Email Marketing & Newsletters

Contents

1. 01WelcomeWhat these tools do, how many we grade and what to know before choosing
2. 02Our top threeThe three we'd look at first, and who each one suits
3. 03What they costWhat paid plans start at, the best buy at each budget and the free plans
4. 04The gradesThe highest graded, and how the whole category does on each subject
5. 05Keep or make?Which are worth paying for, and which you could make yourself
6. 06Every toolAll of them, best graded first, with what each costs
7. 07Quick answersThe questions people ask when choosing, each answered in a line or two
8. 08About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it

ToolGPA put this guide together from each tool’s own pages, their app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on the Email Marketing & Newsletters page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 18, 2026.

Send newsletters and campaigns to your list, with sign-up forms, automated emails and a count of who opened them.

Before you choose, here are 7 things to know about email marketing and newsletter tools, worked out from every one we grade.

1. 1

   We grade 28 email marketing and newsletter tools

   16 of them are free or have a free plan, and 11 more let you try before paying. Everything in this guide comes from their own pages and our grades.

2. 2

   Paid plans start at $14 a month in the middle

   From $3 (Zoho Campaigns) to $100 (Customer.io), going by what each one's paid plans start at.

3. 3

   Best value: Constant Contact and Zoho Campaigns

   Nothing on our chart scores higher than these without costing more.

4. 4

   3 of 28 have iPhone and Android apps

   28 run in a web browser and 0 have a Windows app. Check the one you need before you fall for anything.

5. 5

   The middle GPA is 2.4

   1 score 3.0 or higher. The highest is Zoho Campaigns, at 3.0.

6. 6

   Best free option: Zoho Campaigns

   Zoho Campaigns has the highest GPA of the free ones, 3.0. Email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns that tie into Zoho's apps.

7. 7

   28 worth keeping, 0 you could make

   By our keep-or-make rules, 28 do something you couldn't reasonably build yourself, 0 are simple enough to make with an AI app builder, and 0 are a close call.

Part 02 · Top three

Our top three

The three we'd look at first, and who each one suits

The three email marketing and newsletter tools we'd look at first. First place suits the most people; second and third are the best picks for the people it leaves out. Each has an Insider's Guide of its own.

1. 1st

   

   2.8GPA

   Mailchimp

   Free plan · from $13/mo

   For: Most small businesses

   Mailchimp covers campaigns, sign-up and popup forms, landing pages, automated flows and an SMS add-on, and runs on the web with iPhone and Android apps that can build and send an email. It connects to Shopify, WooCommerce, Square, Wix, Squarespace, Stripe, Canva and Zapier. Its iPhone and iPad app averages 4.85 from about 51,700 ratings. Know the limits: the free plan stops at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, Essentials at $13 a month for 500 contacts allows only 4-step flows, and full automations need Standard at $20. Prices climb with the list, to $110 a month on Essentials at 10,000 contacts, and passing a limit bills overages automatically.

   The Mailchimp Insider’s Guide

2. 2nd

   

   2.8GPA

   Sender

   Free plan · from $9/mo

   For: Anyone who wants to pay nothing

   Sender's Free Forever plan covers 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, with automation workflows, pop-ups, forms, 10 landing pages and transactional email, where Mailchimp's free plan stops at 250 contacts and has no flows. Paid plans start at $9 a month for 500 subscribers and reach $69 a month at 10,000, against $110 on Mailchimp Essentials. It is second because it reaches less far: it runs only in a browser, with no phone app, and free emails, forms and pages carry Sender branding. SMS credits are bought separately and priced by country, and the 30% yearly discount covers a new customer's first year only.

   The Sender Insider’s Guide

3. 3rd

   

   3.0GPA

   Zoho Campaigns

   Free plan · from $3/mo

   For: Small budgets, and businesses already on Zoho

   Zoho Campaigns' Standard plan is $3 a month for 500 contacts, billed yearly ($4 monthly), with unlimited emails, 10 users, A/B tests and workflows, and it is $49 a month billed monthly at 10,000 contacts. The Forever Free plan covers 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and 5 users. It syncs with Zoho CRM, Bigin, Desk and Books, plus Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, WooCommerce and Zapier. It is third because the free plan has no automated workflows, cart and purchase emails and pop-ups need Professional at $4.50 a month billed yearly, it runs only in a browser, and texts and WhatsApp are paid for with separate credits.

