So, you’re ready to take your business communication up a notch. Maybe you’re tired of your personal email struggling to handle your growing contact list, or perhaps you’re realizing that reaching customers effectively requires more than just sending emails from Outlook. You’re sending emails to a valuable list of contacts, but you’re facing challenges like emails landing in spam folders, or accidental CCs instead of BCCs causing privacy concerns.
There has to be a better solution, right?
It’s definitely time to explore professional Emailing Services to refine your email strategy and enhance your outreach. If the word “professional” makes you think “expensive,” take heart! There are numerous free emailing services available that are surprisingly robust and can significantly improve your email communications. Say goodbye to spam folder mysteries and embarrassing data breaches!
Quick Guide: Find Your Ideal Free Emailing Service
Want a fast track to the best free emailing service for your specific needs? Check out our video review of top contenders:
free email marketing services review video
Alt text: Video banner showcasing a review of free email marketing services, highlighting key features and benefits for users seeking cost-effective emailing solutions.
For a more personalized recommendation, try our Smart Quiz to pinpoint the perfect free emailing service tailored to your requirements:
email service provider quiz
Alt text: Smart Quiz promotional image prompting users to discover the ideal free email marketing tool by answering a few questions about their needs and business goals.
17 Top Free Emailing Services: A Detailed Comparison
| Free Emailing Service | Key Free Features | Key Advantages |
|---|---|---|
Kit  Best Free Email Marketing tool |
– 1,000 subscribers – Unlimited emails – Landing pages – Sell digital products & subscriptions | Best for creators and bloggers, unlimited emails, landing pages, and digital product sales on the free plan. |
| MailerLite | – 1,000 subscribers – 12,000 emails p/m – Automations, landing pages, reports | User-friendly, includes automation, landing pages, and reporting in the free tier, suitable for beginners. |
| Sender | – 2,500 subscribers – 15,000 emails p/m – Unlimited automation – Free templates | Simple and easy to use, generous sending limits, unlimited automation, and pre-designed templates. |
| Brevo | – 100,000 subscribers – 9,000 emails p/m (daily limit 300) – Marketing automation – CRM | Robust free CRM and marketing automation features, high subscriber limit, good for businesses needing CRM integration. |
| Beehiiv | – 2,500 subscribers – Unlimited emails – 3 newsletters/publications – Website builder | Ideal for newsletter creators, combines emailing, website building, and content monetization tools. |
| Zoho Campaigns | – 2,000 contacts – 6,000 emails p/m – Up to 5 users – Reports | Part of a comprehensive business suite, good template selection, user-friendly interface, and CRM features. |
| Omnisend | – 250 contacts – 500 emails p/m – Unlimited subscribers – Landing pages – Automation | Ecommerce-focused, advanced features like automation and landing pages even on the free plan, suitable for online stores. |
| SendPulse | – 500 subscribers – 15,000 emails p/m – Web push notifications – Transactional emails | Multichannel platform with email, web push, and transactional email features in the free plan, versatile messaging options. |
| GetResponse | – 500 subscribers – 2,500 emails – Website/landing page builder, templates | Website builder included, good template library, suitable for users needing website and email tools combined. |
| EmailOctopus | – 2,500 subscribers – 10,000 emails – Stats for 30 days | Simple and affordable, generous sending limits, integrates with Amazon SES for cost-effective sending. |
| SmartrMail | – 250 subscribers – 1,250 emails p/m – Segmentation – Automation – Popups | Ecommerce-centric, marketing automation and segmentation on the free plan, ideal for online retailers. |
| HubSpot Email Marketing | – 1 million subscribers – 2,000 emails p/m – CRM – Web forms | Powerful CRM integration, generous subscriber limit, suitable for businesses leveraging CRM for email marketing. |
| AWeber | – 500 subscribers – 3,000 emails p/m – Landing pages – Simple automation | Established provider, phone support on free plan, landing pages, and automation included. |
| Mailchimp | – 500 subscribers – 1,000 emails p/m (daily limit 500) – Reporting – Mobile features & surveys | Popular and well-known, reporting features, mobile app, suitable for basic email marketing needs. |
| Mailjet | – Unlimited subscribers – 6,000 emails p/m – Reporting | High subscriber limit, good sending volume, suitable for users with large contact lists. |
| Benchmark | – Unlimited subscribers – 250 emails p/m – Web forms – List management | Unlimited subscribers, user-friendly interface, good for users prioritizing list growth over high sending volume. |
| CleverReach | – 250 subscribers – 1,000 emails p/m – Reporting – Web forms | EU-based, strong on compliance, suitable for businesses prioritizing data privacy and EU standards. |
For deeper comparisons, explore our comprehensive guide to the best email marketing services.
