The 9 Best Free Email Autoresponder Tools in 2024

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Last Updated on March 7, 2024 by Alex Birkett

Email marketing is officially one of the best ways businesses can increase their website traffic and revenue.

According to a report by Statista.com, approximately 300 billion emails were sent and received every day worldwide in 2020 alone. The latest stats also show that 87 percent of marketers use email marketing to distribute their business content. Those are some pretty high figures, if you ask me.

Whether you just started your business or you’ve been around for quite some time (and growing), you probably understand just how beneficial email marketing is to your business.

However, it takes a lot of time, effort, and resources to craft manual email newsletters. Even if this is a part of your business, it’s hard to truly scale an email marketing program without some form of automation,

This is where autoresponders come in to save the day.

Autoresponders allow you to send automated emails when a customer takes a specific action like subscribing to your email list, or purchasing a product. Users can also use responders to create email sequences based on certain rules, conditions or triggers.

What makes a great free autoresponder tool?

Although there are quite a few email marketing tools that offer free plans, some don’t include automation and autoresponder features in their free plans. Instead, users get access to these essential marketing tools when they upgrade to a free plan. However, there are some ESPS that do offer autoresponder tools in their free plans (outlined below).

The major features the best free autoresponder tools should have are:

  • An intuitive email editor designed for newsletters, transactional emails and autoresponders.
  • Signup forms and popups for capturing subscriber information.
  • A workflow builder (preferably visual) that has templates for popular automation processes like welcome series emails, birthday responses and e-commerce transactions.
  • Customer workflows that target a specific subscriber group based on the pages they visit most and the actions they take on the website.
  • Segmentation and personalization in list management.
  • In-depth reports and analytics that allow users to see how effective their email sequences and automation campaigns are.
  • A/B split testing to make sure messages are optimized long before they are sent out.
  • Automation for messages that are related to e-commerce stores such as product recommendations, order notifications and abandoned carts.
  • Landing pages to increase the potential of acquiring new subscribers.
  • Links to social media platforms to instantly share information users send out to their contact list.

Editor’s note: I’m going to use some affiliate links when possible to try to earn some revenue from my content. These don’t change the opinions espoused in the content nor the style in which they are written. If I think a product sucks, I’m not going to say otherwise. This is just a bonus and a way to fund the whole operation. Anyway, enjoy the article!

The 9 Best Free Email Autoresponder Tools

The best free email autoresponder tools are as follows:

  1. Moosend
  2. Sendinblue
  3. HubSpot
  4. ConvertKit
  5. Mailchimp
  6. Aweber
  7. Benchmark Email
  8. Sender
  9. Constant Contact

1. Moosend

Image source: Moosend

Ideal for: SMBs and entrepreneurs

Overall G2 Score: 4.7/5

Pricing: There is a free forever plan that lets users send unlimited emails to up to 1,000 subscribers. Paid plans start at $8/month.

Founded in 2013, Moosend is an email marketing platform that helps business owners automate their email marketing tasks so that they can focus more on building strong relationships with their audience. If you are a rapidly-growing business looking for a free email autoresponder that can scale alongside you, Moosend is a great choice. It has a generous free plan, and the paid plans are affordable for small businesses and chockfull of powerful automation features.

Although Moosend is not much of a household name like MailChimp and MailerLite, brands like Gucci and Dominos trust it to help them scale their businesses. From the drag-and-drop email editor to A/B split testing, Moosend offers businesses everything they need to engage with and nurture their audiences from the time they sign up.

Moosend offers a gorgeous drag-and-drop email builder that has pre-built templates. You can personalize your emails and track them. There is also an automation workflow editor that is sleek and easy to use.

The workflow options are practically endless. They include the basic welcome and anniversary emails, and advanced options like lead scoring and user onboarding. E-commerce merchants also get options like abandoned cart automation, upselling emails and VIP offers.

Moosend offers specialized solutions for a wide range of industries, including bloggers, e-commerce, agencies, and SaaS businesses.

