Key Takeaways
- Drip campaigns outperform single sends with 80% higher open rates and three times higher click-through rates.
- Tools range from beginner-friendly options like Mailchimp and MailerLite to advanced platforms like ActiveCampaign with 135+ triggers.
- Ecommerce brands have specialized options including Klaviyo, Omnisend, and Sendlane with deep Shopify and WooCommerce integrations.
- Pricing varies dramatically, from free tiers to enterprise plans, with budget options like Sender starting at just $8/month.
- Some platforms like Brevo price by emails sent rather than contacts stored, benefiting large lists with infrequent sending needs.
The Best Drip Email Campaign Services in 2026
Drip campaigns are some of the best onboarding tools available to marketers. The way they work is simple and elegant. You set up a series of messages you’d like your new users to see when they subscribe to your service or newsletter. Rather than manually send messages to new users, batch them for new users every month or two, or bury everything in a static FAQ on your blog, you publish them in a drip campaign. This campaign starts the moment the user signs up, with a welcome email. Then, every few days, the next message in the series is sent - all automatically. The new user feels as though they’re getting special attention, meanwhile you’re just letting a tool do the work for you.

And the numbers back this up. Drip campaigns have open rates approximately 80% higher than single sends and click-through rates three times higher. Referral and loyalty campaigns earned the highest CTR in 2023 at 25.15%, and cart abandonment emails averaged a 17.98% CTR for ecommerce merchants. This stuff works.
Which tool, though? I’ve put together over 25 of them for you to choose from. Read about them, test them out, and make a choice. If you’re also running paid traffic alongside your campaigns, it’s worth understanding average approval times for new Google AdWords ads so your efforts stay coordinated.
eCommerce Focused Platforms
Klaviyo - If you run an ecommerce store, Klaviyo is arguably the most powerful tool on this list. Built from the ground up for online retail, it connects deeply with Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce to power highly targeted drip campaigns based on purchase behavior, browsing history, and cart activity. Their free plan supports up to 250 contacts. Paid plans start at $20/month and scale with your list. Klaviyo’s revenue attribution and segmentation tools are best-in-class.
Omnisend - A standout option for ecommerce brands, Omnisend supports email, SMS, and push notifications in a single workflow. Their results speak for themselves - outdoor brand Amundsen Sports built a single email campaign that generated 17% of their annual Omnisend revenue, with a 32% conversion rate and 9.5x higher revenue-per-email than their promotional sends. The free plan supports 250 contacts and 500 emails/month. Paid plans start at $16/month.

Drip - Once a simple email automation tool under the LeadPages umbrella, Drip has evolved into a full-blown ecommerce CRM and marketing automation platform. They’ve analyzed over 1 million emails sent through automated workflows to sharpen their product, and it shows. Plans are based on contact count, starting around $39/month for 2,500 contacts, with unlimited email sends across all plans. Best suited for ecommerce brands who want deep segmentation and behavioral triggers.
Sendlane - Sendlane is purpose-built for ecommerce and direct-to-consumer brands, offering deep integrations with Shopify and WooCommerce. They support email, SMS, and reviews in one unified platform. Pricing starts at $99/month, making it more of a mid-market play. But for ecommerce operators who want powerful abandonment flows, post-purchase sequences, and revenue attribution under one roof, it’s a strong contender.
SaaS & Behavioral Automation
Customer.io - A powerful behavioral email and messaging platform that’s grown significantly in sophistication. Customer.io now supports email, SMS, push notifications, in-app messaging, and Slack - all from one workflow builder. Their Essentials plan starts at $100/month and supports up to 5,000 profiles. If you need multi-channel automated messaging with serious data flexibility, this is one of the best options out there.
Intercom - Intercom has evolved dramatically and is now one of the leading AI-powered customer communication platforms. They cover live chat, email, in-app messaging, and support automation all from one platform. Their AI assistant, Fin, has become a flagship feature. It’s not cheap - plans start around $74/month - but for SaaS companies and tech products that need full lifecycle messaging, it’s one of the best options available.

Encharge - A newer but increasingly popular marketing automation platform built specifically for SaaS companies and digital businesses. Encharge integrates deeply with tools like Stripe, Segment, Intercom, and HubSpot to trigger behavior-based emails from actual user actions. Plans start at $79/month for up to 2,000 subscribers. If you’re building a software product and want lifecycle email automation that’s actually tied to what users do in your app, Encharge is worth serious consideration. You may also want to set up conversion tracking with Stripe to get the most out of these integrations.
