The best email marketing software for a business that takes orders and delivers them is whichever one can segment your list by what people ordered and when you deliver to them. That single capability is worth more than template galleries, AI subject-line writers, or any feature comparison chart, because segmentation is what separates average senders from the top performers on every published benchmark.
Ten platforms are worth considering in 2026. They differ mostly in how they charge, by contact or by email volume, and in how much automation you get before the price jumps. Below is what each one is good at, followed by the four questions that should actually decide your choice.
Before you switch tools, it is worth knowing which number you are trying to move. A platform change will not fix a high bounce rate, which is a list problem, and it will not fix a weak click-through rate, which is usually a content problem. Check your email marketing metrics first and buy against the gap you find.
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The Bottom Line
- Free plans differ enormously. Brevo’s free tier allows up to 100,000 contacts but caps sends at 9,000 a month; Mailchimp’s free tier caps contacts at 250 and sends at 500.
- Volume-based pricing (Brevo, Zoho Campaigns) suits a large list you mail occasionally. Contact-based pricing (Mailchimp, Klaviyo) gets expensive as the list grows whether you mail it or not.
- Klaviyo and Omnisend are built for stores with order data. If your orders flow through Shopify or WooCommerce, they can calculate revenue per email rather than guess at it.
- Brevo includes SMS alongside email, which matters if you send delivery-day reminders.
- Choose on four things: integration with your order system, segmentation by delivery day and order history, visible bounce and complaint reporting, and automation you can afford on the entry plan.
- Prices below are starting figures reported in 2026 comparisons. Vendors change pricing often, so confirm on the vendor’s own page before committing.
Email marketing software compared on price and free plan
| Platform | Free plan | Starting paid price | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | 100,000 contacts, 9,000 emails/mo | from $9/mo | Email volume |
| MailerLite | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo | from $12/mo | Contacts |
| Zoho Campaigns | 2,000 subscribers, 6,000 emails/mo | from $5/mo | Contacts |
| Mailchimp | 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo | from $13/mo | Contacts |
| Klaviyo | 250 contacts | from $20/mo | Contacts |
| Omnisend | 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo | paid tiers by contacts | Contacts |
| ActiveCampaign | trial only | from $15/mo | Contacts |
| GetResponse | 500 contacts, 2,500 emails/mo | from $19/mo | Contacts |
| Kit | 10,000 subscribers, unlimited sends | from $15/mo | Subscribers |
| Constant Contact | trial only | entry email plan | Contacts |
Figures as reported by EmailToolTester’s free email marketing services comparison and 2026 vendor pricing roundups. Check the vendor’s pricing page for current numbers, since tiers change and most prices rise with list size.
1. Brevo: best when your list is bigger than your send volume
Brevo charges by emails sent rather than contacts stored, which fits a seasonal or occasional sender. A florist with 20,000 past customers who mails properly four times a year pays for four sends, not for storing 20,000 records all year.
It also bundles SMS with email on the same platform. For a delivery business that sends “your order arrives today between 9 and 11” messages, having both channels in one tool with one contact list removes a whole integration. The free plan’s 9,000 monthly emails with a 300-a-day cap is generous on contacts and restrictive on pace, so plan campaign sends around that limit.
The trade-off is a more utilitarian interface than the design-led tools, and automation that is capable but less polished than ActiveCampaign’s.
2. MailerLite: best simple platform at a low price
MailerLite is the option to pick when you want a clean editor, workable automation, and a small bill. Paid plans start around $12 a month, and the feature set covers what most local operations need: segments, basic flows, signup forms and landing pages.
The free plan is limited to 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails, so it is a trial rather than a permanent home. MailerLite also reviews accounts before approving sending, which occasionally surprises new users but is part of why its deliverability reputation is decent.
Skip it if you need deep conditional automation or native order-data segmentation.
3. Zoho Campaigns: cheapest paid entry, best if you already use Zoho
At around $5 a month to start, Zoho Campaigns is the least expensive paid option here, and the free tier’s 2,000 subscribers and 6,000 monthly emails is unusually usable for a small operation.
The real argument for it is the suite. If your invoicing, CRM or inventory already runs on Zoho, customer records connect without middleware, which is exactly the integration that makes segmentation possible. If you do not use Zoho for anything else, the editor and automation are competent but not a reason to choose it on their own.
4. Mailchimp: the familiar default, priced accordingly
Mailchimp remains the most recognised email marketing software, with the widest set of integrations and templates and the most tutorials written about it. It publishes its own benchmark data too: an average open rate of 35.63% and click rate of 2.62% across its user base, and 29.81% and 1.74% for ecommerce senders.
The problem is cost as you grow. Comparisons put 500 contacts around $13 a month and 5,000 contacts around $75, and because pricing is contact-based, an inactive list costs the same as an active one. Its free tier is also the tightest here at 250 contacts and 500 monthly emails.
It is a reasonable choice if you are already on it and your list is small. It is rarely the cheapest way to reach the same people.
5. Klaviyo: best when your orders live in Shopify or WooCommerce
Klaviyo is built around store data, and that changes what you can measure. It reports placed-order rate and revenue per email directly, and it segments on purchase behaviour: what someone bought, how often, how long since the last order. That is the segmentation a delivery business actually needs.
Its own 2026 benchmark data across more than 205,000 brands shows why that matters: automated flows clicked at 5.58% against 1.69% for campaigns and generated nearly 41% of email revenue from 5.3% of sends. Building those flows is what Klaviyo is for.
