15 Best Email Marketing Tools for a Growing Startup 

Not only social media and regular SEO blog posts, but email marketing may be an option for a growing startup to maintain its customers. These tools allow small businesses and startups to increase their credibility through fascinating newsletters and notifications about newly released features, reminders, as well as new offers that might be needed by customers. We have analyzed and will show you the 15 best email marketing tools for growing startups. Check our recommended email marketing tools, including the breakdown of pros and cons, to improve your understanding before choosing one of the email marketing services. 

What are the best email marketing criteria for growing startups? 

In order to maximize email marketing for your growing startup, it is best to comply with several essential criteria below. 

• Contain clear objectives

Emails are not like they were decades ago. Users open email for work, and the chance that they get overwhelmed after one hour of open notifications and reply to them is high these days. That is why you need to strategize your email marketing so as not to add stress to your subscribers. Your email objectives or purposes should be clear from the get-go. Once you identify them, it will be easy for you to compose email marketing. 

• Know your target audience 

Another cliché tip, but understanding your target audience can be helpful. Whether your audience is mostly young adults or adults in their 30s to 50s matters. Profession may also affect your approach, as their retention and interests differ from each other. 

• Decide ideal email types 

That audience profiling will also help you decide the type of email marketing you can send occasionally or periodically. Not all emails should be promotional; mix it with a neutral newsletter for variation. This will also prevent your customers from unsubscribing. 

• Compelling copywriting 

Expertise is key in these, as you work with people who, from the first place, know what they want and expect. For example, if you work for streaming services, you are trying to get the attention of filmgoers or cinephiles; that means your copywriting should accommodate their interests and developing trends in that industry. If you work for an export-import company, you need to adjust your tone to sound more professional in order to build trust with your customers. 

Best 15 email marketing software for startups at a glimpse

• Moosend: Affordable email marketing tool with drag-and-drop email builder and unlimited email quota. 

• Brevo: One-stop digital marketing tool that allows you to compose emails and landing pages with a drag-and-drop builder.

• Omnisend: Ideal email marketing tool for e-commerce and online shops. 

• EmailOctopus: Generous free email marketing tool, simple drag-and-drop email builder

• Sequenzy: Email marketing tool dedicated for SaaS businesses with a real-time collaborative editor feature, easy-to-navigate design for broadcast messages 

• Sender: Email marketing tool that allows users to send various types of emails (onboarding drip, transactional, newsletter) with a single application. 

• HubSpot: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) driven email marketing tool with AI-integrated features, allowing you to create content with AI assistance. 

• Beehiiv: Best email marketing tool for creating interactive emails such as embedded forms, calendars, surveys, etc. 

• Kit: Email marketing tool that can create emails with a personal touch by reading audience behavior and peer recommendations.

• Mailjet: Allows multiple users to edit emails simultaneously in real time. 

• Benchmark Email: Responsive drag-and-drop email editor and insightful analysis included. 

• CleverReach: Easy automation email marketing tool with a user-friendly builder 

• MailerLite: Intuitive drag-and-drop email builder and easy-to-navigate, best email marketing tool for beginners with non-technical skills. 

• Mailchimp: Most popular email marketing tool on the market with comprehensive features, including personalized content based on the gathered customers’ data. 

Tool	Starting price	G2 Rating	Trustpilot Rating
Moosend	$9/month	4.6	2.8
Brevo	$9/month	4.5	4.0
Omnisend	$11.2/month	4.6	4.4
EmailOctopus	$9/month	4.2	4.8
Sequenzy	$19/month	4.9	No reviews
Sender	$10/month	4.7	4.9
Hubspot	$10/month	4.4	1.6
Beehiiv	$49/month billed annually	4.5	3.9
Kit	$33/month	4.4	4.2
Mailjet	$17/month	3.9	4.0
Benchmark Email	$17/month	4.3	2.8
CleverReach	$15/month	4.0	3.9
GetResponse	$19/month	4.3	4.3
MailerLite	$25/month	4.6	4.1
Mailchimp	$10/month	4.3	2.6

How we analyze the best email marketing for startups

Email marketing tools should at least fulfill more than three of these criteria to be called one of the best. 

