Best Cheap Email Marketing Software
We have evaluated 26+ providers to summarize the best cheap email marketing software in the following list.
Pricing
MailerLite
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Renowned for its simplicity and design-focused approach, MailerLite is ideal for businesses and freelancers looking for a budget-friendly solution. It's perfect for newsletter distribution, one-off campaigns, and basic marketing automation needs.
In top 3 for
Pros
Excellent value for money
Ability to collect payments (also recurring subscriptions)
Offers interactive email elements
Option to change links in sent campaigns
Auto-resend unopened campaigns
Cons
No website tracking
EmailOctopus
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Offering a cost-effective solution, EmailOctopus is known for its straightforward platform, appealing to budget-conscious businesses and developers who are looking for a solution that is built on Amazon SES.
In top 3 for
Pros
Create pop-up and inline forms for your website
Mobile-friendly landing pages
Import and code your own HTML email templates
Affordable pricing
Great deliverability due to Amazon SES
Cons
Does not offer CRM functionalities, Geo-tracking and A/B testing
Does not supports action based email triggers and website tracking
Very limited email marketing and automation features
Pros
Good customer support
Cons
Limited number of emails that can be sent per month
Brevo
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Brevo distinguishes itself with a streamlined approach to email marketing and CRM, focusing on intuitive design and efficiency, making it an ideal choice for businesses seeking a solution for their marketing and sales needs.
In top 3 for
Pros
Unlimited contacts
Very clean interface for the many available features
Comes with a free base version of a CRM, live chat & chatbot widget, and meeting management
Send time optimization on the business plan
Cons
Responses to support queries take a long time
Removing their branding from emails costs extra on the starter plan
Pricing by email volume is unfavorable for those who send more than 8 emails per month & contact
Landing pages cost extra
Moosend
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Known for its user-friendly interface, Moosend offers advanced automation features and personalized email campaigns, making it a go-to for SMEs looking to boost engagement.
In top 3 for
Pros
Permanent 25% discounts for nonprofits
AI product recommendations for ecommerce
Easy to use
Cons
Limited marketing automation features
- Our ranking considers every plan that providers offer. We evaluate each plan independently and then use a weighted calculation model to determine an overall score for each provider.
Different software tools serve different purposes. In some cases, you might be willing to take a financial hit in the short term to make your team's life easier in the long run. In others, the main goal is to turn a profit. Email marketing software belongs to the latter category. When faced with the challenge of selecting email marketing software, price is often a primary consideration.
After all, an email marketing campaign aims to make money. There's no sense in spending more than necessary to get the job done. While some businesses — usually the established ones — can afford to drop top dollar on the best of the best, most businesses are aiming for budget-friendly and reliable services with basic functionality.
To help you find the cheapest options on the market, we have created this dedicated criterion for you.
Note: Since some software providers charge by the number of emails sent, we use a conversion of 1 contact to 10 emails per month for these cases. Thus, 1,000 sendable emails per month have an equivalent value of 100 contacts, which we use for further calculations.
What Makes the Cheapest Email Marketing Software?
Our research process consists of rigorous evaluations and custom criteria that determine the best email marketing software in terms of everything resulting in our overall Best Picks. Through a mix of interviews, comprehensive reviews, and analysis, we can score each provider against a set of criteria with specific weight.
The pricing criterion is part of it where we look at, well, the cheapest pricing structures. The most cost-effective solutions are usually those that offer less advanced features and are thus optimal for businesses with basic needs.
But the price is not just the price you pay for functionalities, because email marketing software is usually directly related to the emails you can send per month and/or the number of contacts you can have.
Average cost per 100 contacts
Since pricing structures vary, it's challenging to quantify affordability without considering the size of the audience and contact list. Most providers will charge a different price for a user who has 500 contacts than for a user who has 5,000 contacts.
In order to make a fair comparison among email marketing software based on their pricing models, we have calculated the average cost per 100 contacts. We consider all pricing plans and use this metric to determine the most budget-friendly solutions. In the end, a provider might have a low basic plan, but the cost of that same plan gets exponentially higher with an increase in contact list size.
With the average price per 100 contacts in mind, we get a clear picture of how much the provider charges concerning any audience size.
Monthly pricing
We use the monthly price per plan as a comparable basis for evaluating prices. For each plan, we issue a score and then combine them into one total score. The base plan has the largest weighting with descending weighting for higher plans. While higher plans may lower the score, we also take into account the positive fact that multiple plans are available, giving the customer more flexibility.
If monthly rates are not available, we break the annual rate down to the monthly cost and factor this negatively due to the flexibility disadvantage.
Free plan
Nothing says "saving money" like a free plan. Many email marketing software offers some type of free plan to get you started. This is especially useful for small businesses or startups that want to explore the features without having to spend money upfront.
However, most free plans are limited in terms of features. It would be unwise to choose a provider long term based on its free plan since you will likely need more than what it offers as your business grows.
If you are just looking for a forever free software that not necessarily remains the cheap option once you upgrade, check our free plan ranking here. And if want to get the full experience without committing financially, look for free trials or demo plans instead, which almost all providers offer.
10 Best Cheap Email Marketing Software
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How to Choose a Cheap Email Marketing Software for Your Needs
At the end of the day, selecting email marketing software is a highly individual decision that requires weighing both cost-effectiveness and performance. If pricing isn't your only concern, we suggest checking our overall Best Picks to help you identify the most well-rounded email marketing software on the market.
If the price is at the top of your mind, start by assessing your needs and deciding what features you need from the service. Based on this, you can then match the providers above with your requirements to find the cheapest software for you. You can also use our Comparison Tool to view different providers and what they can and can’t do for you side-by-side.
If you end up standing between two providers, you can always check if they offer an annual plan. These often provide a great opportunity to save a lot of money if you want to use the software in the long term. Here it is recommended to test the email marketing tools extensively before you commit.
Steven L.
Updated: Dec 20, 2024
Average tennis player with above-average skills in marketing automation. I’m obsessed with delivering results but also tend to read each marketing email I receive five or more times to analyze it.
FAQ
How many users can use my email marketing software account?
Part of budgeting for email marketing software is considering how many users you need. If you have a marketing team, each member could require access to the account. Some providers offer plans with a limited number of users, while others allow unlimited access. If there is a seat limit, you might need to purchase a higher subscription and factor the additional cost into your budget. You can see the included seats in our provider details.
Do I need to purchase additional features?
The features included in the subscription plans vary from one provider to another. One company's lowest plan may include features you need, while another's higher plan may not. The best way to get a good idea of the features offered is to use our Comparison Tool to view different providers side-by-side. That way, you can compare the features and decide which plan offers the features you need for a reasonable price.