The Ultimate Guide: Top 10 Email Marketing Platforms for Businesses in 2025

Why Smart Automation & Segmentation are Your Secret to Growth

In 2025, email marketing is no longer about just sending the same message to everyone on your list. That's like shouting into a crowded market, hoping someone listens. The real magic, the secret to growing your business, lies in having smart, automated conversations with your customers. Imagine this: a new person subscribes to your newsletter, and they automatically get a welcome email with a 10% discount. A customer adds a product to their cart but doesn't buy, and a few hours later, they get a gentle reminder. A loyal customer from Mumbai gets a special offer for a local event. All of this happens automatically, without you lifting a finger. This is the power of automation and segmentation.

For Indian small businesses, freelancers, and content creators, finding the right tool to do this is critical. You need something powerful but also affordable. You need a platform that works seamlessly with Indian payment methods like Razorpay and UPI so you can connect your sales directly to your marketing. However, the market is filled with options that look attractive on the surface. Many offer "free" plans that promise the world but lock the most important features—like advanced automation—behind expensive monthly subscriptions. This guide is designed to cut through the noise and expose the true value of each platform for your specific needs.  

A major shift is happening in the market. Tools are no longer just for sending emails. Platforms like Brevo and HubSpot have evolved into "all-in-one" growth engines, offering powerful Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, sales tools, and live chat, often for free. This is a game-changer for Indian startups. You can now build the entire foundation of your customer marketing and sales operations on a free platform, something that was unimaginable just a few years ago. This guide will help you understand this new landscape and choose the perfect partner for your growth journey.  

Quick Comparison: The Top 10 Email Marketing Tools at a Glance

For those who need a quick overview, this table provides a snapshot of our top 10 platforms. It allows you to quickly shortlist the best options based on your budget, business type, and core needs before diving into the detailed reviews.

The Deep Dive: In-Depth Reviews of the Top 10 Platforms

Here, we explore each platform in detail, focusing on the features that matter most for growing your audience: automation and segmentation.

1. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue): The Best All-in-One Platform on a Budget

Overview: Brevo, which was previously known as Sendinblue, is our top recommendation for Indian small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that need more than just an email tool. It positions itself as a complete marketing and sales platform, offering an incredible suite of tools at a price point that is hard to beat. It is a true all-in-one solution designed for businesses that want to grow without a large budget.  

Automation Features: A critical point to understand is that Brevo's most powerful feature, the marketing automation workflow builder, is available starting from its "Business" plan, not on the Free or Starter tiers. This is a key limitation for those starting out. However, even the free plan would not be without its automation capabilities. It provides access to transactional emails via API and SMTP, which is great for sending automated order confirmations or password resets, and it even includes an AI content generator to help write emails faster.  

Once on a paid plan with automation, Brevo shines. Its visual workflow builder allows you to create sophisticated sequences based on various triggers. You can build welcome series, abandoned cart reminders for e-commerce stores, and post-purchase follow-ups. What makes it particularly powerful is the ability to combine email, SMS, and even WhatsApp messages into a single automated journey, allowing for true multi-channel marketing.  

Segmentation Features: Brevo offers robust segmentation that allows you to send the right message to the right person. You can create dynamic lists that automatically update based on your subscribers' behavior, such as who opened your last email or clicked a specific link. You can also segment based on demographics (like city or age) or purchase history, making your campaigns highly targeted and effective.  

Pricing & Value for Indian Businesses: This is where Brevo truly stands out.

• Free Plan: You get unlimited contacts and can send up to 300 emails per day. Most importantly, the free plan includes access to the Sales CRM, a live chat widget for your website, and the ability to set up SMS and WhatsApp campaigns. This is of immense value for a free offering.  
• Starter Plan: Starting at just $9 per month (approx. ₹750), this plan removes the daily sending limit, making it ideal for growing businesses. Be aware that removing the Brevo logo from your emails is a paid add-on, costing around $10.80 per month.  
• Business Plan: This is the plan you need for marketing automation, and it starts at a very reasonable $19 per month (approx. ₹1,600).  