• User-friendliness  

User-friendliness is one of the most essential parts for any digital product, including email marketing tools. Imagine you need to spend hours learning to navigate the tool where you will spend more hours composing regular emails. This means the email marketing tools should have an intuitive design and easy navigation for most users so that they can learn in minutes and get used to it in a fast period of time.   

• Reliability 

You will use email marketing tools at least once or twice a week to send mass emails to customers. This is not an exception; you will need it in peak hours, when you generally compose and deliver them. 

• Features 

More features do not always mean the best; we recommend email marketing tools with enough features that can accommodate most users’ needs while also not overwhelming them with unnecessary capabilities.  

• Pricing 

As a startup, pricing can be a prominent consideration as you need to ensure your cash flow is healthy while also pursuing your business goals each year. It means the ideal price for your mid-size budget should be met. 

• Visual design 

You do not need attractive visual design for email marketing; sometimes you only need a clean and professional look for your email. However, you also need variations in emails to keep your readers’ retention. This means you may need the best email marketing tools with balanced visual design options, rather than only plain emails. 

• Customer experience

Other than placing yourself as the sender, try also to look at the email marketing you have sent as the recipients or subscribers. Ask yourself if this email makes you feel good or, on the contrary, overwhelmed. Try to send emails to your personal email address to see your own reactions to it. You can also ask your friends’ helps too give feedback on things you might miss. 

The 15 best email marketing tools for growing startups 

In this section, we have provided a deep review of the 15 best email marketing tools for growing startups. Check the full list to understand the pros and cons and find the most relevant and suitable email marketing tool for your startup. 

1. Moosend 

Claimed as one of the cheapest email marketing tools on the market, is Moosend worth your time and cost? Moosend allows you to test their tool within 30 days with no fee at all. You can use it to send unlimited emails to a maximum of 500 subscribers. If you need more capacity, they offer upgrade options based on the number of contacts you can send your email marketing to. Their features are pretty basic, but enough for small startups that need email marketing tools with intuitive design and non-technical requirements. 

Plans: 

• Free Trial (30 days only): $0/month – up to 1,000 contacts and unlimited email send
• Pros: $9/month, $8/biannual, $7/year
• Moosend+: Custom
• Enterprise: Custom

Key features: 

• Automation Workflow Builders
• Multistep Marketing Automation Workflow
• Tracking
• Reporting 
• Broad Integration

Pros: 

• Provides a higher limit for the lower tier 
• Provides a clear interface and easy-to-use features
• Affordable compared to other tools

Cons: 

• No built-in multiplatform marketing 
• Basic template only 
• Limited automation for lower tier

2. Brevo

Brevo may be one of the best email marketing providers because it offers thousands of contacts for free plans. On the other hand, Brevo is considered a comprehensive email marketing tool to handle all of your marketing campaigns. Not only for email, but Brevo also has automation and multichannel tools, such as WhatsApp, SMS, and live chat, that are helpful for growing startups as well as larger companies. 

Plans: 

• Free: $0/month – up to 100,000 contacts and 300 emails sent per day
• Starter: $9/month
• Standard: $18/month
• Professional: $499/month
• Enterprise: Custom

Key features:

• Drag-and-drop email templates
• Marketing automation
• Tracking
• Multichannel marketing
• SMTP relay

Pros: 

• Intuitive interface and easy to use
• Provides comprehensive marketing automation 
• Supports multiple languages 

Cons: 

• Basic templates
• Not specialized in specific marketing tasks
• Limited feature for lower tiers

3. Omnisend

Omnisend is an email marketing software that is reliable to use for growing startups because it provides a free plan. Not only for email marketing, but Omnisend also provides SMS messages, push notifications, and other useful features, especially for ecommerce. However, this software is made specifically for ecommerce and online retail businesses rather than just regular email marketing tools. 

Plans: 

• Free: $0/month – 500 emails sent per month
• Standard: $16/month
• Pro: $59/month

Key features: 

• Product Pickers
• Dynamic Recommendation
• Web Push Notifications
• Drag and Drop Editor 
• Omnisend AI

Pros: 

• Specialized for ecommerce and online retail businesses
• Cheaper than its competitors
• Easy-to-use automation system 

Cons: 

• Basic analytics and reporting 
• Niche market and only supports ecommerce and online retail businesses

4. EmailOctopus

EmailOctopus is a recommended email marketing tool for startups, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations, as well as freelancers. This email marketing tool is known widely for its affordability compared to its competitors. With a generous amount of email sending and a high subscriber count, EmailOctopus is a great option for companies that need to perform its email marketing campaigns. No wonder that this London-based company has great reviews on G2 and Trustpilot for its performance. 

