Rémi KokabiNovember 27, 202513 min readLast update: Sep 24, 2026
9 Best Email Marketing Services in 2026 (Tested & Compared)
Email marketing is one of the best ways to turn leads into customers.
And the ROI backs it up. According to DMA UK research, email returns $40 for every $1 spent, though the exact figure varies by company size. That’s a 4,200% ROI.
But the tool you use to send those emails matters more than most teams realize. I’ve tested dozens of platforms over the years, and the gap between a good ESP and a bad one shows up fast in three places: deliverability, automation depth, and pricing transparency.
In this post, I’ll walk you through the 9 best email mailing services available right now. I evaluated each one on those three criteria, plus ease of use and scalability. Here’s what I found.
Tool | Best for | G2 Rating | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|
HubSpot | All-in-one marketing hub (with budget) | 4.4/5 | €880/mo (Professional) |
lemlist | Cold email and outbound sales | 4.6/5 | $55/mo (Email plan, annual) |
Brevo | Transactional and bulk email | 4.5/5 | Free (then €7/mo) |
Mailchimp | Newsletters and general email marketing | 4.4/5 | Free (then ~$13/mo) |
ActiveCampaign | Marketing automation | 4.5/5 | $15/mo (Starter) |
EngageBay | Email drip campaigns | 4.7/5 | Free (then $14.99/mo) |
Omnisend | Ecommerce email + SMS | 4.5/5 | Free (then $16/mo) |
Mailmodo | Interactive AMP emails | 4.6/5 | $49/mo (Lite) |
Sender | Very basic email needs | 4.3/5 | Free (then €17.39/mo) |
What is an email mailing service?
Email marketing is the practice of sending targeted emails to a group of recipients to promote products, services, or content.
It aims to build relationships and drive conversions.
An email mailing service, or email service provider, is a software platform designed to build customizable templates and send trackable campaigns.
One of the best features of an email service is its ability to segment your mailing list into specialized groups. Other key features include campaign design and list segmentation, plus performance tracking on every send.
Automation tools can simplify the process, ensuring timely and relevant communications.
Email marketing is a cost-effective strategy for reaching a large audience with personalized messages.
CMOs scaling outbound should prioritize engagement-based segmentation to boost deliverability. ISPs favour high engagement, so instead of mass-sending, focus on recent openers and responders first. This keeps your domain warm while gradually re-engaging colder leads. The result? Higher inbox placement, better sender reputation, and more pipeline from email, without burning your list.
Isabella Lee, Founder @ Let’s Fearlessly Grow
9 Best Email Mailing Services: Top Tools and Software
1. HubSpot is the best email marketing hub if you have the budget
HubSpot’s Marketing Hub is expensive. But it offers comprehensive marketing software for automation, reporting, and campaigns.
The tool is convenient since it joins all the relevant tools in a single platform.
However, some users may have budget concerns, and this email marketing software is not cheap.
For them, I’d recommend trying HubSpot’s free plan, which allows you to send 2,000 emails per month. The biggest downside of the free plan is that it includes HubSpot’s branding on virtually everything (landing pages, forms, and emails). I hit HubSpot’s branding wall on the free plan within a day. If that matters to you, budget for a paid tier from the start.
Rating: G2 – 4.4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pros:
CRM integration included
Vast selection of social media management options
Strong marketing automation
Offers integrations with other HubSpot solutions
Cons:
Confusing and expensive pricing tiers
Steep learning curve
High extra fees (onboarding fee)
Pricing:
Professional: €880/month for 3 seats billed monthly (additional seats start at €49/month). But you have to pay a one-time onboarding fee of €2,930.
Enterprise: €3,300/month for 5 seats (additional seats start at €75/month). But you have to pay a one-time onboarding fee of €6,830.
The Verdict:
HubSpot Marketing Hub is an all-rounder email platform that works great for large teams and businesses with a budget. If your team can absorb the onboarding fee and the per-seat math, the CRM integration alone can justify it.
2. lemlist is the best all-in-one tool for cold emails and revenue growth
lemlist is an email sending tool built for sales teams and professionals who want to turn more leads into customers and drive revenue.
lemlist users find and convert highly-qualified prospects in one place, in just a couple of minutes.