The India Angle: Brevo's biggest advantage for Indian businesses is its direct integration with local payment gateways like Razorpay. This is a powerful feature that many competitors lack. In simple terms, it means when a customer pays you through a Razorpay link, you can automatically add them to a specific "customer" list in Brevo and trigger a welcome email series. This seamless connection between payment and marketing is a massive efficiency boost for any Indian business.  

Our Verdict (Pros & Cons)

• Pros: Unbeatable value with its free all-in-one suite (Email, CRM, Chat); powerful automation on very affordable paid plans; excellent segmentation; direct support for Indian payment gateways like Razorpay.  
• Cons: True marketing automation is not included in the free or starter plans; the interface might be too simple for power users who need deep, complex reporting; multi-user access is reserved for higher-tier plans.  

2. HubSpot: The Best Free CRM with Powerful (but Pricey) Email Marketing

Overview: HubSpot is a giant in the marketing world, widely considered the gold standard for an integrated platform that connects marketing, sales, and customer service. Its biggest attraction is its incredibly powerful and generous free CRM. HubSpot has officially launched in India and is committed to the market, making it a reliable choice for long-term growth. However, unlocking its full marketing automation power comes at a steep price.  

Automation Features: HubSpot's automation capabilities are tiered, and it's crucial to understand the limitations.

• Free Plan: Extremely limited. You can only have one automated follow-up email per form submission. This is useful for a simple "thank you for subscribing" email, but you cannot build multi-step nurturing sequences.  
• Starter Plan: For about $20 per month, the limit increases to 10 email automation actions per workflow. This is an improvement but still restrictive for businesses that want to create truly dynamic customer journeys.  
• Professional Plan: This is where HubSpot's automation engine truly comes to life. It offers unlimited automation actions, omni-channel automation (email, internal notifications, task creation), and a sophisticated visual workflow builder. However, this power comes with a massive price jump to $890 per month, plus a mandatory one-time onboarding fee that can cost thousands of dollars.  

Segmentation Features: This is a major strength of HubSpot, thanks to its world-class CRM. You can create highly specific contact lists based on almost any data point imaginable: contact properties (like job title or location), website pages they've visited, how they've engaged with your emails, their stage in your sales pipeline, and much more. This allows for hyper-personalization that few other platforms can match.  

Pricing & Value for Indian Businesses

• Free Plan: This is the star of the show. You get a free CRM that can store up to 1,000,000 contacts, free email marketing for up to 2,000 email sends per month (with HubSpot branding), free landing pages, and web forms. For a new Indian business, this is an incredible way to get organized and start collecting leads without any cost.  
• The Price Cliff: It is essential to be aware of the huge financial leap from the affordable Starter plan ($20/month) to the very expensive Professional plan ($890/month). This "price cliff" can be a major hurdle for a growing Indian business that outgrows the Starter plan's limitations.  

The India Angle: HubSpot is making a serious investment in India, with a growing network of over 70 local partners to provide support and services. While it doesn't have direct integrations with local payment gateways in the same way Brevo does, it can be connected to services like  

PayU through third-party automation tools like Pabbly Connect or Zapier. This requires an extra step, but it is a viable option for Indian businesses.  

Our Verdict (Pros & Cons)

• Pros: Best-in-class free CRM is a phenomenal starting point; seamless integration across all business functions (marketing, sales, service); highly scalable for businesses with the budget to grow.  
• Cons: True marketing automation is extremely expensive and inaccessible for most SMBs; the free and starter plans are very limited in their automation capabilities; the platform can feel complex and overwhelming for absolute beginners.  

3. MailerLite: The Champion of Simplicity and Affordability

Overview: MailerLite is the ideal choice for beginners, bloggers, solopreneurs, and small businesses who value simplicity, a clean interface, and outstanding value for money. It strips away the complexity found in larger platforms and focuses on providing the essential email marketing tools in a way that is easy to learn and incredibly generous, especially on its free plan.  

Automation Features: This is MailerLite's most impressive feature relative to its price.

• Free Plan: Unbelievably, the free plan includes a full-featured visual email automation builder. This is a massive advantage over competitors like Mailchimp, which charges a premium for this functionality. You can create welcome series, drip campaigns, and other automated workflows from day one for free.  
• Paid Plans: Upgrading to a paid plan unlocks an enhanced automation builder with more trigger options and the ability to sell digital products directly through the platform.  

