Everyone has an email address. It’s one of the most universally common things. That’s exactly why email marketing is such a no-brainer for any marketer.
It’s time to jump on the bandwagon and make email marketing a key part of your strategy. But hear out the best part! There are so many email automation tools you can use for this. Email automation lets you set things up and then take your hands off the wheel, freeing you up to focus on other important stuff.
Now, we get it – if you’re a small business, budgets can be a bit tight. But don’t worry, we’ve got your back with some awesome free and affordable email automation tools. Sure, some of them might not have all the fancy features of the big players, but they’re perfect for getting you started.
So why wait till you build up a budget? Let’s dive into this list of free and affordable email automation tools for small businesses to try in 2024.
If you’re keen on having access to as many features as you can, even on a budget then Sender is one of the right email automation tools for you. Sender doesn’t gate-keep features and offers a generous free plan that rivals even the bigger tool names.
Sender offers many email automation features and other features for personalizing your workflows. It also helps analyze your automated email campaigns with many reporting and analyzing features.
But what stood out for us was the access to many free features. Here are some of the features and offerings in the free plan:
Check out a full list of features and a comparison of features with the paid plans here.
One of the only cons that might concern you is that on the free plan emails will contain Sender branding.
In terms of ease-of-use, Sender is quite easy to use. The platform is straightforward and is friendly towards both beginners as well as those more experienced.
Because it’s a free tool and it’s simple to use, it’s an excellent choice for small businesses and solopreneurs.
Sender provides 24/7 customer support via live chat. They also have an email helpdesk as well as a help center with tutorials etc.
The reason to include Sender as one of the email automation tools in this list is not just because it offers generous free features. Another important reason for its inclusion is that it provides affordable paid packages as well.
Paid plans start from as low as $19/month and include everything in the free plan we saw above as well as attractive additional services. What’s more the paid starter plan offers up to 30k email/month which is astounding. This is what makes Sender one of the best email automation tools for small businesses in 2024.
Sender has a lot of positive reviews on review platforms. Here are a few to help you learn what actual users think about it:
All in all most of the reviews highly praise individual customer service representatives. So if you’re big on customer service, Sender is one of the top email automation tools to consider. Reviewers also talk about how easy it is to use Sender.
Loops, not to be confused by Loop (another email marketing tool), is one of the best free email automation tools for small businesses. It’s one of the few email automation tools that provides useful features on an unlimited basis.
Loops is ideal for Saas companies and that is evident by the kind of features they offer. What got us hyped up is that they offer full access to all features on the free plan with limitations on the number of contacts and sends per month which is fair. Here’s a list of some of the features that you could be looking at:
For more detailed feature descriptions please visit their website.
There are 2 small concerns we’d like to bring to your attention. First, the emails you send using Loops will contain their branding at the bottom of your emails. But this can be resolved if you upgrade to a paid plan.
Second, Loops only has a rich text editor and plain text templates. So if you’re looking for beautified email design templates you won’t find them here. Nevertheless, if text-first emails are your email marketing strategy then Loops will work perfectly for you.
Loops has a clean UI and the platform is quite is to navigate even if you’re a beginner.
Saas companies and small businesses looking for budget-friendly email automation solutions.
Loops provides docs, guides, a glossary, and email examples but they don’t have 24/7 chat support.
While they offer full access to all features in the free plan, if you’re looking to broaden your contact list and email sends then you would have to switch to a paid plan.
The paid plans are slightly pricier than Sender and start at $49/month. Nevertheless, it’s worth the cost when considering they offer an unlimited number of sends per month and up to 5000 contacts within this paid starter plan.
We found that most of the latest customer reviews about Loops’ services were on Product Hunt. There was a satisfying 4.9 star rating out of 5 from 70 reviews. Here are a few things these happy customers had to say:
Commonly, we saw that users spoke highly of the ease of use and the user-friendly interface.
EmailOctopus is one of the simplest yet most effective email automation tools. It offers a great free plan. But even on the paid plans, it’s one of the most affordable email automation solutions your small business can benefit from.
EmailOctopus provides an ample amount of features, all to help you grow your subscriber list, and engage your audience while reaping results.
They offer a good deal of features for the lower tier pricing compared to more expensive email automation tools. But the features offered in the free plan are truly commendable. Here’s a look at some of the features you can enjoy in the free plan:
For a list of all their detailed features visit their website.
A few of the downsides of the free plan include limited email automation and setting steps, EmailOctopus branding on your emails, limited users, and limited customer support.
EmailOctopus is very easy to use, even for beginners.
The free plan is suited for smaller teams but the paid plan is best suited for both small businesses and larger teams because of its unlimited users feature. It doesn’t work well for those looking for advanced email automation solutions.
