The 15 Best Email Service Providers for 2022 (Free + Paid)

When crafting your email marketing strategy, choosing the right email service provider (ESP) is a core part of your operations. ESPs automate your emailing processes to enable you to spend more time bringing in new leads and fulfilling sales. 

In this article, you will learn about the top email service providers used by both small and large businesses. You will also be able to compare their price points and features to choose the best ESP for your business. 

But before we dive in, let’s take a quick look at what an ESP is and what it’s used for.

What is an Email Service Provider

An email service provider is a type of software that enables you to design email sequences, automate your email marketing campaigns, and track your data and analytics. ESPs are a convenient and cost-effective tool for sending email blasts to your list. 

ESP’s can help you with:

• Creating HTML vs. Plain Text emails
• Email marketing automations
• A/B Split testing
• Generating lead capture forms
• Segmentation campaigns
• Tracking data and analytics

Are Free Mailboxes the Same as ESPs?

One common misconception is that an ESP is the same thing as an email mailbox provider. However, these two services are completely different. 

Mailbox providers offer users a central location to send and receive emails. Often, you are given a set amount of storage space for your emails, and you can attach documents to your outbound emails. Most mailbox providers are free. However, several paid mailbox providers offer better end-to-end encryption, higher storage space, and personalized email domains. 

Here are some examples of mailbox providers:

• Gmail
• Outlook
• Yahoo! Mail
• iCloud Mail
• 10 Minute Mail
• ProtonMail
• AOL
• Mail.com
• Zoho Mail
• Yandex Mail
• GMX
• Mozilla Thunderbird
• Mailfence
• Trustifi
• Tutunota

The 15 Best Email Service Providers for 2022

When it comes to picking the best email service provider for your business, you will have to weigh many factors. Before we dive into this list of 15 ESPs, let’s quickly run through what features are available so you can find the best one for your email marketing needs.

One of the first things you may think about is pricing and affordability. Pricing will vary according to the quantity of emails you intend to send out on a monthly basis and if you need additional features such as SMS marketing or social media integrations.

Some ESP’s charge by the total subscriber count and may set a maximum email limit each month. For example, you may select a plan for 50,000 subscribers. In this plan, you might have a maximum of 500,000 emails per month, which implies you can only send out around 10 emails per subscriber. Of course, this is only an average and you can send more emails to a group of subscribers via segmentation campaigns.  

Other ESPs charge by email. These plans are great for businesses that focus on email volume as part of their email marketing strategy.

The other thing to consider is the size of your business. Several ESPs like Salesforce, Iterable, and Hubspot target large scale businesses and corporations. These large businesses are expecting to send emails to hundreds of thousands (sometimes millions) of subscribers regularly. A general rule of thumb is that if an ESP is offering a free trial, it is targeting small to medium-sized businesses. However, if the ESP is offering a demo or a consultation call, they are targeting larger corporations.

All ESPs offer custom plans if there are specific needs you need met which are not covered in their standard plans. If you are part of a Non-profit, consider reaching out to their staff, as you may be eligible for a discounted plan.

Now that you know what to look for, let’s dive into the 15 best email service providers!

1. Act On

Free Trial: Demo available.

Best For: Large Businesses and Corporations

Act On Review

Act On is an ESP targeting large enterprises such as Hitachi, Best Buy, and Progressive. They integrate with any Martech system that you have in place and they offer SMS marketing and social media automation as part of their packaging.

Act On offers two main plans: Professional and Enterprise. Enterprise is custom quoted to meet your needs and Professional is listed below. Their billing is based on total Active Contacts, and not total subscribers. Active Contacts refers to the total number of subscribers you are actively marketing to. Typically this is assumed to be 40-60% of your total subscriber count.

