9 Best newsletter software tools (and how to choose)

By Phil Norris January 23, 2024

Sending e mail newsletters is widely known as one of the vital efficient methods to succeed in, have interaction, and convert your viewers, with over 90% of promoting professionals describing e mail advertising and marketing as at the least considerably essential to enterprise success.

So it’s no shock that the overwhelming majority of manufacturers ship e mail campaigns at the least as soon as per week:

To maintain your viewers engaged and make your content material memorable, it’s essential to select a publication software program software that makes it simple to design stunning, high-engagement emails that land the place you need them to: in the primary inbox.

However with a whole bunch of publication platforms to select from, it’s onerous to know the place to begin.

That’s why we’ve accomplished the analysis for you and compiled our record of the 9 finest publication software program platforms, highlighting their:

• Person critiques
• Key options
• Free performance
• Technical help
• Pricing

And we’ve even offered sensible ideas for selecting your very best publication software program software.

Let’s get into it…

How to decide on the most effective e mail publication software program: What to search for

The general finest e mail publication platform for you will naturally rely by yourself particular necessities. However the overwhelming majority of content material creators, coaches, on-line market sellers, and small companies ought to prioritize instruments that provide the next options:

Excessive e mail deliverability

Whenever you ship emails to your pals, household, and colleagues out of your private or enterprise account, you may really feel fairly assured they’ll attain their meant vacation spot.

It’s because you’ve bought a historical past of back-and-forth conversations.

However this is probably not the case whenever you’re sending your publication, so that you’ll positively desire a software that permits excessive e mail deliverability.

Many publication software program platforms shout about their sky-high e mail supply, however that doesn’t assure your newsletters will really be seen.

Why?

As a result of e mail supply isn’t the identical as e mail deliverability; these six further letters make a complete world of distinction:

• Electronic mail supply is whether or not the receiving mail server accepted the e-mail and delivered it to the mailbox, no matter which folder it lands in.
• Electronic mail deliverability is whether or not the e-mail is positioned within the recipient’s major inbox.

In different phrases, even when a software claims a 99.9% supply fee, your newsletters may nonetheless find yourself in spam, promotions, updates, or another folder that by no means will get checked.

So don’t be swayed by flashy-sounding supply statistics; discover out what they’ll do to maximise your e mail deliverability.

As an illustration:

• Do they require a confirmed opt-in e mail? This easy affirmation helps stop folks from receiving unsolicited newsletters.
• Do they permit folks utilizing their platform to import a bought e mail record? This can be a main pink flag that they permit spam to be despatched from their publication platform.
• Do they adhere to ISP (Web Service Supplier) requirements for managing and sending opt-in e mail?

These are only a few of the proactive measures that assist publication platforms obtain robust deliverability.

Strive-before-you-buy capabilities

In the end, the easiest way to know if a platform is best for you is to learn the critiques and  suggestions, be certain it’s bought all the suitable options, then attempt it your self.

For that cause, you need to search for publication software program instruments that provide a very free plan, not only a limited-time free trial, so you may navigate the assorted options and see if it’s a superb match.

A 14-day trial simply isn’t sufficient to actually become familiar with a platform.

Straightforward-to-use e mail builder

Ideally, you don’t need to pay builders to code your emails and graphic designers to make them look good — you need to do it your self (even in case you don’t have a ton of technical abilities).

So we suggest prioritizing platforms with user-friendly e mail builders, like a drop-and-drop editor for including and arranging your design.

Constructed-in monetization

Not all e mail instruments have built-in ecommerce performance.

This can be a key consideration, as a result of most individuals don’t begin e mail newsletters for the sake of it — they do it to earn money, whether or not by means of…

…or another tactic.

No matter your monetization technique, be certain your chosen publication platform helps it.

Time-saving content material creation instruments

Not everyone seems to be a pure born designer or copywriter.

And even if you’re, it’s nonetheless good to have a serving to hand whenever you’re feeling a bit of uninspired.

That’s why we suggest selecting a publication platform that options inventive help instruments like:

• AI writing aids that will help you brainstorm concepts and switch them into partaking copy.
• RSS feeds so as to add your most up-to-date posts, podcasts, movies, and merchandise in your emails.
• Options that will let you make fast updates to each facet of your newsletters. 
• Constructed-in graphic design instruments like Canva so as to add wealthy pictures to your emails.

Dynamic segmentation

Just about each publication platform gives some form of viewers segmentation performance, which lets you reduce and slice your e mail record primarily based on shared traits and behaviors.

However to actually stand out, you desire a publication platform that permits dynamic segmentation.

