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The best email newsletter platforms and software

Build subscriber lists, customize emails, and send newsletters with these email newsletter platforms for your business.

By Kiera Abbamonte · September 7, 2023
Hero image with the logos of the best email newsletter software

Changes happening across search algorithms and social media feeds make one thing crystal clear: it's never been more important for businesses to own the channels where they communicate with customers. Email is one such channel—and it's stood the test of time.

Today, email newsletters run the gamut from small-scale personal notes to massive automated campaigns—and so does newsletter software. No matter where on the spectrum your email marketing operation falls, the best email newsletter software makes it quick and easy to send professional-looking emails to hundreds or thousands of subscribers.

The thing is, there are so many email newsletter tools out there. In nearly a decade of working in marketing, I've used my fair share of them, and I know it can feel overwhelming to choose the right one for you. To help, I considered more than 60 different apps and tested more than 30 of them to help you find the best email newsletter platform.

The 10 best email newsletter platforms

  • Benchmark for a full-featured email marketing app

  • Mailchimp for managing your email, social, website, and SMS together

  • ConvertKit for paid newsletters

  • Omnisend for eCommerce newsletters and campaigns

  • Campaign Monitor for agencies who handle email marketing for multiple clients

  • AWeber for putting your newsletter on autopilot

  • beehiiv for monetizing your newsletter

  • Curated for curated newsletters

  • Flodesk for unlimited subscribers and sends at one flat rate

  • Zoho Campaigns for ridiculously affordable plans

What is an email newsletter?

Email newsletters are bulk emails from brands, and email newsletter platforms are the tools that power them. They're a great way to share news, announce new promotions, show off new product features, promote your new blog posts, and curate content for your subscribers.

As email newsletters have grown in popularity, they've started to intersect with email marketing more broadly—and other areas of marketing, like marketing automation, web push and SMS campaigns, social media, and even web building. With all that overlap, many dynamite email newsletter tools have widened their feature sets to include broader email marketing and marketing automation capabilities. 

For this list, I focused on the best options for email newsletters: every app on the list, no matter how broad the feature set, delivers on making it quick and easy to build email newsletters, grow your list, and understand performance. But many of the tools below are also more than capable of handling (and scaling) your entire marketing operation, offering additional advanced features like transactional emails, drip marketing campaigns, marketing automation, and A/B testing.

What to look for in an email newsletter platform

How we evaluate and test apps

Our best apps roundups are written by humans who've spent much of their careers using, testing, and writing about software. Unless explicitly stated, we spend dozens of hours researching and testing apps, using each app as it's intended to be used and evaluating it against the criteria we set for the category. We're never paid for placement in our articles from any app or for links to any site—we value the trust readers put in us to offer authentic evaluations of the categories and apps we review. For more details on our process, read the full rundown of how we select apps to feature on the Zapier blog.

The best software for newsletter sending always includes the following key features, which are what I focused on in my testing:

  • Segmentation options. If you have a large mailing list, it's useful to be able to divide up how you email people according to their demographic details and their behaviors. All the apps included here have appropriate segmentation options for doing exactly that.

  • Affordability. It's possible to spend a lot of money on newsletter email services. I've focused on apps and tools that are affordable, even for smaller businesses with tight budgets.

  • Usability. Creating and sending an email newsletter should be a simple process, so I excluded any tools that were so complex that I spent more time searching Google than actually testing and using the tool. (I also only tested software with a full feature set, meaning you can both design and send newsletters in one tool.)

  • Analytics and reporting. Whether you're planning to monetize your newsletter or not, it's important a tool can help you understand how your email campaigns perform.

Once I narrowed down my list based on those criteria, I dove into testing. I followed a similar testing protocol for each, so I could compare key features across the board and find uniquely valuable ones, too. Here's what my testing workflow looked like:

  • First, I created an account and went through any onboarding provided by the app.

  • I tested the core features first, creating a new campaign, choosing from the library of templates (where available), editing the design, and completing the scheduling flow.

