Benchmark Email vs Campaigner
We give Benchmark Email a 2.2 GPA and Campaigner a 2.4, out of 4.0. Campaigner grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Benchmark Email
Straightforward email campaigns with every feature on every plan
Campaigner
Email marketing with multi-path workflows and audience insights
How we grade them
| 2.2GPABenchmark EmailFair | 2.4GPACampaignerFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPro is $16 a month for 1,000 contacts on yearly billing, or $19 monthly, between the middle and the dearer quarter of email tools. It's $93 a month billed monthly at 10,000 contacts, and each extra user costs $15 a month. | CEssentials is $14 a month for up to 1,000 contacts, right at the middle of what email tools charge, and $72 at 10,000. But it has no automation workflows and keeps Campaigner branding; both need Advanced at $35. Campaigner doesn't say whether prices are billed monthly or yearly. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree for 500 contacts and 2,500 emails a month, with every feature, 1 user and 150 AI credits. Fair for trying it out, but 500 contacts is a cap you'll hit, and emails and forms carry Benchmark's branding. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day free trial with full access to every feature, and no card is mentioned. A month is long enough to run a real campaign or two. |
| Features | CA drag-and-drop editor with a brand kit, an AI assistant, sign-up forms and pop-ups, lists and tags, reports and list checking on Pro. It sends good newsletters, but its pricing page lists no automated email workflows, which most rivals include. | BThe whole job: drag-and-drop and HTML editors, A/B and multivariate tests, multi-path workflows with rule triggers, dynamic content, segments, landing pages and store-driven cart emails. Workflows need Advanced, and SMS is a separate product. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record and no phone app. With no workflows there's less to build, but you'll still set up lists, forms and templates in the web app. | CNo App Store rating on record, and it's a web app where the work is building templates, segments and branching workflows. The builder checks for errors before launch, which helps, but expect some learning. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with an API and native links to Zapier and Playable. Everything else, WordPress and Shopify included, goes through Zapier or the API. No desktop or phone app, so a B at most. | BWeb only, with WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Shopify, Zapier, HubSpot, Salesforce, Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics, plus a REST API, webhooks and SFTP imports. No desktop or phone app, so B is the ceiling. |
| Best for | simple newsletters with every feature free | segmented email for small online stores |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Benchmark Email and Campaigner. How we grade
Price against what you get
Benchmark Email starts at $16 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Campaigner starts at $14 a month and scores 2.7.
Campaigner scores higher and starts $2 a month lower. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, 14 score higher than Benchmark Email for less, and 3 score higher than Campaigner for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Benchmark Email starts at $16 per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually. Campaigner starts at $14 per month for up to 1,000 contacts.
- Benchmark Email has a free plan. Campaigner does not, though it has a free trial.
- Campaigner also covers marketing automation.
At a glance
| Benchmark Email | Campaigner | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $16 per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually | $14 per month for up to 1,000 contacts |
| Free plan | Up to 500 contacts and 2,500 emails a month, 1 user, 1 domain and 150 AI credits a month, with Benchmark branding on emails and forms. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial with full access to every feature |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Polaris Software, LLC | J2 Global Canada, Inc. |
| Price read from | benchmarkemail.com | campaigner.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Benchmark Email
- Small businesses sending regular newsletters to a modest list
- People who want to try every feature on a free plan first
- Teams that need sign-up forms and pop-ups more than automation
Campaigner
- Businesses that want branching workflows at a low entry price
- Online stores sending cart and back-in-stock emails
- Teams that segment heavily by contact data and behavior
Worth knowing
Benchmark Email
- Each plan includes 1 user; extra users cost $15 a month each and need a paid plan.
- The pricing page lists no automated email workflows among its features.
- Free sends are capped at 2,500 emails a month and carry Benchmark branding.
- Native integrations are limited to Zapier and Playable; other tools connect through Zapier or the API.
Campaigner
- Essentials has no automation workflows and keeps Campaigner branding on emails; both need Advanced.
- Reputation Defender list cleaning costs 20% of the plan price, and transactional email is an add-on on Custom plans.
- The pricing page shows monthly prices without saying whether they are billed monthly or yearly, and gives no price above 100,000 contacts.
- Text messaging is a separate product, Campaigner SMS, which can add SMS steps to workflows.
Key features
Benchmark Email
- Drag-and-drop editor and brand kit
- Templates, blank layouts, saved blocks and an HTML editor, with your logo, colors and fonts stored in a brand kit.
- AI Assistant
- Writes copy and creates images inside the email and form builders, paid for with AI credits: 150 a month free, 1,000 on Pro.
- Sign-up forms and pop-ups
- A drag-and-drop form builder with templates, pop-ups, hosted form pages, automatic tagging and built-in reCAPTCHA.
- Contacts, lists and tags
- Store contact details and custom fields, group contacts by list or tag, filter them and send to targeted lists.
- Reports
- Contact activity feed, email reports, link activity and an engagement timeline showing when contacts respond.
- List verification
- Pro includes verification of one list up to the plan's size, to clear bad addresses before sending.
Campaigner
- Editors and templates
- Drag-and-drop and HTML editors, mobile-ready templates, reusable content blocks, content pulled from RSS feeds or a URL, and an AI subject line generator.
- Automation workflows
- A visual builder for straight-line or multi-path workflows with time, rule, conditional and custom triggers, delays and an error check before launch. Advanced plan and up.
- Segmentation and dynamic content
- Segments by contact fields, campaign activity, form submissions and, on Advanced, location. Dynamic and conditional content changes an email for each reader.
- Audience Insights and AI Insight Builder
- A dashboard of contact demographics such as age, location and home ownership, and an add-on that builds mailing lists from a plain-language description.
- Ecommerce emails
- Free WooCommerce and BigCommerce plugins and a Shopify plug-in sync store data for abandoned cart and back-in-stock emails, with purchase history segments on Advanced.
- API, webhooks and SFTP
- A REST API, webhooks for contact, list and campaign activity, and scheduled SFTP imports and exports on every plan.
Plans
Benchmark Email
Free$0
500 contacts, 2,500 emails a month, 1 user, 1 domain, 2 API keys and 150 AI credits, with Benchmark branding.
Pro$16
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly)
Sends 10 times the list, 1 user, 10 domains, 1,000 AI credits, list verification, no branding. $93 a month billed monthly at 10,000 contacts.
EnterpriseCustom
For more than 100,000 contacts, with premium support for large senders.
Campaigner
Essentials$14
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billing term not stated
Editors, templates, A/B and multivariate tests, autoresponders, landing pages and reports, with Campaigner branding. $72 a month at 10,000 contacts.
Advanced$35
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billing term not stated
Adds multi-path workflows with time and rule triggers, conversion tracking, purchase behavior and no branding. $124 a month at 10,000 contacts.
CustomCustom
For large senders: sub-accounts, single sign-on, a dedicated account manager and deliverability consulting. Setup fees may apply.
Ways to pay less
Benchmark Email
- Annual discount
Lower monthly price with annual billing
Benchmark's pricing page shows Pro at 1,000 contacts for $16 a month billed annually against $19 billed monthly.
Campaigner
No public discounts listed.