It allows you to build your lead list with verified emails, write and personalize at scale, and send cold emails that get you more customers.
lemlist carries a 4.6/5 rating on G2 from 1,500+ reviews, making it one of the highest-rated outbound sales platforms on the market.
Rating: G2 – 4.6/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pros:
B2B lead database with 600 million+ contacts of relevant leads
Email warmup with lemwarm
Personalization at scale and list segmentation
Intent Signals for signal-triggered outreach
lemAgent for AI-built campaigns
Deliverability Hub for real-time domain health monitoring
Waterfall lead enrichment that finds ~80% of verified emails, up to 2x more than average vendors
Multi-channel automations across email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, SMS, and in-app calling
AI-generated sequences and liquid syntax
Integrations with popular CRMs
API access
Cons:
lemlist doesn’t allow you to send newsletters and transactional emails
Can become pricey since you pay extra for every user
Pricing:
lemlist costs $69 per month for the Email plan (or $55 per month on annual billing) and $109 per user per month for the Multichannel plan ($87 annual). Enterprise is custom quoted for teams of five or more.
lemlist offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Additionally, you can purchase more sending emails for other members of your team for $9 per mailbox per month beyond the included allotment.
The Verdict:
lemlist is an outbound sales platform, not a newsletter ESP. That distinction matters. If your focus is cold outreach and sales-led growth, it’s the only tool on this list that combines lead sourcing, enrichment, multichannel sequencing, and deliverability management in a single workflow.
On the other hand, if you need to send newsletters or transactional emails, look elsewhere on this list.
What I’ll also note: lemlist’s customer support team is available 24/7 and is one of the most responsive in the space, so you have your questions covered.
3. Brevo is the best beginner email marketing service for transactional emails
Brevo is great for marketing teams that send email blasts and large volumes of emails frequently.
This email mailing service focuses on email deliverability, making it ideal for mass emails that can’t be handled by ISPs like Outlook and Gmail. I tested Brevo’s free tier for a newsletter project, and the 300 emails/day cap is workable for early-stage lists. The deliverability score, however, is inconsistent.
Rating: G2 – 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pros:
Free forever plan
Simple to use
Marketing automation and A/B testing (on Business plan only)
Dedicated IP
Segment and create your contact lists
Cons:
Brevo branding in starter and business plans
Price adds up very quickly
Price based on monthly email volume
Brevo’s email deliverability is not that good (its deliverability score is from 70% to 95%)
Pricing:
Brevo offers three pricing plans and a free plan for different business needs.
The Free Plan has a volume limit of 300 emails/day. To remove the sending limit, you must upgrade to higher tiers.
The Starter Plan from €7/month is ideal for growing businesses.
A Business Plan from €15/month is great for marketing managers and e-commerce pros. However, if you want to remove Brevo branding from this plan, you have to pay a €8.10/month fee.
Enterprise Plan (available upon request only).
The Verdict:
Brevo is a good email mailing service for newsletters and transactional emails, even if you don’t have advanced technical knowledge.
4. Mailchimp is the most recognized email marketing platform
Mailchimp is the name most people think of first when they think “email marketing.” It remains the most recognized email marketing name globally, with over 11 million users.
I’ve used Mailchimp for basic newsletter campaigns, and the drag-and-drop editor is genuinely fast to work with. Templates look professional out of the box. But the platform has changed since Intuit acquired it in 2021, and not always for the better.
Rating: G2 – 4.4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (from thousands of verified reviews)
Pros:
Intuitive drag-and-drop email editor
800+ native integrations, from Shopify to Salesforce
Landing page builder included on all plans
Strong brand recognition and deliverability
Cons:
Since the Intuit acquisition in 2021, Mailchimp has raised prices or reduced limits almost every year
Paying for unsubscribed contacts who can never receive your emails is a frustrating billing practice
The free plan is barely usable at 250 contacts and 500 sends per month with no automation
At the same price point, ActiveCampaign and GetResponse offer more powerful automation
Pricing:
Mailchimp pricing in 2026 starts at ~$13/month for 500 contacts, but costs rise quickly as your contacts and send volumes increase.
Free Plan: 250 contacts, 500 emails/month
Essentials: from ~$13/month for 500 contacts
Standard: from ~$20/month for 500 contacts
Premium: from ~$390/month for 10,000 contacts
The Verdict:
Mailchimp is a solid pick for straightforward newsletter campaigns and small-list marketing. The ease of use is real. But if you need deep automation or you’re scaling past a few thousand contacts, the pricing math gets uncomfortable fast. Compare the total cost carefully before committing to an annual plan.