Vero - Vero remains a solid event-driven email automation platform, particularly popular with SaaS and app companies that need behavior-triggered messaging. Their workflow builder lets you set up drip sequences based on user actions inside your product. Plans start at $99/month. It’s not the cheapest option, but the level of behavioral targeting available justifies the cost for the right use case. If you’re looking to expand your reach further, learning how to automate your inbound marketing can complement these tools well.
All-in-One Marketing & CRM Platforms
HubSpot - HubSpot remains one of the most comprehensive marketing, sales, and CRM platforms in existence, and their blog is still frankly amazing. Their free CRM is genuinely useful, and email marketing is included at no cost for basic usage. The Marketing Hub Starter plan begins at $20/month, which is a massive improvement from their notoriously expensive older pricing structure. Enterprise plans still get expensive fast, but the entry point is now much more accessible. We’ve reviewed HubSpot’s blog marketing tools in depth if you want a closer look.
ActiveCampaign - One of the most powerful automation platforms on this list, ActiveCampaign now offers 135+ triggers and actions spanning email, site tracking, SMS, and its built-in CRM. The color-coded automation builder remains one of the best visual workflow tools in the industry. Pricing starts at around $15/month for the Starter plan at 1,000 contacts. If you want serious depth in automation without going enterprise, this is your best bet.
Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) - Infusionsoft rebranded to Keap a few years back and streamlined their offering for small businesses. They combine CRM, marketing automation, and sales pipeline tools in one platform. Plans start at around $299/month, which puts it firmly in the “serious investment” category. But if you’re a growing small business that needs robust automation, pipeline management, and email all in one place, Keap earns its price.
GetResponse - GetResponse has evolved well beyond email into a full marketing platform including landing pages, webinars, paid ads, and an AI-powered website builder. Their Email Marketing plan starts at $19/month for 1,000 contacts with autoresponders and basic automation. Higher tiers unlock advanced segmentation, abandoned cart emails, and Salesforce integration. A solid mid-range choice with a lot of room to grow.

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) - Brevo rebranded from Sendinblue in 2023 and has continued to grow its all-in-one positioning. They offer email, SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, and CRM tools in one platform. Uniquely, their pricing is based on emails sent rather than contacts stored, which makes them excellent value if you have a large list but send infrequently. The free plan includes 300 emails/day. Paid plans start at around $9/month.
Mailchimp - Who doesn’t know about Mailchimp at this point? After a rocky few years of pricing changes and feature shuffling, Mailchimp has settled into a solid all-in-one platform. Their free plan now supports 500 contacts, and the Essentials plan starts at $13/month. They’ve added significant AI-powered content tools in recent years and remain one of the most beginner-friendly options available. If you’re wondering how much you should be spending on content alongside tools like this, that’s worth thinking through separately.
AgileCRM - AgileCRM still offers one of the most generous free tiers in this space - up to 10 users and 1,000 contacts for free. Paid plans start at around $9.99/month per user. The platform bundles CRM, email marketing, telephony, helpdesk, and social media tools in one place, making it a strong choice for lean teams that need a lot of coverage without a big budget.
LeadSimple - Built specifically for property management companies, LeadSimple handles lead tracking, pipeline management, drip campaigns, and workflow automation for owner, tenant, and referrer leads. The platform combines a property-management-specific CRM with process management tools, a shared inbox, and deep integrations with AppFolio, Buildium, PropertyWare, Rent Manager, Rentvine, and Mailchimp. Pricing is modular: the CRM plan starts at $99/month, Phone + Inbox runs $59/user/month, and the Operations module is $1.35/door/month, with plans combinable depending on what you need. A 14-day free trial is available, and they also offer paid process consulting engagements for larger implementations. Not a general-purpose email tool, but if you run a property management business and want drip campaigns and automated workflows tied directly to your PMS data, there’s really nothing else built this specifically for the industry. You may also want to explore buying leads from performance advertising companies as a complementary approach to filling your pipeline.
