How is this email marketing ranking decided?

Mechanically. The 14 approved email marketing listings on this page are sorted by their published rating, highest first, with the number of ratings behind each score as the tie-break and the product name as a final tie-break so the order is stable. Those ratings are aggregated from public sources, not collected from Softwr readers, this site hosts no reviews, so the order is a summary of what is already published elsewhere, not a verdict of our own. Nothing on this page is paid placement.

Is this list re-ordered for small businesses?

No, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. The catalogue records no data about which team sizes or roles each tool suits, so the ranking is the same published-rating order as the unsegmented list. What the small businesses framing changes is which of the figures below matter most. Small businesses are usually replacing spreadsheets rather than another tool, so the deciding factor is how much of the job one purchase covers. Watch for capabilities that only appear in the upper tiers.

How much does email marketing software cost?

Across the 14 email marketing tools listed here, paid plans start between $20 and $20 a month, with a median entry price of $20. The most expensive single tier published in the category is $20 a month (Klaviyo). 2 of 14 also publish a $0 plan.

What is the cheapest email marketing software?

1 of the 14 tools listed here cost nothing at all. Among the ones that charge, Klaviyo has the lowest published entry price at $20 a month. Cheapest and best value are different questions: check which tier the capability you need actually appears in before you compare starting prices.

Is there free email marketing software?

Yes, 2 of 14 tools in this category publish a plan priced at $0. 1 of them are free outright, with no paid tier above. A tool is only counted as free here when it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence, or a starting price of zero, a free trial does not count.

How is email marketing software usually billed?

freemium (7), subscription (5), usage-based (2), counted across the 14 listings on this page. The distinction that costs money is per-seat versus flat: a per-user plan at the same headline price scales with your headcount and a flat subscription does not.

How many email marketing tools are listed on Softwr?

14 approved email marketing listings appear on this page, including ActiveCampaign, AWeber, Brevo, EmailOctopus. Each links to a full breakdown with its pricing tiers and plan detail, and the category can be filtered by price and sorted by rating above. You can also read the shortlist view at /best/email-marketing, which ranks the same set by published rating.

Email Marketing · ranked shortlist

Best Email Marketing software for Small Businesses in 2026

14 approved email marketing listings, ordered by published rating with the method stated below rather than assumed. Small businesses are usually replacing spreadsheets rather than another tool, so the deciding factor is how much of the job one purchase covers. Watch for capabilities that only appear in the upper tiers.

Tools ranked: 14
Entry price range: $20-$20
Publish a $0 plan: 2 of 14

How this ranking is derived

The sort key

Published rating, highest first. Ties break on the number of ratings behind the score, then on product name so the order never depends on what the API happened to return first. That is the whole rule, there is no weighting, no score of our own, and nothing paid: no sponsored slot runs on these pages.

Where the ratings come from

No listing in this set carries a rating, so the order falls back to name. Those scores are aggregated from public sources rather than collected here, Softwr hosts no reviews of its own, which is also why no rating on this page is marked up as ours in structured data.

What the pool is

Approved email marketing listings, capped at 20 per page; 14 came back for this one. It is not the whole market, and a tool being absent means we hold no record of it rather than that it failed a test. The unranked full set is on the email marketing category page.

The ranking

Each entry lists why it sits where it sits, drawn from its own published rating and pricing.

#1
ActiveCampaign
Highest rated here
CRM, marketing automation, and sales platform
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
subscription
Tags
crm, marketing-automation, sales-automation
ActiveCampaign breakdown Compare with AWeber
#2
A
AWeber
Email marketing and automation for small business
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
subscription
AWeber breakdown Compare with Brevo
#3
B
Brevo
Email, SMS, and CRM in one platform
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
subscription
Brevo breakdown Compare with EmailOctopus
#4
E
EmailOctopus
Affordable email marketing
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
freemium
EmailOctopus breakdown Compare with Flodesk
#5
F
Flodesk
Email marketing built for creators and small business
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
subscription
Flodesk breakdown Compare with GetResponse
#6
GetResponse
All-in-one email marketing, automation and landing pages
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
subscription
GetResponse breakdown Compare with Instantly
#7
Instantly
Cold email outreach platform with AI, lead sourcing, and mailbox rotation
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
Billing
freemium
Instantly breakdown Compare with Klaviyo
#8
Klaviyo
The email and SMS marketing platform for ecommerce
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $20 a month.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
2 tiers
Klaviyo breakdown Compare with Loops
#9
L
Loops
Email platform for modern startups
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
usage-based
Loops breakdown Compare with MailerLite
#10
MailerLite
Email marketing tools priced by subscriber count
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
freemium
MailerLite breakdown Compare with Mailjet
#11
Mailjet
Email API, SMTP relay and campaign platform
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
freemium
Mailjet breakdown Compare with Omnisend
#12
Omnisend
Email, SMS and push marketing automation for ecommerce
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
usage-based
Omnisend breakdown Compare with RD Station Marketing
#13
R
RD Station Marketing
Marketing automation for growing businesses
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
freemium
RD Station Marketing breakdown Compare with SendGrid
#14
S
SendGrid
Email at scale, proven deliverability, and so much more
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
freemium
SendGrid breakdown

What email marketing software costs

Counted from the published pricing of the 14 listings on this page. A tool counts as free only where it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence or a starting price of zero.

