With so many email marketing platforms available, it can be difficult to know which one to choose. The right platform should fit your goals, budget and technical needs while also offering the features that help you connect with your audience.
What to consider when choosing an email marketing platform
When selecting a platform, keep the following factors in mind:
- Ease of use: The platform should be straightforward to set up and manage, even if you are not highly technical.
- Automation: Look for automation features that allow you to send welcome series, abandoned cart reminders and behaviour based campaigns.
- Segmentation: Strong segmentation tools allow you to target different groups of subscribers with relevant content.
- Integrations: Make sure the platform connects with your website, ecommerce store or CRM.
- Analytics and reporting: You should be able to measure key metrics like open rates, click rates and conversions easily.
- Cost and scalability: Check pricing plans and whether the platform will scale as your subscriber list grows.
- Support and resources: Access to tutorials, guides and customer support is important, especially if you are just starting out.
Popular email marketing platforms
Here is a breakdown of some widely used platforms and what they are best suited for:
Mailchimp
One of the easiest platforms to get started with. Mailchimp is affordable, simple to use and comes with plenty of ready-made templates. It’s a great fit for small to medium businesses who just want to get campaigns up and running quickly. The trade-off is that it lacks some of the advanced features you’ll find in other tools.
Klaviyo
If you run an online store, Klaviyo is hard to beat. It shines when it comes to automation, personalisation and data-driven segmentation. It plugs straight into platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce and gives you access to the kind of insights that can really drive sales. It is more expensive, but worth it for ecommerce brands who want to get serious with their email marketing.
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
Brevo is a great all-rounder if you want more than just email. It mixes email, SMS and chat into one platform and still manages to keep things user-friendly. With decent automation, personalisation and testing tools at a lower price point, it’s a solid option for small to medium businesses.
ActiveCampaign
This is a powerhouse platform if you’re ready for something more advanced. ActiveCampaign combines email marketing with CRM, giving you deep automation and reporting tools. The flip side is that it can feel more complicated to learn and the price point is a bit higher, so it suits businesses that are ready to invest a bit more time and budget.
GetResponse
A good all-in-one option. GetResponse does email marketing well, but also offers extras like landing pages and webinars. It’s beginner-friendly with drag-and-drop templates and comes at a fair price. Ideal if you want more than just email in one package.
Drip
Drip is built with ecommerce in mind. It helps online retailers create tailored journeys and personalised campaigns, and it integrates easily with Shopify and similar platforms. It may not be the most advanced option out there, but it’s a strong choice if your focus is growing an online store.
Platform comparison
If you’re still struggling to choose, take a look at this comparison based on automation flows, campaign capabilities, pricing and scalability:
| Platform | Flow Capabilities | Campaign Capabilities | Pricing | Scalability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | Beginner-friendly automations, limited on free plan, weaker advanced segmentation. | Easy drag-and-drop builder, templates, merge tags. Limited reports on free plan. | Free: 500 contacts / 3,000 emails. Paid from ~£7.50/month (scales with list size). | £50–hundreds/month for large lists and advanced features. |
| Klaviyo | Highly customisable flows with branching, A/B testing, dynamic content. | Powerful segmentation & personalisation. Limited reports on free plan. | Free: 250 contacts / 500 emails. Paid from ~£16.32/month. | £150–£1,000+/month for big lists and advanced tools. |
| Brevo | Solid automation with A/B testing & segmentation. Less advanced than Klaviyo. | User-friendly builder, supports many campaign types (A/B, RSS, plain text, etc.). | Free: unlimited contacts, 300 emails/day. Paid from ~£18/month. | £50–few hundred/month for high volume. |
| ActiveCampaign | Advanced, highly customisable workflows but more complex to use. | Strong personalisation & reporting. A/B limited in lower tiers. | No free plan. Paid from ~£11/month (500 contacts). | £50–hundreds/month for larger lists & advanced automation. |
| GetResponse | Decent flows, less flexible than competitors, lacks advanced branching. | Drag-and-drop builder, templates, A/B testing, segmentation, webinars. | Free: 500 contacts, unlimited emails. Paid from ~£11/month (1,000 contacts). | £50–hundreds/month depending on list size/features. |
| Drip | Simple, visual flows. Great for ecommerce, less powerful for complex needs. | User-friendly, ecommerce-focused campaigns. Limited for advanced analytics. | No free plan. Paid from ~£14/month (500 contacts). | £50–hundreds/month for larger lists. |
In summary…
There is no one size fits all solution when it comes to email marketing platforms. Mailchimp remains a popular starting point, while Klaviyo and Drip are popular for ecommerce brands. Brevo is budget friendly, ActiveCampaign offers powerful CRM features, and GetResponse provides an all in one digital marketing suite. The best approach is to define your goals, compare features and pricing, and make use of free trials to see which platform feels right for your business.