Key features of Moosend

  • Drag-and-drop email editor
  • Unique marketing automation tools
  • Autoresponders
  • Email automation templates
  • Landing pages
  • Visual automation editor
  • Landing pages and templates
  • Advanced personalization
  • A/B split testing
  • Transactional emails
  • List segmentation and management
  • Website and user tracking
  • E-commerce AI
  • Product recommendations
  • Weather-based recommendations
  • Advanced reports and behavioral analytics
  • SPAM test
  • API access
  • 100+ third-party app integrations
  • GDPR compliance

Pros of Moosend

  • The user interface is simple and easy to navigate.
  • The free plan contains most of the features that are in the paid plans.
  • The in-depth analytics show users every action a customer makes on their site.
  • The reporting features include unique sub-features like local tracking, real-time tracking and exporting to PDFS.
  • Moosend offers broad targeting (hyper-personalization) that provides AI for finding user interests/tastes.
  • Even if they’re on the free plan, Moosend allows users to remove their branding from emails.
  • Users can create unlimited custom segments and data fields.
  • Moosend’s autoresponders and automation workflows are robust compared to competitors.
  • Moosend integrates with a wide range of third-party apps such as Salesforce, Magento and WooCommerce.
  • Moosend offers an extensive knowledge base, in-depth video tutorials and exceptional customer support.

Cons of Moosend

  • Compared to other ESPS, Moosend offers limited third-party app integrations.
  • Moosend does not offer native SMS messaging.
  • Users cannot send transactional emails or design landing pages on the free plan.
  • Moosend’s interface is separate from Gmail, so users have to alternate between both, which can be both confusing and time-consuming.
  • The customer support in the free plan is available for only five days a week, and does not include phone support.
  • Moosend is not available as a mobile app.

2. Sendinblue

Image source: Sendinblue

Ideal for: SMEs and e-commerce businesses

Overall G2 Score: 4.6/5

Pricing: Sendinblue offers a free version that allows users to send up to 300 emails per day. Paid plans start at $25/month.

Trusted by over 80,000 individuals and businesses, Sendinblue is a marketing automation tool that provides everything you need to communicate with your audience, personalize your messages, convert visitors into leads and generate revenue. If you’re searching for an all-round email marketing tool that can help you automate email marketing, SMS, and live chat, Sendinblue has your back.

With Sendinblue, email automation is simple and transparent. As part of its free forever plan, this transactional email provider features some pretty advanced autoresponders (which is surprising, given their cheap pricing), including those triggered by customer activities like purchases, web events and abandoned carts. If you have SMS credits (paid), you can send text messages as part of your autoresponder campaign. This alone easily makes it one of the best free email autoresponder tools out there.

There is a workflow builder that has rules and conditions based on customer activity. You can edit your autoresponder campaign in a visual editor and link to all kinds of automated messages. If you don’t want to create a custom campaign, you can pick from one of the templates that range from basic (birthday messages) to advanced (lead scoring).

If you’re not sure if your customer journey has the right steps, you can conduct A/B testing and study analytics to know what’s right and what’s wrong with your campaign.

Key features of Sendinblue

  • Free sales CRM
  • Drag-and-drop editor
  • Extensive template library
  • Powerful marketing automations
  • Customer and lead management
  • Landing pages and sign up forms
  • Advanced contact segmentation
  • A/B testing
  • Real-time statistics & reports
  • Email heat maps
  • Send-time optimization
  • Transactional emails and SMS marketing
  • Email marketing options
  • Social media adverts
  • Ads retargeting tools
  • Third-party app integration
  • GDPR compliance

Pros of Sendinblue

  • The user interface is intuitive and user-friendly.
  • The free plan allows you to have unlimited contacts.
  • The free forever plan features many of Sendinblue’s tools, including the autoresponder tools.
  • The marketing automation tool has an intuitive drag-and-drop editor.
  • There’s a wide range of different templates. Users can also create a custom template or upload an HTML template if you have one.
  • In addition to emails, users can use Sendinblue to send text messages (SMS) as well.
  • Users can send transactional emails via SMTP.
  • Users can run tests on their workflows before launching them.
  • Through the lead scoring system available, users can effectively nurture their leads.
  • Sendinblue integrates with a wide range of third-part applications like Shopify, Salesforce and WooComerce.
  • Users can contact Sendinblue’s customer support via email if you have any problems.