  • From there, I looked into more advanced features like segmentation and automation.

  • After my scheduled newsletter went out, I viewed the email from the recipient side, then checked out any reports and analytics provided.

  • Where applicable, I tested out features for creating a digital product or paid subscription to the newsletter—plus any other niche features like those designed for curated newsletters, eCommerce, or marketing agencies.

Throughout this workflow, I rigorously tested for ease of use—because your newsletter software shouldn't come with a steep learning curve or add frustration to your day. I've used email marketing apps extensively over the last decade, so if it was hard or time-consuming for me to figure out, it didn't make the cut.

This year, after spending about a week testing more than 30 email newsletter tools, I landed on the top ten you see below.

The best email newsletter platforms at a glance

Free plan

Pricing

Best for

Benchmark

Yes, up to 500 contacts, 3,500 emails/month, and basic features

Paid plans start at $8/month for 500 contacts, 3,500 emails/month, and most features

Full-featured email newsletter software

Mailchimp

Yes, up to 500 contacts and 1,000 sends/month

Paid plans start at $13/month for 500 contacts, 5,000 sends/month, 3 users, and additional features

Managing your email, social, website, and SMS together

ConvertKit

Yes, up to 1,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, and core features

Paid plans start at $9/month for up to 100 subscribers, unlimited emails, and most features

Paid newsletters

Omnisend

Yes, up to 250 contacts, 500 monthly sends, and most features

Paid plans start at $16/month for 500 contacts and 6,000 monthly sends

eCommerce

Campaign Monitor

No

Paid plans start at $11/month for 500 contacts and 2,500 emails

Agencies who handle email marketing for multiple clients

AWeber

Yes, up to 500 subscribers, 3,000 monthly sends, and limited access to most features

Paid plans start at $12.50/month for unlimited subscribers and sends plus most features

Putting your newsletter on autopilot

beehiiv

Yes, up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sending, and limited features

Paid plans start at $42/month for up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited sending

Monetizing your newsletter

Curated

Yes, full access to all features for up to 1,500 subscribers

Paid plans start at $39/month for up to 2,500 subscribers

Curated newsletters

Flodesk

No

The Email plan is $35/month for unlimited subscribers, unlimited sends, and all email features

Flat-rate pricing

Zoho Campaigns

Yes, up to 2,000 subscribers, 6,000 monthly sends, 5 users, and limited features

Paid plans start at $3/month for up to 500 subscribers, unlimited sends, up to 10 users, and basic features

An affordable option


Best full-featured email newsletter software

Benchmark Email (Web)

Benchmark Email, our pick for the best full-featured email newsletter software

Benchmark pros:

  • Over 200 beautiful templates

  • Full email marketing features

  • Generous free plan

Benchmark cons:

  • More than some newsletter senders may need

If you're looking for a capable email marketing tool to power your newsletters and other campaigns, you can't go wrong with Benchmark. From powerful but easy-to-use automation and segmentation to the supremely intuitive editor, Benchmark was my favorite app of the bunch.

To start, you can choose to send a regular campaign or RSS, then select the standard drag-and-drop editor (which I tested), HTML code editor, or plain text editor. You choose your editor at the start of every new campaign, making it a great option if you have multiple team members building emails.

Choose from over 200 well-designed email templates, start from scratch with a blank layout, or pull in any of your past emails to edit. When you're ready to design and customize your email, the menu is off to the left, so your design takes center stage. You can also build landing pages to help grow your subscribers, and the landing page editor is nearly identical to the email drag-and-drop.

Head over to Automations in the left-hand menu to create or edit automated flows. To create a new flow, you can choose from nine pre-built flows for things like welcoming new subscribers, requesting feedback, Facebook ad retargeting, and more.