Act On Pricing

$900/Month → 2500 Active Contacts

$1100/Month → 5000 Active Contacts

$1400/Month → 10,000 Active Contacts

$2000/Month → 25,000 Active Contacts

$2500/Month → 50,000 Active Contacts

$3300/Month → 100,000 Active Contacts

$4400/Month → 250,000 Active Contacts

$6900/Month → 500,000 Active Contacts

$8900/Month → 1,000,000 Active Contacts

2. Active Campaign

Free Trial: Yes. 14-Day Free Trial 

Best For: Small and Medium Businesses

Active Campaign Review

Over 150,000 businesses in over 170 countries use Active Campaign for their email marketing campaigns. Active Campaign is great for both B2B and B2C businesses with easy integrations to Shopify, Salesforce, Zapier, and many other third party softwares. They have three different subscription plans based upon your email marketing needs. Each plan price varies depending on the total subscriber count that you have for your email list. 

The Lite plan has your basic email marketing necessities. You can build automated email sequences with their drag and drop email building tools. Segmentation is available with standard email marketing analytics reporting. 

The Plus plan has everything in the Lite plan plus other features like SMS marketing, landing page creation, abandon cart sequences, and e-commerce store integrations. In addition, you get access to the advanced analytics reporting which can provide you better insights into your email marketing campaigns. 

The Professional plan takes the Plus plan one step further by adding Salesforce integrations, split automation, and email marketing attribution. 

Active Campaign Pricing (Billed Annually)

At 500 Subscribers

Lite: $9/Month

Plus: $49/Month

Professional: $149/Month

At 1000 Subscribers

Lite: $29/Month

Plus: $49/Month

Professional: $149/Month

At 2500 Subscribers

Lite: $49/Month

Plus: $99/Month

Professional: $149/Month

At 5000 Subscribers

Lite: $79/Month

Plus: $149/Month

Professional: $209/Month

At 10,000 Subscribers

Lite: $129/Month

Plus: $229/Month

Professional: $339/Month

At 25,000 Subscribers

Lite: $229/Month

Plus: $379/Month

Professional: $549/Month

3. Aweber

Free Plan: Yes. Up to 500 Email Contacts

Best For: Small and Medium Businesses

Aweber Review

Founded in 1998, Aweber’s biggest claim to fame is that they invented the email auto-responder. Aweber is excellent for small to medium-sized businesses looking to use their drag and drop email builder to build compelling email campaigns. Aweber offers A/B split testing, email segmentation, and of course, automated email autoresponders. They integrate well with Canva, Zapier, WordPress, Paypal, Shopify, Etsy, and Facebook

Aweber Pro Plan Pricing (Billed Annually)

$16.15/Month → 0-500 Subscribers

$26.15/Month → 501 – 2500 Subscribers

$46.15/Month → 2501 – 5000 Subscribers

$66.15/Month → 5001 – 10,000 Subscribers

$146.15/Month → 10,001 – 25,000 Subscribers

4. Campaign Monitor

Free Trial: Yes. Test Campaigns up to 5 people. No time limit. 

Best For: Small to Medium Businesses

Campaign Monitor Review

Campaign Monitor offers a wide variety of email templates where you can import your brand colors and logo into their drag and drop email campaign designer. You can create automated email campaigns that integrate with most CRM’s and e-commerce platforms. Campaign Monitor offers 3 tiered plans: Basic, Unlimited, and Premier. The Unlimited and Premier plans offer more advanced email marketing features such as time optimization of sending emails.

Campaign Monitor Pricing

At 500 Subscribers

Basic: $9/Month

Unlimited: $29/Month

Premier: $149/Month

At 1000 Subscribers

Basic: $29/Month

Unlimited: $59/Month

Premier: $149/Month

At 5000 Subscribers

Basic: $49/Month

Unlimited: $99/Month

Premier: $149/Month

At 10,000 Subscribers

Basic: $89/Month

Unlimited: $149/Month

Premier: $209/Month

At 25,000 Subscribers

Basic: $199/Month

Unlimited: $399/Month

Premier: $499/Month

At 50,000 Subscribers

Basic: $299/Month

Unlimited: $699/Month

Premier: $989/Month

5. Constant Contact

Free Trial: Yes. 60 Day Free Trial

Best For: Small, Medium, and Large Businesses

Constant Contact Review

Constant Contact is a popular name in the Email Service Provider niche. Constant Contact offers 2 plans: Core and Plus. The Core plan offers your basic email marketing necessities such  as their drag and drop email campaign designer, customizable email templates, and A/B split testing. The Plus plan has more growth and automation options that allow you to grow your subscriber base and revenue. 