Cons of Sendinblue

  • If you’re on the free plan, the emails you send will have Sendinblue’s logo on them. You cannot remove it unless you upgrade to the paid plans.
  • You can only send 300 emails per day on the forever free plan, which might be limiting to those who have larger lists.
  • Sendinblue allows users to create multiple logins only on the Premium and Enterprise plans.
  • Sendinblue’s reports don’t include social or sales conversion data.
  • Although the free plan allows for unlimited contacts, you can only send an autoresponder campaign to 2,000 contacts only. This limit will be annulled once you upgrade to a paid plan.

3. HubSpot Email Marketing Tools

Image source: HubSpot

Ideal for: Startups, small businesses, and SMEs

Overall G2 Score: 4.4/5

Pricing: HubSpot Email Marketing Tools is completely free. The Marketing Hub, however, is paid and prices start at $50/month.

Founded in 2006, HubSpot is a pioneer of inbound marketing and a versatile growth platform. This company helps businesses create and measure successful and efficient marketing campaigns. It does this by offering all the necessary tools businesses can use to manage their email marketing, website analytics, social media, blogging, etc. in one full-featured package.

HubSpot offers five major products: Marketing Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub, Operations Hub and Sales Hub, all of which give businesses the ability to run their operation smoothly. In 2019, HubSpot launched their completely free email marketing platform.

On this platform, basic email autoresponder tools come with a CRM. Users are given an option to turn a single email into a series of automated emails. This series can be activated by different triggers, which include a customer filling out a signup form, customer interaction with emails and adverts, and product page views.

Users can pick any trigger or condition they like and create as many steps in their sequences as they want. HubSpot Marketing Hub is also really flexible and users can set their automations to run for a set period of time or to run only during certain email campaigns.

Key features of HubSpot Email Marketing Tools

  • Drag-and-drop email editor
  • Landing pages
  • Signup forms and popups
  • A/B split testing
  • Marketing automation options
  • Autoresponders
  • Customizable email templates
  • Lead generation and management
  • Sales pipeline management
  • List segmentation
  • Ads retargeting
  • Comprehensive analytics
  • Contact site activity data
  • Email tracker and meeting scheduler
  • Third-party app integrations

Pros of HubSpot Email Marketing Tools

  • The UI is sleek and easy to use.
  • HubSpot is cloud-based so users can use it on any device on the go.
  • Users are able to measure how their contacts engage with content
  • HubSpot encourages users to set achievable goals for their business.
  • HubSpot Marketing Hub can be connected to HubSpot CRM or Salesforce to make sure that all contact data is recorded.
  • Users can personalize their marketing efforts to get the most results from their email marketing campaigns.
  • Depending on the plan they operate on, users can get support through phone, email, and/or live chat.
  • Through closed loop reporting, users can analyze the ROI of their inbound strategy.

Cons of HubSpot Email Marketing Tools,

  • HubSpot Marketing Hub can get really expensive, especially if you don’t use all the features.
  • HubSpot’s functionalities may be limited for larger businesses that have complex sales operations.
  • The lower packages don’t have A/B split testing.
  • The email templates are somewhat limited compared to other free autoresponder software.
  • Users have to pay to get technical support.

4. ConvertKit

Image source: ConvertKit

Ideal for: SMEs and content creators (bloggers, artists, musicians, YouTubers, etc.)

Overall G2 Score: 4.4/5

Pricing: There is a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers. Paid plans start at $29/month.

ConvertKit is a powerful email marketing platform that was built to enable online creators such as bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, freelancers, etc. build strong relationships with their audience. ConvertKit is extremely easy to use and boasts a wide range of features. With ConvertKit, users can create sign up forms and pop ups, send personalized emails to their contacts and set up automation workflows.

I have used ConvertKit as the ESP of choice for multiple blogs, and based on my experience, the autoresponder tools were really good. I’m not tech-savvy at all and I really love it when the ESP I’m using ‘thinks’ for me. ConvertKit does exactly this; it makes the creation of automated workflows and autoresponder series a breeze.

Users can begin to create complex autoresponders by selecting an action, condition or event. This includes filling out a form, adding and tagging new subscribers, and purchasing a product. If a user is not sure what path would work best to accomplish their goals, ConvertKit offers automation templates they can use. These templates include launching a product, hosting a webinar, and following up with customers that haven’t purchased.

ConvertKit provides IFTT (if this, then that) automation rules that users can use to create unique workflows to develop their customer journeys. Users can link actions, events and conditions with a simple click and the following steps can be auto-populated to guide subscribers towards conversion.