Segmentation Features: MailerLite is equally generous with its segmentation features. The free plan allows for unlimited segments and interest groups (also known as tags). This means that even as a free user, you can organize your audience based on their interests or how they signed up and send them highly relevant content, which is key to improving engagement.  

Pricing & Value for Indian Businesses

• Free Plan: A fantastic offering that includes up to 1,000 subscribers, 12,000 email sends per month, the automation builder, a website builder (for 1 site), and up to 10 landing pages.  
• Growing Business Plan: Paid plans start at a very affordable $10 per month (approx. ₹830). This unlocks unlimited monthly emails, lets you create unlimited websites and landing pages, and removes the MailerLite logo from your emails.  
• Fair Pricing Model: A key point of value is that MailerLite only charges you for active, unique subscribers. It does not charge you for people who have unsubscribed, unlike Mailchimp, which makes your monthly costs much more predictable and fair.  

The India Angle: While the research did not show direct integrations with Indian payment gateways, MailerLite's extreme affordability and powerful core features make it a top contender for Indian users who are on a tight budget. Its simplicity is a major benefit for non-technical founders and small teams who don't want to spend weeks learning a complex new tool.  

Our Verdict (Pros & Cons)

• Pros: The most generous free plan on the market with automation included very affordable and fair pricing that scales reasonably, an incredibly easy-to-use interface perfect for beginners, and consistently high email deliverability rates.  
• Cons: Automation is powerful for the price but not as advanced as a dedicated tool like ActiveCampaign; reporting features are somewhat basic; limited pre-made templates on the free plan.  

4. Mailchimp: The Famous One (But Is It Still Worth It?)

Overview: Mailchimp is arguably the most famous name in email marketing. Its brand recognition and famously user-friendly interface have made it the starting point for millions of businesses. However, in recent years, its position has been challenged. Its pricing has become more expensive, and its free plan has been significantly restricted, making many powerful alternatives more attractive for new and growing businesses.  

Automation Features: This is a major area of weakness for Mailchimp's entry-level plans.

• Free Plan: You can only create single-step automations, like a basic welcome email (autoresponder). You cannot build multi-step customer journeys or complex workflows. Furthermore, you cannot even schedule emails to be sent at a later time on the free plan, a basic feature offered by almost every other provider.  
• Standard Plan: To get access to multi-step automation workflows, you must subscribe to at least the Standard plan, which starts at $20 per month for just 500 contacts.  

Segmentation Features: Segmentation is also tiered.

• Free & Essentials Plans: You get basic segmentation capabilities, allowing you to group your audience using simple lists and tags.  
• Standard Plan: This plan unlocks more advanced segmentation, including AI-driven predictive segmentation (which estimates customer demographics) and behavioral targeting based on how users interact with your website or app.  

Pricing & Value for Indian Businesses

• Free Plan: The once-generous free plan is now limited to just 500 contacts and 1,000 email sends per month.  
• The "Unsubscribed" Trap: This is a critical point for any potential user. Mailchimp's pricing is based on your total audience count, which includes unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts. This means you continue to pay for contacts who can't even receive your emails, which can make your bill unexpectedly high.  
• Pricing in India: Plans are advertised as starting from ₹899 per month, but this is for the Essentials plan, and the cost rises very quickly as your list grows. When compared to MailerLite or Brevo, Mailchimp consistently offers less value for a higher price.  

The India Angle: Mailchimp is a well-known brand in India and is used by many businesses. It integrates well with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify and supports major international payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal, which are used in India. However, the research did not show any special, direct integrations with local gateways like Razorpay or PayU.  

Our Verdict (Pros & Cons)

• Pros: Extremely easy to use, making it great for absolute beginners; strong brand recognition and a polished interface; good for sending simple, one-off newsletters.  
• Cons: The free plan is now very restrictive with no real automation; pricing is high, and the method of counting all contacts (even unsubscribed ones) is unfavorable and costly; much better value for money can be found with other platforms.  