Constant Contact also offers a 30-day refund guarantee if you are not satisfied with the platform. 

Constant Contact Pricing

At 500 Subscribers

Core: $9.99/Month

Plus: $45/Month

At 1000 Subscribers

Core: $35/Month

Plus: $70/Month

At 5000 Subscribers

Core: $55/Month

Plus: $95/Month

At 10,000 Subscribers

Core: $80/Month

Plus: $125/Month

At 25,000 Subscribers

Core: $155/Month

Plus: $270/Month

At 50,000 Subscribers

Core: $300/Month

Plus: $410/Month

6. Drip

Free Trial: Yes. 14 day free trial

Best For: Small to Medium Businesses

Drip Review

Unlike most ESPs, Drip offers only one plan. Rather than provide a bare bones plan to attract new customers, Drip offers everything on their platform in a single plan. Drip integrates with major e-commerce platforms and with social media like Facebook. Drip allows you to perform dynamic segmentation where you can segment your subscriber list in real time. 

Drip Pricing

$39/Month → 01 – 2500 Subscribers

$89/Month → 4501 – 5000 Subscribers

$154/Month → 9001 – 10,000 Subscribers

$369/Month → 22,501 – 25,000 Subscribers

$699/Month → 45,001 – 50,000 Subscribers

$1199/Month → 95,001 – 100,000 Subscribers

7. Hubspot

Free Trial: Demo Available

Best For: Medium to Large Businesses

Hubspot Review

Hubspot is a CRM platform that enables you to manage every step of your customer journey under one platform. Used by over 150,000 businesses in over 120 countries, Hubspot has multiple tools to bring in new leads, nurture them, and grow your business. Hubspot is best for medium to large businesses looking to scale. Their email marketing tools are only part of their overall package, so be sure to review all their products before diving into Hubspot. Hubspot does integrate with most major Martech softwares, so you can ensure that all your platforms are working properly. 

Hubspot Pricing

At 2000 Subscribers

Starter: $90/Month

Professional: $800/Month

At 5000 Subscribers

Starter: $216/Month

Professional: $1025/Month

At 10,000 Subscribers

Starter: $396/Month

Professional: $1249/Month

Enterprise: $3600/Month

At 30,000 Subscribers

Starter: $1116/Month

Professional: $2103/Month

Enterprise: $3800/Month

At 50,000 Subscribers

Starter: $1836/Month

Professional: $2836/Month

Enterprise: $4000/Month

At 100,000 Subscribers

Starter: $3636/Month

Enterprise: $4450/Month

At 250,000 Subscribers

Enterprise: $5600/Month

At 500,000 Subscribers

Enterprise: $7350/Month

At 1,000,000 Subscribers

Enterprise: $10,350/Month

8. Iterable

Free Trial: Demo Available. 

Best For: Large Businesses

Iterable Review

Serving major brands like Zillow, Fender, and DoorDash, Iterable is another ESP that serves larger corporations and businesses. Iterable includes email marketing software and other services like SMS marketing, direct mail marketing, and multi-channel marketing. With their analytics and AI optimization, you can craft highly personalized marketing strategies to scale your business. 

Iterable Pricing

Iterable does not have any set pricing listed on their website. They provide custom quotes based upon the needs of your business. Since Iterable targets larger businesses and enterprises, their quotes are likely to be at competitive rates to other enterprise plans. 