Although ConvertKit is really great for automations, I find the email editor to be basic, really basic. There’s no drag-and-drop editor and users can only change the fonts, color, italics, bold, etc. The autoresponder tools are good but not great. This makes sense because ConvertKit is meant for online creators that don’t really need anything too advanced to manage their lists.

Meanwhile, ConvertKit EXCELS at helping users manage their lists and send opt-in incentives and digital products. The tool is also really easy to use and has a low learning curve.

Key features of ConvertKit

  • Autoresponders
  • Landing page and email templates
  • Landing page builder
  • WYSIWYG email editor
  • Drip campaigns
  • A/B split testing
  • Customizable CTA buttons
  • Detailed reports, analytics and ROI tracking
  • Automated funnels and sequences
  • Marketing automated options
  • Subscriber management
  • Sale of digital products and subscriptions
  • Nifty segmentation and tagging system
  • Great customer support

Pros of ConvertKit

  • ConvertKit is simple and easy to use.
  • ConvertKit does not charge for duplicate subscribers.
  • ConvertKit has excellent automation functionality.
  • Users can create multiple forms for different lead incentives.
  • ConvertKit has a wonderful delivery mechanism for opt-in incentives.
  • Users can set up their accounts within minutes and start designing landing pages/forms right away.
  • Users can segment customers and assign tags to them in a myriad of ways.
  • The landing page editor is easy to use.
  • ConvertKit integrates seamlessly with membership sites and platforms like Teachable and WordPress.

Cons of ConvertKit

  • Users cannot use the automation features on the free plan. They have to upgrade to the paid plan to do this.
  • The landing page and email templates lack flexibility and customization options.
  • ConvertKit cannot test emails for autoresponders.
  • ConvertKit does not integrate with e-commerce platforms
  • The A/B testing feature is limited to only subject lines.

 

5. MailChimp

Image source: MailChimp

Ideal for: Individuals and SMBs

Overall G2 Score: 4.3/5

Pricing: MailChimp offers a free plan that allows users to send 10,000 emails/month to up to 2,000 subscribers. Paid plans start at $9.99/month.

It’s safe to say that MailChimp is the most popular email marketing platform in the market right now. This email marketing tool helps small businesses capture email leads and engage with their audience through its variegated templates, and powerful automation features.

I used MailChimp on the first blog I created. Granted, my list was small but I still automated my emails (because I’m lazy—and smart, too) using the available autoresponders and automation tools. MailChimp offers all the basic stuff like welcome messages, anniversary emails and customer journey workflows, but it also has advanced features like add retargeting, automated digital ads, social media posts, and even postcards.

Its major focus, though, is in the digital space. The autoresponders provided by MailChimp are mostly behavior-based. Therefore, users are able to set up rules for sending follow up emails based on behavioral triggers like an email sign-up and abandoned carts.

The free MailChimp plan has links to seven marketing channels that users can automate, but the actual marketing autoresponders only allow users to make 1-step automations. This means that users can only create simple messages and sequences for their list.

If you need complex automated workflows, you can check out some MailChimp alternatives. This article will also show you how MailChimp holds up compared to another wildly popular email marketing service, MailerLite right here.

Key features of MailChimp

  • Drag-and-drop email editor
  • Landing pages
  • Pre-built form templates
  • Multivariate testing
  • Contact management and segmentation
  • Automated drip campaigns
  • Marketing CRM
  • Social media marketing
  • Marketing automation options
  • Advanced analytics
  • Predicted data insights
  • Send time optimization
  • Delivery by time zone
  • Email and live chat support

Pros of MailChimp

  • MailChimp’s free plan lets users use simple autoresponders. It’s great if you only want a bit of automation.
  • The user interface is sleek and has a low learning curve.
  • MailChimp offers autoresponders for welcome series, behavior-based automation, date-based communications, and RSS-to-email sharing.
  • There are e-commerce tools that send out automated messages for abandoned carts, order notifications, payment confirmations, etc.
  • MailChimp offers customer loyalty workflows like customer re-engagement and product follow-ups.
  • MailChimp offers a tool that helps users find their audience based on similar audiences in the same industry. This improves users’ future marketing techniques.
  • The live built-in previewer can help users see what their emails would look like on different devices before sending them.
  • MailChimp integrates with over 300 third-party apps including WordPress, Canva, Help Scout, and EventBrite.

