmentation
• Advanced reports
• Add-ons for SMS text marketing and a dedicated IP sending address

Professional: From $4.50/month for 500 contacts

• 20 users
• Custom pop-up forms
• Advanced automation workflows
• Advanced segmentation
• Contact scoring
• Cart abandonment ecommerce and purchase follow-ups with workflows
• Dynamic content
• Email polls and attachments
• Batch sending
• Send emails by recipient time zone or optimal open time

Zoho Campaigns may not have the strongest functionality in the free plan, but the secure and user-friendly interface, free monthly email sends at 6,000 emails a month, and integration with Zoho’s customer relationship management (CRM) software make it a strong contender. The fact that the free plan is also available for up to five users shows that it’s a solid starting point for growing small businesses.

The glaring issue with Zoho Campaigns’ free plan is the sparsity of included features vs most other providers on this list (though the low cost of paid plans, from $3 per month, offsets this a bit). For example, email campaign scheduling is not available on the free plan. For even beginner email marketers, this is usually a must-have. A/B testing, automation templates, and segmentation are also not available without a paid plan.

Zoho Mail is an excellent free email marketing service for teams who are just starting to explore emails for their marketing initiatives. It has a decent number of monthly sends with no daily limit and strong reporting features that will allow businesses to learn from their campaigns. Most importantly, if these businesses find email marketing to be effective based on analytics, it would be easy and affordable to move up to the paid plans.

Visit Zoho Campaigns

Omnisend: Free Email + SMS Text Marketing Plan

Omnisend is one of the very few free email marketing software that allow access to virtually all features at no cost. Aside from the basics like scheduling, email templates, and reporting, it also includes premium features such as A/B testing, unlimited segmentation, and automation. On top of that, Omnisend boasts unique features that can enrich any email marketing campaign, such as SMS marketing, push notifications, and custom audience match for Facebook and Google.

With that, we can say with confidence that Omnisend has some of the most comprehensive features on its free email marketing plan on this list. Although to note, Enginemailer also provides full-feature access on the free plan, but it doesn’t have the sheer number of additional tools Omnisend has to offer.

The biggest drawback of Omnisend’s free email marketing service is that it has the lowest number of emails you can send in a month and, consequently, the lowest number of contacts you can have. With a 500 monthly email cap, Omnisend is not for businesses that plan to regularly send out emails to their full contact list.

Feature-wise, it’s difficult to find any other provider that can rival Omnisend’s free plan for email marketing. From A/B testing, unlimited segmentation, and unlimited advanced automation to SMS and push notification marketing, Omnisend is perfect for a comprehensive email campaign with a smaller contact list size.

Visit Omnisend

HubSpot: Free Email Marketing, Sales & Web CMS Bundle

Overview Free Plan Paid Plans

Overall Score: 4.26 / 5

Pros

• Up to 2,000 emails a month
• AI writer and chatbots
• Intuitive and user-friendly interface
• Platform includes marketing, sales, customer service, and content management system (CMS) for free
• New SMS text marketing add-on
• HubSpot Academy with hundreds of free video tutorials to master startup marketing topics or the app’s tools

Cons

• Costly to unlock all features (highest-tiered plan starts at $800 a month)
• Although there are plenty of features, usage is limited on the free plan
• A/B testing not available for free—use MailerLite instead

Visit HubSpot

HubSpot has topped many of our lists, including the best email marketing software for small businesses, due to its comprehensive tools for marketing, sales, and customer service. All of these features are available on the free Starter Hub plan, with a number of handy features to aid in email marketing, such as mobile-optimized emails and sales templates.

HubSpot’s CRM suite may be overwhelming at first, considering the breadth of its features, but it has an intuitive and user-friendly interface that doesn’t take too long to get accustomed to—not to mention a vast library of video tutorials and documentation available in the free HubSpot Academy. This extends to HubSpot’s reporting and analytics capabilities, with reports collated in easy-to-understand yet comprehensive dashboards.

There’s no question that HubSpot is jam-packed with features that can scale with a growing business. But some of the essentials of email marketing, in particular, are lacking. For example, the number of emails per month is on the lower end of the spectrum. Additionally, A/B testing is only available on the most expensive plan. At the same time, email automation is limited to one automated action at a time versus MailerLite’s unlimited steps.