Pro Tip: New to email marketing? Our essential email marketing checklist for beginners will help you avoid common pitfalls and set you up for success right from the start.
Considering that email marketing boasts an impressive ROI of 3600% (that’s $36 return for every $1 spent on your email campaigns), leveraging a free emailing service is a smart move to start generating significant returns.
You’ll be amazed at the robust features available without any cost. Some free emailing services even offer unlimited subscriber capacity or generous monthly email sending limits.
Moreover, you’ll find valuable features like landing pages, transactional emails, and automation often included in free mass emailing services. These extras can significantly enhance your email strategy.
The ideal features for you will depend on your unique business needs. However, when choosing an emailing service, consider these key aspects:
- Email Templates: Are professionally designed email templates provided for free?
- Landing Pages: Does the free plan include landing page creation, and are the designs effective? (Essential if you don’t yet have a website).
- Email Automation & Segmentation: Is email automation available? Can you segment your contacts into targeted lists?
- Reporting & Analytics: Will the reporting tools provide the data insights you need to track performance?
- Form Creation: Is there a limit on the number of forms you can create for lead capture?
- Transactional Emails: Are transactional email capabilities included, if needed? (Consider exploring free SMTP servers for transactional email needs).
- Branding: Understand the provider’s branding policy – most free plans include a logo in your emails. Assess how prominent and intrusive this branding is.
- Integrations: What integrations are offered with other tools, especially important for e-commerce platforms or CRM systems?
- Customer Support: What level of support is available on the free plan? (Note: Mailchimp’s free support is limited).
As you can see from the table, utilizing a free newsletter platform for your business is entirely viable, especially in the initial stages. The best choice depends on your business goals and the size of your contact list aspirations.
In-Depth Look at Free Emailing Services
Now that you have an overview of the top free mailing services, let’s dive deeper into their specific features, strengths, and limitations.
1. Kit – Ideal for Newsletter Creators and Bloggers
kit homepage
Alt text: Kit homepage interface showcasing its clean design and user-friendly dashboard for email marketing, appealing to bloggers and content creators.
Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is a premier emailing service for bloggers and content creators. It boasts powerful features such as landing pages, advanced sequence setups, subscriber segmentation, and the unique ability to directly sell digital products and subscriptions through the platform.
Kit tops our list of free emailing services due to its exceptionally generous free plan. It accommodates up to 1,000 subscribers and includes unlimited email sends, forms, and landing pages.
Upgrading to a paid plan unlocks unlimited automations and sequences (compared to the free plan’s single automation and sequence), along with premium features like paid recommendations and third-party integrations. Paid plans start at $15 per month for creators with under 300 subscribers.
Strengths of Kit
Kit excels in customer support – it’s fast, friendly, and effective. Its robust tagging system enables flexible subscriber management, ensuring you can target your audience with precision.
The integrated landing page editor allows you to capture subscribers even without a website, perfect for social media campaigns. The monetization features, enabling direct sales of digital products and subscriptions, are a standout offering not commonly found in free emailing tools, and are included in the free Newsletter plan.
Areas for Improvement
The free plan has limitations. Kit branding cannot be removed, and you are required to display recommended newsletters to new subscribers. While functional, the free plan truly shines when you transition to paid options. However, costs can escalate quickly, potentially becoming expensive for some users as their needs grow.
Kit isn’t ideal for visually intensive, image-rich emails as most templates are text-based.
Important Note: Upon signup, you are initially placed on a 14-day free trial. To access the free Newsletter plan, you must specifically request customer service to switch you over. Until this is done, automation setup will be restricted.
Who is the Free Plan For?
Kit’s free plan is best suited for bloggers and creators who are starting out or have a smaller subscriber base. It provides essential features to get started. As your subscriber list grows and your needs evolve, upgrading to a paid plan is recommended to unlock advanced features and the full potential of the platform.
Kit Video Review
convertkit video review
Alt text: Video review banner for ConvertKit, highlighting key features and benefits of this emailing service for digital content creators and businesses.
Try Kit for free!