Cons of MailChimp

  • MailChimp’s paid plans can get really expensive as a user’s list grows.
  • MailChimp’s branding will feature on the emails you send with the free plan.
  • If you’re on the free plan, you won’t be able to create a multi-step autoresponder series.
  • MailChimp doesn’t have a visual workflow editor for autoresponders. This can cause users to be confused while managing their autoresponder series.
  • Users cannot create custom automations on MailChimp, and the pre-built automation workflows available are limited.
  • MailChimp’s emails often land in Gmail’s Promotion tab as opposed to the main inbox.
  • The free plan allows email support for only the first 30 days. After that, you’ll only have knowledge base documents to help you solve your problems.
  • Although MailChimp’s autoresponder tools are great, they aren’t as powerful as those of their competitors.

6. Aweber

Image source: Aweber

Ideal for: SMBs and start-ups

Overall G2 Score: 4.2/5

Pricing: There is a free plan which allows users to engage with up to 500 subscribers. Paid plans start at $16.15/month.

Founded in 1998 and trusted by more than 100,000 individuals and businesses, Aweber is one of the oldest email marketing services around. They take pride in being easy to use, which makes them very suitable for small businesses and start-ups. They also claim that they invented the autoresponder, which is no small feat.

One of the most outstanding features of Aweber is the templates they provide. Aweber offers over 700 responsive e-newsletter templates, which is considerably more than the amount most, if not all, their competitors offer.

As per autoresponder and automation options, Aweber allows users to create automations via custom rules. Users can send 3,000 emails per month in an autoresponder series, which is pretty good. Aweber makes it really easy for users to set up follow up emails based on time intervals.

With Aweber, users can create goals and/or combine tagging with automation rules to set up sophisticated autoresponders. Users can also create basic drip campaigns as well as complex customer journeys using IFTT-style workflows. Users can design flowcharts where their emails are sent based on customer actions like email opens, clicks, website visits, purchases, etc.

However, the options to trigger autoresponders based on these user actions are somewhat limited. You only have two triggers: when a contact is subscribed to a list and when a tag is applied. Also, the terminology can be confusing as both automations and autoresponders are called ‘Aweber Campaigns’.

Key features of Aweber

  • Drag-and-drop email builder
  • Wide range of responsive templates
  • Marketing automation options
  • Responsive email designs
  • Autoresponders
  • Importation of mailing list
  • Responsive email templates
  • A/B split testing
  • RSS/blog-to-email functionality
  • Landing pages
  • 6000+ stock photos
  • List segmentation
  • Third-party app integrations
  • Email, phone and live chat support

Pros of Aweber

  • Aweber is one of the oldest ESPs that exist and now has one of the best free email autoresponder tools in the market.
  • The free version contains all the features in the paid plans.
  • Users can import an existing email list in a wide range of file types (XLS, TXT, CSV, TSV and XLSX). Users can also add the email addresses of imported contacts directly onto an autoresponder cycle.
  • Aweber offers powerful segmentation and automation tools users can use to create detailed autoresponder series.
  • Aweber offers free plan users all the support materials, including live webinars and masterclasses.
  • Aweber can be integrated with top third-party software like OptinMonster, PayPal, and Unbounce.
  • Aweber regularly rolls out new features that are made available to all customers, including those on the free plan.
  • Aweber enables AMP for email.

Cons of Aweber

  • Aweber’s free trial only lasts for 30, which is not enough time for users to start making money from their lists.
  • Aweber can be expensive.
  • The free plan limits users to just 500 subscribers, which is really small.
  • Aweber bills users for both subscribed and unsubscribed contacts (unless the details of unsubscribed contacts are deleted).
  • The landing page builder doesn’t provide A/B split testing.
  • Users cannot include or exclude multiple segments at once when they want to send an e-newsletter.

7. Benchmark Email

Image source: Benchmark Email

Ideal for: SMEs and NPOs

Overall G2 Score: 4.1/5

Pricing: Benchmark Email offers a free plan that allows unlimited contacts and up to 250 emails per month. The paid plans start at $13/month.

Founded in 2004, Benchmark Email strives to provide its clientele with simple email marketing. This ESP helps small businesses grow their audience, engagement and revenue by offering an advanced set of automated and integrated tools.

