8 Best Email Automation Software Comparison

Email automation software promises efficiency but often comes with its own set of headaches – complicated workflows and time-consuming setups.

It’s not just about sending more emails; it’s about sending the right emails at the right time – without lifting a finger. The right email automation tool takes care of that.

This blog will help you choose the best tool by comparing the 8 best email automation software in detail and weighing their pros and cons. Let’s dive in.

How to choose the best email marketing automation software?

1. Email-only or Cross-channel Workflows

Do you want just email automation or the ability to integrate with SMS, push notifications, or social media for omnichannel marketing? Klaviyo and Omnisend offer cross-channel, while Retainful is primarily email-focused. It depends on whether your marketing automation strategy is omni-channel based or only email marketing.

2. Ecommerce-specific or All Use-cases

Are you an e-commerce merchant needing e-commerce specific automation like abandoned cart recovery? Look at Retainful or Omnisend. For broader use, consider Brevo or ActiveCampaign.

3. With or Without CRM

Need customer relationship management (CRM) features? ActiveCampaign and HubSpot combine email and CRM, perfect for sales teams.

4. Budget-friendly or Advanced Features

Retainful and Brevo are budget-friendly, while Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign offer more advanced and pricier features.

5. Visual Workflow Builder

Ease of use matters – look for drag-and-drop builders like Retainful or Klaviyo if you want to map out complex workflows without a steep learning curve.

Best Email Automation Tools Comparison

Email Automation SoftwareBest forFree Plan
RetainfulE-commerce businessesYes – upto 500 emails/month and access to all features
OmnisendE-commerce-based omnichannel marketingYes – 500 email/month
BrevoSending email newsletters and CRM IntegrationYes – 300 emails/day
ActiveCampaignAdvanced automation and triggersNo free plan
MailChimpOmnichannel + CRMYes – 1000 emails/month and single-step automation
KlaviyoLarge e-commerce businesses looking for advanced automation.Yes – 500 emails/month
HubspotLarge businesses and B2B companies needing comprehensive marketing, sales, and customer management.Yes – 2000 emails/month and a single-step automation
Constant Contact Event management toolsNo free plan

8 Best Email Automation Software

8 best email automation software are:

  1. Retainful – Best email automation tool for e-commerce businesses
  2. Omnisend – Best for e-commerce-based omnichannel marketing
  3. Brevo – Best for sending email newsletters and CRM Integration
  4. ActiveCampaign – Best for advanced automation and triggers
  5. MailChimp – Best email automation service for omnichannel + CRM
  6. Klaviyo – Best for large e-commerce businesses looking for advanced automation
  7. Hubspot – Best for large businesses and B2B companies needing comprehensive marketing, sales, and customer management
  8. Constant Contact – Best for event management tools

Let’s see these 8 best email automation tools in detail.

1. Retainful – Best email automation tool for e-commerce

Retainful email automation software for ecommerce

Retainful is the best email automation software for e-commerce and features easy-to-setup email automation. Every feature is tailor-made for an e-commerce store.

It has seamless e-commerce email marketing automation at its core and is very simple to use – you wouldn’t need a 3-page manual to automate e-commerce emails.

Here is a glance at all the available e-commerce email automation workflows in Retainful:

List of email automation workflows in the Retainful email automation software

It has the most easy-to-setup email automation builder and pre-built workflows with the best possible actions. Your email automation workflow will be up and running in minutes.

Email automation builder in the Retainful email automation software

Retainful best free email marketing automation software for e-commerce boasts the best abandoned cart recovery feature – having a higher cart recovery rate than most of the tools in the market.

This email automation tool’s advanced segmentation feature allows you to group your customers based on many pre-defined or custom criteria and segment your customers within a few clicks.

Coming to crafting your emails effortlessly, it has an intuitive drag-and-drop editor – no code required.

Here is a glance at Retainful’s drag-and-drop email editor.

Email template editor in the Retainful email automation software

Pros:

  • Easy-to-setup email automation
  • Pre-built automation workflows
  • Single-click abandoned cart recovery
  • Pre-designed email segmentation templates
  • Targeted sign-up forms

Cons:

  • Lack of omnichannel capabilities and landing page builder

Price tiers and Email Volume:

  • Free plan: 500 Emails (with access to all the features)
  • $19/month: 20,000 Emails
  • $49/month: 50,000 Emails

2. Omnisend – Best for e-commerce-based omnichannel marketing

Omnisend email automation tool

Omnisend is an omni-channel marketing automation tool – combining email, SMS, and push notifications.

This best free email automation software provides e-commerce specific email marketing automation, allowing you to set up automation workflows for cart abandonment, browse abandonment, post-purchase emails, welcome emails, and more.

You can create cross-channel workflows combining email, SMS, and push notifications in one and the automation workflow builder is very intuitive.

Email automation workflow builder in the Omnisend email automation software

To not compromise on email personalization, Omnisend email automation tool allows you to include dynamic content using customer data and behavior, ensuring each recipient receives tailored email content.

