Best Email Marketing Software for Agencies in 2026
An agency runs email for several clients at once. It needs separate client accounts, templates it can reuse, automation it can build and maintain, and pricing that can be passed on. Our first pick is ActiveCampaign: sophisticated automation that agencies can build and maintain for clients. Campaign Monitor is the next to consider: designed for managing several clients from one account, with templates clients like.
01Quick Picks
| Rank | Tool | Entry price | Free plan | Value score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ActiveCampaign | $15/mo | No | 4.2/5 |
| 2 | Campaign Monitor | $11.70/mo | No | 4.1/5 |
| 3 | Mailchimp | $13/mo | Yes | 4.5/5 |
| 4 | Klaviyo | $20/mo | Yes | 4.3/5 |
| 5 | Brevo | $8.08/mo | Yes | 4.7/5 |
| 6 | MailerLite | $10.80/mo | Yes | 4.6/5 |
02The Shortlist
ActiveCampaign
From$15/moValue score4.2/5
Why it’s here: Sophisticated automation that agencies can build and maintain for clients.
ActiveCampaign is an automation tool that also sends email. Its visual builder handles branching logic, lead scoring, site tracking and conditional content, and a sales CRM can be added on. It asks for more learning than its simpler rivals and repays it for businesses whose marketing depends on timing and behavior.
- Best for
- Businesses that prioritize automation and segmentation
- Pricing
- Starter plan, billed annually ($19 billed monthly), 1,000 contacts at this price.
- Key features
- Advanced automations, Segmentation and personalization, Built-in CRM
Where it falls short: There is no free plan, the learning curve is real, and the cost climbs with both contacts and tier.
Campaign Monitor
From$11.70/moValue score4.1/5
Why it’s here: Designed for managing several clients from one account, with templates clients like.
Campaign Monitor is known for polished templates and an editor that makes good-looking email easy. Agencies use it to manage several clients from one account, and its automation covers the common journeys without much complexity. It is a design-first tool with modest ambitions elsewhere.
- Best for
- Brands and agencies that value email design quality
- Pricing
- Lite plan, billed annually ($13 billed monthly), 500 contacts at this price.
- Key features
- Drag-and-drop email builder, Segmentation, Transactional email add-ons
Where it falls short: There is no free plan, automation is simple, and integrations are fewer than Mailchimp’s.
Mailchimp
From$13/moValue score4.5/5
Why it’s here: Most clients already have an account, which makes it hard to avoid.
Mailchimp is the email tool most small businesses try first. It covers campaigns, templates, basic automation, landing pages and forms, and connects to almost everything. It is a generalist: good at getting a newsletter out, less convincing once you need advanced automation, and priced by the size of your audience.
- Best for
- SMBs that want a familiar general-purpose email platform
- Pricing
- Essentials plan, billed monthly, 500 contacts at this price. Free plan: 250 contacts and 500 sends a month.
- Key features
- Email campaigns and templates, Audience segmentation, Marketing automation journeys
Where it falls short: The price rises with every contact you add, the free plan is small, and automation is shallower than in specialist tools.
Klaviyo
From$20/moValue score4.3/5
Why it’s here: The tool ecommerce clients expect an agency to know.
Klaviyo is built for online stores. It pulls order and browsing data from platforms such as Shopify and uses it for segmentation and automated flows: abandoned carts, post-purchase follow-ups, win-backs. Email and SMS run from the same data. It is the specialist’s choice for ecommerce and priced like one.
- Best for
- Ecommerce brands prioritizing retention and customer lifecycle revenue
- Pricing
- Email plan, billed monthly, 251-500 active profiles at this price. Free plan: up to 250 active profiles and 500 sends a month.
- Key features
- Behavior-based segmentation, Ecommerce automation flows, SMS marketing
Where it falls short: Pricing follows the number of active profiles and rises quickly, and it offers little to a business that is not selling online.
Brevo
From$8.08/moValue score4.7/5
Why it’s here: Low client costs for campaigns plus transactional email and SMS.
Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, combines email campaigns with SMS, WhatsApp, transactional email and a light CRM. Its pricing is based on how many emails you send, not on how many contacts you store, which favors large lists that are mailed occasionally. The free plan caps daily sends instead of list size.
- Best for
- SMBs that want email, SMS, and transactional messaging in one tool
- Pricing
- Starter plan, billed annually ($9 billed monthly), from 5,000 emails per month. Free plan: 300 emails a day.
- Key features
- Email campaigns and automation, Transactional email, SMS marketing
Where it falls short: Templates and reporting are plainer than Mailchimp’s, and the free plan’s daily cap limits how many people you can reach at once.
MailerLite
From$10.80/moValue score4.6/5
Why it’s here: Easy to hand over to small clients with small budgets.
MailerLite is a simple, inexpensive email tool with a clean editor. Newsletters, landing pages, forms and straightforward automations are all there, and the free plan is usable. It leaves out the heavier features, which keeps both the interface and the bill small.
- Best for
- Small businesses and creators that want value and simplicity
- Pricing
- Comfort plan, billed annually ($12 billed monthly), 500 subscribers at this price. Free plan: up to 250 subscribers.
- Key features
- Newsletter builder, Automation workflows, Landing pages and websites
Where it falls short: Automation, reporting and integrations are lighter than in the bigger platforms.
03How We Chose
Each email marketing tool we track gets a fit score from 0 to 3 for agencies, based on how the product is designed and what its published plans allow. Tools scoring 2 or more make this list, ordered by fit, then by how widely they are adopted, then by Value score. We left out ConvertKit, GetResponse, Constant Contact, Beehiiv, Drip and AWeber: capable tools built for other buyers.
04FAQ
What is the best email marketing software for agencies?
ActiveCampaign is our first pick. Sophisticated automation that agencies can build and maintain for clients. Paid plans start at $15/mo for 1,000 contacts.
What is the cheapest good option for agencies?
Brevo: free plan, then $8.08/mo. Low client costs for campaigns plus transactional email and SMS.
Which of these have a free plan?
Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Brevo and MailerLite. The limits differ; each tool’s pricing page lists them.
How much should agencies expect to pay?
Entry plans on this list run from $8.08 to $20 a month, and all of them rise as your list grows. Prices are per month on annual billing, except Mailchimp and Klaviyo (monthly billing; no annual price published).
05Bottom Line
Start with ActiveCampaign. Sophisticated automation that agencies can build and maintain for clients. If that does not describe you, look at Campaign Monitor: designed for managing several clients from one account, with templates clients like.