I used Benchmark’s free plan briefly while searching for the best ESP for my marketing needs and I really liked the clean interface and the fact that it was incredibly easy to use. The feature set impressed me too. Benchmark pays a great deal of attention to design and their email templates are simply stunning. The drag-and-drop email editor was the bomb and it helped streamline the experience of editing emails.

Their tracking reports are adequately detailed too. Users can monitor their campaign performance using metrics like number of emails opened, open rates, unopened emails, links clicked, unsubscribes, and forwarded emails.

As per free autoresponder tools, Benchmark offers a feature called ‘Automation Lite’ on the free plan. This feature lets users use basic autoresponders, surveys, forms and reports. Users can use Automation Lite to create a welcome email series and other really simple autoresponder series. Users have to upgrade to a paid plan to be able to create more advanced automations. On the Pro plan, users can create automations based on birthdays, anniversaries, reminder dates and engagement automations.

However, I did not find the autoresponder editor very intuitive. Users cannot set sending time ranges for autoresponders and they can’t view autoresponders in a workflow. The deliverability rates are not very good either.

Key features of Benchmark Email

  • Drag-and-drop email editor
  • Code editor
  • Autoresponders
  • Email templates
  • CRM integration
  • Marketing automation options
  • A/B testing
  • Drip campaigns
  • Event management
  • Surveys and polls
  • Signup forms and popups
  • Campaign tracking
  • Customer journey funnels
  • Detailed reporting and analytics

Pros of Benchmark Email

  • Benchmark has a low learning curve.
  • The tracking reports on set email campaigns are in-depth.
  • Benchmark’s customer support is stellar.
  • Users can segment their list and data in a variety of ways.
  • Benchmark’s paid plans are very affordable.
  • Benchmark’s automation features are intuitive and extensive.

Cons of Benchmark Email

  • On the free plan, users can only send 250 emails per month, which is really limiting.
  • Benchmark’s email editor lags sometimes.
  • The deliverability rates are not too good as emails usually land in Gmail’s ‘Promotions’ tab or Spam.
  • The signup form options are limited.
  • Benchmark does not have a mobile preview feature or landing page editor.
  • Benchmark cannot integrate with Salesforce.

8. Sender

Image source: Sender

Ideal for: SMEs

Overall G2 Score: 4.1/5

Pricing: Sender offers a free forever plan that allows users to send 15,000 emails/month to up to 2,500 subscribers. Paid plans start at $11/month and users are charged based on the number of subscribers they have.

Sender is an email marketing tool that helps businesses create and deliver powerful email campaigns, engage quality leads and convert them into paying customers. Sender allows users (including those without any knowledge of HTML) to craft stunning emails easily thanks to its intuitive drag-and-drop email editor.

Sender offers a vast selection of pre-built email templates that users can customize according to their preferences and requirements. These templates are also optimized for mobile devices. This enables email recipients to read emails easily using any kind of device.

Sender also provides powerful features that enable users to create hyper-personalized automated email workflows and customer journeys. Users can set up automatic messages that will be triggered by certain events and user actions. Users can send triggered welcome emails, drip campaigns, abandoned cart emails and follow-up emails to their subscribers via Sender’s autoresponder tools.

Key features of Sender

  • Drag-and-drop email editor
  • WYSIWYG editor
  • Template library
  • Mobile optimization
  • Subscriber management
  • Automated funnels
  • Insightful analytics and reports
  • Real-time click-through and open rates
  • Transactional emails
  • List-building tools
  • Great deliverability
  • Click heat maps
  • Autoresponders
  • Drip campaigns
  • Bounce tracking
  • Transactional emails
  • Push notifications
  • API integrations

Pros of Sender

  • Sender’s drag-and-drop editor makes email creation a walk in the park.
  • The autoresponder and automation features are very impressive.
  • Sender’s email deliverability rates are really good.
  • Sender’s paid plans are very affordable.
  • The customer support is top-notch.

Cons of Sender

  • Sender can be slow while switching from one function to another in its dashboard.
  • It can be difficult for users to create segments.
  • There is no WYSIWYG editor for transactional emails.
  • Sender’s templates are not categorized.

9. Constant Contact

Image source: Constant Contact

Ideal for: Small businesses

Overall G2 Score: 3.9/5

Pricing: There is no free plan, but the free trial lasts for 60 days. Plans start at $20/month.