5. ActiveCampaign is the best email marketing platform for automation
ActiveCampaign is the platform I recommend most often when teams outgrow basic ESPs and need real automation depth. EmailToolTester’s 2026 deliverability tests scored ActiveCampaign with a 94.2% deliverability rate, landing 1st place out of 15 tools tested.
That deliverability edge compounds over time, especially at scale.
Rating: G2 – 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pros:
Industry-leading deliverability
Deep automation builder with branching logic, predictive sending, and lead scoring
Built-in CRM (on Plus plan and above)
20% annual discount and an additional 20% off for non-profits
14-day free trial on all plans
Cons:
Hidden add-on costs (CRM pipelines, SMS, custom reporting) can increase your bill beyond the advertised prices
No free forever plan
In November 2025, ActiveCampaign started charging new users for all contacts, including unsubscribed, bounced, and unconfirmed contacts
Steep learning curve on the Professional tier
Pricing:
ActiveCampaign offers four pricing plans in 2026 (billed annually): Starter at $15/mo, Plus at $49/mo, Professional at $79/mo, and Enterprise at $145/mo, all for 1,000 contacts.
The Verdict:
ActiveCampaign is the strongest pure marketing automation platform on this list. If your team runs complex nurture sequences, behavior-triggered campaigns, or CRM-integrated workflows, it’s the one to beat. Just know the price scales with your contact count, not just your plan tier.
6. EngageBay is the best email platform for sending email drips
EngageBay’s Marketing Platform is designed for creating email drip campaigns.
You can set parameters like time and number of emails, as well as craft your messages easily.
Thanks to its real-time data analytics, you can evaluate your email open and click rates, and make the edits for future email campaigns accordingly.
Rating: G2 – 4.7/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pros:
CRM integration
User-friendly interface
Round the clock customer support
Free plan for up to 250 contacts
Email marketing, templates, and autoresponders
Sequences and lead grabbers (lead scoring on paid plans only)
Cons:
Limited customizations for landing pages and email templates compared to competitors
Few third-party integrations
Limited advanced features
Pricing:
EngageBay offers four pricing plans based on different needs:
Free Plan for up to 250 contacts and limited features
Basic Plan for $14.99/month for up to 500 contacts
Growth Plan for $64.99/month for up to 5,000 contacts
Pro Plan for $119.99/month for unlimited contacts.
The Verdict:
EngageBay offers a free plan for up to 250 contacts with some basic functionalities. More advanced features come with paid plans only.
For businesses that want to scale, the Pro plan is the only option since it offers unlimited contacts, custom reporting, proposal analytics, SSO, and more, but it’s pricey at $120 per month.
7. Omnisend is the best email marketing service platform for ecommerce businesses
Omnisend is an email marketing solution built for ecommerce users. It offers a free plan that comes with all features and its paid plans start at $16/month for the list of 500 contacts.
The platform is great for ecommerce automation features that will benefit online store owners.
Rating: G2 – 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pros:
24/7 live chat & email customer support
Over 250 email templates
Pre-built workflows and segments
Popups, signup forms and landing pages
Over 130 integrations
Sales & performance reports
List cleaning tool
A/B testing & automation splits
Cons:
No advanced tracking
Prices add up very fast if you want to send more emails and have a bigger contact list
Pricing:
Omnisend pricing tiers are based on your contact list size. For example, if you have 0 to 250 contacts, you can choose from three pricing plans:
Free Plan for up to 250 contacts and 500 emails/month. You also get 500 web push notifications per month and 60 SMS (one time).
The standard plan is $16/month for up to 500 contacts and 6,000 emails/month.
Pro Plan for $59/month for up to 2,500 contacts and unlimited emails. It also gives you advanced reporting, unlimited web push notifications, and unlimited Shopify reviews.
The Verdict:
Omnisend is a great email mailing service for ecommerce stores since it offers automation workflows, email templates, transactional emails, SMS marketing, and segmentation.
The biggest con of Omnisend is that it limits the number of emails you can send per month, unless you get a Pro Plan.
However, if you have a big contact list, the fees will ramp up and it will become a substantial investment.