5. ActiveCampaign: The King of Marketing Automation

Overview: For businesses that are serious about using automation to drive growth, ActiveCampaign is the undisputed leader. It is a platform built from the ground up to create complex, intelligent, and personalized customer journeys. It is the tool of choice for marketers who want to move beyond basic email blasts and implement sophisticated automation strategies.  

Automation Features: This is ActiveCampaign's core strength and primary selling point.

• The visual automation builder is both powerful and intuitive, often compared to building with LEGO bricks, allowing you to mix and match triggers and actions to create any workflow you can imagine.  
• It offers a library of over 900 pre-built automation "recipes" (templates) for various industries and goals, helping you get started quickly.  
• Even its cheapest "Starter" plan (from $15/month) includes marketing automation, although it is limited to 5 actions per automation. The "Plus" plan, which is recommended for most businesses, unlocks unlimited actions and the full power of the builder.  
• Advanced features include split automation (to test different paths in a workflow), predictive sending (using AI to send emails at the optimal time for each contact), and deep integration with its built-in sales CRM.  

Segmentation Features: ActiveCampaign's segmentation capabilities are extremely robust and flexible. You can create segments based on a vast array of conditions, including contact data, email engagement (opens, clicks), website visitor tracking, their stage in your sales deal pipeline, custom data fields, and much more. This allows for a level of granular targeting that is essential for advanced marketing.  

Pricing & Value for Indian Businesses

• ActiveCampaign does not offer a free plan, only a 14-day free trial to test the platform.  
• Pricing for the "Starter" plan begins at $15 per month (approx. ₹1,250) when billed annually for 1,000 contacts. However, most businesses will need the "Plus" plan to access the full automation suite, which starts at $49 per month (approx. ₹4,100).  
• The price scales up significantly as your contact list grows. It is a premium tool with premium pricing—cheaper than HubSpot's high-end plans but more expensive than Brevo or MailerLite for a similar number of contacts.  

The India Angle: ActiveCampaign is a popular choice among experienced digital marketers in India who understand and value its automation power. While it is a US-based company, its extensive library of over 900 integrations, including deep connections with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Zapier, allows it to connect seamlessly with the tools commonly used by Indian businesses.  

Our Verdict (Pros & Cons)

• Pros: Best-in-class marketing automation capabilities; extremely powerful and flexible segmentation; includes an integrated sales CRM; has a reputation for excellent email deliverability.  
• Cons: Can become expensive, especially for businesses with large contact lists; it has a steeper learning curve compared to simpler tools; there is no forever-free plan.  

6. ConvertKit: The Platform Built for Creators

Overview: ConvertKit is an email marketing platform designed specifically with creators in mind—bloggers, YouTubers, coaches, authors, and podcasters. Its features and philosophy are tailored to help creators build an audience, foster a community, and monetize their work directly through email. Its interface is clean and focuses on simplicity and power.  

Automation Features: ConvertKit offers a powerful yet easy-to-use visual automation builder. You can create automated email sequences (drip campaigns) and more complex workflows that trigger based on subscriber actions.  

• Free Plan: Includes one basic visual automation and one email sequence, which is a good starting point for new creators.  
• Creator & Creator Pro Plans: These paid plans unlock unlimited visual automation and sequences, allowing you to build out sophisticated funnels for nurturing leads and selling products.  

Segmentation Features: ConvertKit's approach to segmentation is subscriber-centric, using a flexible system of tags and segments rather than rigid lists. You can tag subscribers based on how they signed up, what links they clicked, what products they bought, or any custom criteria you define. This makes it incredibly easy to send highly targeted broadcasts and personalized content.  

Pricing & Value for Indian Businesses

• Free Plan: Very generous for creators. It supports up to 1,000 subscribers and includes unlimited landing pages, opt-in forms, and email broadcasts. Crucially, it also allows you to sell digital products and paid newsletters even on the free plan.  
• Creator Plan: Starts at $9 per month (for up to 300 subscribers) and scales up, costing $29/month for 1,000 subscribers. This plan unlocks the full automation suite and allows you to remove ConvertKit branding.  
• Creator Pro Plan: Starts at $59/month for 1,000 subscribers and adds advanced features like a newsletter referral system, subscriber engagement scoring, and detailed deliverability reporting.  