If a business is looking for more than just email marketing software, such as a sales or customer service platform, HubSpot is the way to go. It has extensive features ranging from marketing to operations, all under the free plan. As long as you don’t need the more advanced tools for email marketing, such as automation or A/B testing, you can expect a seamless and solid experience with HubSpot.

Visit HubSpot

Enginemailer: Best Free Email Marketing Software for Beginners

Overview Free Plan Paid Plans

Overall Score: 4.25 / 5

Pros

• 10,000 monthly emails and unlimited subscribers
• 180+ email templates categorized by use case and industry
• Instant access to all features available in paid plans, such as integrated analytics, A/B testing, and transactional emails
• Unlimited pop-ups and sign-up forms
• Comes with easy-to-use landing page builder with mobile-optimized templates

Cons

• Can only send 500 emails a day
• Takes some time to set up
• Customer support can be improved

Visit Enginemailer

Instant full-feature access is the reason why Enginemailer made it to this list, despite the fact that it is much less familiar than other providers on this list. Once you sign up for Enginemailer, you get access to email marketing essentials such as hundreds of templates, easy drag-and-drop editor, email automation, and unlimited segmentation. On top of that, you get a suite of premium features like advanced reporting, A/B testing, and landing page builder.

Aside from the sheer number of features you get on the platform, Enginemailer uses a no-nonsense interface that allows you to explore the full functionality of the software without being overwhelmed. The 10,000 monthly emails and unlimited subscriber list are also quite generous and more than enough for email marketing beginners. However, it’s important to keep in mind that Enginemailer has a 500-email daily limit.

We find Enginemailer to be one of the most promising free email marketing software because its functionality rivals paid plans, and the 10,000 monthly email limit is one of the most generous options in the market right now. The platform is user-friendly and has a wide range of templates that small businesses and startups can take advantage of. Whether it’s for permission-based email marketing, newsletters, or business emails, Enginemailer is an excellent choice.

Visit Enginemailer

Sender: Most Generous Monthly Emails in a Free Plan

Overview Free Plan Paid Plans

Overall Score: 4.22 / 5

Pros

• Up to 15,000 monthly emails, the highest on this list, with no daily limit
• Comes with strong email automation capabilities and prebuilt workflows
• Drag-and-drop editor is easy to use and comes with image library and editor
• Unlimited segmentation
• Unlimited pop-ups and sign-up forms
• Solid reporting, including heatmaps

Cons

• Landing pages aren’t offered on any of the plans
• Templates look outdated, and the graphics are of poor quality
• No A/B testing
• Potential issues on deliverability and poor customer support (based on customer reviews)

Visit Sender

Sender has the highest number of emails allotted per month among all the free email marketing services we’ve tested. At 15,000 monthly emails with no daily limits and up to 2,500 subscribers, the numbers are unbeatable and more than enough for some businesses. On top of that, Sender’s free plan includes unlimited segmentation, automation with customizable triggers, and strong reporting capabilities.

One of the important features missing from Sender’s services is A/B testing. There are excellent reporting tools available on the platform that aren’t available on other free email marketing software, such as heatmaps and audience growth analytics. On the other hand, it can be difficult to fully optimize your email marketing campaign if you can’t pinpoint the variables that perform well, which is made possible with A/B testing.

For businesses looking for a free way to support their heavy email marketing campaigns or email blasts, there is no better option than Sender. The 15,000 monthly email limit and no daily cap are almost as good as paid email marketing tools in the market. Although there are lacking features and a few negative user reviews, it is definitely an up-and-coming provider that can benefit small to medium businesses.

Visit Sender

GetResponse: Free Email Marketing With AI Site Builder

Overview Free Plan Paid Plans

Overall Score: 4.15 / 5

Pros

• Up to 2,500 emails per month
• Email SPAM checker
• Basic segmentation and strong website building capabilities
• AI site creator and website builder
• Predesigned templates for landing pages
• Highly customizable email templates

What's Missing

• No email automation or auto-responders
• Poor customer support on the free plan
• Minimal list management capabilities
• Reports are gated behind paid plans

Visit GetResponse

GetResponse is one of the frontrunners in our list for best free email marketing software because of the artificial intelligence (AI) features. Although the free plan does not have access to the AI content writer, users can still use GetResponse’s website building capabilities, including its in-house AI site creator. Partnered with email marketing, the AI site creator can make it easier to lead potential customers down the funnel with a compelling website.