On the free plan, you get email and chat support for 30 days. Those on the Pro plan get priority customer support.
EmailOctopus is an alluring choice for small businesses because of its free plan. Even with limitations the free plan is a great place to start.
They have only one paid plan called the Pro plan. It’s a plan that lets you scale as needed. Pricing starts as low as $9/month with 500 subscribers and 10,000 email sends a month. It also includes all of the features available with EmailOctopus.
EmailOctopus has a good number of reviews and ratings on leading review platforms. Here are some of them to help you in your decision-making process:
Many of the reviews showcase how EmailOctopus is an easy-to-use, cost-effective solution for email automation and managing email lists.
Systeme.io is an amazing tool to use for email marketing and campaigns. Not only so but it is an all-in-one platform that offers more than just email automation solutions. It’s the go-to tool to use if you’d rather have all the parts of your online business in one place.
Unlike the previous email automation tools we spoke of in this list, this tool packs a robust set of features targeting a wide variety of marketing needs. So there are ways in which you can easily integrate email into your funnels, websites, and other workflows within Systeme.io to save tons of time.
But for our purposes, let’s talk about the emailing features within the free plan:
Besides these features, there are so many other free and paid features that can help you streamline your workflow. For a comparison of the features in each plan, we recommend visiting their website.
One of the only downsides we would point out is that it doesn’t have advanced features that you would find in more pricier alternatives. But if that’s not a problem then Systeme.io is a must-try.
Systeme.io is very easy to use. Even with so many features, it’s a platform that’s easy to navigate. The interface is also very user-friendly.
It’s best suited for those who need a wholesome marketing solution. The free plan and low-tier pricing also make it one of the best email automation tools for small businesses.
Even on the free plan customers get 24/7 online support. Their support team responds to questions within an average of 2 hours, available 7 days a week.
As we looked at in the features and offerings section, the free plan offers quite a bit. But if you have the means to spend a little we recommend going for a paid plan.
There are 3 paid plans to choose from with the paid starter plan going at a rate of $27/month. Which is extremely cost-effective in terms of what it offers.
Systeme.io is one of the most reviewed email automation tools in this list. The majority of the reviews are of happy clients going on about how Systeme.io has saved the day for them. Here’s a look at some of those reviews on leading platforms:
As the reviews stipulate, customers are super happy with what Systeme.io does for them. Some of them praise their excellent customer service as well as email automation workflows.
SendPulse is yet another robust marketing platform. Just like Systeme.io, it offers all sorts of marketing solutions. But if email automation is your necessity they have it all covered. SendPulse is an affordable alternative to get your email marketing work done.
Their free plan provides core features for small businesses to get started with their email marketing. Here’s a list of the features you get to work with on the free plan:
For a full list of features and a comparison between paid plans, we recommend visiting their website.
If we had to point out any downsides of SendPulse it’s the limited number of pre-designed templates.
Even though SendPulse comes with many features, it’s an easy-to-use platform. Navigation is not a nightmare; even if you’re a beginner, you can quickly get the hang of it.
It’s best for beginners as well as experts. Since it offers automation for many platforms it’s great for all sorts of marketers.
SendPulse’s customer support is fast reliable and available 24/7. They have a live chat option that lets you connect with their support.
Besides the free plan for email marketing, the pricing for the paid email marketing plans is also attractive. Especially the paid starter plan. It goes at $8/month for 500 contacts, an unlimited number of email sends, and 200MB storage plus much more.
If you’re a small business with a slim budget this kind of email automation service can be highly beneficial.
Besides the monthly subscription plans, they also offer pay-as-you-go basis plans. You can check out more about these on their pricing page.
SendPulse has many reviews on leading review platforms. They are one of the most reviewed email automation tools on this list. Here are some of those reviews to help boost your confidence in them:
As the reviews go, SendPulse is very easy to use and users have found their email automation functions very helpful.
So there you have it, 5 of the best email automation tools for small businesses to try in 2024. Let’s wrap things up.
As you went through this list of email automation tools suitable for small businesses, we’re sure there may have been 1 or 2 that particularly stood out for you. We believe that no matter which you choose, you need to automate your email marketing – especially if you’re a small business.
According to Forbes’ small businesses statistics for 2024, 1 out of 5 businesses fail within the first year. There could be many reasons for this but one sure reason is insufficient or poor marketing. As we established before, everyone has an email address and this makes email marketing one of the most successful marketing design types to use for small businesses. So go ahead and use one of these email automation tools to execute your email marketing strategies. Your success depends on it!
Here’s another blog for small business branding with tips for budget branding in 2024.