Segment your subscribers by a number of basic criteria, or add your own custom dimensions to get more in-depth. Benchmark segments are dynamic and update automatically. And after you send your first email newsletter, you'll see robust analytics that include the basics—like opens, clicks, bounces, and unsubscribes—then go a step deeper with a click map of your email content and subscriber-level activity data.

Connect Benchmark with Zapier to power automated tasks like adding new subscribers to your email list, validating email addresses, and more. Here are a couple of examples, but you can connect Benchmark to thousands of other apps.

Add new Facebook Lead Ads leads as contacts to Benchmark Email

Add new Facebook Lead Ads leads as contacts to Benchmark Email
  • Facebook Lead Ads logo
  • Benchmark Email logo
Facebook Lead Ads + Benchmark Email

Add MailChimp subscribers to Benchmark Email

Add MailChimp subscribers to Benchmark Email
  • Mailchimp logo
  • Benchmark Email logo
Mailchimp + Benchmark Email

Add Benchmark Email contacts from Gravity Forms

Add Benchmark Email contacts from Gravity Forms
  • Gravity Forms logo
  • Benchmark Email logo
Gravity Forms + Benchmark Email

Benchmark price: Free for up to 500 contacts, 3,500 emails/month, and basic features; Paid plans start at $8/month for up to 500 contacts, 3,500 emails/month, and more advanced versions of core features like automation, lead generation, and reporting.

Best email newsletter platform for managing email, social, website, and SMS together

Mailchimp (Web)

Mailchimp, our pick for the best email newsletter platform for managing email, social, website, and SMS together

Mailchimp pros:

  • All-in-one marketing automation platform

  • Easy-to-use advanced features

  • Super reasonable costs as you scale

Mailchimp cons:

  • Free plan is much more limited than it once was

Mailchimp prides itself on being an all-in-one marketing platform for small businesses. That can sound intimidating if you simply want a good way of formulating email newsletters. But because it started out as an email newsletter platform, it offers a lot of simple functionality for when you're starting out—along with the opportunity to upscale your campaigns as your business develops.

Its templates are more blank canvas than some other apps' polished choices, but that gives you a lot of flexibility. However, with the app's extensive library of polished themes, you can always buy a great template a la carte. Segmentation options are easy to manage, but expect to upgrade to a premium plan if you want in-depth statistical analysis and performance reports.

Overall, Mailchimp is intuitive and welcoming, and you'll appreciate how it grows alongside your business. When the time comes, you can manage your website, landing pages, social media, and SMS campaigns together with your email initiatives.

Plus, Mailchimp's Zapier integration allows you to extend its value even further, automatically adding your leads to Mailchimp and sharing contacts across contact databases. Learn more about how to automate Mailchimp, or look at these ideas to get you started.

Subscribe new Facebook Lead Ad leads to a Mailchimp list

Subscribe new Facebook Lead Ad leads to a Mailchimp list
  • Facebook Lead Ads logo
  • Mailchimp logo
Facebook Lead Ads + Mailchimp

Create Mailchimp subscribers from new Typeform responses

Create Mailchimp subscribers from new Typeform responses
  • Typeform logo
  • Mailchimp logo
Typeform + Mailchimp

Add or update Mailchimp subscribers from new activity in ClickFunnels Classic contacts

Add or update Mailchimp subscribers from new activity in ClickFunnels Classic contacts
  • ClickFunnels Classic logo
  • Mailchimp logo
ClickFunnels Classic + Mailchimp

Mailchimp price: Free for up to 500 contacts and 1,000 sends/month with limited features; from $13/month for an Essentials package that includes access to all email templates, custom branding, limited automation features, and A/B testing functionality.

Best email newsletter platform for paid newsletters

ConvertKit (Web)

ConvertKit, our pick for the best email newsletter platform for paid newsletters

ConvertKit pros:

  • Designed for creators and paid newsletters

  • Intuitive email editor that works like a web builder

  • Create digital products, sell to your list, and collect payments with one tool

ConvertKit cons:

  • Emphasis on minimal, text-forward newsletters can be limiting

  • One of the more expensive options

Editor's note: ConvertKit recently rebranded to Kit. The next time we update this article, we'll be sure to address this, but for now, we'll continue to call it ConvertKit since that's what most users will be doing until it settles in.