> Read our comprehensive Kit review
2. MailerLite – A Well-Rounded Free Emailing Service
mailerlite free email marketing service
Alt text: MailerLite interface showcasing email template design and marketing campaign creation tools, emphasizing its user-friendliness and versatility for various emailing needs.
As the name suggests, MailerLite focuses on delivering a straightforward, efficient emailing service. The result is an easy-to-use newsletter tool with surprisingly powerful features, including landing pages, forms, and marketing automation. The ‘Free Forever’ plan grants access to most, but not all, features.
Strengths of MailerLite
This free emailing service is exceptionally intuitive. Even if you’re new to email marketing, setting up and launching campaigns is straightforward. With up to 1,000 subscribers, you can send 12,000 emails monthly and even create single-trigger automation workflows and free landing pages.
Areas for Improvement
Templates are not available on the free plan, requiring you to build your own designs. Spam and design testing are not included. While the workflow-based automation editor is user-friendly, it’s limited to basic automation functions (trigger-based emails, contact field updates, etc.).
MailerLite has a strict approval process. You need to verify your website or explain why you don’t have one. Some users report account lockouts post-approval without warning, and restoring access can be challenging.
Who is the Free Plan For?
MailerLite is one of the best free emailing services available, particularly beneficial for budget-conscious businesses seeking an easy, all-in-one solution for inbound marketing.
MailerLite Video Review
mailerlite video review
Alt text: MailerLite video review banner highlighting its features and benefits as a user-friendly and effective email marketing and emailing service for businesses.
Free trial: www.mailerlite.com
> Read our in-depth MailerLite review
3. Sender – Simplicity and Ease of Use
sender homepage
Alt text: Sender homepage showcasing its clean and intuitive interface, emphasizing ease of use for email marketing and emailing campaigns.
Sender’s simple interface and smooth user experience make it one of the most user-friendly emailing services. The free plan offers a generous allowance of 2,500 subscribers and up to 15,000 emails per month, making it a compelling free option. It includes valuable features like unlimited automations and a solid selection of email and form templates.
Strengths of Sender
The automations included in the free plan are surprisingly advanced. You can set up abandoned cart campaigns and automatically move subscribers between lists. Recent updates include A/B testing for subject lines, CTAs, and design elements within automations. The simplicity of Sender is a refreshing contrast to more complex tools with similar features.
Areas for Improvement
While the email editor is extremely user-friendly, it’s somewhat basic compared to other providers in terms of advanced design options.
Who is the Free Plan For?
If you need an easy-to-use, straightforward emailing service with useful extras, Sender’s simplicity and functionality are ideal.
Free Trial: sender.net
4. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) – Free Automation Powerhouse
Previously known as ‘Sendinblue’ until May 2023, Brevo has evolved significantly. Starting as a transactional email provider, it successfully transitioned into a comprehensive emailing service provider. It offers advanced features such as SMS marketing, email automation, and CRM.
The free plan supports up to 100,000 subscribers and 9,000 emails per month, with a daily limit of 300 emails. Some advanced features are restricted – email heatmaps, opener and clicker details, and ad-free emails are not included.
Strengths of Brevo
Marketing automation is more sophisticated than many free emailing services. You can build and test various campaign workflows based on page visits, email engagement, and product purchases. Reporting is robust, though detailed opener and clicker information is absent in the free plan. Paid plans are affordable, starting at $9 for 5,000 emails.
> Compare Brevo vs. Mailchimp
Areas for Improvement
While templates are mobile-responsive, a broader variety would be beneficial. You can, however, use your own templates. Features like A/B testing, standard in many tools, are missing.
Who is the Free Plan For?
If your emailing strategy focuses more on trigger-based campaigns (welcome emails, abandoned cart emails, web visit/email engagement-based emails) rather than newsletters, Brevo is a strong contender. You can also send mass emails for free.
Brevo Video Review
brevo video review
Alt text: Brevo video review banner showcasing its strengths as an email marketing and emailing service, especially highlighting its automation and CRM features.
Free Trial: www.brevo.com
> Read our comprehensive Brevo review
5. Beehiiv – Newsletter Platform to Rival Kit
beehiiv homepage
Alt text: Beehiiv homepage interface, designed for newsletter creation and management, highlighting its features for content creators and publishers.
Beehiiv is an all-in-one newsletter platform tailored for content creators, bloggers, and writers. It integrates a publishing platform, website builder, and emailing service, making it popular for creators seeking seamless content monetization.
