Best email marketing platform for small business

The short answer: who should pick which

All four tools send newsletters, build sign-up forms and run automated emails. They differ in how they charge and in what else comes in the box.

• EmailOctopus is the low-cost, email-only pick. Its free plan covers 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month with no time limit, and paid plans stay the cheapest of the four once your list passes 1,000 contacts.
• Moosend suits businesses that want automation, landing pages and unlimited sends from one flat price by list size. There is no free plan, but a 30-day trial needs no card.
• SendPulse fits if email is one channel of several: the same account runs messenger chatbots, SMS, a CRM and landing pages. Its free plan covers 500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month.
• EngageBay is for a small team that wants email marketing inside a CRM with sales pipelines and a helpdesk. Its free plan allows 15 users but only 250 contacts, and paid plans are priced per user.

If you are leaving Mailchimp mainly because of price, start with EmailOctopus or Moosend. If you want to replace several tools at once, look at SendPulse or EngageBay.

How to choose an email marketing platform for a small business

These are the points that change the bill and the day-to-day work for a small business:

• What you pay for: contacts, emails or users. Most tools charge by list size (contacts or subscribers). Some cap monthly sends on top, some sell email volume instead, and CRM suites charge per user. Know your list size and how often you send before comparing.
• Free plan or trial. A free-forever plan lets you build your list before paying; a trial gives you a fixed window to test everything. Check whether free emails carry the vendor's logo.
• Sending limits. A monthly email cap matters if you send weekly or more. Unlimited sends matter most for frequent senders.
• Automation and extras. Welcome series, abandoned-cart flows, landing pages and forms are where tools differ most. Don't pay for a CRM or chatbots you won't use.
• Billing period. Annual billing is cheaper on all four, but refunds are limited, so test on a monthly plan or the free tier first.

We compare published plans and terms only. We did not run sending or deliverability tests, and nothing here is a score. For more tools in this space, see the best marketing and SEO tools.

Prices at 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 contacts

Monthly billing, US dollars, read from each vendor's pricing page. For EngageBay the price is per user; one user is shown.

On annual billing the same three list sizes cost $144, $336 and $480 a year on EmailOctopus; $13, $38 and $70 a month on Moosend; and $14.40, $41.60 and $62.40 a month on SendPulse. EngageBay's yearly prices are $59.79 (Growth) and $110.39 (Pro) per user per month.

Two things stand out. EmailOctopus is the cheapest at every size here, but it caps monthly emails per tier (50,000 a month at 5,000 subscribers), while Moosend and SendPulse include unlimited sends. And EngageBay's Basic plan stops at 500 contacts, so a list of 1,000 already needs Growth: you pay for the CRM and helpdesk whether you use them or not.

EmailOctopus: best free plan for a growing list

EmailOctopus does email only: a drag-and-drop or HTML editor, 100+ templates, segmentation, forms, landing pages, automations and reports, with 1,000+ integrations and an API. The EmailOctopus review covers the full feature list and terms.

The free Starter plan is the most generous of the four for list size: 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, with no time limit. It is also the most restricted in other ways: EmailOctopus branding on every email, reports kept for 30 days, one landing page, one form and one user. Pro removes the branding and those caps and is priced by list size, from $10 a month for 500 subscribers to $44.50 for 10,000 on the EmailOctopus pricing page. Yearly billing saves about 10%, and nonprofits get a 20% lifetime discount.

Pick EmailOctopus if you mainly send newsletters and promotions and want the lowest bill, or want to grow a list to 2,500 for free.

The downside: it is email only (no SMS), monthly sends are capped per tier, and fees are not refunded for a change of mind.

Moosend: automation and unlimited sends

Moosend, now part of Constant Contact, combines a newsletter editor with 130+ templates, A/B testing, a visual automation builder with website behavior tracking, landing pages, forms and an AI writer. It connects with WooCommerce, Magento, WordPress, Salesforce and Zapier. Details are in the Moosend review.