The only paid entry price: $20Klaviyo
Publish a $0 plan: 2of 14

Only Klaviyo publishes a paid entry price here, at $20.

2 of 14 publish a $0 plan, and 1 of those charge nothing at all.

Klaviyo pricing

How these vendors bill

The billing model each of the 14 email marketing listings publishes, counted. Two tools at the same headline price are not the same purchase if one of them charges per seat.

freemium: 7
subscription: 5
usage-based: 2

How to choose between them

Four things the numbers above should change about your shortlist.

Start with the free tiers if there are enough of them

2 of 14 email marketing tools here publish a $0 plan, which is enough to run a real trial without a purchase order. A free tier is worth more than a free trial when you are evaluating: a trial expires on the vendor's schedule, a free plan expires when you outgrow it. The thing to check before you commit is which of the capabilities below sit above the free line.

Read the spread before you read the features

$20 to $20 is a $0 spread on entry price alone, and a spread that wide is never about polish, it is about who the vendor built for. Tools at the bottom of this ladder are priced for one person or a small team; tools near $20 are priced for a department with a procurement process. Decide which of those you are before you compare capability, or you will shortlist four tools that were never competing for the same buyer.

The billing model matters more than the headline number

This category splits across 3 billing models: freemium on 7 listings, subscription on 5, and 1 other arrangement across the rest. A per-user price and a flat subscription at the same headline figure are not the same purchase, the first one grows with headcount and the second does not. Multiply by your real team size before you compare two numbers side by side.

Questions people ask about email marketing software

Answered from the listings on this page, and nowhere else.

How is this email marketing ranking decided?: Mechanically. The 14 approved email marketing listings on this page are sorted by their published rating, highest first, with the number of ratings behind each score as the tie-break and the product name as a final tie-break so the order is stable. Those ratings are aggregated from public sources, not collected from Softwr readers, this site hosts no reviews, so the order is a summary of what is already published elsewhere, not a verdict of our own. Nothing on this page is paid placement.
Is this list re-ordered for small businesses?: No, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. The catalogue records no data about which team sizes or roles each tool suits, so the ranking is the same published-rating order as the unsegmented list. What the small businesses framing changes is which of the figures below matter most. Small businesses are usually replacing spreadsheets rather than another tool, so the deciding factor is how much of the job one purchase covers. Watch for capabilities that only appear in the upper tiers.
How much does email marketing software cost?: Across the 14 email marketing tools listed here, paid plans start between $20 and $20 a month, with a median entry price of $20. The most expensive single tier published in the category is $20 a month (Klaviyo). 2 of 14 also publish a $0 plan.
What is the cheapest email marketing software?: 1 of the 14 tools listed here cost nothing at all. Among the ones that charge, Klaviyo has the lowest published entry price at $20 a month. Cheapest and best value are different questions: check which tier the capability you need actually appears in before you compare starting prices.
Is there free email marketing software?: Yes, 2 of 14 tools in this category publish a plan priced at $0. 1 of them are free outright, with no paid tier above. A tool is only counted as free here when it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence, or a starting price of zero, a free trial does not count.
How is email marketing software usually billed?: freemium (7), subscription (5), usage-based (2), counted across the 14 listings on this page. The distinction that costs money is per-seat versus flat: a per-user plan at the same headline price scales with your headcount and a flat subscription does not.
How many email marketing tools are listed on Softwr?: 14 approved email marketing listings appear on this page, including ActiveCampaign, AWeber, Brevo, EmailOctopus. Each links to a full breakdown with its pricing tiers and plan detail, and the category can be filtered by price and sorted by rating above. You can also read the shortlist view at /best/email-marketing, which ranks the same set by published rating.

Keep reading

Neighbouring categories

Adjacent in the same taxonomy, not a ranking.

How this ranking is derived

The sort key

Where the ratings come from

What the pool is

The ranking

ActiveCampaign

AWeber

Brevo

EmailOctopus

Flodesk

GetResponse

Instantly

Klaviyo

Loops

MailerLite

Mailjet

Omnisend

RD Station Marketing

SendGrid