The India Angle: ConvertKit is the perfect tool for the booming creator economy in India. Its built-in monetization tools are a huge advantage. An Indian YouTuber, for example, can create a landing page to offer a free e-book, grow their email list, and then sell a premium course or a paid newsletter, all from within the same platform. It integrates with payment processors like Stripe, which works in India.  

Our Verdict (Pros & Cons)

• Pros: Perfectly designed for the needs of content creators; powerful and easy-to-use tagging for segmentation; excellent monetization features built-in; a generous free plan that includes e-commerce.  
• Cons: Can be more expensive than alternatives like MailerLite for the same number of subscribers; its email template editor is less focused on highly visual designs compared to Mailchimp.  

7. GetResponse: The All-in-One Tool with Webinar Hosting

Overview: GetResponse positions itself as a comprehensive, all-in-one marketing platform. It goes beyond email to include a landing page builder, a website builder, conversion funnels, live chat, and, most uniquely, built-in webinar hosting. This makes it an attractive option for businesses and marketers who want to consolidate many tools into a single subscription.  

Automation Features: GetResponse has a strong visual automation builder, but its availability is a key factor in its pricing.

• Free & Starter Plans: These plans only offer basic autoresponders (simple, time-based email sequences). You cannot build workflows based on user behavior (like clicks or page visits).  
• Marketer Plan: This is the minimum plan required to access the full marketing automation suite. It allows you to build complex workflows with conditions, actions, and filters. It also includes e-commerce features like abandoned cart recovery and contact scoring.  

Segmentation Features: The platform offers advanced segmentation options, especially on its higher-tier plans. You can segment your audience based on contact details, email engagement, geolocation, tags, and e-commerce data. It also supports dynamic segmentation, where contacts are automatically moved between segments based on real-time actions.  

Pricing & Value for Indian Businesses

• Free Plan: A basic offering for up to 500 contacts, which includes one landing page and access to forms and popups. It's a way to test the platform, but it is not very functional for serious marketing.  
• Starter Plan: Begins at $19 per month for 1,000 contacts but still lacks true automation.  
• Marketer Plan: Starts at $59 per month for 1,000 contacts. This is the plan most businesses will need, making GetResponse a pricier option compared to Brevo or MailerLite.  
• Creator Plan: Starts at $69 per month and adds the course creator and webinar features.  

The India Angle: For Indian coaches, educators, and businesses that use webinars as a key marketing and sales tool, GetResponse offers significant value by bundling this functionality with email marketing. This can save money and reduce the complexity of integrating a separate webinar tool like Zoom. It is a popular and well-regarded tool among Indian marketers for its wide feature set.  

Our Verdict (Pros & Cons)

• Pros: A true all-in-one platform with email, funnels, landing pages, and webinar hosting; strong visual automation builder on higher plans; good for e-commerce with features like promo codes and abandoned cart flows.  
• Cons: Real marketing automation is locked behind the more expensive "Marketer" plan ($59/mo+); the sheer number of features can feel cluttered and overwhelming for users who only need email marketing can be more expensive than more focused tools.  

8. Constant Contact: A Beginner-Friendly Tool with Limitations

Overview: Constant Contact is one of the oldest players in the email marketing space and has built a reputation for being user-friendly, making it a popular choice for small businesses and beginners. It has a solid feature set for basic email marketing and has unique tools for event management. However, its pricing is relatively high for the features it offers, and its automation capabilities are quite limited compared to modern competitors.  

Automation Features: This is a significant weak point for Constant Contact.

• Lite Plan: The entry-level plan offers only a single automated welcome email template. You cannot build custom workflows or even schedule regular emails to send at a later time.  
• Standard Plan: This plan adds a few more capabilities, giving you access to 3 pre-built automation templates and the ability to automatically resend emails to people who didn't open them. However, you still cannot build your own custom automation paths from scratch.  
• Premium Plan: Only on the most expensive Premium plan do you unlock custom automation, and even then, the builder is less flexible and powerful than those offered by ActiveCampaign or Brevo.  

