Unlike many, Brevo’s free plan is exceptional for its multichannel approach — you can run email, SMS, and WhatsApp campaigns from the same dashboard without upgrading. Automation workflows include behavioral triggers and segmentation tools that typically require paid plans elsewhere. I particularly appreciate the transactional email capabilities and website tracking features included at no cost. The free plan showcases Klaviyo’s e-commerce strength with product recommendations, customer lifetime value tracking, and behavioral triggers that respond to shopping activity.
Brevo
Multichannel campaigns let you run SMS, WhatsApp, and email chains from a single dashboard, which saves time and keeps messaging consistent. Plus, at $9 per month, it won’t drain your budget once you choose to upgrade to paid. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards.
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- The free plan showcases Klaviyo’s e-commerce strength with product recommendations, customer lifetime value tracking, and behavioral triggers that respond to shopping activity.
- Mailchimp remains beginner-friendly, though its free plan has recently become significantly more restrictive.
- While a free plan can help you get started, it’s not typically sustainable in the long run.
- I spent a lot of time creating mock campaigns, setting up automations, and testing customer support responses to understand how each platform handles typical business conditions.
I selected these platforms based on UX, pricing, automation features, and deliverability rates. ZDNET’s recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. I’ve helped startups and businesses set up newsletters, order tracking workflows, calendar invites — the whole nine yards.
The platform includes basic single-step automations, a landing page builder, and forms, making it functional for simple email marketing needs. What sets Kit apart is its creator-focused approach — you can sell digital products directly through the platform and use its newsletter feed feature to showcase your content. The API access on the free plan is unusual and valuable for businesses wanting to integrate with custom tools. I appreciate how the platform includes comprehensive training and community support even for free users. Klaviyo offers a free plan specifically designed for small e-commerce businesses testing the platform. You get 500 monthly email sends and 150 SMS/MMS credits with up to 250 active customer profiles — quite restrictive but functional for startups.
- Klaviyo offers a free plan specifically designed for small e-commerce businesses testing the platform.
- Advanced segmentation lets you target customers based on purchase history and browsing behavior, features that typically require paid plans elsewhere.
- I appreciate how the platform includes comprehensive training and community support even for free users.
The platform includes built-in reporting dashboards, mobile push marketing, and email support for the first 60 days. The free plan’s integration ecosystem still shines with connections to popular tools, and the AI Creative Assistant helps with design and content creation. You can set up basic behavioral targeting and use its marketing CRM features to track customer interactions. However, Mailchimp discontinued its classic automation builder for free accounts as of June this year, limiting you to very basic workflows. I spent a lot of time creating mock campaigns, setting up automations, and testing customer support responses to understand how each platform handles typical business conditions. In fact, I’ve got email marketing software recommendations for every type of business and user.
Whatever your email marketing needs in 2025, here are my top picks that offer the best free options to help you test the waters. I also looked for compliance with email-specific data regulations like GDPR and CAN-SPAM. Then, I looked for things like AI-powered behavioral analytics and CRM or CSM features built into the platform. While these aren’t a must-have, email marketing is a competitive space and these things can give one vendor a clear advantage over others.
Advanced segmentation lets you target customers based on purchase history and browsing behavior, features that typically require paid plans elsewhere. Cross-channel coordination between email and SMS is seamless even on the free tier. Mailchimp remains beginner-friendly, though its free plan has recently become significantly more restrictive. You get 500 contacts and 1,000 monthly email sends with a 500 daily limit, plus access to its drag-and-drop editor and template library.
If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. While a free plan can help you get started, it’s not typically sustainable in the long run. That said, I was really impressed with the generous free tiers offered by some vendors like Kit and MailerLite.