ConvertKit is built for creators. The app goes beyond email to include landing pages and digital products, but newsletters (called "broadcasts") are at the heart of it all.

The email editor in ConvertKit functions a lot like a website builder. Instead of the drag-and-drop you'll find in most email newsletter tools, you click the + button on the left and choose the element you want to add.

The tool largely emphasizes a minimal, text-forward design for broadcasts, but it finally now offers 15 well-designed visual themes to choose from—they still keep things aesthetically simple, but they'll give your newsletter a little more polished look. Plus, you can create and save your own templates for reuse.

If you're sending a paid newsletter or other digital product, ConvertKit makes it easy to sell to your list, collect payments, and segment paid subscribers. Payments are powered by Stripe, but you can set them up without leaving ConvertKit's app. Once you're set up to collect payments, simply add a product, set the price, and you're in business.

You can start using ConvertKit—and even selling digital products—for free. If you sign up for a paid plan, ConvertKit includes free, done-for-you migration from your current email provider. Plus, ConvertKit integrates with Zapier, so you can do things like add event attendees as new subscribers and tag survey respondents automatically. Start with one of the templates below, or learn more about how to automate ConvertKit.

Add new leads from Facebook Lead Ads to ConvertKit forms

Add new leads from Facebook Lead Ads to ConvertKit forms
  • Facebook Lead Ads logo
  • ConvertKit logo
Facebook Lead Ads + ConvertKit

Add tagged subscribers to ConverKit from new Calendly events

Add tagged subscribers to ConverKit from new Calendly events
  • Calendly logo
  • ConvertKit logo
Calendly + ConvertKit

Create ConvertKit subscribers from new Crowdcast registrations

Create ConvertKit subscribers from new Crowdcast registrations
  • Crowdcast logo
  • ConvertKit logo
Crowdcast + ConvertKit

ConvertKit price: Free for up to 1,000 subscribers, unlimited sending, and limited features; the Creator package starts at $9/month for up to 300 subscribers and additional features like automation and free migration from other email tools.

Learn how ConvertKit stacks up against popular marketing tools with these showdowns: ConvertKit vs. ClickFunnels and ConvertKit vs. ActiveCampaign.

Best email newsletter platform for eCommerce

Omnisend (Web)

Omnisend, our pick for the best email newsletter platform for eCommerce

Omnisend pros:

  • All-in-one transactional emails, newsletters, and automated campaigns for eCommerce

  • Robust integrations with eCommerce platforms

  • Thoughtful pre-built audience segments

Omnisend cons:

  • Limited free plan and pricey to scale subscribers

  • Fewer template options

Omnisend is email marketing built for eCommerce, allowing you to build and manage everything from transactional emails to newsletters and automated email flows.

The app integrates with popular eCommerce platforms, including Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, WooCommerce, Wix, and more. Once you connect your store, Omnisend pulls in key data on your customers and their behavior to help power robust customer segmentation, email automation, and detailed reporting.

You can choose from more than 20 pre-built segments designed for eCommerce—like "high potential buyers," "clicked on promotional messages," and "frequent store visitors"—to make quick work of powerful segmentation.

Omnisend offers a smaller number of email templates, but they're designed to be versatile. The intuitive editor makes it easy to customize your newsletter with pre-built layout blocks for product listings, recommendations, discounts, and more. And if you use SMS campaigns or push notifications in addition to email, you can build and send these with Omnisend, too.

Plus, you can connect Omnisend with Zapier to open up a whole world of automation, from adding new contacts from your CRM or website form to syncing Google Ads events and more. Learn more about how to automate Omnisend with Zapier, or get started with one of these pre-made workflows.