Segmentation Features Segmentation is also heavily restricted by the plan.

• Lite Plan: You can only create 1 custom segment.  
• Standard Plan: The limit increases to 10 custom segments.  
• Premium Plan: This is the only plan that offers unlimited custom segments.  
• This tiered limitation on a core feature like segmentation is a major drawback for businesses that want to practice targeted marketing without paying top dollar.

Pricing & Value for Indian Businesses

• No Free Plan: Constant Contact does not offer a forever-free plan, only a 14 or 60-day free trial.  
• Pricing: The Lite plan starts at $12 per month for up to 500 contacts. The Standard plan starts at $35/month, and the Premium plan starts at $80/month. The cost climbs steeply as your list grows, making it one of the more expensive options on this list.  

The India Angle: Constant Contact officially launched in India in 2017, with a commitment to offer localized solutions, including local payment options and support staff. While this is a positive, the platform's overall value proposition—high price for limited features—remains a concern for budget-conscious Indian businesses.  

Our Verdict (Pros & Cons)

• Pros: Very easy-to-use interface for beginners; strong event management and registration tools; good customer support, including phone support.  
• Cons: Automation and segmentation features are extremely limited on lower-tier plans; pricing is high compared to more powerful competitors; the process for cancelling a subscription is reportedly difficult and requires a phone call.  

9. Keap (formerly Infusionsoft): A Powerful CRM for Sales-Driven Businesses

Overview: Keap, formerly known as the legendary Infusionsoft, is not just an email marketing tool; it is a comprehensive CRM platform designed specifically for established, sales-focused small businesses. It combines CRM, sales pipeline management, appointments, invoicing, and marketing automation into a single system. It is a powerful tool but comes with a very high price tag and a significant learning curve.  

Automation Features: Keap offers a powerful and flexible drag-and-drop automation builder that allows you to automate processes across your entire customer lifecycle, from marketing to sales to service. You can create campaigns to nurture leads, assign tasks to sales reps, send invoices, and follow up on payments automatically. Keap also provides an AI Automation Assistant to help create campaigns from proven templates. Unlike other platforms, Keap doesn't limit features based on tiers; all plans include the full automation toolset.  

Segmentation Features: Keap's segmentation is built around its CRM and relies heavily on a system of "tags". You can apply tags to contacts based on their actions, interests, or position in the sales pipeline. This allows for very granular segmentation to trigger personalized automated follow-ups. The platform also includes lead scoring, which automatically prioritizes your hottest leads based on their engagement so your sales team knows who to focus on.  

Pricing & Value for Indian Businesses

• No Free Plan: Keap offers a 14-day free trial but does not have a free plan.  
• High Price Point: Keap's pricing is straightforward but expensive. It starts at $249 per month (with annual billing) for just 1,500 contacts and 2 users. The price increases as your contact list grows. For example, a list of 6,500 contacts would cost $449 per month. This makes it one of the most expensive solutions on this list and likely out of reach for most Indian startups and solopreneurs.  

The India Angle: Keap is best suited for established service-based businesses in India that have a dedicated sales team and a clear process for converting leads into high-value clients. Its ability to automate the entire sales pipeline, including invoicing and payments, is its main strength. However, the high cost and the fact that its interface is only available in English might be limiting factors.  

Our Verdict (Pros & Cons)

• Pros: A powerful, all-in-one CRM, sales, and marketing automation platform; excellent for automating complex sales processes; all features are included in all plans.  
• Cons: Extremely expensive, with a high entry price; has a steep learning curve and the user interface can feel dated and clunky; not a good fit for businesses that primarily need email marketing without the heavy sales CRM component.  

10. Zoho Campaigns: Best for Users of the Zoho Ecosystem

Overview: Zoho Campaigns is the email marketing solution from the extensive Zoho suite of business applications. Its biggest strength and primary appeal lie in its seamless, native integration with other Zoho products, especially Zoho CRM. For businesses already using Zoho for their operations, Campaigns is an affordable, powerful, and logical choice.  

Automation Features: Zoho Campaigns offers a sophisticated workflow builder, but like many others, its full power is reserved for the higher-tier plan.