9. Klaviyo

Free Trial: Yes (Up to 500 Subscribers) 

Best For: Small, Medium, and large Businesses

10 emails per month per subscriber.

Klaviyo Review

Serving over 100,000 brands, Klaviyo is another popular ESP. Klaviyo offers two main plans: Email and Email + SMS. Klaviyo integrates with social media advertising and e-commerce platforms. They also have a pre-built library of templates that you can use for sign up forms, emails, and SMS which you can build with their drag and drop editor. 

Klaviyo Pricing

$20/Month → 251 – 500 Subscribers

$30/Month → 501 – 1000 Subscribers

$100/Month → 3501 – 5000 Subscribers

$150/Month → 6501 – 10,000 Subscribers

$400/Month → 20,001 – 25,000 Subscribers

$720/Month → 45,001 – 50,000 Subscribers

$1380/Month → 95,001 – 100,000 Subscribers

$1955Month → 145,001 – 150,000 Subscribers

Adding SMS marketing to the Plan is an additional $15/Month

10. Mailchimp

Free Trial: Yes. (Up to 500 Subscribers) 

Best For: Small, Medium, and Large Businesses

Mailchimp Review

When you think of ESPs, Mailchimp is one of the most popular names that comes up. After all, an ESP survey by Litmus found that 11% of respondents listed Mailchimp as their ESP of choice. Mailchimp came out as the second most popular ESP in this survey and it is no surprise why. 

Mailchimp easily integrates with social media, e-commerce platforms, and has many other third-party integrations. They have a library of pre-built templates for your emails and sign up forms that you can create with a drag and drop editor. Mailchimp provides a CRM as well to help you guide your leads on their customer journey.

Mailchimp has 4 different plans. They offer a free plan for up to 2500 emails a month for a maximum of 500 subscribers. The paid plans are the Essentials, Standard, and the Premium plans. In addition to greater support and higher email maximums, the Standard and Premium plans offer greater optimization features to scale your business. 

Mailchimp Pricing

At 500 Subscribers

Essentials: $11/Month

Standard: $17/Month

At 2500 Subscribers

Essentials: $34/Month

Standard: $59/Month

At 5000 Subscribers

Essentials: $59/Month

Standard: $90/Month

At 10,000 Subscribers

Essentials: $87/Month

Standard: $115/Month

Premium: $299/Month

At 25,000 Subscribers

Essentials: $225/Month

Standard: $259/Month

Premium: $530/Month

At 50,000 Subscribers

Essentials: $299/Month

Standard: $359/Month

Premium: $700/Month

At 100,000 Subscribers

Standard: $605/Month

Premium: $825Month

11. Mailgun

Free Trial: Yes (5000 Emails free for one month)

Best For: Medium and Large Businesses

Mailgun Review

Serving major brands around the world, Mailgun is another ESP that prices their plans based on total emails sent rather than total subscriber count. Mailgun provides advanced analytics with email segmentation so you can tailor your campaigns to your customer’s needs. 

They have 3 plans: Foundation, Growth, and Scale. The foundation plan features their drag and drop email designer with analytics and segmentation. It also includes Instant chat support and a dedicated IP for your email cloud. The Scale Plan includes everything plus send time optimization for your emails to increase deliverability.

Mailgun Pricing

At 50,000 Emails Per Month

Foundation: $35/Month

Growth: $80/Month

Scale: $90/Month

At 100,000 Emails Per Month

Foundation: $75/Month

Growth: $80/Month

Scale: $90/Month

At 250,000 Emails Per Month

Growth: $200/Month

Scale: $215/Month

At 500,000 Emails Per Month

Growth: $355/Month

Scale: $400/Month

At 1,000,000 Emails Per Month

Growth: $650/Month

Scale: $700/Month

At 2,500,000 Emails Per Month

Scale: $1250/Month

12. Phonexa

Free Trial: No 

Best For: Medium and Large Businesses

Phonexa Review

Phonexa is an ESP that targets primarily insurance and finance companies. Like other major CRM platforms, Phonexa’s email service is included as part of a larger package for managing a large quantity of leads. Their plans include call tracking, behavioral analytics, and click tracking. They offer two plans: Lite and Premium. They also offer the option to have a custom plan built specifically for your business needs. 

