8 Best Free Marketing Automation Software to Try in 2019

January 23, 2019

Marketing automation software is improving the way marketers strategize and implement their marketing campaigns.

With 80 percent of marketing automation users seeing an increase in the number of leads, and 77 percent seeing an increase in conversions, the benefits are undeniable. (Invesp)

What is marketing automation?


Marketing automation software reduces the time spent on marketing tasks by automating processes such as email marketing, lead generation and sales engagement. Marketing automation improves close rates with timely and relevant engagement, and measures campaigns to optimize, justify and prioritize initiatives. Marketing automation software also acts as a central database for all marketers to collaborate, facilitating seamless CRM software integration.

The products listed above span two categories on G2. Categories sampled include marketing automation software and email marketing software. These products alone have more than 14,800 validated user reviews on G2 as of March 6, 2019. They only represent a small portion of the more than 240 marketing automation offerings listed on our platform. Whenever possible, the products are ranked by user satisfaction score from an in-depth analysis of the best marketing automation software. 

The list we’ve outlined below includes our top email marketing and marketing automation software with free offerings. They may only support one user or one project, but they’re truly free offerings. Scaling, however, will often require full investment.

For each product we provide:

  • An overview
  • Highlighted features
  • Free and paid options details

For products with G2 verified user reviews, we have included:

  • G2 star rating
  • Reviews highlighting what users like and dislike
  • User recommendations for these considering the product

Best free marketing automation software

Product reviews and G2 star ratings were updated as of March 14, 2019

1. Hubspot




Hubspot logo

Product Name: HubSpot
G2 Star Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews: 3,620

 

Overview


HubSpot offers a variety of tools that are completely free for businesses. These tools include CRM and marketing, sales, and service hubs. These all include basic versions that are completely free. 

HubSpot helps track and measure marketing and sales analytics that can help your marketing and sales teams with cold calls, email blasting, traditional advertising, and outbound and inbound marketing.

Hubspot dashboard                                                                Image courtesy of HubSpot

Free option

  • HubSpot’s free version of its marketing hub includes contact management, ad management, contact activity, contact and company insights, and much more.

Paid option

  • Starter: $50/month – Includes all features in the free version plus email marketing, marketing lists and mobile optimization.
  • Professional: $800/month – Includes blog and content creation tools, SEO and content strategy, custom reporting, A/B testing and more.
  • Enterprise: $3,200/month – Includes custom event reporting, YouTube integration, single sign-on, content management system (CMS) membership and more.

Features

  • Lead workflows
  • Collected forms
  • Contact activity for up to seven days
  • Contact management features
  • Insights into company and contacts
  • Dashboard for lead analytics

2. Drip

 

Drip logo

Product Name: Drip
G2 Crowd Star Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews:221

 

Overview


Drip offers a full set of email and multichannel automated marketing tools. Its free marketing automation tool includes email builders, automation workflows and mass email marketing campaigns. 

In addition to tools for marketing automation, Drip also offers personalization and tracking tools that help marketers bring more relevant content to their audiences.

Drip workflow                                                                         Image courtesy of Drip

Free option

  • Unlimited emails
  • Up to 100 subscribers

Paid option

  • Basic: $49/month – Includes up 2,500 subscribers, unlimited emails and 24/7 chat and email support
  • Pro:  $122/month – Includes up 5,000 subscribers, unlimited emails and 24/7 chat and email support
  • Enterprise: Price varies – Includes 5,000-plus subscribers, unlimited emails and 24/7 chat and email support

Features

  • Email builders
  • Automation workflows
  • Multi-channel marketing
  • Email campaigns
  • Content customization
  • Segmentation

3. Mailchimp

Mailchimp logoProduct Name: Mailchimp
G2 Star Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews: 10,317

 

 

Overview

Mailchimp is an email marketing automation tool that offers users a free version of its platform. The free version allows users to test the waters with email campaigns and a full set of marketing automation tools.