Add new Salesforce leads to an Omnisend list

Add new Salesforce leads to an Omnisend list
  • Salesforce logo
  • Omnisend logo
Salesforce + Omnisend

Send new BDOW! subscribers to Omnisend

Send new BDOW! subscribers to Omnisend
  • BDOW (FKA Sumo) logo
  • Omnisend logo
BDOW (FKA Sumo) + Omnisend

Create or update Omnisend subscribers from new Leadpages submissions

Create or update Omnisend subscribers from new Leadpages submissions
  • Leadpages logo
  • Omnisend logo
Leadpages + Omnisend

Omnisend price: Free for up to 250 contacts, 500 monthly sends, and access to most features; the Standard plan starts at $16/month for 500 contacts, 6,000 monthly emails, and upgraded support options.

Best email newsletter software for agencies who handle email marketing for multiple clients

Campaign Monitor (Web, iOS)

Campaign Monitor, our pick for the best email newsletter software for agencies who handle email marketing for multiple clients

Campaign Monitor pros:

  • Strong client management features

  • Expansive reporting features

  • Transactional email and SMS

Campaign Monitor cons:

  • Less user-friendly interface

  • Costs can jump quickly

If you manage email marketing for multiple clients, Campaign Monitor makes that process simple. You can add as many clients as you want; create custom templates, emails, and automations for each client; allow clients to access their campaigns through a white-label version of the tool; and lock specific sections of emails and templates so they can't be edited.

Then, either have clients pay for their usage themselves by reselling the product to them, or you can pay for all of your clients yourself as part of a single package. You can even pay individually for a specific campaign if you have a client who only wants to send emails occasionally to a large list of contacts. Such flexibility is great if you're on a tight budget and need to plan accordingly.

Campaign Monitor's email editor initially encourages you to create a branded template based on the color scheme of your website. The whole interface isn't quite as user-friendly as some options here, but it's still a fast way to customize your messages with drag-and-drop functionality included. On the Unlimited plan, you can even preview what your email will look like in 20 different inboxes, helping you ensure that your emails look great for everyone.

Campaign Monitor offers Zapier integrations, so you can automatically add new Campaign Monitor subscribers based on purchases, event registrations, and more. Learn more about how to automate Campaign Monitor with Zapier, or get started with one of these pre-made workflows.

Create Campaign Monitor subscribers from new WooCommerce customers

Create Campaign Monitor subscribers from new WooCommerce customers
  • WooCommerce logo
  • Campaign Monitor logo
WooCommerce + Campaign Monitor

Add new Campaign Monitor subscribers to EmailOctopus lists

Add new Campaign Monitor subscribers to EmailOctopus lists
  • Campaign Monitor logo
  • EmailOctopus logo
Campaign Monitor + EmailOctopus

Add Campaign Monitor subscribers for new attendees registered in Eventbrite

Add Campaign Monitor subscribers for new attendees registered in Eventbrite
  • Eventbrite logo
  • Campaign Monitor logo
Eventbrite + Campaign Monitor

Campaign Monitor price: From $11/month for the Lite plan to send up to 2,500 emails/month to 500 contacts; from $19/month for the Essentials plan that includes 500 contacts, unlimited monthly sends,  time zone delivery, and priority support.

Best email software for putting your newsletter on autopilot

AWeber (Web, iOS, Android)

Aweber, our pick for the best email software for putting your newsletter on autopilot

AWeber pros:

  • Strong automated campaigns

  • Affordable paid plans

AWeber cons:

  • Limited free plan

If you're looking to get going quickly, AWeber may be a great option. It rivals every other app on this list with a huge number of email templates to get you started and a familiar drag-and-drop campaign editor. You can also build custom landing pages and opt-in forms to grow your subscriber base, starting from templates on offer there, too, or building yours from scratch.

Automation is where AWeber really shines, though. With pre-built campaigns to automate sending out new blog posts, podcast episodes, YouTube videos, and even Etsy products—or share top-performing evergreen content on an ongoing basis—you can easily set up an automated campaign and just let it run, hands off. Or build your own automated flow triggered when a new subscriber joins the list or has a particular tag applied.

