Table of Contents
Introduction
Imagine having a loyal companion in your marketing arsenal, one that's always ready to reach your audience directly and deliver your message right to their inboxes. That's what email marketing offers businesses today. With a myriad of free email marketing platforms available, solopreneurs and small businesses now have access to powerful tools to grow their email list and drive engagement without breaking the bank. In this post, we will delve into the best free email marketing platforms available in 2024, evaluating them on various parameters to help you choose the one that fits your needs the best.
How We Evaluate Free Tools
When selecting a free email marketing platform, several key criteria are considered to ensure that it meets the needs of different users. Here’s what we focus on:
Number of Contacts
The subscriber limit is crucial since most pricing plans are based on the number of contacts. The free plans usually offer a range of 250-10,000 subscribers.
Number of Emails
Depending on your needs, whether for frequent newsletters or occasional updates, the number of emails you can send each month is quite essential.
Paid Plan Cost
Eventually, if you need to upgrade to a paid plan, the costs should be feasible considering the additional features offered.
Customer Support Availability
Customer support varies; some platforms offer extensive support even on free plans, while others limit you to a knowledge base or short-term live support.
Key Features
We look for core features like landing pages, forms, email automation, audience segmentation, and email templates. These features enhance email personalization and overall campaign performance.
The Best Free Email Platforms in 2024
ConvertKit (soon to be Kit)
Best For: Creatives and solopreneurs
Free Plan Limits:
- Increased subscribers up to 10,000
- 24/7 support (no third-party integrations or team additions)
Highlights: ConvertKit excels with its clean and straightforward email templates, making it ideal for content creators. Despite the robust free plan, lacking advanced features can hinder audience growth.
Moosend
Best For: Testing email marketing platforms
Free Plan Limits:
- 30-day trial
- One landing page, subscription form, automation workflow
Highlights: Moosend's trial lets you explore almost all Pro plan features except for the SMTP server, making it an attractive option for brand names and small businesses alike.
Mailchimp
Best For: Beginners
Free Plan Limits:
- 1,000 emails per month, 500 daily limit
- Access to 7 free templates
Highlights: Known for its user-friendly interface, MailChimp's free plan offers extensive features, including AI-assisted design tools and over 250 app integrations, although the contact and send limits are relatively lower.
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
Best For: Small businesses on a budget
Free Plan Limits:
- 300 emails per day
- Allows up to 100,000 contacts (2000 in active automations)
Highlights: With its Conversations Platform and Sales Platform, Brevo provides a diverse set of features, including an email template gallery and SMS marketing. However, advanced reporting and some features are not accessible in the free plan.
Mailerlite
Best For: Building an email list with top-tier features
Free Plan Limits:
- Single website and 10 landing pages
- Limited newsletters and no pre-designed templates
Highlights: Mailerlite is praised for its extensive free features, such as interactive surveys, quizzes, custom variables, and advanced reporting, despite limitations in design flexibility and broken link editing.
SendFox
Best For: Content creators with small email lists
Free Plan Limits:
- Single landing page
- No automation for drop campaigns
Highlights: SendFox doesn't limit the number of emails you can send but throttles them based on system resources. It's designed to help users create beautiful emails, with many features from paid plans available on a smaller scale.
AWeber
Best For: Beginners and small business owners
Free Plan Limits:
- Single email automation
- No A/B testing
Highlights: AWeber offers a generous amount of features, including drag-and-drop builders and dynamic content, but the free plan lacks advanced analytics and complex automations.
Campaign Monitor
Best For: Testing platforms without subscriber growth
Free Plan Limits:
- Test emails to five or fewer people
Highlights: Campaign Monitor is limited in free usage, ideal for those wanting to explore without using it for list growth. Pay-per-campaign options offer flexibility without subscriptions.
Sender
Best For: Startups and freelancers
Free Plan Limits:
- 15,000 emails a month for 2,500 subscribers
Highlights: The Free Forever plan is rich in features, allowing full access to email automation tools, drag-and-drop editor, and personalization options.
Omnisend
Best For: Ecommerce businesses starting out
Free Plan Limits:
- Limited contacts and emails monthly
Highlights: Omnisend’s free plan provides nearly all paid features, making it appealing for ecommerce businesses, though the limits on contacts and emails can be restrictive.
Mailjet
Best For: New email marketers without segmentation needs
Free Plan Limits:
- 1,500 contacts, 200 emails/day
- No automation or segmentation
Highlights: Mailjet’s advanced editor allows real-time collaboration and template usage, yet lacks automation and segmentation features, constraining manual send efforts.
SendPulse
Best For: Small email lists
Free Plan Limits:
- Fewer subscribers and features like segmentation
Highlights: SendPulse offers core features in limited quality, ideal for testing the platform before committing to a paid plan to grow the audience.
Benchmark Email
Best For: Small to medium businesses and nonprofits
Free Plan Limits:
- No landing page creation, automation, or A/B testing
Highlights: Benchmark Email supports creation via drag-and-drop builder and AI-generated content, but lacks advanced features and scheduling capabilities.
CleverReach
Best For: SMBs aiming to scale internationally
Free Plan Limits:
- Single workflow, recipient list, and signup form
- Basic statistics
Highlights: GDPR compliance makes CleverReach attractive for European audiences. The free plan offers minimal features, focusing on a single template and automation capability.
Email Octopus
Best For: Larger subscriber lists (authors, freelancers, etc.)
Free Plan Limits:
- 10,000 emails, 2,500 subscribers
Highlights: EmailOctopus allows for sending frequent newsletters to a larger audience longer for free compared to competitors, with a broader range of content creation capabilities.
Zoho Campaigns
Best For: Collaborative teams needing multiple user access
Free Plan Limits:
- Basic design support, limited automation and segmentation
Highlights: Zoho’s platform integrates seamlessly with its CRM, accounting, email, and project management tools, making it a comprehensive solution despite limited free plan features.
Loops
Best For: SaaS companies
Free Plan Limits:
- Up to 1,000 contacts, 2,000 emails monthly, with Loops branding
Highlights: Loops is designed for contemporary software companies, offering full access to advanced features and flexible pricing based on contact numbers.
