Customer relationships are key for a business to thrive and last despite heavy competition. And email marketing is an effective tool to cultivate customer relationships.
Email marketing helps you connect, engage and stay in touch with customers. One of its biggest upsides is how it enables businesses to send customized and personalized emails, making customers feel that it is specifically written for them.
Long story short, email marketing is a powerful tool that helps you build customer loyalty and trust.
There are many email marketing software out there but the popular ones are: ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, Mailchimp, MailerLite and Sendinblue.
In this post, we will be comparing the top five email marketing software to know which one is the best based on certain criteria.
Let’s dive into it!
1. Price
The first thing you want to consider when choosing an email marketing solution is the price. Email marketing service providers charge monthly but users also have the option to go for an annual plan. Getting billed yearly means that the monthly rates are cheaper but you have to commit for at least a year or longer.
Free plan vs free trial
Finding out which email marketing software best suits your needs, requires research and testing out the platform yourself.
Some email marketing service providers offer a free plan a.k.a. freemium – which means you can use the basic features at no cost and without any time limit. While others offer a free trial – you can use some or all of the features, however there is a time limit and sometimes they ask for your credit card.
Word of advice – test out multiple email marketing software first before committing to a specific one. After all, there’s no risk with free plan or free trial.
Here’s a look on which platform offers free plan and free trial:
| Free plan | Free trial |
| Mailchimp
MailerLite Sendinblue |
ActiveCampaign (14 days)
GetResponse (30 days) |
Being charged by number of contacts vs emails sent out
Typically, email marketing service providers charge monthly based on the number of contacts on your email list. This is the pricing model of ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, Mailchimp and MailerLite.
So, the bigger your email list, the more you have to pay.
As for Sendinblue, they do not charge based on the number of your subscribers, instead they charge based on the number of emails you send out each month.
For a business with a huge email list but do not send out frequent emails, this one may be for you.
A quick recap:
| Charges based on the number of subscribers | Charges based on the number of emails sent out per month |
| ActiveCampaign
GetResponse Mailchimp MailerLite |
Sendinblue |
Price comparison
Pricing depends on the plan you choose. That is why comparing the prices across the different email marketing platforms is difficult since each tiered plan has different features in it.
2. Features
Choosing an email marketing software boils down to what tools do you need?
Do you need email segmentation?
Do you need to have a sign-up form?
Do you need A/B testing?
Or you just need to send out a simple newsletter?
Typically, all email marketing platforms offer the basic features such as email broadcast, landing pages, signup form and simple email automation.
If you need advanced features like split testing email campaigns, email verifier, sales funnels and payment gateways, then you need to avail a paid plan if you are using a free one.
At the end of the day, it is pointless to be using an email marketing solution that does not meet your needs.
3. Intuitiveness
Not all of us are tech-savvy, that is why one factor you should look into when choosing an email marketing platform is its intuitiveness.
You want to choose a solution that has a friendly interface and is easy to use. Because if it is way too complicated for you to understand, then you will have no choice but to hire someone to do the work for you and this will cost you more money.
To help you get started on how to navigate and use the platform, visit the website of the email marketing service provider. You can find the help guides under the Resources or Support tab.
Quick links:
ActiveCampaign – ActiveCampaign 101, Learn ActiveCampaign
GetResponse – Help Center, Resources
Mailchimp – Mailchimp 101, Help Center
MailerLite – Knowledge Base, Video Tutorials
Sendinblue – Help Center, Sendinblue Academy
4. Integration
You do not want to be working with a broken system when running your business. These different tools and solutions were created to make things easier to manage and ultimately, help your business grow smoothly.
So always research if an application that is essential in your business, such as an ecommerce site or CRM platform, can be integrated with an email marketing tool that you want to use, and vice versa.
If you are using popular third-party apps such as Shopify and Salesforce, then you do not have to worry since those can be integrated with ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, Mailchimp, MailerLite and Sendinblue.
5. Deliverability Rate
You want your email campaigns to be read by your customers and not end up in the spam folder, because your email marketing efforts will be useless if it does not reach your customer’s inbox. That is why the deliverability rate is an important factor to keep an eye on when choosing an email marketing solution.
In a recent report by EmailToolTester dated April 2022, among the five email marketing platforms, MailerLite has the highest deliverability with 98.0% while GetResponse has the lowest with 82.9%.
Keep in mind the deliverability rates vary from time to time so always check the recent one by going to EmailToolTester.
Here’s a quick overview of the email deliverability rates:
| Email Marketing Platform | Deliverability Rate (%) |
| ActiveCampaign | 90.2 |
| GetResponse | 82.9 |
| Mailchimp | 85.9 |
| MailerLite | 98.0 |
| Sendinblue | 90.0 |
6. Customer Support
Lastly, you want to choose an email marketing platform with good customer support. You may experience technical difficulty or have a question and the solution is not found in the Help Center, that is why customer support is needed.
Some email marketing service providers have chatbots to suggest articles when you have concerns. While for others, you have to open a ticket which takes them days to respond. The best customer support is a 24/7 live chat so your concerns will be answered immediately.
Fortunately, GetResponse and MailerLite have a 24/7 live chat support that will assist you. For other email marketing platforms, they only have a certain schedule where live chat is available.
See more in the table below:
| Email Marketing Service Provider | Live Chat Support Availability |
| ActiveCampaign | 8AM to 11PM CST |
| GetResponse | 24/7 |
| Mailchimp | 24H Monday to Friday |
| MailerLite | 24/7 |
| Sendinblue | Available but not 24H |
Final Takeaway
Back to the question – what’s the best email marketing software to use? Determining the right one boils down to your goals, needs and budget.
The price, features, intuitiveness, integration, deliverability rate and customer support are a good benchmark to consider when choosing an email marketing platform that suits you best.
At the end of the day, you do not want to be paying for features you do not use. But you also have to choose a solution that accommodates a room for growth since moving to a new service provider is also a hassle.