AWeber's free plan is capped at 500 subscribers, so you'll likely have to upgrade to get the most out of it—including access to segmentation features and analytics. But the app's paid plans are totally accessible: you can get unlimited subscribers, lists, segments, automation, and users starting at $30/month.

Plus, you can do more by taking advantage of AWeber's Zapier integrations—available on all pricing tiers—to automatically add customers or meeting attendees to your AWeber subscribers list. Learn more about how to automate AWeber, or check out these ideas to get you started.

Save Stripe customers as AWeber subscribers

Save Stripe customers as AWeber subscribers
  • Stripe logo
  • AWeber logo
Stripe + AWeber

Subscribe new Teachable students to Aweber

Subscribe new Teachable students to Aweber
  • Teachable logo
  • AWeber logo
Teachable + AWeber

Create AWeber subscribers for new Calendly invitees

Create AWeber subscribers for new Calendly invitees
  • Calendly logo
  • AWeber logo
Calendly + AWeber

AWeber price: Free for up to 500 subscribers and 3,000 sends/month. Paid plans start at $12.50/month for unlimited subscribers and sending, 3 users, 1 custom segment, and advanced reporting.

Best email newsletter software for monetizing your newsletter

beehiiv (Web)

beehiiv, our pick for the best email newsletter software for monetizing your newsletter

beehiiv pros:

  • Generous free plan

  • Built-in monetization features

  • Detailed reports

beehiiv cons:

  • No templates and limited visual customization

beehiiv is a great option for anyone looking to aggressively grow and monetize an email newsletter. 

The app itself is easy to use with familiar navigation and a clean editing interface. It also includes my favorite of the (admittedly uninspiring) AI features. The generative AI writer feature is built seamlessly into the post and email writing flow, and it also offers an AI image generator, which works just fine if your requirements aren't super specific. But it's important to note: beehiiv is unapologetically text-forward, with no templates available and very few options for customizing the visual design of your emails. Whether that's a benefit or a knock really depends on your newsletter style.

Monetization is the bread and butter of beehiiv. You can grow your email list by bidding to be featured in other beehiiv creators' emails (it works similarly to bidding on a Google Ad) or even setting up an entire referral program. Then, start earning by "boosting" other newsletters in your emails, offering paid newsletter subscriptions, or applying to join beehiiv's native ad network and one-click accepting inbound ads from the app's network of sponsors.

You can get a concise view of your performance from the dashboard—or head to Analyze in the left-hand navigation to dive into the in-depth subscribers and posts reports.

beehiiv also connects with Zapier, so you can automate adding new subscribers from any number of other tools in your stack. Learn more about how to automate beehiiv, or get started with one of these pre-made workflows.

beehiiv price: Free plan includes up to 2,500 subscribers and unlimited sending; paid plans start at $42/month for up to 10,000 subscribers, additional users, unlimited segmentation, and more.

Best email newsletter software for curated newsletters

Curated (Web)

Curated, our pick for the best email newsletter software for curated newsletters

Curated pros:

  • Super quick newsletter building

  • Generous free plan and simple pricing

Curated cons:

  • No templates

  • No audience segmentation features

Curated is the fastest way to build out a newsletter full of your favorite content, curated from anywhere across the web. Collecting links to feature is a breeze. You can add them manually from the Collected Links tab, email links to a special email address, save from Slack messages, or—my personal favorite—add the Curated bookmarklet to your browser to save any page, with its headline brief description and a featured image, in as little as two clicks.

When you're ready to build out your next newsletter issue, all your collected links (that haven't been added to a previous newsletter) appear on the left-hand side. All it takes is one click to add them to the newsletter draft. It's just as easy to remove, rearrange, or edit items, and you can add custom text to introduce the newsletter or add any other context needed. Once you're up and running, the app includes comprehensive reports on click performance and subscriber growth.