Plans: 

• Starter: $0/month for 2,500 subscribers with 10,000 email sends per month
• Pro: $10/month

Key features: 

• Email Builder
• Landing Page Builder
• Real-time and automation reports
• API Access
• Zapier and Make Integrations

Pros: 

• Provides a wide range of email templates
• Extremely affordable 
• Easy to use and has an intuitive interface design
• Broad integration with other tools

Cons: 

• Basic report and analytics
• No integration with e-commerce
• Basic automation

5. Sequenzy

Sequenzy works well for small businesses and startups to perform email marketing campaigns. This email marketing software is great for startups because it offers generous subscriber contacts and email sends per month. Therefore, for SaaS businesses that need to try email marketing for the first time, Sequenzy is the right answer. In addition, Sequenzy has many AI integrations within its features to assist users with all of their needs. 

Plans: 

• Free: $0/month – Up to 2,500 email sends per month with 1,000 subscribers
• Pro: $19/month 
• Enterprise: Custom

Key features: 

• Template-based sending
• Multiple sender profiles
• AI-generated email sequences
• Visual automation builder
• Real-time email tracking

Pros: 

• Provides a comprehensive analysis
• Comprehensive marketing campaign, from email to lifecycle automation
• Affordable compared to its competitors
• Easy to use 

Cons: 

• Built specifically for SaaS
• Limited SMS features

6. Sender

Sender may be one of the most affordable email marketing software options that is suitable for marketing teams in small businesses or startups. Sender provides a generous number of subscribers and email sends in its free plan. Additionally, Sender is an all-in-one email marketing tool that can be used for email and SMS marketing and also fits for ecommerce and online retail businesses. 

Plans: 

• Free Forever: $0/month – up to 2,500 subscribers with 15,000 email sends per month
• Standard: $10/month
• Professional: $20/month
• Enterprise: Custom

Key features: 

• Text Automation
• Transactional Email 
• Newsletter Creator
• Landing Page Builder
• Email A/B Testing

Pros: 

• One of the cheapest compared to its competitors
• Provides drag-and-drop email builders
• Broad integration
• Provides advanced email automation
• Easy to use with an intuitive design interface

Cons: 

• Limited analysis for free plan
• Limited customization for email marketing

7. HubSpot

HubSpot is known as an all-in-one marketing platform, and it is not only for email marketing. This tool is basically an integration of marketing, sales, content management, and customer service platforms in one place. The comprehensive features make this app recommended for larger companies that need to handle all marketing and customer service needs. However, this tool is also available for free and is useful for small businesses and growing startups to run their marketing campaign. 

Plans: 

• Free: $0/month – up to 1,000 contacts and 2,000 email sends per month
• Starter: $7/month per seat
• Professional: $800/month
• Enterprise: $3600/month

Key features: 

• Drag and Drop Editor
• AI Writing Assistance
• Advanced Segmentation
• Send Time Optimization
• Email Health Insight

Pros: 

• Easy to use for beginners
• Provide full fledged analytics
• All-in-one marketing ecosystem 
• Integration with CRM

Cons: 

• Relatively high cost compared to other tools
• Limited features for free and lower tiers

8. Beehiiv

Beehiiv is a comprehensive platform that combines newsletter, website, and podcast production. By using this one tool, you can publish newsletter content, podcasts, and other digital products, which are very useful for bloggers, writers, content creators, and other creators. On the other hand, Beehiiv is considered generous in terms of pricing, and it provides quite a high number of subscribers with unlimited email sends. Thus, by only using the free tier, it might be the best option for small businesses that are still trying email marketing. 