Beehiiv ranks among our top tools for newsletter creators, even surpassing competitors like Kit and Substack, although its free plan is more limited than Kit’s.
Beehiiv’s free Launch plan allows unlimited emails to up to 2,500 subscribers and includes features like a website builder, tagging and segmentation, and management of up to three newsletters.
Strengths of Beehiiv
Beehiiv’s free plan offers unlimited emails, a website builder with custom domain support (rare in free plans), and multi-newsletter management. Its recommendation network is a standout feature, enabling audience exchange with other newsletters. Intuitive tagging and segmentation tools facilitate organized subscriber management and targeted communications.
Areas for Improvement
While feature-rich, Beehiiv’s free plan lacks monetization tools like subscription or sponsorship sales, available in more generous platforms like Kit. Absence of email automations, such as welcome campaigns, is another drawback.
The upgrade from the free plan to the $39/month Scale plan may be steep for smaller creators, with no intermediate options. Free plan users must display Beehiiv branding in newsletters, removable only on higher-tier plans like Max or Enterprise.
Who is the Free Plan For?
Beehiiv’s free Launch plan is ideal for creators starting out or managing smaller subscriber lists. As audience and monetization goals grow, upgrading to a paid plan becomes necessary to access automations and monetization features.
Beehiiv Video Review
beehiiv video review
Alt text: Video review banner for Beehiiv, emphasizing its capabilities as a newsletter platform and emailing service for content creators and publishers.
Free Trial: www.beehiiv.com
> Read our detailed Beehiiv review
6. Zoho Campaigns – The Multifunctional Solution
zoho campaigns – free email service
Alt text: Zoho Campaigns interface, showcasing its features for creating and managing email marketing campaigns, part of the Zoho business suite.
Zoho is a major player in the sales and marketing software landscape. Their extensive suite of services provides marketers and business owners with a comprehensive ecosystem.
Zoho Campaigns is their dedicated emailing service, offering well-designed templates and an easy-to-use editor, making it a strong option for budget-conscious users.
Strengths of Zoho Campaigns
Zoho Campaigns features a well-designed, easy-to-navigate interface. The editor is fast and includes essential elements like columns, video, and polls. Direct image uploads from Unsplash are a notable feature. Segmentation is supported, and the range of email and form templates is particularly impressive.
Areas for Improvement
The absence of automation in the free plan is a drawback, though it’s available from $5/month. The form builder could be more user-friendly with drag-and-drop functionality.
Zoho has recently removed A/B testing and campaign scheduling from the free plan, and halved the email allowance, making it less competitive compared to other free emailing services.
Who is the Free Plan For?
Zoho Campaign’s free plan is ideal for users seeking an easy-to-use emailing service with excellent design templates. For basic automation needs without cost, MailerLite is a better alternative.
Try Zoho for free!
7. Omnisend – Robust Ecommerce Emailing
Omnisend free email marketing service
Alt text: Omnisend interface tailored for ecommerce email marketing, showcasing features for product integration and customer engagement for online stores.
Omnisend is an emailing service heavily oriented towards e-commerce, offering exceptional features including automation workflows, automatic product integration into newsletters, and engaging email add-ons like scratch cards and gift boxes. These features are all available on the free plan, along with website tracking, 24/7 support, detailed reporting, and landing pages – a very strong free offering.
However, recent pricing changes significantly reduced the free sending limits. From 15,000 emails per month (2,000 daily), it’s now limited to 500 emails and 250 contacts. This may suit users needing advanced features with a small subscriber base, but growth will quickly necessitate an upgrade.
Omnisend Video Review
omnisend video review
Alt text: Omnisend video review banner, highlighting its ecommerce focus and advanced email marketing and emailing features for online businesses.
Free Trial: www.omnisend.com
> Read our in-depth Omnisend review
8. SendPulse – Multichannel Messaging Platform
Sendpulse free email marketing
Alt text: SendPulse interface showcasing its multichannel marketing platform, including email, push notifications, and SMS marketing tools for comprehensive outreach.
SendPulse is a multichannel platform for marketers seeking more than just email. Its features include web push notifications, SMS, Viber, and transactional emails via SMTP.
SendPulse’s free plan is generous in sending limits, offering 15,000 emails monthly, but capped at 500 subscribers.