Phonexa Pricing

Lite Suite: $100/month

Premium Suite: $500/month

Enterprise Suite: Custom plan

13. Salesforce

Free Trial Available: Yes 

Best For: Medium to Large Businesses

Salesforce Review

Ranked as the most popular in the Litmus 2020 State of Email survey, 18.1% of the respondents listed Salesforce as their preferred ESP. Salesforces is a cloud-based software company that allows you to plan and automate your marketing campaigns. All of their products work in tandem to improve your lead generation, marketing and sales. Like most major CRM’s, Salesforce offers their products in custom quoted packages to suit the needs of your business. 

Salesforce Pricing

Salesforce offers a wide range of tools for you to use to grow your business. As a result, they provide custom quotes to businesses with specific needs. Smaller plans are available for small businesses, but the majority of their products are built for large businesses and corporations. 

14. SendGrid

Free Plan: Yes. Send up to 100 emails a day forever.

Best For: Small, Medium, Large Businesses

SendGrid Review

Acquired by Twilio in 2019, SendGrid is another ESP that bills by the number of emails sent per month. SendGrid serves over 80,000 businesses around the world including major brands like Spotify, Airbnb, and Ebay. 

They offer two different plans: Essentials and the Pro Plan. The Essentials Plan offers everything you need to start your email marketing campaigns. You have access to their email design editor where you can craft custom email templates with the added option to edit the HTML if you wish. The Pro Plan takes it to the next level with their dedicated IP for greater email deliverability. 

SendGrid Pricing

Essentials Plan

$19.95/Month → 50,000 Emails/Month

$34.95/Month → 100,000 Emails/Month

Pro Plan

$89.95/Month → 200,000 Emails/Month

$249/Month → 250,000 – 650,000 Emails/Month

$449/Month → 700,000 – 1.5 Million Emails/Month

15. Sendinblue

Free Plan: Yes. 300 Emails per day for unlimited subscribers.

Best For: Small, Medium, Large Businesses

Sendinblue Review

Last but not least in our list, Sendinblue is another ESP that serves businesses of all sizes. Sendinblue charges per email instead of subscriber count and they offer a free plan and two paid plans: Lite and Premium. Their free plan allows you to send up to 300 emails per day using their library of email templates. The Lite Plan includes A/B split-testing, no daily email sending limit, and the removal of the Sendinblue logo. The Premium plan adds more features with marketing automations, integrations with Facebook ads, and send time optimization. 

Sendinblue Pricing

Lite Plan

$25/Month → 20,000 Emails/Month

$32/Month → 40,000 Emails/Month

$45/Month → 60,000 Emails/Month

$65/Month → 100,000 Emails/Month

Premium Plan

$65/Month → 20,000 Emails/Month

$79/Month → 40,000 Emails/Month

$94/Month → 60,000 Emails/Month

$124/Month → 100,000 Emails/Month

$229/Month → 250,000 Emails/Month

$379/Month → 500,000 Emails/Month

$599/Month → 1,000,000 Emails/Month

Find the Best Email Service Provider For Your Business Today

With this comprehensive list, you now have everything you need to pick the right ESP for your email marketing campaigns.

Email marketing is such an important component in growing your revenue and the platform you use should help you achieve your revenue goals. There are so many different factors that play into the decision of an ESP. You will need to consider your budget, subscriber list, team size, industry, and your email marketing strategy before choosing your ESP.

Once you choose your ESP, you can start scaling your business. We encourage you to experiment with a few different ESPs and make use of the free trials so you can find the best fit for your business. Take action today, and soon you will zero in on the very best ESP for you and your business.