Plans: 

• Launch:  $0/month – up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited email sends
• Scale:  $49/month
• Max:  $109/month
• Enterprise: Custom

Key features: 

• Email Editor
• Beehiiv AI
• Automations
• Beehiiv Integration
• Analytics

Pros: 

• Provides a clean and simple email editor
• All-in-one publication hub platform
• Provides a generous free tier
• Offers a growth ecosystem for marketing

Cons: 

• High pricing jump
• Basic design and automation
• Limited segmentation

9. Kit 

Kit is one of the fierce competitors of Beehiiv as a tool that specializes in newsletter creation and is made for content creators. This tool is useful for someone who needs an all-in-one platform to automate marketing workflows and monetize their content seamlessly or sell their digital products. In terms of pricing tiers, Kit offers a generous fee for the lower tier with around 1,000 subscribers in the Newsletter plan. 

Plans: 

• Newsletter: $0/month – 1,000 subscribers and unlimited email sends
• Creator: $33/month (Free trial for 14 days)
• Pro: $66/month (Free trial for 14 days)

Key features: 

• Visual Automation
• Email Analytics
• Subscriber Signal
• Email Broadcast
• Collaborative Editing

Pros: 

• Generous free tier 
• Offers design tool for creator
• Provides intuitive visual automation
• Easy-to-use app

Cons: 

• Basic email and landing page editor
• High pricing jump
• Limited features for free and lower tier

10. Mailjet

Mailjet initially came as newsletter publishing software, and now it has evolved into a comprehensive app for email services. Even though Mailjet provides only basic email service, especially for the free and lower tiers, it is claimed to be one of the most generous email marketing tools. Mailjet offers a free tier with 1,000 subscribers, and users are allowed to send 6,000 emails per month. 

Plans: 

• Free: $0/month – up to 1,000 contacts and 6,000 email sends per month
• Starter: $9/month
• Essential: $17/month
• Premium: $27/month

Key features: 

• Email Automation
• Email API
• AI Email Generator
• Broad range of integrations
• AI Marketing Features

Pros: 

• Comply with EU GDPR rules
• Provides a generous free tier
• Offers real-time collaboration
• Provides real-time collaboration within its application

Cons: 

• Basic automation
• Limited email templates
• Strict account approval policy

11. Benchmark Email

Benchmark Email is considered one of the great email marketing tools for supporting small businesses and growing startups. This tool has a generous option for free tier with more than 2,500 emails sent per month, and it includes 500 contacts. With a clean and simple design, no surprise that many small businesses use this software to assist their marketing campaign, especially for email marketing. 

Plans: 

• Free Plan: $0/month – up to 2,500 email sends per month
• Pro Plan: $16/month
• Enterprise Plan: Custom

Key features: 

• Email Editor
• Contact Management
• Reporting 
• Integration 
• API Access

Pros: 

• Easy to use and simple interface
• Provides multilingual support
• Drag-and-drop editing builder
• Responsive template for mobile and desktop

Cons: 

• Basic automation 
• Slow response on email support

12. CleverReach

CleverReach works well for creating and publishing email marketing campaigns. However, this tool expands their feature beyond newsletters to e-commerce, CRM, and other marketing publishing. CleverReach is suitable for startups and small businesses because it offers Lite plans for free with generous recipients and emails sent per month. The German-based platform is used widely in Europe and is expanding its market to English-speaking countries. 

Plans: 

• Lite: $0/month – Up to 250 recipients with 1,000 emails per month
• Basic: $15/month 
• Pro: $18/month 
• Enterprise: $499/month

Key features: 

• Template Catalog
• Transactional Email
• Reporting Dashboard
• Landing Page Builder
• Drag and Drop Editor

Pros: 

• Easy to use with intuitive and simple design
• Offers a free entry tier
• Affordable for lower tier
• Provides automation workflows

Cons: 

• Limited design options
• Price jump for Enterprise plan

13. GetResponse

GetResponse is one of the best tools for growing startups and small businesses to run email campaigns. This tool is based in Poland and provides a range of low-cost pricing lower than 100 USD per month. This tool recently offers its plan for a free trial in 14 days. It offers various features as well as resources to use this app, including blogs, resources, and webinars to help users understand its advanced features. 