Strengths of SendPulse
The free plan includes valuable features like autoresponders, A/B testing, a website builder, CRM, and advanced reporting with click heatmaps and location-based opens. Web push notifications are included, and a free monthly plan of 12,000 SMTP emails is also available.
Areas for Improvement
The email editor can be buggy and slow at times. Managing basic autoresponders can be cumbersome without a workflow-based editor.
Who is the Free Plan For?
A multichannel platform isn’t for everyone, but if your business uses web push or transactional emails, SendPulse’s free plan can save time and money. The included CRM and website builder are added benefits.
Free Trial: sendpulse.com
9. GetResponse – Website Builder Included
Sales funnel software: GetResponse
Alt text: GetResponse interface highlighting its sales funnel and landing page creation tools, part of its suite for comprehensive online marketing and emailing.
GetResponse recently introduced a free plan, adding to their established suite of features. Known for niche functionalities like webinars, sales funnels, and advanced marketing automation, the free plan has more limited features.
Strengths of GetResponse
The free plan includes a website builder with 5GB bandwidth, signup forms, and popups. You can connect your domain and use SEO-optimization tools.
Over 500 email templates are available, and the editor is flexible and user-friendly.
Areas for Improvement
The free plan limits subscribers to 500, relatively low compared to competitors. Email sending is capped at 2,500 per month, reduced from unlimited. Only one landing page is allowed.
Autoresponders and automations are reserved for paid plans, and GetResponse branding is included in emails.
Who is the Free Plan For?
Businesses with small subscriber lists seeking a free emailing service that combines a simple website builder and email marketing management will find GetResponse suitable.
Free trial: www.getresponse.com
> Read our GetResponse review
10. EmailOctopus – Generous Sending Limits
emailoctopus
Alt text: EmailOctopus interface, showcasing its streamlined email marketing tools and dashboard, emphasizing simplicity and efficiency for users.
EmailOctopus is unique; it was initially built on Amazon SES, leveraging its email infrastructure. AWS account use is now optional, functioning like a standard emailing service.
The free plan offers a generous 2,500 subscribers and a 10,000 email monthly sending limit. Using Amazon servers can also grant access to their free tier of up to 3,000 emails/month (for the first 12 months).
Strengths of EmailOctopus
Paid plan prices are competitive (e.g., 10,000 subscribers for $36/month). EmailOctopus is user-friendly and effective for newsletters. API access and Zapier integration are available.
Areas for Improvement
Feature range is somewhat limited. If you need only basic newsletters and autoresponders, it may suffice. Customer support is limited to the first 30 days, after which self-service is required.
Who is the Free Plan For?
EmailOctopus is recommended for cost-conscious marketers, especially those already using Amazon SES. It’s also accommodating to senders in cryptocurrency and affiliate marketing industries, often restricted by other providers.
Free plan: emailoctopus.com
11. SmartrMail – Ecommerce Emailing Focus
SmartrMail targets small to medium-sized e-commerce businesses. It’s a popular emailing service for Shopify users, known for its user-friendly interface and feature set.
SmartrMail counts only active subscribers towards your monthly limit, unlike Mailchimp, which includes inactive contacts. The free plan limit was recently reduced to 250 contacts (previously 1,000).
An online store is required to sign up. SmartrMail integrates with Shopify, BigCommerce, Maropost, and WooCommerce, or via custom API. If you don’t have an online store, other free emailing services on this list are more suitable.
Strengths of SmartrMail
Free migration services are offered, including setup assistance for automated workflows.
Marketing automation, particularly abandoned cart emails, is included in the free plan, a feature often reserved for paid tiers.
Smart segments group subscribers based on criteria like purchase history or engagement. Pre-set segments include ‘At-Risk Customers’, ‘Recent Purchasers’, and ‘Loyal Customers’, all customizable.
Areas for Improvement
A dedicated analytics section is currently missing in the free emailing service, though SmartrMail has indicated this feature is under development.
No landing page builder is available, even on paid plans.
Who is the Free Plan For?
Ecommerce brands needing a free plan with marketing automation and segmentation capabilities will find SmartrMail valuable.
Try SmartrMail for free
12. HubSpot – Emailing and CRM Powerhouse
HubSpot – The CRM powerhouse
Alt text: HubSpot interface showcasing its CRM and email marketing tools, highlighting its integrated platform for managing customer relationships and email campaigns.