Pricing is contact-based and climbs quickly, to roughly $20 a month at 500 contacts and $100 at 5,000 in published comparisons. If your orders do not flow through a connected store, you are paying for the part you cannot use.
6. Omnisend: ecommerce automation without Klaviyo’s bill
Omnisend covers similar ground to Klaviyo for smaller stores: prebuilt ecommerce flows for welcome, cart abandonment and post-purchase, with email and SMS in one place and native Shopify and WooCommerce connections.
The free plan is small at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, but the paid tiers tend to land below Klaviyo at equivalent list sizes. For a bakery or grocer running a Shopify storefront with local delivery, it is the middle path: real order-based automation without enterprise pricing.
Its segmentation is less granular than Klaviyo’s, which matters only once you are building complex flows.
7. ActiveCampaign: best automation if you will actually use it
ActiveCampaign’s automation builder handles conditional logic that most of this list cannot: branch on whether a customer opened, ordered, or is on a particular delivery route, wait for a condition, then act differently for each path. Plans start around $15 a month for 1,000 contacts, and automation is available from that entry tier.
It also includes CRM features, which suit wholesale and catering operations where an order is preceded by a conversation and a quote.
The honest warning is complexity. If nobody at your business will spend a weekend learning it, you will pay for capability you never configure, and MailerLite will serve you better.
8. GetResponse: best all-in-one for a business without a website team
GetResponse bundles email with landing pages, signup forms, webinars and basic ecommerce tools, so a catering business can run a seasonal campaign end to end (landing page, signup form, email sequence) without a web developer. Plans start around $19 a month at 1,000 contacts, and the free tier allows 500 contacts and 2,500 monthly emails.
The bundle is the point. If you would otherwise pay separately for a landing page builder, the effective price is better than the headline suggests. If you only need email, you are paying for tools you will not open.
9. Kit: best for a newsletter-led business
Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is built for people whose business runs on writing to an audience. Its free plan is the most generous here, with up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited broadcasts, and paid plans from around $15 a month.
For a food business that has built a real following around a weekly letter, recipes and a story behind the product, Kit’s simplicity is a feature. For anyone who needs order-based segmentation or heavy conditional automation, it is the wrong shape of tool.
10. Constant Contact: best for event-driven local marketing
Constant Contact is aimed squarely at local businesses, with event registration and management alongside email, plus phone support that other platforms reserve for enterprise tiers. Caterers running tasting events and farms running seasonal pick-your-own days make good use of that combination.
It is not the cheapest per contact, and its automation is basic next to ActiveCampaign’s. If your email is mostly announcements and events rather than triggered sequences, that is a fair trade.
The four questions that should decide your choice
Feature lists all look the same at a glance. These four questions separate the tools that fit a delivery operation from the ones that do not.
Does it connect to whatever takes your orders? If yes, the platform can calculate conversion and revenue per email instead of leaving you to guess. If no, every revenue figure in your reporting is an estimate, and flows like reorder reminders have to be built by hand.
Can it segment on delivery day and order history? This is the capability that drives results. You want to be able to build “wholesale accounts on the Thursday route who have not ordered in 14 days” without exporting a spreadsheet.
Does it show bounce type and complaint rate separately? A single blended deliverability score hides the information you need. You want hard bounces distinguished from soft bounces, and spam complaints visible, so you can act before a mailbox provider acts on you.
Is the automation you need on the plan you can afford? Several vendors put the useful flows behind a higher tier. Price the plan that includes the automation, not the headline entry plan, before comparing.
One more practical point that comparison charts never mention: if you migrate to a new platform, your sending reputation does not come with you. A brand-new sending domain or IP has no history, and a first blast to your entire list looks exactly like a spam run. Warm up by mailing your most engaged few hundred subscribers first and building volume over two to three weeks; Warmy’s guide to warming up a sending IP lays out a workable schedule.
Frequently asked questions about email marketing software
What is the best free email marketing software? Brevo for a large list you mail occasionally (100,000 contacts, 9,000 emails a month) and Kit for a newsletter-led business (10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts). Mailchimp’s and Omnisend’s free tiers are trials rather than workable long-term plans.
Is contact-based or volume-based pricing better? Volume-based suits a big list you mail rarely: seasonal florists, caterers with an annual cycle. Contact-based suits a smaller list you mail often. Model both against your actual list size and send frequency before choosing.
Do I need Klaviyo if I run a small local business? Only if your orders flow through a connected store. Its value is order-data segmentation and revenue reporting; without that connection you are paying premium prices for a standard email tool.
Can I send SMS from the same platform? Brevo and Omnisend both include SMS alongside email, which is useful for delivery-day reminders. Others offer it as a paid add-on or not at all.
Will switching platforms improve my open rate? Rarely by itself. Open and click rates are driven by list quality, segmentation and relevance. A better platform helps only if it lets you segment in ways your current one cannot. Read what actually moves email open rate before you migrate.
How much should a small business spend on email marketing software? Most operations with a list under 5,000 are well served between $10 and $30 a month. Spending more makes sense when the platform is calculating revenue per email from your order data and you are acting on it.
Choosing without overthinking it
If your orders run through Shopify or WooCommerce, start with Omnisend and look at Klaviyo when the list grows. If you have a large list you mail occasionally, start with Brevo. If you want something simple and cheap that just works, start with MailerLite. If your business is a newsletter with a product attached, start with Kit.
Then build two automated flows before you touch anything else. The benchmark data is consistent that triggered emails outperform broadcasts by a wide margin, and no platform upgrade will beat that gain.