Plans: 

• Free Trial: $0/month – up to 500 contacts and 2,500 email sends per month
• Starter: $19/month
• Marketer: $59/month
• Creator: $69/month
• Enterprise: Custom

Key features: 

• Autoresponders
• Automated Email Marketing Service
• Transactional Email 
• RSS Email
• Web Push Notifications

Pros: 

• Visual automation
• Comprehensive marketing features
• Live support 24/7
• Provides built-in webinars

Cons: 

• Limited analytics
• Limited advanced features for lower pricing tier

14. MailerLite

MailerLite is praised for its clean and simple drag-and-drop email builder. They are widely used by businesses for its relatively cheaper plans compared with other email marketing tools with similar features and template options. However, they do not support integration with other popular enterprise platforms, and you may need to do a manual review process to gain access to their full features. 

Plans: 

• Free: $0/month – 2,500 emails sent per month with a maximum of 250 subscribers
• Comfort: $12/month 
• Power: $25/month

Key features: 

• Smart Sending
• AI writing assistant 
• A/B testing 
• Landing page and website builder
• Comprehensive analytics

Pros: 

• Clean and simple builder 
• Reliability 
• Transparent pricing, no hidden costs
• Generous free tier
• Provides advanced features

Cons: 

• Stricter account policy 
• Limited templates
• Basic automation features

15. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is widely known for its easy and intuitive UI experience. They even offer a wide range of templates (including the mobile version). You can also integrate Mailchimp with other website builders such as Shopify and Salesforce to create a seamless experience. However, they may cost you more than other email marketing tools as your contacts grow. 

Plans: 

• Free: $0/month only for 14 days 
• Essential: $6.5/month for 0-500 subscribers with 5,000 email sends per month
• Standard: $10/month 
• Premium: $175/month 

Key features: 

• Drag-and-Drop Editor
• Various Email Templates
• Sign-Up Forms
• Landing Page Creator
• Performance Analytics

Pros: 

• Comprehensive features
• Wide options of template
• Easy to use with drag-and-drop editor
• Broad integration
• Provides advanced AI and analysis tools

Cons: 

• High cost compared to other tools
• Limited support for lower tiers

Comparisons for free tier email marketing tools for startups

After understanding the detailed features together with pros and cons, we can give you clarity about the features of a free plan for all the best email marketing tools. Check the list of content features you can get for subscribing to a free account below. 

Tool	Free Subscriber Limitation	Free email sends	Best for
Moosend	1,000	Unlimited	Small and medium businesses, ecommerce
Brevo	100,000	300 emails per day or 9,000 emails per month	Small and medium companies, ecommerce, retail
Omnisend	250	500 emails per month	Small and midsize companies, especially online retailers
EmailOctopus	2,500	10,000 emails per month	Small to medium companies, and nonprofit organizations
Sequenzy	Unlimited	2,500 emails per month	SaaS companies, developers, and indie owner businesses
Sender	2,500	15,000 emails per month	Small and medium companies, ecommerce, and online retailers
Hubspot	1,000	2,000 emails per month	Medium to larger companies for B2B services
Beehiiv	2,500	Unlimited	Media agencies, content creators, freelancers, and indie creators
Kit	10,000	Unlimited	Bloggers, podcasters, content creators, freelancers, indie creators
Mailjet	1,000	200 emails per day or 6,000 emails per month	Developing tech companies
Benchmark	500	2,500 emails per month	Small to medium companies, service providers and freelancers
CleverReach	250	1,000 emails per month	Small to medium companies, agencies, ecommerce, and retail shops
GetResponse	500	2,500 emails per month	Small and medium businesses, coaches, and course creators
MailerLite	250	2,500 emails per month	Small businesses, freelancers, and creators
Mailchimp	250	500 emails per month	Small to medium companies, e-commerce, and other businesses

Our recommendation for growing startups and small businesses

Startups and small businesses actually have different email marketing service needs. Thus, you need to understand the offerings from the email marketing tools above and adjust to your needs to avoid spending too much money on something that your company does not need yet. Here is our recommendation for you who are trying to find the most suitable email marketing service for your company. 

Focus on budget-friendly with maximum contacts: Use Brevo and Sequenzy to reach a maximum number of contacts within the free plan. Brevo provides 100,000 contacts, while Sequenzy offers unlimited contacts, which means you can add as many subscribers as possible. 