Capture contacts with HubSpot’s forms, manage them in their advanced CRM, and send up to 2,000 emails monthly for free. Unlimited users can be added, and contacts can be assigned to each.
The drag-and-drop editor is smooth and intuitive, with helpful prompts. However, email templates are basic, offering a customizable newsletter or promotion template. Uploading custom templates or coding in HTML is not supported in the free plan.
The free plan also includes limited access to automations, landing pages, and even webpages. Upgrades to Sales or Marketing Hub are needed for more extensive features.
Strengths of HubSpot
Access to a robust CRM, form builder, ads management, and other features is a major advantage. The software is user-friendly and not overwhelming. Primarily a CRM, HubSpot offers a generous contact limit, allowing up to 1 million free contacts.
Areas for Improvement
The 2,000 emails/month limit may be insufficient despite the high contact capacity. HubSpot branding is included in all free emails. More free templates or custom template upload options would be beneficial.
Domain authentication via SPF and DKIM is limited on the free plan, though deliverability testing results are still decent.
Who Should Use the Free Plan
Small to medium-sized businesses needing a strong free CRM will find HubSpot ideal. The monthly sending limit is relatively low, though one-to-one sales emails are excluded from this limit. A/B testing and automations are not included in the free plan.
Try HubSpot for free!
13. AWeber – Free Plan with Phone Support
aweber
Alt text: AWeber interface, emphasizing its long-standing reputation and features for email marketing and emailing services, catering to businesses of all sizes.
AWeber, based in Pennsylvania, is an experienced emailing service provider with over 20 years in the industry, known for inventing the autoresponder. What does their free plan offer, and how does it compare?
Strengths of AWeber
AWeber’s free plan includes many paid features: simple marketing automation, landing pages, unlimited users, phone support, and thousands of stock photos.
Access to the full newsletter and landing page template library, with mobile-responsive designs, is provided.
Areas for Improvement
Analytics are basic on the free plan. Webpage and email sales tracking require upgrading to a paid plan. AWeber branding is included in emails, and only one list can be managed.
Subscriber limit is relatively low compared to services like MailerLite and Sender.
Who is the Free Plan For?
AWeber’s free plan is a good choice for users prioritizing 24/7 phone support. The absence of a daily sending limit is also advantageous.
AWeber Video Review
aweber video review
Alt text: AWeber video review banner, highlighting its features and benefits as a reliable email marketing and emailing service with a focus on customer support.
Try AWeber for free
> Read our AWeber review
14. Mailchimp – Making Emailing Engaging
Mailchimp brings a fresh, engaging approach to emailing with quirky branding and user-friendly features, quickly becoming the world’s most popular emailing service.
The free account, once generous with 10,000 emails/month for 2,000 contacts, now offers 1,000 emails/month to 500 contacts, with a 500 daily sending limit. Landing pages, forms, and reporting are included. Ad-free emails and features like automations, A/B testing, chat/email support, inbox previews, campaign scheduling, and time zone delivery require a paid plan.
Strengths of Mailchimp
Comprehensive reporting includes conversion, social activity, e-commerce tracking, and domain performance stats. Forms integrate easily with websites, landing pages, and over 800 third-party integrations, including OpenTable for restaurants. Mailchimp is generally user-friendly.
Areas for Improvement
The free plan lacks automations and campaign scheduling, key features for an emailing service. Basic free templates are outdated.
Emails may land in Gmail’s Promotions tab, based on deliverability tests, less ideal for informational or transactional emails.
Reduced allowances and daily sending limits are disadvantages. Explore Mailchimp alternatives for more options.
Who is the Free Plan For?
With current restrictions, recommending Mailchimp over competitors is challenging. It’s suitable for users needing detailed reports, though lack of email scheduling is a major drawback. Paid Mailchimp plans can be significantly more expensive.
Mailchimp Video Review
mailchimp video review
Alt text: Mailchimp video review banner, highlighting its brand recognition and features as a widely-used email marketing and emailing service provider.
Free Trial: mailchimp.com
> Read our Mailchimp review
15. Mailjet – High Potential, Basic Features
MailJet free email marketing service
Alt text: Mailjet interface, showcasing its email template design and campaign management tools, highlighting its potential as an evolving emailing service.
Traditionally known for transactional emails, Mailjet has evolved into a more complete emailing service, though features remain relatively basic. The free plan is generous in capacity: unlimited contacts and up to 6,000 emails/month, with a 200 daily email limit. Premium features like automations, segmentation, and A/B testing are only free for 30 days.