Mailchimp’s marketing automation tools help users reach their customers with product recommendations, welcome emails, order notifications and product follow-up. This boosts both sales and customer engagement. If you're new to Mailchimp, the interface may seem a little overwhelming at first. In that case, you can take a look at some alternatives.

 

Mailchimp Workflow Management                                                                                             Image courtesy of Mailchimp

Free option

  • Up to 2,000 subscribers
  • 12,000 emails per month
  • Automatic email and ad triggers
  • Built-in sign-up forms
  • Newsletter templates
  • Performance reporting and analytics
  • No expiring trial, contract or payment information required

Paid option

  • Grow:  $10/month – For marketing teams building out more complex email campaigns. This allows for unlimited subscribers and emails per month. With features like look-alive and audience finder, this allows for more targeted email distribution.
  • Pro, $199/month – For enterprise-level marketing teams with massive email campaigns. All the features of Grow, plus premium customer support, advanced customer segmentation, comparative reports and multivariate testing.

Features

  • Automated email responses
  • A/B testing
  • Automated drip marketing campaigns
  • Automated lead scoring
  • Automated workflow capability
  • Custom reporting

4. Zoho Campaigns

 

Zoho Campaigns logo

Product Name: Zoho Campaigns
G2 Star Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews: 232



Overview

 Zoho Campaigns is another marketing automation software that helps users with their email marketing campaigns. Its forever free plan allows users to send up to 12,000 emails a month up to 2,000 subscribers. This is a great offering for users who want to see the benefits of marketing automation before diving in and committing to a paid pricing plan.

One of the great tools that it offers is a workflow tool that helps with enhanced audience targeting and personalization. With this tool you can segment mailing lists based on the information you have about your contacts, and engaging them with relevant content.

Zoho campaigns workflow                                                                                      Image courtesy of Zoho Campaigns

Free option

  • 12,000 emails per month
  • Email newsletters
  • Mailing list management
  • Email marketing
  • One social network user account

Paid option

  • Email-based: The business selects a range of 1–500 for $3/month to 95,000–100,000 for $200/month based on their send rate and preferences. The user has most campaign management and tracking features.
  • Subscriber-based – The business selects a range of 1–500 for $5/month to $95,000–100,000 for $350/month based on their subscriber amount. This is the most robust option.
  • Pay-as-you-go – The business selects email credits of 250 for $6/month up to 100,000 for $750/month. Most features are unlocked. However, there are no marketing automation tools available with this plan.

Features

  • Email newsletters
  • Mailing list management
  • Email marketing
  • Marketing automation
  • Social media marketing
  • Campaign tracking

5. SendinBlue

Sendinblue logoProduct NameSendinBlue
G2 Star Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews: 341

 

 

SendinBlue marketing automation                                                              Image courtesy of SendinBlue

Overview

SendinBlue is a great marketing automation software for users that are just getting started in marketing automation. Its free plan allows up to 300 emails per day and phone and email support to help you get started.

Similar to Zoho Campaigns, SendinBlue allows users to build automation workflows that are customizable based on the use case. Users can automated lead generation, email marketing,and much more.

Free option

  • Unlimited contacts
  • 300 emails/day
  • Phone & email support
  • Responsive/mobile-friendly & HTML design tools
  • Real-time reporting
  • Transactional emails included
  • Advanced contact manager & sign-up forms
  • API access

Paid option

  • Micro: $25/month – Send up to 40,000 emails monthly (plus all features from free option)
  • Bronze: $39/month – Send up to 60,000 emails monthly (plus all features from free option)
  • Silver: $66/month – Send up to 120,000 emails monthly (plus all features from free option)
  • Gold: $173/month – Send up to 350,000 emails monthly (plus all features from free option)

Features

  • Personalized email creation
  • Audience targeting
  • Marketing automation
  • Performance monitoring
  • CRM integration

6. Sendpulse

Sendpulse logo-1Product NameSendPulse
G2 Star Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews: 68



Overview

SendPulse is a great marketing automation software for email marketers. Its free version gives users up to 2,500 subscribers and allows for A/B testing on your email marketing campaigns. Users can upgrade to have multiple automation channels, such as automated SMS and web push notifications.