Dynamic product listing in the Omnisend email automation software

Pros:

  • Enhanced customer journey mapping
  • Dynamic content and advanced segmentation
  • E-commerce focused features
  • Has lead capture features like sign-up forms, landing page builder

Cons:

  • Lack of advanced reporting
  • Basic template editor

Price tiers and Email Volume:

  • Free plan: 500 Emails
  • $16/month: 6000 Emails
  • $59/month: Unlimited Emails

Related Reading: Learn how to create high-converting email automation in our blog: 11 Email Automation Best Practices to Send Tailored Email Campaigns

3. Brevo – Best for small businesses sending newsletters and CRM Integration

Brevo, formerly known as Sendinblue, is an email automation platform and has evolved to become a comprehensive CRM suite.

This best email marketing automation software for small businesses offers a clean interface for creating automation workflows, with options to create your own or use one of the pre-built templates.

Using Brevo email automation tool, you can build and design custom landing pages to capture leads, promote offers, and drive conversions.

Compared to all the visual marketing email automation workflow builders – Brevo falls short.

This automated email campaign software uses developer-style language and shows six prompts before taking us to the visual workflow builder. The values and the email content are not pre-configured. You have to include them from scratch.

Prompts appearing before using the email automation builder in the Brevo email automation software

This best free automated email marketing software’s visual workflow builder is not the most intuitive we have seen.

Email automation builder in the Brevo email automation software

This best automated email marketing service has many pre-designed segmentation templates – so you can forget about configuring rules after rules.

Pre-segmentation templates in the Brevo email automation software

The most complicated pricing page award goes to Brevo – due to its add-ons and complicated tiers.

Pros:

  • Allows page tracking in the free plan.
  • CRM integration
  • High email deliverability

Cons:

  • No reporting in the Free and starter plans.
  • You can only send 300 emails/ day in a free plan.

Price tiers and email volume:

  • Free plan: 300 emails/month
  • $25/month: 20k emails
  • $65/month: 20k emails + Push notifications and landing page features.

4. ActiveCampaign – Best for large businesses looking for advanced automation and triggers

ActiveCampaign stands out as a top choice for large businesses seeking the best email marketing automation software that has advanced marketing automation capabilities.

This best email automation software offers the most advanced automation features compared to Brevo, Omnisend, Mailchimp, and others.

This best email automation tool also enables site and event tracking, allowing you to monitor subscriber interactions with the website and other digital assets.

The visual marketing automation builder is not easy to use. It requires a steep learning curve before start setting up automation in minutes.

Email automation builder in the ActiveCampaign email automation software

When it comes to triggers, Activecampaign knocks it out of the park. It covers most of the possible events and customer actions.

Email automation triggers in the ActiveCampaign email automation software

For small businesses or those with simple email automation needs, ActiveCampaign’s advanced features may be more than necessary.

Pros:

  • Predictive sending and content
  • Dynamic content personalization
  • Comprehensive CRM features

Cons:

  • Lack of pre-designed automation workflow templates.
  • While creating complex email automation workflows, it looks like you are on your own.

Pricing tiers:

  • No free plan
  • $29/month – 1000 contacts
  • $49/month – 1000 contacts, Landing page builder, and more features

Related Reading: Explore our list of best email marketing software and their comparison here: 10 Best Email Marketing Software for 2025.

5. Mailchimp – Best for Omnichannel + CRM

Mailchimp email automation tool’s strength lies in its all-in-one platform – combining email marketing, SMS, basic CRM, and social ads in one place.

Compared to email marketing automation software providers like ActiveCampaign or HubSpot, Mailchimp’s email automation is less advanced and offers fewer customization options for detailed workflows.

This best email automation platform’s visual automation builder is very intuitive and easy to set up. Unlike Brevo and ActiveCampaign, it doesn’t let you do the heavy lifting. It has pre-configured triggers, email content, time delay. Make some tweaks, and you are good to go.

Email automation builder in the MailChimp email automation software

Though MailChimp automated email campaign software has numerous pre-built automation workflows for different user actions, you can send transactional emails like order confirmation emails, shipping confirmation, and more in the Standard Plan.

Pros:

  • User-friendly automation builder
  • All-in-One Marketing Hub
  • Easy to setup automation

Cons:

  • Lower pricing tiers offer fewer features than before.
  • Offers only single-step automation in Free and Essential plans.
  • Transactional emails are not included in the Free and Essential plans.

Price tiers and Email Volume:

  • Free plan: 1000 Emails
  • $4.60/month: 5000 Emails
  • $6.87/month: 6000 Emails
  • $137.41/month: 150,000 Emails

Related Reading: Explore the best MailChimp Alternatives in our blog: 8 Best Mailchimp Alternatives in 2024

6. Klaviyo

Besides email, Klaviyo email marketing automation software supports SMS marketing and push notifications, enabling cross-channel marketing automation within one platform.

This best automated email response software’s biggest strength is its data-driven email automation, offering personalized experiences based on user behavior and purchase history. It allows you to send hyper-personalized automated email campaigns, such as product recommendations based on past purchases or abandoned cart reminders.

