9 Best Email Marketing Software for Startups 2023
Last Updated: By TRUiC Team
Starting a startup can be difficult, especially when it comes to marketing. You want to make sure you are reaching your target audience and growing your business as quickly as possible, but you may not have the time or resources to do everything yourself. That's where email marketing services can help.
This guide takes a look at the best email marketing software for startups and why they might be a good fit for your business.
Recommended Email Marketing Software: AWeber
Top Email Marketing Platforms
By using a top email marketing service, your business will fast-track its ability to connect with your customers and warm leads in a more cost-effective way than with paid ads. It's also a much more direct marketing channel than SEO or organic search.
There are many different types of email marketing, but the ones more relevant to startups are lead nurturing, customer retention, and customer acquisition. Each of these is more immediate to the continued growth and success of a business.
As a startup, if you can not only implement, but succeed, in each of these email marketing areas, you're giving yourself the best chance at sustainable success within your industry. Here are the best email marketing services and what makes each unique.
Best Email Marketing Services for Startups:
Best Email Marketing Software: AWeber
Get started with AWeber if you’re ready to grow your email marketing easily and effortlessly. You’ll get premium features at affordable prices to fast-track your email marketing success.
1. Best Email Marketing Overall for Startups: AWeber
As one of the oldest email marketing services around, AWeber has been a classic for small businesses for years. It's a great option if you're looking for an email marketing service that is tried and true.
AWeber offers all the basic features you need to run successful email campaigns like automated emails, segmentation, list management, and more. The great thing about AWeber is that it's very reliable; you can always count on your emails going out on time and to the right people.
Pros
- Extremely reliable and widely used
- Has a full set of email marketing features
- Great customer support with online resources
Cons
- Higher cost than other email marketing services
Price Breakdown
- AWeber Free: $0
- AWeber Pro: Starts at $19.99/month
Recommended: Get started with AWeber today!
2. Best for Ecommerce: Drip
It doesn't matter what platform your website is on — Drip will have no problem seamlessly integrating with it to create a powerful email marketing funnel. Since setting up your email funnel is essential for email marketing, it's nice that Drip makes it easy.
Drip really separates itself by providing advanced email marketing tools like better automation, segmentation, and split testing features. It's also great for ecommerce businesses and offers a ton of automated support to keep your sales pipeline going smoothly.
Pros
- Integrates into most major website building platforms
- Offers advanced tools for ecommerce businesses
Cons
- Harder to use and integrate
Price Breakdown
- 500 contacts: $19/month
- 2,000 contacts: $29/month
- 2,500 contacts: $39/month
- 3,000 contacts: $49/month
- Higher-volume packages available
Get started with Drip today!
3. Best for Sending Newsletters: GetResponse
GetResponse is a great option if you want to send newsletters to your audience. It offers a wide range of templates to choose from and makes it easy to create beautiful emails that will look great on any device.
GetResponse also has good automation capabilities so you can set up email campaigns that will run without any manual input from you. And if you're looking for a way to track how well your newsletters are doing, GetResponse offers good reporting tools.
Pros
- Variety of original templates to choose from
- Great automation tools
Cons
- Lack of integrations and API abilities
Price Breakdown
- Free up to 500 contacts
- Basic: $19/mo
- Plus: $59/mo
- Professional: $119/mo
Get started with GetResponse today!
4. Best for Marketing and Advertising Startups: Keap
Keap is great for businesses that are looking for a more sophisticated email marketing system. It offers a lot of features like automation, CRM integrations, and lead scoring that can help you improve your sales process.
Keap is also very customizable, so you can make it work the way you want it to. And if you're not sure how to do something, Keap's support team is always available to help.
Pros
- Marketing automations
- Lead nurturing
- Opportunity tracking
Cons
- Outdated user interface
Price Breakdown
- Free for up to 100 contacts and one user
- Lite: $79/mo (500 contacts)
- Pro: $169/month (1,500 contacts)
- Max: $249/month (2,500 contacts)
5. Best for Non-Tech Savvy Entrepreneurs: Constant Contact
Constant Contact has made quite a name for itself in the email marketing industry because it is the default option in the WPForms plugin. The easy integration with WordPress makes it a favorite for entrepreneurs who don't have a ton of tech background and need something easy to use.
It has much of the functionality you'll need to grow your email marketing like segmented audiences, importing contact list options, pre-designed templates, and a drag and drop email builder.
Pros
- Extremely easy to integrate into WordPress
- Has essential email marketing features
- One of the fastest-growing services in the industry
Cons
- Very focused on WordPress sites
Price Breakdown
- Core: $9.99/month
- Plus: $45/month
6. Best for Scaling: HubSpot
HubSpot was created in 2006 as an inbound marketing and sales platform. It has since become the world's leading CRM for small businesses. HubSpot offers a suite of tools to help businesses with email marketing, SEO, social media, and content management.
The great thing about HubSpot is that it's not just for startups — it can scale with your business as it grows. If you're looking for a platform you can stick with no matter how big you get, HubSpot is the one.
Pros
- Integrated with CRM functionality
- Can service small to large businesses
- Largest offer of features available
Cons
- Can be confusing to use all of the functionality offered
Price Breakdown
- Starter: $45/month
- Professional: $800/month
- Enterprise: $3,200/month
7. Best for Customer Engagement: Sendinblue
If you're looking for ways your email marketing can help you connect with your audience to build better relationships, Sendinblue is a great option. It has all the power of an email marketing system combined with a CMS system to give you everything you need to run successful campaigns.
The easy-to-use interface and drag and drop editor make it incredibly easy to get customized emails sent to your audience. You'll also be able to rank prospects based on the level of interaction they've had with your brand.
Pros
- Very easy to use interface
- Combines email marketing with a CMS system
- Advanced features available like prospect ranking
Cons
- Not as established as other brands
Price Breakdown
- Free: $0
- Lite: Starts at $25/month
- Premium: Starts at $65/month
- Enterprise: Contact for quote
8. Most Popular: Mailchimp
Mailchimp has been around since 2001 and has become one of the most popular email marketing services available. It's great for small businesses because it's affordable and easy to use.
Mailchimp offers a lot of features for such a low price point, including automation, customizable templates, list management, reporting, and more. And if you're just getting started with email marketing, Mailchimp's onboarding process will walk you through everything you need to know.
Pros
- One of the most popular services in the world
- Includes a number of essential and advanced features
Cons
- Costly once you start growing
Price Breakdown
- Free: $0/month for up to 2,000 contacts
- Essentials: Starts at $11/month for 500 contacts
- Standard: Starts at $17/month for 500 contacts
- Premium: Starts at $299/month for 10,000 contacts
9. Best for Upgrades and Incentives: ConvertKit
With a robust level of features for offering your prospects upgrades and incentives, ConvertKit is a great email marketing service for startups. It's also perfect if you have a complex sales process with many different stages.
ConvertKit offers all the features you need to move people through your sales funnel, including automated emails, tagging and segmenting capabilities, and more. It also has good reporting tools so you can track how well your campaigns are doing.
Pros
- Great features for offering upgrades and incentives
- Lots of features specific for bloggers
Cons
- Doesn’t offer many templated designs
Price Breakdown
- Free: $0/month for up to 1,000 subscribers
- Creator: Starts at $15/month for 300 subscribers
- Creator Pro: Starts at $29/month for 300 subscribers