Strengths of Mailjet
The drag-and-drop editor is easy to use, and a decent range of email templates is available.
Areas for Improvement
The platform feels somewhat new and unrefined. Automation workflows are limited, and many features are still under development.
Who is the Free Plan For?
If high sending volume is important and sophisticated features are not essential, Mailjet’s free plan is a viable option.
Free Trial: mailjet.com
> Read our Mailjet review
16. Benchmark – Sleek and User-Friendly
Benchmark free email marketing service
Alt text: Benchmark interface, highlighting its clean and modern design, emphasizing user-friendliness for email marketing and emailing campaigns.
Benchmark offers a clean, minimalist, and user-friendly emailing tool. The free Starter plan includes access to marketing automation, forms, surveys, and reporting, with limitations: automations and A/B tests are inactive, and signup forms are capped at 75 subscribers daily. The plan also includes a very low 250 emails/month limit.
Strengths of Benchmark
Benchmark provides a great variety of modern, mobile-friendly templates and a highly usable drag-and-drop editor. Support, even on the free plan, is fast and responsive. Integrations with over 300+ tools, including WordPress, Facebook, and Shopify, are available.
Areas for Improvement
Deliverability rates with Benchmark were disappointingly low, especially to Outlook and Hotmail inboxes. Staying on the free plan long-term is unlikely due to the 250 emails/month limit and the $5/month charge to upgrade image storage from 10MB to unlimited.
Who is the Free Plan For?
Businesses sending primarily text-based emails may better manage the file storage limit and improve email deliverability. Benchmark is a good choice for those prioritizing a well-designed and straightforward emailing tool.
Benchmark Video Review
benchmark video review
Alt text: Benchmark video review banner, highlighting its sleek design and user-friendly features as an email marketing and emailing service provider.
Free Trial: www.benchmarkemail.com
> Read our Benchmark review
17. CleverReach – Professional but Limited Free Plan
CleverReach free email marketing service
Alt text: CleverReach interface, showcasing its professional email marketing tools and features, emphasizing its comprehensive platform for businesses.
CleverReach offers a comprehensive, enterprise-grade emailing service with marketing automation, forms, and reports. The Lite plan provides access to most features and allows up to 1,000 emails to a maximum of 250 subscribers monthly for free.
Strengths of CleverReach
The editor is user-friendly. The workflow-based automation editor, comprehensive reporting, and campaign calendar are valuable features.
Areas for Improvement
The free plan is very limited in automations, templates, and registration forms. Not all templates are responsive.
Who Should Use the Free Plan
If your list is small and EU compliance is crucial, CleverReach is a strong option. Double opt-ins are standard, and data is hosted within Europe, aligning with EU data privacy standards.
Free Trial: www.cleverreach.com
> Read our CleverReach review
Understanding ‘Free Plan’ Emailing Services
If you’re like many, the term ‘free’ for software raises questions. The ‘catch’ with free emailing services is typically a ‘freemium model.’ This means restrictions may apply to subscriber counts, email sending volumes, or feature access. However, for businesses with straightforward newsletter strategies, these free plans often suffice to get started.
The underlying strategy is that as your business grows and budget allows, you’ll be satisfied with the service and upgrade to a paid plan. But for now, free plans offer excellent starting points.
What Do You Get with Free Emailing Services?
As demonstrated, many robust emailing services are accessible for free. We’ve focused on ‘hosted’ newsletter services, meaning you don’t need your own email server or software installations. These are self-contained, user-friendly services.
All listed services include bounce management. They automatically handle emails that fail to reach recipients, removing bounced addresses from your list after several attempts. This keeps your contact lists clean and deliverable.
While your newsletters are valuable, some recipients will want to unsubscribe. These services offer easy unsubscribe management, often automated, without manual intervention.
Finally, these providers offer statistics. You can track email open rates and engagement metrics, helping you understand content performance and audience preferences.
Limitations of Free Emailing Services
Most free emailing services limit subscriber or email numbers, or both. Review these limits carefully when choosing. Feature access is also commonly restricted in free plans. Most free services include provider branding in your emails, usually a footer badge. If branding removal is essential, consider our list of cheap email marketing services instead.