Conventional segments are static, which implies a buyer will stay in a phase till you progress them to a brand new one.

In the meantime, dynamic segments replace in actual time primarily based on buyer behaviors.

As an illustration, think about you run an ecommerce retailer. If a client spends $300 inside three months, they could possibly be routinely moved to your dynamic “VIP buyer” phase, so you may ship them focused newsletters encouraging them to purchase much more.

Instruments to develop your viewers

Sadly, e mail lists don’t develop by themselves.

You want some solution to get folks to subscribe by means of touchdown pages, sign-up types, and popups.

Don’t have your personal web site?

That’s not essentially an issue, as a result of some e mail publication platforms will host your type or touchdown web page for you.

9 finest publication software program platforms

Now let’s take a extra in-depth take a look at every platform…

1 – AWeber

Evaluations

Greatest for: All-round publication performance

AWeber is finest for folks on the lookout for an all-round e mail publication platform that does a little bit of all the things. Nice for coaches, content material creators, bloggers, affiliate entrepreneurs, and sellers on on-line marketplaces like Etsy.

Key options

• #1 on-line graphic design software, Canva, constructed straight into the e-mail builder.
• Common theme settings means that you can change fonts, colours, buttons, dividers, and extra from a single management.
• Electronic mail routinely despatched to subscribers the second you publish new blogs, movies, merchandise, and extra.
• RSS feed that can auto-display titles, descriptions, and pictures for printed content material and merchandise.
• Drag-and-drop e mail builder for simple publication customization.
• Signup types and touchdown pages to assist develop your publication record.
• Gross sales pages and a number of fee choices to monetize your publication.
• Dynamic content material and segmentation allow you to ship personalised viewers experiences.
• Internet push notifications on all plans allow you to succeed in your viewers past the inbox.
• In-house e mail deliverability crew with intensive deliverability administration and experience.
• AI writing software to brainstorm concepts and create draft newsletters in seconds.
• Cut up-testing means that you can measure which topic line, preview textual content, message content material, and ship time variants ship the most effective outcomes.

Buyer Help

All AWeber customers — even these on the free plan — can contact the help crew through reside chat and e mail help, whereas paying prospects can even entry cellphone help. 

Free performance

On AWeber’s free plan you may have as much as 500 subscribers and ship as much as 3,000 emails a month. It additionally gives entry to superior instruments, together with a touchdown web page builder, lead seize types, and segmentation.

Pricing

Paid plans begin at $12.50 monthly for as much as 500 subscribers and limitless emails.

Join an AWeber account at the moment.

2 – Fixed Contact

Evaluations

Greatest for: Multichannel advertising and marketing

Fixed Contact is an effective match for entrepreneurs trying to leverage a number of channels — e mail, SMS, and social media — from inside a single platform.

Key options

• AI-powered topic line suggestions.
• Use the drag-and-drop editor or begin with one among 200+ templates.
• Personalize your newsletters with dynamic content material blocks that replace primarily based on who sees them.
• Use the cell app to handle campaigns out of your cellphone.
• Bolt on SMS messaging to run multichannel advertising and marketing campaigns.
• Prolong your attain by posting on Fb, Instagram, and LinkedIn from inside the platform.
• Generate leads utilizing the built-in touchdown web page builder.

Technical Help

All Fixed Contact prospects can entry self-service, reside chat, and phone-based help, no matter which plan they’re on. Nevertheless, they don’t provide e mail help.

Free performance

Fixed Contact doesn’t have a free product tier. As an alternative, it gives a 60-day free trial with a 100-email ship restrict.

Pricing

Costs begin at $12 monthly for as much as 500 contacts and 5,000 month-to-month e mail sends.

3 – Mailchimp

Evaluations

Greatest for: Superior publication analytics

Knowledge-driven entrepreneurs will love Mailchimp’s refined reporting instruments, which give real-time insights on emails, automations, ecommerce efficiency, and extra.

Key options

• Get inspiration to your publication design from a library of 100+ pre-built e mail templates.
• Optimize your publication campaigns utilizing superior analytics and reporting instruments that pull in information from a number of platforms, together with Google Analytics and Shopify.
• Create high quality content material quicker with generative AI instruments, accessible on Mailchimp’s Commonplace and Premium plans.
• Construct optimized touchdown pages and even a whole web site utilizing the Mailchimp platform.
• Ship personalised messaging at scale utilizing multichannel automations.
• Combine with 300+ apps and instruments, together with QuickBooks, Shopify, and WooCommerce.