Pricing follows unique contacts, and every Pro tier includes unlimited sends: $9 a month for 500 contacts, $16 for 1,000, $48 for 5,000 and $88 for 10,000 on monthly billing, with 15% off biannual and 20% off annual billing. Instead of a free plan there is a 30-day trial with unlimited sends to up to 1,000 contacts and no credit card. Occasional senders can buy email credits that never expire (350,000 for $350).

Pick Moosend if you send often, want welcome series and store automations without add-ons, and prefer one predictable price per list size.

The downside: no free plan after the trial, prices climb on bigger lists ($624 a month for 100,000 contacts), transactional email and dedicated IPs are add-ons, and support runs 24/5.

SendPulse: email plus chatbots and SMS

SendPulse is a multichannel platform: bulk and transactional email, SMS, web push, chatbots for WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and Facebook, a CRM, landing pages and a course builder. The SendPulse review goes through each part.

The free email plan has no time limit and allows 15,000 emails a month to up to 500 subscribers, with 5 automation flows and chat support for the first 30 days. Paid email plans add unlimited emails and remove SendPulse branding. Standard costs $12 a month for 500 subscribers, $18 for 1,000, $52 for 5,000 and $78 for 10,000 on monthly billing, with 20% off yearly, according to the SendPulse pricing page. A pay-as-you-go option sells 10,000 emails for $48.

Pick SendPulse if your customers also reach you on WhatsApp or Instagram and you want email, bots and a simple CRM under one login.

The downside: the free plan's 500-subscriber cap is low, anti-spam thresholds are strict (campaigns over 0.4% complaints can be blocked), some business categories are excluded, and it does not serve users in Russia.

EngageBay: email marketing inside a CRM

EngageBay bundles email marketing, automation, landing pages, forms and pop-ups with a sales CRM, live chat and a helpdesk. The EngageBay review covers each product and the refund terms.

The free plan suits a team rather than a list: up to 15 users, but 250 contacts and 1,000 emails a month. Paid All-in-One plans are per user per month: Basic $14.99 (500 contacts, 3,000 emails), Growth $64.99 (5,000 contacts, 25,000 emails) and Pro $119.99 (10,000 contacts, 50,000 emails), with 8% off yearly and 15% off two-year billing on the EngageBay pricing page. A marketing-only plan starts at $11.04.

Pick EngageBay if you would otherwise pay for a separate CRM and helpdesk, and your list is small but your team is not.

The downside: per-user pricing and low contact caps make it the most expensive way to email a list of 1,000 or more, and annual plans are refundable only in the first weeks.

What about Mailchimp, Brevo and MailerLite?

These are the names most people compare first, so here is where they sit, from their own pricing pages:

• Mailchimp's free plan allows 250 contacts and 500 emails a month (250 a day), and keeps Mailchimp branding. Paid plans are priced by contacts, with monthly sends capped at a multiple of your contact count.
• Brevo has a free-forever plan with up to 300 emails a day. Paid plans are priced by monthly email volume rather than contacts, from 5,000 emails a month on Starter, which removes the Brevo logo.
• MailerLite's free plan covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month with 2 user seats; paid plans start at $12 a month.

Compared with those free tiers, EmailOctopus (2,500 subscribers) and SendPulse (500 subscribers, 15,000 emails) give a small business more room before paying. If you also sell courses or run funnels, the Systeme.io vs ClickFunnels vs GoHighLevel guide covers all-in-one platforms with email built in.

Which one should you pick?

• Under 2,500 subscribers and newsletters only: start on EmailOctopus's free plan and upgrade when you want the branding off.
• Frequent sender with automations or a store: Moosend's unlimited sends and included landing pages; use the 30-day trial to build your first flows.
• Email plus WhatsApp, Instagram or SMS: SendPulse, starting on the free plan.
• Small sales team that needs a CRM anyway: EngageBay, starting free with your whole team.

Whichever you choose, import a clean, opted-in list: all four forbid bought or scraped lists and can suspend accounts that generate complaints.