Advanced email automation is often absent in free plans. If marketing automation is a priority, consider this limitation. Detailed reporting is also frequently restricted. For advanced features, consider paid options like ActiveCampaign. Compare ActiveCampaign’s pricing with other providers using our email marketing cost calculator.
For starting recommendations, consider Kit, MailerLite, or Sender. They offer good subscriber and email limits with user-friendly interfaces. Kit excels in monetization features, MailerLite provides excellent all-around features including landing pages, and Sender offers advanced automations for free.
Conclusion: Choosing the Best Free Emailing Service
While numerous free emailing providers exist, understanding their limitations and aligning them with your needs is crucial. The best way to choose is to try them out – they are free, after all!
Important: Follow email deliverability best practices and review our guide to email authentication before sending emails. For list-building strategies, see our guides on how to build an email list and lead generation. Also, consult our guide to email list management.
Explore more providers in our Constant Contact alternatives guide.
Need CRM software? See our detailed list of the best free CRM providers.
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The Authors
Learn more about us
Roberta Phillips
Marketing Manager
Hey, I’m Roberta! As a digital marketer, I’ve tested and used numerous marketing tools. I’m here to help you find the best email marketing and CRM tools for your needs. I’m experienced with tools like Brevo, MailerLite, and HubSpot – let me help you choose!
Robert Brandl
Alt text: Professional headshot of Robert Brandl, Founder and CEO of EmailTooltester, an email marketing expert with over 15 years of experience.
Robert Brandl
Founder and CEO
Hello, I’m Robert, an email marketing expert with 15+ years of experience. I founded EmailTooltester to assist small and medium businesses. Connect with me on LinkedIn for email marketing insights. Ask me for ESP recommendations – I have extensive experience with ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, Mailchimp, and Brevo.
Learn more about us We keep our content updated
06 Feb 2025 – Updated Mailerlite 15 Jan 2025 – Added Beehiiv 10 Oct 2024 – Updated Sender 02 Sep 2024 – Optimized ToC, changes in SmartMail profile (lower allowance) 27 Jun 2024 – Moved Kit to top of list due to new free plan inclusions 05 Jan 2024 – A couple of smaller improvements and corrections 05 Dec 2023 – Email Octopus removed support in the free tier (included only the first 30 days) 04 Dec 2023 – Mailchimp free plan no longer offers automations 11 Oct 2023 – Added new ‘Best free email marketing software’ video 07 Aug 2023 – Added Kit 03 Aug 2023 – Small change for EmailOctopus related to Amazon SES, Moonmail removed (no more free plan) 02 June 2023 – Smart Quiz updated 16 March 2023 – Updated Mailchimp’s pricing 22 Dec 2022 – Moved GetResponse down since they reduced sending allowance. 15 Dec 2022 – Added badge 01 Dec 2022 – Omnisend video review added 15 Sept 2022 – Moved Mailchimp down since they reduced sending allowances 01 Aug 2022 – Removed Moosend as they no longer offer a freemium plan 07 June 2022 – Added SmartrMail 15 March 2022 – Added AWeber and removed YMLP 03 Feb 2022 – Updated Sendpulse 20 Jan 2022 – Moved Mailchimp down since they removed the ability to schedule emails on the free plan 09 Dec 2021 – Updated Zoho in light of changes to allowances and features 26 Oct 2021 – Moved Brevo up 25 Oct 2021 – Added smart finder 19 Oct 2021 – Added GetResponse 20 Sept 2021 – Omnisend’s pricing updated and moved down. Moosend moved up 15 Jun 2021 – Small updates for Moosend 3 Feb 2021 – Zoho added 15 Dec 2020 – New video added 25 Nov 2020 – Added ‘What can I expect from free email marketing software?’ section 28 Apr 2020 – Added updated MailerLite video 22 Apr 2020 – Changes to Benchmark free plan allowance 18 Oct 2019 – CleverReach reduced their free allowance 17 Jan 2024 – Sender introduced split testing features in automations. 22 Oct 2019 – HubSpot added to list. 16 Oct 2019 – Updated EmailOctopus. 22 May 2019 – Changes to Mailchimp free plan. 11 April 2019 – Drip no longer offers a free plan. 28 Feb 2019 – CleverReach allowance is higher now. 20 Sep 2018 – SendPulse added to list. 4 Dec 2018 – Sender added to list. 25 Feb 2018 – Moosend added to list.
Our Methodology
This article has been written and researched following our EmailTooltester methodology.
Our Methodology