• Standard Plan: Includes a basic drag-and-drop workflow builder that allows you to create automations based on triggers like list entry or form submissions.  
• Professional Plan: This is where automation truly shines. It unlocks advanced workflows with over 25 components, including triggers based on email actions (opens/clicks), e-commerce activity (abandoned carts, purchase follow-ups), and contact scores.  

Segmentation Features

• Standard Plan: Offers basic segmentation, allowing you to group contacts based on standard fields like name, city, etc..  
• Professional Plan: Unlocks advanced segmentation, where you can create lists based on campaign interactions, e-commerce behavior, and other dynamic criteria. This allows for much more targeted messaging.  

Pricing & Value for Indian Businesses: Zoho is known for its competitive and transparent pricing, making it a popular choice in India.

• Free Plan: A generous offering that includes up to 2,000 contacts and allows you to send 6,000 emails per month. It also includes basic templates and reporting.  
• Standard Plan: Starts at a very low price of just $3 per month (approx. ₹250) and includes unlimited emails and basic automation.  
• Professional Plan: Starts at $4.50 per month (approx. ₹375) and unlocks all the advanced automation and segmentation features.  
• The value for money offered by Zoho Campaigns is excellent, especially when compared to Mailchimp.  

The India Angle: Zoho is an Indian company, which is a significant advantage. They understand the local market deeply and offer robust customer support. The seamless integration with Zoho CRM is a huge benefit for the many Indian businesses that already rely on Zoho's suite of tools for their day-to-day operations.  

Our Verdict (Pros & Cons)

• Pros: Unbeatable pricing and value for money; seamless integration with the wider Zoho ecosystem (especially Zoho CRM); powerful automation and segmentation on the affordable Professional plan; generous free plan.  
• Cons: The user interface can be less intuitive and more complex to navigate compared to polished competitors like Mailchimp or MailerLite; deliverability has been a concern for some users in the past.  

Head-to-Head: Which Platform Wins for Your Business Type?

Choosing a platform isn't just about features; it's about finding the right fit for your specific business. Here are our direct recommendations based on common business profiles in India.

For the Solopreneur or Blogger on a Budget

Recommendation: MailerLite

Reasoning: For a solo creator, blogger, or freelancer just starting out, budget and ease of use are paramount. MailerLite wins hands down in this category. Its free plan is the most functional and least restrictive on this list. It gives you access to the all-important email automation builder and unlimited segmentation from day one, features that competitors charge a significant amount for. The interface is clean, simple, and won't overwhelm a non-technical user. As your audience grows, its paid plans remain the most affordable, with a fair pricing model that doesn't penalize you for having unsubscribed contacts. It's the perfect tool to start with, learn on, and grow with, without breaking the bank.  

For the Growing E-commerce Store (especially on Shopify)

Recommendation: Brevo (with a nod to Omnisend/Klaviyo)

Reasoning: An e-commerce business needs automation that is directly tied to sales. Brevo excels here, offering pre-built e-commerce workflows for abandoned carts and post-purchase follow-ups. Its ability to combine email, SMS, and WhatsApp into a single automated campaign is incredibly powerful for reaching customers on multiple channels. The affordable pricing and direct integration with Razorpay make it a strong, budget-friendly choice for Indian stores. For stores that are heavily invested in the Shopify ecosystem and have a larger budget, platforms like  

Omnisend and Klaviyo are also excellent choices, as they offer even deeper, more native integrations specifically for Shopify, though often at a higher price point.  

For the Creator Building a Community (YouTubers, Coaches, Authors)

Recommendation: ConvertKit

Reasoning: ConvertKit was built from the ground up for creators, and it shows. Its entire philosophy is designed to help you build a relationship with your audience and monetize your passion. Features like easy-to-sell digital products (e-books, templates), paid newsletters, and virtual tip jars are built directly into the platform, even on the free plan. Its use of a flexible tagging system instead of rigid lists is perfect for a creator who needs to understand the specific interests of their audience and send them highly relevant content. For an Indian YouTuber, coach, or author looking to build a business around their content, ConvertKit is the most aligned and powerful tool.  