Simple & Creator-Friendly Email Tools
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) - ConvertKit rebranded to Kit in 2024, doubling down on their focus as the go-to platform for creators, bloggers, and independent businesses. Their free plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers with basic broadcasts and forms. Paid plans start at $25/month and unlock automations, sequences, and premium support. If you run a newsletter, a course, or a content business, Kit is hard to beat. If you’re also growing a new site, check out the ultimate marketing plan for a brand new website to pair with your email strategy.
Constant Contact - Still going strong, Constant Contact is one of the most recognizable names in email marketing. They’ve added more automation features over the years and their templates remain excellent. Pricing starts at $12/month, and they typically offer a generous trial period for new users. Probably more than you need if all you want is a simple drip sequence, but excellent if you want a full-featured platform. For a deeper look at what they offer, our review of Constant Content covers quality and pricing in detail.
Campaign Monitor - A perennial favorite used by hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide, Campaign Monitor is known for its beautiful email templates and clean user interface. Pricing scales with your list size - starting around $12/month for 500 contacts on the basic plan. The Premier tier unlocks advanced features like send-time optimization and engagement-based segmentation.
AWeber - One of the longest-standing names in email marketing, AWeber handles campaigns for well over 100,000 businesses. Their free plan supports up to 500 subscribers, and paid plans start at $15/month. All features are included regardless of plan tier - pricing only scales with volume. They also offer a solid library of pre-built automation templates, which is great if you’re new to drip campaigns. Pairing email with free places to list your business website can help grow your list faster.
MailerLite - Still one of the cleanest, most affordable email-only tools on this list. MailerLite’s free plan supports up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month - more generous than most. Paid plans start at $9/month for unlimited emails. They’ve added a solid drag-and-drop automation builder and landing page tool in recent years. If all you need is straightforward email automation without the bloat, MailerLite is a fantastic choice.
Benchmark Email - Benchmark keeps things simple with an easy drag-and-drop editor, automation workflows, and list management tools. Their free plan supports 500 subscribers and 3,500 emails/month. Pro plans start at $13/month for 500 contacts with unlimited sends. A solid no-fuss option for small businesses.
Moosend - An underrated option that punches well above its price point. Moosend offers a visual automation builder, advanced segmentation, landing pages, and subscription forms. Pricing starts at just $9/month for up to 500 subscribers with unlimited emails. Their automation templates make it easy to launch drip campaigns quickly, and there’s a 30-day free trial with no credit card required. To complement your email efforts, learning how to double your website traffic can significantly grow your subscriber base.
iContact - iContact continues to serve small and mid-size businesses with a straightforward email marketing toolkit. Features include drag-and-drop editing, automation, A/B testing, and social posting. Pricing scales with list size, typically starting around $45/month for smaller lists. A reliable choice that won’t overwhelm new users.
Sender - Sender is one of the newer names gaining traction as a budget-friendly alternative to Mailchimp. Their free plan is remarkably generous: 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month. Paid plans start at just $8/month. They support email and SMS, with a visual automation builder and solid deliverability. Worth a look if you’re price-sensitive and don’t need enterprise features.
Mad Mimi - One of the more charmingly designed apps on this list, Mad Mimi keeps things refreshingly simple. Their free plan handles 100 contacts, and paid plans start at $10/month for 500 contacts. Don’t expect advanced automation - this is a tool for people who want clean, simple email without a steep learning curve.
Emma - Emma offers tailored products for different verticals, including nonprofits, universities, and franchises. Their platform features solid segmentation, A/B testing, and automation tools. Plans start at $99/month, putting Emma in the mid-market space. Their franchise and multi-location product is particularly well thought out.
E-Goi - A multichannel marketing platform covering email, SMS, mobile push, web push, and voice. E-Goi’s pay-as-you-go pricing is attractive for low-volume senders, and their unlimited plan starts at around $22/month. A solid international option if you’re looking to coordinate campaigns across multiple channels on a modest budget.
2 responses
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Thanks for all the options and the great feedback that you gave for each one. It really helped this 1st timer beginner.
So glad the article was helpful for you, Jolene! Starting out with drip email campaigns can feel overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s such a powerful tool for staying connected with your audience. Don’t hesitate to experiment with a few different apps to find the one that feels right for you. Wishing you all the best on your email marketing journey! Feel free to come back if you have any questions along the way. 😊