Technical Help

Mailchimp’s technical and buyer help varies by worth plan. Necessities and Commonplace subscribers get 24/7 e mail and chat help, whereas top-tier Premium prospects get pleasure from cellphone and precedence help. On the free plan, customers are restricted to e mail help — and just for the primary 30 days after they enroll.

Free performance

Mailchimp’s free plan contains as much as 500 subscribers and 1,000 month-to-month e mail sends, plus types, touchdown pages, and restricted entry to reporting instruments and publication templates.

Pricing

Paid plans begin at $13 monthly for as much as 500 subscribers and 5,000 month-to-month e mail sends.

4 – MailerLite

Evaluations

Greatest for: Low-cost e mail advertising and marketing

MailerLite is among the lowest-cost publication platforms available on the market.

Key options

• Design emails your manner utilizing both the drag-and-drop editor, wealthy textual content editor, or HTML e mail editor.
• Collect viewers suggestions by embedding surveys inside your newsletters.
• Add social sharing options to develop your viewers.
• Goal a number of audiences with a single e mail by filtering who can see sure content material sections.
• Monetize your publication by connecting your on-line retailer or promoting digital merchandise and subscriptions.
• Get a headstart with 50+ professionally designed publication templates. 

Technical Help

All paying MailerLite prospects obtain 24/7 e mail help, whereas Superior and Enterprise subscribers additionally get entry to reside chat help. When you’ve bought a free MailerLite account, you’ll must make do with as much as 30 days of e mail and chat help.

Free performance

MailerLite’s free plan means that you can ship 12,000 month-to-month emails to as much as 1,000 contacts and likewise contains entry to the platform’s touchdown web page, lead seize type, and automation builders.

Pricing

Paid plans are priced from $10 monthly for as much as 500 subscribers and limitless emails.

5 – Flodesk

Evaluations

Greatest for: Large publication lists with easy wants

Whether or not you’ve bought 100 publication subscribers or 100,000, Flodesk costs you a similar month-to-month sum (though there’s an additional value for ecommerce performance).

Key options

• Pay one fastened fee, irrespective of how briskly your publication grows, with a single worth plan for as much as 100,000 subscribers.
• Make data-backed choices by analyzing your hottest emails, sending instances, and extra.
• Develop your publication record by constructing sign-up types and touchdown pages.
• Create on-brand newsletters by importing your personal fonts and branded graphics (though customized fonts aren’t suitable with all e mail suppliers).
• Bolt on ecommerce performance to monetize your content material by means of gross sales pages, fee processing, and checkout flows.

Technical Help

Flodesk solely gives email-based technical help. They reply emails from 6 am to six pm ET, sometimes inside two enterprise days.

Free performance

Flodesk does technically provide a free plan, but it surely doesn’t embrace any newsletter-sending performance — only a free link-in-bio software for lead era.

Pricing

To ship e mail newsletters by means of Flodesk, you’ll must pay $35 monthly (plus an additional $24 monthly so as to add ecommerce performance). The e-mail advertising and marketing plan contains as much as 100,000 subscribers.

6 – Substack

Evaluations

Greatest for: Thought leaders and influencers

If you have already got a giant viewers and need to monetize by means of paid newsletters, Substack could possibly be the right publication platform. It’s not fairly as efficient in case you’re making an attempt to develop an e mail record from scratch.

Key options

• Monetize your newsletters by charging your readers subscriptions of $5 – $75 monthly.
• Ship newsletters freed from cost; Substack simply takes a reduce of your subscription charges.
• Change your current publication to Substack by importing mailing lists and content material archives from Medium, Tumblr, WordPress, and different platforms.
• Resolve which posts to publish without spending a dime and which to maintain behind your subscription paywall.
• Develop your viewers with in-platform suggestions, visitor posts, mentions, and referrals.

Technical Help

You possibly can attain out to Substack’s help crew through reside chat or by submitting a request by means of an onsite type.

Free performance

Substack is completely free for writers; they make their cash by charging a proportion of your subscription charges.

Pricing

When you don’t technically pay Substack something, they hold 10% of your subscription charges. You retain the remainder, minus bank card and transaction charges.

7 – ActiveCampaign

Evaluations

Greatest for: Enterprise-grade e mail advertising and marketing

ActiveCampaign’s refined segmentation instruments and multi-user modifying performance make the platform a preferred alternative for advertising and marketing groups at massive companies. Plus it’s comparatively dear, which could delay particular person content material creators and smaller groups.