This best automated email marketing service has a lot of advanced features, which are great for power users but overwhelming for beginners.

Figuring out how to properly utilize features like email segmentation, flows, reporting, etc., requires a big investment of time in this automated email campaign software.

It allows you to create many email automation workflows based on the goals you want to achieve.

Email automation workflows in the Klaviyo email automation software

Its drag-and-drop email automation builder is very easy to use. Most of the values, such as triggers, time delays, and email content, are pre-configured.

Email automation builder in the Klaviyo email automation tool

Pros:

  • Easy-to-use automation builder, though you can create complex workflows.
  • Has 350+ integrations.
  • Sending hyper-personalized email drip campaigns.

Cons:

  • Klaviyo’s pricing is based on “active profiles” rather than total list size. It can be confusing and unclear for some users.
  • Expensive.
  • Requires a steep learning curve.
  • Unreliable customer support.

Price tiers and email volume:

  • Free plan – 500 emails
  • $45/month – 15,000 emails
  • $60/month – 15,000 emails + SMS

Related Reading: Explore the best Klaviyo alternatives in our blog: 10 Best Klaviyo Alternatives for Ecommerce

7. Hubspot – Best for marketing and sales integration

Hubspot email automation software

Hubspot is an advanced marketing automation software including email campaign automation, customer relationship management, and email marketing. As you can do more than marketing, it is best suited for large companies.

This best email automation service allows you to create complex, multi-step, and personalized automation workflows.

This automated email follow-up software’s deep CRM integration is its biggest differentiator. Unlike email-focused tools, HubSpot combines sales, marketing, and customer service into one platform, allowing you to nurture leads, track customer interactions, and align sales and marketing efforts seamlessly.

With its integrated CRM, automated emails can be tailored based on any interaction a customer had with your company or any behavior they’ve exhibited on your website.

For example, in this best email automation platform, you can automate emails based on customer actions like page views, link clicks, and form submissions.

Pros:

  • Dynamic list segmentation
  • Advanced analytics
  • Integrated CRM
  • Advanced email automation

Cons:

  • Overkill for small businesses
  • Requires a steep learning curve
  • Basic features in the Free Plan

Price tiers and Email Volume:

  • Free plan: 2000 Emails
  • $18/month: 5000 Emails
  • $800/month: 50,000 Emails
  • $3600/month: 200,000 Emails

8. Constant Contact

Constant Contact email automation tool

Constant Contact marketing automation software goes beyond email automation, offering event marketing tools, social media ads, and surveys, which makes it an all-in-one marketing solution.

Unique to this automated email response software is its event management tool. Businesses can create, promote, manage registrations, and send follow-up emails for events all within the platform.

This best automated email marketing software lacks some of the more sophisticated automation and segmentation capabilities found in competitors like Klaviyo or ActiveCampaign.

Pros:

  • Extensive template library
  • Event management tools
  • List building tools

Cons:

  • No e-commerce automation templates available in Free plan
  • Limited CRM depth

Price tiers and Email Volume:

  • No free plan
  • $12/month – 500 emails
  • $55/month – 1000 emails
  • $200/month – 5000 emails

Wrapping up!!

Many businesses like you struggle with complexity, steep learning curves, and figuring out the right email automation software. But when done right, email automation saves time and drives consistent engagement.

Once you overcome the hurdles of setting up and choosing the best email automation tool, you unlock the potential for seamless, targeted automted email campaigns that works around the clock for you.

Also Read:

What is email automation software?

An email automation software allows you to schedule and send emails automatically based on customer actions like purchases, signups, or abandoned carts.

What is the best email automation software?

The best email automation software depends on your needs. Retainful and Ommnisend is ideal for ecommerce, ActiveCampaign for advanced automations, HubSpot for all-in-one CRM integration, and Mailchimp for beginners needing simple workflows.

How can I automate my emails?

You can automate emails by using an email automation tool, setting up triggers like customer actions (e.g., purchases).

What is an email automation tool?

An email automation tool allows you to schedule and send emails automatically based on pre-set triggers like purchases, signups, or specific user behaviors.

What is the difference between email automation and autoresponder?

Email automation creates complex, multi-step workflows triggered by user actions, while autoresponders are simple, single-step replies sent immediately after a specific action like signing up for a newsletter or filling out a form.

How do I set up an automated email system?

Choose an email automation platform, segment your audience, design personalized email templates, and create triggers (like signups or purchases) that will automatically send emails based on user actions or behaviors.

How long should an email automation be?

Email automation length varies based on the goal. Welcome sequences are usually 3-5 emails over a week, while lead nurturing sequences can extend longer.

How do I automate email responses?

Use an email automation tool to set up automated responses. Define a trigger (e.g., form submission or purchase), cutomize the email content, and schedule the email to automatically send the email when the trigger is activated.

Picture of Dakshaya Pranavi
Dakshaya Pranavi
A Computer Science Engineer who loves to write. More often than not you would find me reading books – delving into History and Astrophysics. Through reading, I found that writing is my game. And, here we are.

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