All that speed and simplicity does come at the cost of visual customization, though. Curated doesn't include any email templates, and you can't edit the look of your emails beyond selecting the featured image for each curated link.

You can do more with Curated by using it together with Zapier to automate saving links, adding new subscribers, verifying subscriber email addresses, and more.

Add favorited Pocket articles to Curated

Add favorited Pocket articles to Curated
  • Pocket logo
  • Curated logo
Pocket + Curated

Add new Facebook Lead Ad leads to Curated as subscribers

Add new Facebook Lead Ad leads to Curated as subscribers
  • Facebook Lead Ads logo
  • Curated logo
Facebook Lead Ads + Curated

Verify Curated subscriber email addresses with NeverBounce

Verify Curated subscriber email addresses with NeverBounce
  • Curated logo
  • Curated logo
Curated + NeverBounce + Filter by Zapier

Curated price: Free for up to 1,500 subscribers with unlimited sending and all features included; paid plans start at $39/month for up to 2,500 subscribers.

Best email newsletter software with flat-rate pricing

Flodesk (Web)

Flodesk, our pick for the best email newsletter software with flat rate pricing

Flodesk pros:

  • Simple, flat-rate pricing

  • Minimalist, easy-to-use editor

  • Option to add eCommerce features

Flodesk cons:

  • High starting price with no free plan

  • Manual segmentation

Flodesk is an all-around great email marketing tool, with an intuitive email-building flow, a number of modern templates to choose from, and extensive reporting features. The overall user experience is much cleaner and less busy than most email marketing software, which feels like a breath of fresh air.

But what gets Flodesk on this list is its unique flat-rate pricing structure. If you're just looking for email features, it's a flat $35/month—that's it. No matter how many subscribers you add, emails you send, or features you need, it's all the same price.

With the newly released Checkout features (still in beta as of this writing), Flodesk is a strong contender for both eCommerce newsletters and creators of digital products, too. You can accept payments, build unlimited sales pages, deliver digital products, and view detailed eCommerce analytics. Flodesk also offers simple but in-depth analytics on subscriber growth, email and form performance, and workflows.

The automation builder is another strength. Tab on over to Workflows in the top navigation, and choose from four flexible workflow templates—welcome sequence, sales sequence, nurture sequence, or lead magnet delivery—or build from scratch. 

If Flodesk has one weakness, it's segmentation. You can create segments within the app—filter subscribers by acquisition source, activity, and other data fields, then select all and click Add to segment—but it's a manual process, and the resulting segments are static.

If you go with Flodesk, you can connect it to all the other tools in your tech stack using Zapier. Learn more about how to automate Flodesk, or start with one of these pre-made templates.

Add new Leadpages leads as Flodesk subscribers

Add new Leadpages leads as Flodesk subscribers
  • Leadpages logo
  • Flodesk logo
Leadpages + Flodesk

Create subscribers in Flodesk from new appointments in Acuity Scheduling

Create subscribers in Flodesk from new appointments in Acuity Scheduling
  • Acuity Scheduling logo
  • Flodesk logo
Acuity Scheduling + Flodesk

Create Flodesk subscribers from new HoneyBook inquiries

Create Flodesk subscribers from new HoneyBook inquiries
  • HoneyBook logo
  • Flodesk logo
HoneyBook + Flodesk

Flodesk price: Flat-rate Email plan is $35/month and includes unlimited subscribers, sends, and all email features; upgrade to Email & Checkout to add checkout features like sales pages, online payments, and checkout analytics.