Founded in 1998 and trusted by over 600,000 businesses, Constant Contact is a powerful email marketing solution that helps small businesses and NPOs use email and social media advertising to grow their audience and increase revenue. Constant Contact goes beyond basic email marketing to support deals, surveys, events and social media marketing tools.

Although this ESP is not technically a free email autoresponder / email marketing software (there’s no free plan), it is on this list because it offers a generous 60-day free trial. Constant Contact also provides users with over 100 mobile-optimized templates that users can edit with the drag-and-drop editor. Users with coding knowledge can create custom email templates. There’s also a feature that can scan a user’s site and generate a template that aligns with the site’s brand colors.

The marketing automation tools in Constant Contact allow users to send a series of personalized emails to contacts in an autoresponder series and resend to contacts that didn’t open the initial email. Users can also send out personalized welcome emails, birthday emails, anniversary messages, and more.

Constant Contact offers a mobile app that lets marketers create and send emails right from their phones. This app also enables users to monitor and track their email performances on the go.

Key features of Constant Contact

  • Drag-and-drop editor
  • Great marketing automation options
  • Tag-based data segmentation
  • Social media campaigns
  • Great deliverability rates
  • Trackable coupons
  • ROI tracking
  • Surveys and polls
  • Autoresponders
  • Customizable CTAs
  • A/B split testing
  • Third-party app integration

Pros of Constant Contact

  • The free trial lasts for 60 long days, unlike most Constant Contact competitors. This means that users have two months to try it out and see if they are a good fit.
  • Users don’t need to input your credit card details to get started with the free trial.
  • If a user has a website, Constant Contact can automatically set up their email design based on the website’s colors.
  • There are hundreds of templates available.
  • The drag-and-drop editor is really easy to use, which helps if you’re new to email marketing.
  • The customer support team can be easily reached through phone, live chat and email.
  • Constant Contact offers a library of resources to help users. If a user is in the United States, they can attend Constant Contact’s in-person seminars.
  • Constant Contact’s security framework is air-tight.
  • Constant Contact offers a high discount for NPOs.
  • Constant Contact offers integrations with a wide range of third-party software like Gmail, Outlook and Shopify.

Cons of Constant Contact

  • There’s no free version. After the free 60 days is up, users have to pay to keep using their email list.
  • The dashboard lags sometimes.
  • The landing page builder is somewhat basic.
  • The templates are responsive but they aren’t flexible.
  • Users need to pay for the Email plus plan to use most of the automation features.
  • Constant Contact’s pricing plans are very expensive.
  • Constant Contact does not offer live support on weekends.

Wrapping Up

So now you might be wondering which free email autoresponder tool you should use. Well, out of the nine tools outlined above, there’s no one that can suit absolutely every individual and/or business. However, the size of your business and your budget should determine the tool you should use.

If you’re a startup or small business owner, you can try Sendinblue, Sender or Moosend. You can also use Constant Contact, but bear in mind that this autoresponder tool does not have a free forever plan. It only offers a 60-day free trial to try it out and determine if it would be good for you. If you’re working on a tight budget, HubSpot is also a great option as it is completely free.

If you’re a community organization non-profit, you can try Sendinblue (this works great if you have a small list of 300 people or fewer). Benchmark Email is also great as they offer a huge discount for NPOs.

Sendinblue, Sender and Moosend are great options if you need to send out transactional messages to your contacts. Sendinblue allows its users to send SMS messages as well. If you’re an online creative, ConvertKit or MailChimp will serve you well.

For online/ecommerce store owners that want to send things like abandoned cart campaigns and purchase confirmations, MailChimp, Sender and Constant Contact are all trusty options. If your list is large and you need a free email autoresponder, MailChimp has the most generous parameters.

However, if your e-commerce store or business is established and budget isn’t a concern, then I highly recommend that you take a look at Drip. They offer powerful automation options and advanced segmentation but I didn’t include in this list because they don’t have a free plan, and their pricing is a bit expensive. Another great option is ActiveCampaign. In this article, you’ll see how ActiveCampaign measures up when pitted against Drip. It will help you make the right decision if you decide to go for either one of the two.

As you must have noticed, there is no one-size-fits-all autoresponder tool out there. The kind of business you run, the size of your business, your marketing needs, and your budget are the key factors that influence which autoresponder tool you should use.