Sendpulse                                                                                         Image courtesy of SendPulse

Free option

  • Email automation
  • Email templates
  • A/B testing

Paid option

  • Pro 3,000: $29/month – Send unlimited emails to up to 3,000 subscribers
  • Pro 50,000: $191/month – Send unlimited emails to up to 50,000 subscribers
  • Pro 20,000: $524/month – Send unlimited emails to up to 200,000 subscribers

Features

  • Email automation
  • Conversion count
  • API and webhooks
  • Visual statistics
  • Flowchart automation

7. VBOUT

Vbout logoProduct Name: Vbout
G2 Star Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews: 65

 

 

Overview

VBOUT is a great marketing automation software for users that want more than just email automation. Aside from automation tools, VBOUT also offers A/B testing, lead management, email marketing, social media management and automation analytics. All of these features are included in the free 14-day trial option.

Dashboard VBOUT                                                                                             Image courtesy of Vbout

Free 14 day trial option

  • Unlimited contacts
  • Unlimited social media profiles
  • Unlimited landing pages
  • Unlimited automations
  • Powerful marketing automation and analytics
  • Up to 500000 emails per month

Paid option

  • $100/month - Unlimited contacts - Unlimited social media profiles - Unlimited landing pages - Unlimited automations - Up to 5000 emails per month
  • $150/month - Unlimited contacts - Unlimited social media profiles - Unlimited landing pages - Unlimited automations - Up to 10000 emails per month
  • $750/month - Unlimited contacts - Unlimited social media profiles - Unlimited landing pages - Unlimited automations - Up to 200000 emails per month.

Features

  • Email marketing
  • Marketing automation
  • Lead management
  • Social media management
  • Landing page builder
  • Analytics and reporting
  • Task management

8. Mautic

Mautic logoProduct NameMautic
G2 Star Rating: 3.9 out of 5.0 stars
Total number of reviews: 25

 

 

Overview

Mautic is an open-source marketing automation software. It has a self-hosted software on its website which is completely free to use and comes with features such as 5,000 contacts and 1,000 emails per day.

Mautic’s open-source marketing automation gives users the capability to customize workflows based on their needs. Their goal is simple: “You can finally use a marketing automation platform the way your business runs instead of changing your business to fit a piece of software.”

Mautic marketing automation                                                                                      Image courtesy of Mautic

Free option

  • 1 user
  • 5,000 contacts
  • 1,000 emails per day
  • Partial API access
  • Limited website tracking

Paid option

  • Request pricing quotes on Mautic

Features

  • Email marketing
  • Website tracking
  • Landing pages and forms
  • Automated campaigns
  • Lead scoring
  • Third-party integrations
  • Contact management

How to choose the right marketing automation software

Whether you’re mapping out your next email campaign or producing captivating web content, marketing automation software can help you along the way.

Before committing to a specific marketing automation software, make sure to evaluate your business needs and take advantage of some free automation tools in order to see what works best.

Ready to learn more? Check out our article on email marketing best practices to elevate your next campaign.

* Please note: Reviews may have been edited for spelling and grammar.
**Editor's note: This post was updated on May 14, 2019.

8 Best Free Marketing Automation Software to Try in 2019 This list compares the best free marketing automation software with real user reviews as of March 28, 2019. https://learn.g2crowd.com/hubfs/what-is-marketing-automation.jpg
Michael Gigante Mike is a former market research analyst focusing on CAD, PLM, and supply chain software. Since joining G2 in October 2018, Mike has grounded his work in the industrial and architectural design space by gaining market knowledge in building information modeling, computer-aided engineering and manufacturing, and product and machine design. Mike leverages his knowledge of the CAD market to accurately represent the space for buyers, build out new software categories on G2, and provide consumers with data-driven content and research. Mike is a Chicago native. In his spare time he enjoys going to improv shows, watching sports, and reading Wikipedia pages on virtually any subject. https://learn.g2.com/hubfs/_Logos/Michael%20GiganteUpdated.jpeg https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gigante/

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