Focus on ecommerce with a budget-friendly option: Mailchimp, Brevo, Omnisend, CleverReach, and EmailOctopus are great options for those of you who focus on ecommerce and online retail businesses. 

Focus on integrated email marketing and CRM: Use HubSpot for integration of email marketing and CRM, as well as other customer relationship features. However, this tool is considered high-cost compared to its competitors and is mostly used by medium to large companies. 

Focus on only newsletters without needing other features: Use Kit or Beehiiv, which have a quite high contact limit for the free tier along with unlimited emails. By using these tools, you can send as many emails as you want to reach a high number of subscribers. 

Focus on launching email campaigns with less than 500 subscribers: MailerLite and Beehive may be options for companies that are just starting to launch their email marketing. MailerLite is free for up to 250 subscribers and provides useful features. 

Focus on budget-friendly tools with automation: To fulfill your need for automation with a budget-conscious approach, you can use Brevo, MailerLite, and Moosend. These email marketing software tools are focused on automation that you can use to support your business. 

Conclusion 

For startup companies, selecting the best email marketing tools is not as simple as for larger counterparts. Startups need to focus on efficiency and accuracy to reach their goals because they have a limited budget. Therefore, choosing one of the best email marketing tools is not always equal to choosing the best email marketing tool that provides all advanced features. Choosing email marketing tools must be suitable for companies, particularly for small businesses, with the hope that those tools can be used effectively and not spend too much on features that they do not need. Hence, you can start small with a free tier and choose the best options that provide a large contact list and high email sends per month. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

1. What are the most generous email marketing tools that provide the largest number of subscribers in the free tier?  

In our recommendation, the most generous email marketing software that is suitable for startups is Sender, Sequenzy, and EmailOctopus. Not only do these tools provide large contact lists, but these tools also offer advanced features to help you with email marketing. 

2. Can a user migrate from a free plan to a paid plan after creating an account in an email marketing tool? 

Yes, all email marketing tools provide flexible plans from a free tier to a paid plan. Therefore, it is a chance for you to maximize the free tier before upgrading to a paid tier to learn how to use them first. 

3. Are there any really free tools for email marketing? 

Yes, most email marketing tools above provide a real free plan without a free trial. However, kindly note that all free-tier email marketing tools have limitations, whether in contact volume or email send volume, as well as other features. 

4. Why do startups need to use email marketing as their platform to reach customers? 

This is because email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach their customers. Whether it is warm or cold, or even a transactional or regular marketing campaign, they are useful as customer relationships, especially for introducing new features and promoting a newsletter, as well as reminders to check out their bag on e-commerce. 

5. What are the best email marketing tools for content creators to send newsletters? 

The best email marketing tools for content creators are Kit and Beehiiv. The two email marketing platforms are focused on sending newsletters; therefore, this is maybe the best options for content creators who do not need other advanced features. 

6. Are safe to use free email marketing services for business?

Yes, using a free plan for email marketing is safe, and most email marketing service providers comply with security and data protection for their customers. However, please use email marketing tools that are reliable and have a good reputation and reviews from their customers.

7. Are the best email marketing tools always tools that have a high cost? 

No, not always. There are low-cost email marketing tools that are reliable and provide advanced features. Some low-cost email marketing tools also offer robust automation, clean templates, and other advanced and useful features for their customers. 

8. Are there any free plans from email marketing tools that offer unlimited email sends? 

Yes, there are. If you need a free email marketing app that has unlimited email sends, we recommend Moosend, Kit, and Beehiiv. Yet, Moosend only offers a free trial for 30 days without a full free plan like what Kit and Beehiiv offer. 

9. Can I send email marketing manually without using email marketing tools? 

Yes, you can send email marketing content manually using regular email, like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and others. However, sending email marketing manually will require a lot of effort and is inefficient. We also do not know the actual metrics from the email campaigns, whether it is successful or not. 

10. What is the best email marketing software for ecommerce small businesses? 

The best email marketing tools for ecommerce are MailerLite, Mailchimp, and Omnisend. Those tools have advanced and comprehensive features that can help your ecommerce business to be able to accelerate through email marketing. Most importantly, it requires no technical skills and can help you delegate tasks seamlessly. Another plus point, they have a high rate of deliverability and reliability, which allows you to manage email marketing in real time with fewer problems and bugs.