Key options

• Arrange stunning campaigns in minutes utilizing the drag-and-drop e mail designer.
• Ship focused e mail campaigns at scale with ActiveCampaign’s segmentation and dynamic content material instruments.
• Run cut up exams to know which newsletters generate essentially the most opens, clicks, and gross sales.
• Get impressed by a whole bunch of responsive e mail templates for B2B and B2C entrepreneurs.
• Preserve your sender repute excessive with computerized list-cleaning to take away inactive contacts.
• Collaborate on publication design and marketing campaign setup with multi-user modifying.

Technical Help

ActiveCampaign prospects can entry technical help through reside chat or by submitting a request by means of an onsite submission type.

Free performance

ActiveCampaign doesn’t have a free plan. As an alternative, it gives a 14-day free trial that features entry to most — however not all — of the platform’s options.

Pricing

Paid plans are priced from $29 monthly for 1,000 contacts and 10,000 month-to-month e mail sends.

8 – GetResponse

Evaluations

Greatest for: E-newsletter insights

When you’re the kind of marketer who likes to investigate reside information and course-correct quick, GetResponse is a robust alternative, supplying you with real-time entry to a bunch of key publication metrics (assume open charges, click-through charges, bounce charges, and extra).

Key options

• Construct and host limitless webinars for as much as 1,000 reside attendees and retailer as much as 20 hours of webinar recordings.
• Generate partaking, industry-specific topic traces straight away with the AI creator software. 
• Design skilled emails rapidly with drag-and-drop blocks of textual content, pictures, CTA buttons, and extra.
• Browse a library of 200+ e mail templates optimized for varied advertising and marketing targets.
• Construct segments primarily based on subscribers’ onsite actions and the way they work together along with your newsletters.
• A/B take a look at topic traces, pictures, publication layouts, and CTA buttons to optimize marketing campaign efficiency.
• Monitor key metrics and information factors like open charges, click-through charges, and click on maps in actual time.

Technical Help

Free customers don’t get any technical help. All paying prospects obtain e mail and chat help, whereas Enterprise prospects can entry cellphone help. Chosen Max subscribers can even attain out by means of Slack.

Free performance

The free GetResponse plan provides you an inventory for as much as 500 contacts and allows you to ship as much as 2,500 newsletters monthly. It additionally contains entry to the platform’s touchdown web page builder, sign-up types, and web site builder.

Pricing

GetResponse’s paid plans begin at $15.60 monthly for as much as 1,000 contacts and limitless month-to-month emails.

9 – ConvertKit

Evaluations

Greatest for: Content material creators who want a primary publication software

ConvertKit doesn’t provide essentially the most superior reporting or refined segmentation. However in case you’re a content material creator who simply needs to ship e mail newsletters (whereas profiting from some neat viewers development instruments), it’s a effective alternative.

Key options

• Create newsletters utilizing the straightforward, block-based visible e mail builder.
• Embed a number of content material varieties — together with tweets, movies, and merchandise — in your newsletters.
• Use tags and segments to prepare your publication subscribers from a single e mail record.
• Develop your viewers by means of ConvertKit’s built-in suggestions engine, or through the use of the platform’s touchdown web page and sign-up type builders.
• Monetize your content material by charging a subscription charge or promoting digital merchandise like on-line programs and ebooks.

Technical Help

ConvertKit gives three totally different tiers of buyer help. Free customers must depend on group help, whereas paying prospects get e mail and reside chat help. Creator Professional subscribers obtain precedence help.

Free performance

ConvertKit’s free plan contains as much as 1,000 subscribers and limitless e mail broadcasts, touchdown pages, and sign-up types.

Pricing

The entry-level ConvertKit plan, Creator, prices $9 monthly for as much as 300 subscribers and limitless publication sends. It additionally features a bunch of performance that’s not accessible on the free plan, similar to automated e mail sequences and the chance to develop your e mail record by means of paid promotions with different creators.

Select the most effective all-round publication software program

Naturally we’re biased, however we actually imagine AWeber is the most effective publication software program for many use instances — particularly in case you’re a content material creator, coach, on-line market vendor, affiliate marketer, or small enterprise.

Our costs are inexpensive.

Our e mail creation instruments are easy to grasp, however with all the subtle options it’s essential to create beautiful, partaking content material each time — assume an AI-powered writing help, built-in Canva entry, and extra.

Our common theme settings will let you change colours and fonts, add buttons and dividers, and far more in addition to — all from a single management.

Our signup types and touchdown pages assist you to construct a devoted viewers of people that can’t wait to your subsequent publication.

And that’s only for starters.

After all, we don’t anticipate you to take our phrase for it.
See for your self by signing up for a free account at the moment!