Best affordable email newsletter software

Zoho Campaigns (Web)

Zoho Campaigns, our pick for the best affordable email newsletter software

Zoho Campaigns pros:

  • Generous free plan and ridiculously affordable upgrades

  • Lots of great templates

  • In-depth analytics

Zoho Campaigns cons:

  • Segmentation and automation require upgrade

  • Editor experience isn't excellent

Zoho Campaigns is by far the most affordable email newsletter tool on this list. Different pricing structures (based on subscriber count, email sending volume, features, or a combination) make it hard to compare free plans apples-to-apples, but Zoho's is definitely in the running with 2,000 subscribers, 6,000 emails/month, and five users all included for free. And while the free plan doesn't offer features like segmentation or automation, or most email templates, upgrading is ridiculously affordable, with plans starting as low as $3/month.

Zoho includes in-depth campaign reports with all the standard metrics, plus a click map, device and browser breakdown, and social stats. You can manage SMS campaigns in tandem with your email newsletter, connect your eCommerce store, and build automations, from scratch or based on one of seven pre-built workflows.

Now, with that low price and all those features, it makes sense that there are some negatives. Zoho's email editor functions fine, but it lacks the modern design and familiar drag-and-drop functionality that most apps now offer. If the price outweighs the interface issues, be sure to connect Zoho Campaigns with Zapier to automate your email newsletter workflows. Learn more about how to automate Zoho Campaigns, or get started with one of these pre-made workflows.

Add or update Zoho Campaigns contacts with new TikTok Lead Generation leads

Add or update Zoho Campaigns contacts with new TikTok Lead Generation leads
  • TikTok Lead Generation logo
  • Zoho Campaigns logo
TikTok Lead Generation + Zoho Campaigns

Add Calendly invitee as a contact in Zoho Campaigns

Add Calendly invitee as a contact in Zoho Campaigns
  • Calendly logo
  • Zoho Campaigns logo
Calendly + Zoho Campaigns

Add or update Zoho Campaigns contacts for new contact activities in ClickFunnels Classic

Add or update Zoho Campaigns contacts for new contact activities in ClickFunnels Classic
  • ClickFunnels Classic logo
  • Zoho Campaigns logo
ClickFunnels Classic + Zoho Campaigns

Zoho Campaigns price: Free plan includes up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails/month, 5 users, and basic templates; paid plans start at $3/month and include unlimited emails, up to 10 users, and additional features like basic segmentation and workflows and advanced templates.

What about AI newsletter software?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has absolutely made its way into email marketing software, and I made sure to test any advertised AI features I came across.

The first thing I noticed was that the AI features are mostly generative, meaning they'll help you write a bit of copy here and there or generate an image from a text prompt. You can get the same quality by copy/pasting from ChatGPT or Bard. Having said that, Mailchimp and beehiiv offered the best of the lot. Their AI assistants are built seamlessly into the campaign-building flow, and both offer some degree of customizability around language and tone of voice.

In the coming months and years, I'm sure AI will make its way into more aspects of email marketing. Mailchimp, for example, just announced that it's launching Intuit Assist, which will do things like automatically generating segments and automations.

How to choose the right email newsletter platform

If you send similar emails to groups of people regularly, you need an email newsletter platform. You might not need all the features of advanced email marketing platforms, with automated sending schedules and landing page builders and personalization tools. Not yet, anyhow. But as your lists and marketing ambitions grow, you might.

That's the great thing about the wide variety of online newsletter platforms available. Whether you want to send a curated set of articles weekly to build a following around a topic or need to send thousands of personalized messages for your multinational corporation daily, there are email apps to fit your needs.

You can start simple—even with a free email marketing app—then grow into the advanced email marketing features the top newsletter platforms offer.

Start with the email newsletter software that feels most like it fits your needs today. Don't worry: when you need more features, you can always upgrade your plan, switch to another app, or keep your original, email newsletter platform alongside a more advanced marketing automation tool.

Related reading:

  • The best free email marketing services

  • How to build an email marketing list

  • Get more ROI out of your URL shorteners with these 4 workflows

  • 12 newsletter templates for Word

  • The best campaign management software

This article was originally published in June 2018 by Jessica Greene and has also had contributions from Jennifer Allen. The most recent update was in September 2023.

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