This email marketing solution has a number of well-designed email templates that users can customize to their liking. The templates, along with the AI site creator, make this free email marketing software convenient for email marketing beginners who want to prioritize speed in building campaigns. The search engine optimization (SEO) settings, pop-up templates, and visual email editor are additional features that show how quickly businesses can set up their website and email campaigns with GetResponse.

It’s no secret that compared to most providers on this list, GetResponse can feel underwhelming, especially in core email marketing tools such as automation, segmentation, and analytics. Because of these limitations, we do not recommend GetResponse to intermediate or advanced email marketers who value these features.

For businesses that rely on templates or marketing AI tools to build their campaigns, GetResponse is a solid contender for free email marketing software. Not only does it have a decent range of email, website, and pop-up templates—it also has an AI site creator and visual email editor for additional customization. Upon subscription to the paid plans, users will also enjoy an AI email assistant.

Visit GetResponse

Want to streamline your work and save time with AI? Read our list of the best AI marketing tools for small businesses, from content writers to image generators, public relations, and search engine optimization.

Mailchimp: Most Extensive Integrations in Free Email Marketing Software

Overview Free Plan Paid Plans

Overall Score: 4.03 / 5

Pros

• Basic CRM features
• 300+ integrations
• Beginner-friendly interface and editors
• Behavioral targeting + segmentation
• Content studio is free for use
• Comprehensive marketing calendar with email and social posting
• Free ecommerce website builder with unlimited pages and bandwidth
• Mobile app and new SMS text marketing add-on

Cons

• Lower number of emails and contacts (1,000 emails to 500 contacts)
• Very limited email automation
• Email support is only available for first 31 days
• No A/B testing, email scheduling, or dynamic content

Visit Mailchimp

Mailchimp is arguably the most popular option on this list and has been a leading email marketing platform for years. Although the monthly email allotment is underwhelming, its website and additional capabilities make it a fantastic tool for building brand presence alongside email marketing. Additionally, it has over 300 app integrations from essential business tools and a highly intuitive interface that makes it beginner-friendly.

When it comes to website features, Mailchimp offers a drag-and-drop site builder with multiple templates to choose from. Its commerce features and ecommerce app integrations make it an excellent choice to boost online sales. From product catalog management (unlimited products on all plans) to secure payment gateways for the U.S. and U.K., Mailchimp enables you to create and manage your online store with ease.

Although Mailchimp is a powerful marketing platform on its own, the free plan is still short of email marketing tools. You’ll need a paid plan for complex email automations, real-time data for reporting, and A/B testing. Although notably, Mailchimp is the only provider on this list to offer multivariate testing—though you’ll need the second paid tier for this.

Overall, the user-friendly interface and broad ecosystem of integrations make Mailchimp a valuable asset for small and medium-sized businesses that are looking for capabilities outside of just email marketing. We recommend it to ecommerce businesses or anyone who has a low monthly email volume to enjoy the other features.

Visit Mailchimp

Brevo (SendinBlue): Best Free Software for Email Marketing Automation

Brevo (formerly SendinBlue) won a place in our search for best free email marketing apps with its generous monthly emails, unlimited subscribers, and robust automation, including tailored workflows for individual contacts. It also comes with a barrage of additional features like SMS text marketing, WhatsApp campaigns, transactional emails, and 500 push notifications a month.

This platform’s visual Workflow Editor for creating custom automations and customizing premade templates is intuitive and powerful. Marketing automation allows users to create automated workflows to target individual contacts at key moments along their customer journey. With this, email marketers are able to create more precise and targeted campaigns.

However, a glaring concern with Brevo’s email marketing free plan is that it can only send out a maximum of 300 emails a day. Plenty of features that are available elsewhere are also locked behind its highest-priced plan, such as A/B testing and landing page builder.

With that in mind, we recommend Brevo for drip campaigns or businesses that don’t need to email all of its subscribers on the same day. Other than that concern, we find that Brevo’s free email marketing software has everything you need to run successful email campaigns, such as reliable templates, automations, and advanced segmentation.

Visit Brevo

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Bottom Line

Finding the best free email marketing service for your business will depend on your business needs, such as the number of emails needed per month, contact list size, and preferred email marketing. This may be email automations, premade templates, or landing page builders to direct traffic to.

With these needs in mind, MailerLite has the best free-forever plan for small business email marketing. Send up to 12,000 emails a month and take advantage of unlimited automation, segmentation, and its most comprehensive reporting and analytics.

Visit MailerLite