5 Best email marketing automation tools for SaaS

Best for SaaS

Most experiences you have with companies in the world are horrible. When's the last time you felt passionate about your power company, or your mobile phone provider? That's not the world that we (and hopefully you) want to live in. Let us help you grow happy customers. With Customer.io you'll see that happy customers come from genuine, relevant interactions with you. Happy customers care about your company. Happy customers are happy to pay you. And happy customers tell their friends.

Customer.io's Pricing

Customer.io's Pros

• Free tier for less than 200 contacts

  Free tier for less than 200 contacts

• Segment based on user data from web or mobile app

  Segment based on user data from web or mobile app

Customer.io's Cons

• Limited number of integrations

  Limited number of integrations

• Requires engineering resources to get the data you need

  Requires engineering resources to get the data you need

Customer.io Verdict

Most experiences you have with companies in the world are horrible. When's the last time you felt passionate about your power company, or your mobile phone provider? That's not the world that we (and

Best for SaaS

With over 150,000 customers, it’s not surprising that ActiveCampaign was the most commonly mentioned tool in our survey of email markering software options for 2023.

ActiveCampaign has earned its reputation as a leading marketing automation tool by focusing on building a world-class product that provides multiple solutions for B2C, B2B, and e-commerce businesses from around the globe.

ActiveCampaign’s automation builder is as simple to use as a flowchart or mindmap

It’s by far the most advanced email marketing platform on our list, with Active Intelligence (AI-powered features) and predictive tools enabling marketers to work smarter and deliver higher ROI.

Often credited with pioneering visual marketing automation, ActiveCampaign is impressively intuitive and easier to use than some tools on our list.

As an all-in-one marketing tool, ActiveCampaign comes with a built-in CRM system to manage your sales, live chat, and of course, email campaigns.

A built-in sales CRM connects with ActiveCampaign’s powerful automation engine

As an all-in-one marketing tool, ActiveCampaign comes with a built-in CRM system to manage your sales, live chat, and of course, email campaigns.

ActiveCampaign’s Pricing

You might think all these features come at a hefty cost. Yet, starting at only $15 a month, ActiveCampaign is reasonably priced and more affordable than many of the tools on this list.

ActiveCampaign’s Pros

• Visual automation builder

  ActiveCampaign pioneered the visual marketing automation builder, making it incredibly intuitive to create complex workflows. With 135+ triggers and actions, you can build sophisticated automations without any coding.

• Active Intelligence (AI features)

  The Pro plan includes AI-powered features like predictive sending, predictive content recommendations, and win-probability scoring to help you work smarter and achieve better results with less manual effort.

• Extensive integrations

  With 900+ integrations including native connections to major CRMs and eCommerce platforms, ActiveCampaign plays nicely with your existing tech stack and enables deep, robust integrations beyond basic Zapier connections.

• Automation split testing

  This feature enables you to A/B test entire sequences against each other, rather than just test individual emails (which is offered by most marketing automation tools).

ActiveCampaign’s Pros

• CRM

  ActiveCampaign’s marketing automation is particularly powerful because ActiveCampaign has an in-built CRM system. This CRM, however, is not as good as standalone platforms like PipeDrive or Salesforce – though we feel this is a reasonable trade-off for ActiveCampaign’s automation features.

ActiveCampaign Verdict

If you’re looking for a market-leading email marketing solution, there’s no denying that ActiveCampaign has long occupied that position.

Best for SaaS

HubSpot was founded in 2006 as a result of a simple observation: people have transformed how they live, work, shop, and buy, but businesses have not adapted. This mismatch led Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah to create the vision for the inbound experience and to develop HubSpot's platform to support it. With our powerful, easy to use, integrated set of applications, businesses can attract, engage, and delight customers by delivering inbound experiences that are relevant, helpful, and personalized. HubSpot is, after all, on a mission to make the world more inbound, one business transformation after another.

HubSpot's Pricing

HubSpot Marketing Hub pricing starts at $15/mo per seat for Starter, $800/mo for Professional (includes 3 Core Seats), and $3,600/mo for Enterprise (includes 5 Core Seats). A free plan is available with up to 2,000 marketing contacts.

HubSpot's Pros

• Easy to use and intuitive platform

  Easy to use and intuitive platform

• The Hubspot blog holds a wealth of knowledge for business owners to learn about online marketing

  The Hubspot blog holds a wealth of knowledge for business owners to learn about online marketing

• Hubspot is a complete all in one solution

  Hubspot is a complete all in one solution

HubSpot's Cons

• Steep price creep, as you build your list, the cost of Hubspot rises steeply

  Steep price creep, as you build your list, the cost of Hubspot rises steeply

• Marketing platform requires a 12-month contract

  Marketing platform requires a 12-month contract

• Expensive for a small business solution

  Expensive for a small business solution

HubSpot Verdict

HubSpot was founded in 2006 as a result of a simple observation: people have transformed how they live, work, shop, and buy, but businesses have not adapted. This mismatch led Brian Halligan and Dharm

Best for SaaS

Intercom is a customer communication platform that allows businesses to communicate with their customers through a variety of channels, including email, in-app messaging, and live chat. It offers a range of features, including automated messaging, lead generation, and customer segmentation, making it a versatile tool for customer engagement. Additionally, Intercom's messaging capabilities can also be integrated with other tools such as Salesforce, Zendesk, and Slack, making it a powerful addition to a company's overall customer communication strategy. Intercom is an effective tool for businesses looking to improve their customer communication and engagement.

Intercom's Pricing

Intercom's Pros

• Great for software companies needing to manage users

  Great for software companies needing to manage users

• Easy to create in-app product tours and chat messages

  Easy to create in-app product tours and chat messages

• Easy to send custom events via the Intercom SDK

  Easy to send custom events via the Intercom SDK

Intercom's Cons

• Pricing increases exponentially

  Pricing increases exponentially

• It can easily become cumbersome and unmanageable

  It can easily become cumbersome and unmanageable

Intercom Verdict

Intercom is a customer communication platform that allows businesses to communicate with their customers through a variety of channels, including email, in-app messaging, and live chat. It offers a ra

Best for SaaS

Drip is a marketing automation software that helps businesses increase their revenue by automating their email marketing campaigns. It allows users to segment their audience, personalize their emails, and track the performance of their campaigns. Drip also includes features such as lead scoring, web tracking, and e-commerce integrations. Additionally, it provides a visual workflow builder that makes it easy to create complex automation sequences. Drip also offers a range of integrations with popular e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. This makes it a great choice for eCommerce stores that are looking for an easy-to-use, yet powerful email marketing automation solution.

Drip's Pricing

Drip's Pros

• Add events with metadata to contacts for advanced email campaigns

  Add events with metadata to contacts for advanced email campaigns

• Drip.js lets you show custom CTA to you website visitors

  Drip.js lets you show custom CTA to you website visitors

• Free plan for up to 100 subscribers

  Free plan for up to 100 subscribers

Drip's Cons

• Complicated campaigns and funnels can get messy

  Complicated campaigns and funnels can get messy

Drip Verdict

Drip is a marketing automation software that helps businesses increase their revenue by automating their email marketing campaigns. It allows users to segment their audience, personalize their emails,