8. Mailmodo is the best email marketing tool for enhancing online buyer experience
Mailmodo is an email marketing tool that enables users to create and send AMP-powered emails.
Recipients can complete actions like filling out forms directly within the email, which simplifies the process of designing these emails.
Mailmodo offers a drag-and-drop editor, email templates, analytics, and automation features to optimize email campaigns.
Essentially, Mailmodo works by gamifying user experience with playfully designed deals that drive sales.
Rating: G2 – 4.6/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pros:
AMP-powered interactive emails allow recipients to engage directly within the email
Drag-and-drop editor
Email automation based on user behavior and triggers
Integrations with CRM and third-party tools
Cons:
Creating AMP-powered emails is not ideal for beginners
AMP emails might not be fully supported by all email clients, which can cause compatibility issues
Limited customization in email templates
Dependence on internet connection
Costs escalate with higher email volumes
Pricing:
Mailmodo offers three pricing plans based on the number of contacts you have.
Lite Plan is for $49/month for 2,500 contacts. It includes 1 team member, 1 custom domain, up to 20K email sending credits, and 5 active journeys.
Pro Plan is for $99/month for 2,500 contacts and 25K email sending credits. You get 3 team members, 2 custom domains, 10 active journeys, and 10 API request/sec. You also get an A/B testing feature.
Max Plan is for $199/month for 2,500 contacts. You get 37,500 email sending credits, AI-content creation, 5 team members, 4 custom domains and unlimited active journeys.
However, prices add up very fast as soon as your contact list expands, so Mailmodo is not an ideal solution for businesses that are just starting out.
The Verdict:
Mailmodo is an excellent email marketing platform for interactive emails that enhance user experience to drive sales on online stores. Beware that the prices escalate quickly as your contact list grows.
9. Sender is the best email marketing platform for very basic needs
Sender is a less popular email campaign platform for various businesses that focus on sending out email campaigns.
Sender’s users can build email designs and use free email templates that allow them to quickly craft emails.
Sender is also relatively user-friendly, so you don’t need advanced technical knowledge to get started with it.
Rating: G2 – 4.3/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pros:
Drag and drop email blocks
Pre-made templates
HTML editor
Free forever plan
Analytics and reports
Cons:
The features are very basic compared with other similar tools
No A/B testing
No 24/7 support
Pricing:
Sender offers four pricing plans:
Free Plan for businesses that are starting out.
Standard Plan for 17.39€/month for up to 30k emails/month. It’s designed for growing online businesses.
Professional Plan for 32.04€/month for up to 60k emails/month and priority support.
Enterprise (custom price).
The Verdict:
Sender is a basic email mailing service. You get what you pay for, and that’s not much.
Its free forever plan offers email automation, templates, and newsletters (with Sender branding), so you can try it out yourself and see if it’s the right solution for you.
Best email mailing service by use case
Picking the right tool depends on what you’re actually trying to do. Here’s a quick breakdown by use case, referencing only the tools reviewed above:
Cold outreach and sales-led growth: lemlist. It’s the only platform here that combines lead sourcing, enrichment, multichannel sequencing, and deliverability management.
Newsletters and general email marketing: Mailchimp. The editor is fast, templates are clean, and integrations cover almost every stack.
Marketing automation and nurture sequences: ActiveCampaign. Deepest automation builder on the list, with the deliverability data to back it up.
Ecommerce: Omnisend. Purpose-built for online stores with pre-built workflows, SMS, and Shopify integration.
Transactional and bulk email: Brevo. Good deliverability focus with a generous free plan for volume senders.
All-in-one marketing hub (big budget): HubSpot. CRM, social, email, and reporting in one platform, if you can afford the onboarding.
Interactive emails: Mailmodo. AMP-powered emails are a niche play but powerful for ecommerce conversion.
Email drip campaigns on a budget: EngageBay. Simple drip builder with a free tier that includes CRM.
Very basic needs: Sender. Free plan gets you started, but expect to outgrow it quickly.
Over to you
Every tool on this list solves a different problem. The right pick depends on whether you’re running cold outreach, sending newsletters, automating nurture sequences, or managing ecommerce campaigns.
If cold email and outbound sales is your focus, start a 14-day free trial of lemlist and see how the lead database, waterfall enrichment, and multichannel sequencing work together. No credit card required.
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