For the Sales-Focused Small Business Needing a CRM

Recommendation: HubSpot (to start for free) vs. ActiveCampaign (for affordable power)

Reasoning: This choice depends on your immediate priority: a free data hub or powerful, affordable automation.

• Choose HubSpot if your main goal is to get organized for free. Its free CRM is unbeatable. It gives your team a central place to store and manage up to one million contacts, track interactions, and see all your customer data in one place. It's the best free starting point for any business looking to build a solid data foundation.  
• Choose ActiveCampaign if your main goal is powerful sales and marketing automation on a reasonable budget. While HubSpot's free CRM is great, its automation is very limited. ActiveCampaign provides a much more powerful automation engine at a fraction of the cost of HubSpot's Professional plan. You can build sophisticated lead nurturing and sales follow-up sequences that save your team time and help close more deals.  

The best path could be to start with HubSpot's free CRM to organize your contacts and then, when you're ready for serious automation, integrate a tool like ActiveCampaign for its superior workflow capabilities.

The Final Verdict: Our Top 3 Picks for Indian Businesses in 2025

After an exhaustive analysis of features, pricing, and suitability for the Indian market, here are our top three recommendations.

• Best Overall Value: Brevo For its unmatched combination of features and affordability, Brevo is our top pick. It offers a free plan that is a complete business toolkit—including email marketing, a sales CRM, live chat, and multi-channel campaigns (SMS, WhatsApp). Its paid plans unlock powerful automation at a price that is accessible to almost any business. The direct integration with Razorpay is a massive plus for the Indian market, making it the best all-around growth platform for SMBs on a budget.  
• Best for Powerful Automation: ActiveCampaign For businesses where automation is not just a feature but the core of their marketing strategy, ActiveCampaign is the clear winner. Its visual workflow builder is the most powerful and flexible in its class, allowing for incredibly sophisticated customer journeys. While it comes at a premium price and lacks a free plan, it provides enterprise-level automation power without the enterprise-level price tag of platforms like HubSpot. It is the best choice for businesses ready to invest in serious, intelligent marketing.  
• Best Free Plan to Start With: MailerLite For the absolute beginner, the solopreneur, or the blogger who needs to start without spending a single rupee, MailerLite's free plan is the best in the industry. It is the only platform in its class that provides a full-featured automation builder and unlimited segmentation for free. It doesn't cripple you with limitations. Instead, it gives you the tools you need to learn, experiment, and grow your audience effectively from day one, making it the ideal launchpad for any new venture.  

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Which email marketing tool is best for India? 

The best tool often depends on specific needs. However, platforms that offer a combination of affordable pricing, powerful features, and consideration for the local market stand out. Brevo is an excellent choice due to its direct Razorpay integration and all-in-one free plan.  

HubSpot is also strong due to its official presence and partner network in India. Finally,  

MailerLite and Zoho Campaigns are top contenders because of their extreme affordability, which is a key factor for many Indian businesses.  

2. Is Mailchimp still a good option in 2025? 

While Mailchimp is very user-friendly, it is no longer the best value-for-money option. Its free plan has become very restrictive (500 contacts, no multi-step automation), and its pricing model, which charges for unsubscribed contacts, can become expensive quickly. In 2025, platforms like MailerLite and Brevo offer significantly more features and a fairer pricing structure, making them better choices for most new and growing businesses.  

3. Do I really need a CRM with my email marketing tool?

While not every business needs a CRM from day one, having one integrated with your email marketing is incredibly powerful. A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system stores all your customer data in one place. This allows for much smarter segmentation and personalization. For example, you can send emails only to customers who haven't purchased in six months or those who are in a specific stage of your sales process. With platforms like HubSpot and Brevo offering excellent CRMs for free, it's a powerful advantage to have.  

4. How much should I budget for email marketing in India? 

The great news is that you can start for free with many powerful platforms like MailerLite, Brevo, or HubSpot. As your business and email list grow, a reasonable budget to consider would be between ₹1,500 to ₹4,000 per month. This amount would typically give you access to a powerful plan with advanced automation for a list of 5,000 to 10,000 subscribers on platforms like Brevo's Business plan or ActiveCampaign's Plus plan.