   The Zoho Campaigns Insider’s Guide

Going by our grades, Constant Contact and Zoho Campaigns give the most for the money among email marketing and newsletter tools: no tool on this chart scores higher without costing more.

Paid plans start at a middle price of $14 a month across the 27 that charge, from $3 (Zoho Campaigns) to $100 (Customer.io).

3 of the 27 score above the category's average while starting at or below its middle price. 13 cost more than the middle price and score below the average.

Every tool gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. Here are the 12 highest graded email marketing and newsletter tools, then how the whole category does on each subject.

Tool	Value	Free	Features	Ease	Platforms	GPA
Zoho Campaigns	A	B	B	C	B	3.0
EmailOctopus	B	B	B	C	B	2.8
Mailchimp	C	C	B	A	B	2.8
Sender	B	B	B	C	B	2.8
Brevo	B	C	B	C	B	2.6
Constant Contact	D	C	B	A	B	2.6
iContact	B	C	B	C	B	2.6
Kit	D	A	B	C	B	2.6
MailerLite	C	C	B	B	B	2.6
Moosend	B	C	B	C	B	2.6
SendPulse	B	C	B	C	B	2.6
ActiveCampaign	C	C	B	C	B	2.4

Some software does something you couldn’t reasonably build yourself. Some is simple enough that an AI app builder could make the core of it in an afternoon. Here’s where email marketing and newsletter tools land, by the same rules for every tool.

• 28

  Keep it

  It does something you could not reasonably make for yourself, or it costs nothing.

• 0

  Your call

  You could make the core of it, and you would give something up.

• 0

  You could make this

  What it does is the kind of thing an AI app builder makes well, and it charges every month.

Every email marketing and newsletter tool we grade, with its GPA and what it costs. Each one has a page of its own on toolgpa.com, with its Insider’s Guide.

1. 1Zoho CampaignsFree plan · from $3/mo3.0
2. 2EmailOctopusFree plan · from $9/mo2.8
3. 3MailchimpFree plan · from $13/mo2.8
4. 4SenderFree plan · from $9/mo2.8
5. 5BrevoFree plan · from $9/mo2.6
6. 6Constant ContactFree trial · from $10.20/mo2.6
7. 7iContactFree trial · from $9/mo2.6
8. 8KitFree plan · from $33/mo2.6
9. 9MailerLiteFree plan · from $12/mo2.6
10. 10MoosendFree trial · from $7/mo2.6
11. 11SendPulseFree plan · from $9.60/mo2.6
12. 12ActiveCampaignFree trial · from $15/mo2.4
13. 13AWeberFree plan · from $12.50/mo2.4
14. 14beehiivFree plan · from $49/mo2.4
15. 15Campaign MonitorFree trial · from $11.70/mo2.4
16. 16CampaignerFree trial · from $14/mo2.4
17. 17FlodeskFree plan · from $19/mo2.4
18. 18GetResponseFree plan · from $19/mo2.4
19. 19KlaviyoFree plan · from $20/mo2.4
20. 20OmnisendFree plan · from $16/mo2.4
21. 21PrivyFree trial · from $30/mo2.4
22. 22Benchmark EmailFree plan · from $16/mo2.2
23. 23Customer.ioFree trial · from $100/mo2.2
24. 24EnchargeFree trial · from $79/mo2.2
25. 25MailcoachFree trial · from $9.99/mo2.2
26. 26DripFree trial · from $39/mo2.0
27. 27RGE StudioFree plan · from $25/mo2.0
28. 28SendyFrom $69 one-time2.0

ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.

Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.

• 3,189

  tools graded

• 94

  categories

• 426

  price changes on record

• 579

  apps priced in 12 countries