Top 10 Email Marketing Platforms for SaaS Founders in 2025

Choosing the right email marketing platform is one of the most important decisions for any SaaS founder. The wrong choice can drain your budget, waste your time, and hurt your deliverability. The right choice? It can become your most powerful growth engine.

After extensive research and real-world testing, here are the top 10 email marketing platforms for SaaS founders in 2025.

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1. Resletter ⭐ Editor's Choice

Best for: Bootstrapped founders, SaaS startups, indie hackers

Pricing: Free tier available, paid plans from $24.99/month

Resletter was built specifically for SaaS founders who need professional email marketing without the enterprise price tag. What sets it apart is the combination of simplicity, powerful features, and founder-friendly pricing.

Why Resletter Stands Out

• Generous free tier — Start with 500 subscribers, 500 emails/month, and 2 newsletters/month at no cost
• Bring your own email provider — Use your existing AWS SES, Resend, or other providers to save money
• Visual automation builder — Create complex flows without coding (available on Starter+)
• Subscriber groups & campaigns — Segment your audience with ease (available on Starter+)
• Built-in email provider — Starter plan includes 25,000 emails/month with Resletter's own infrastructure
• Beautiful editor — Create stunning newsletters in minutes
• AI-powered features — Get help writing and optimizing your emails
• Built for developers — REST API and webhooks for custom integrations

The Verdict

If you're a bootstrapped founder or running a lean startup, Resletter offers the best value-to-feature ratio in the market. The fact that you can bring your own email provider means you're not locked into expensive per-email pricing as you scale.

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2. ConvertKit

Best for: Creators, bloggers, course creators

Pricing: Free up to 1,000 subscribers, then $25/month+

ConvertKit has established itself as the go-to platform for creators. Their visual automation builder and landing page features make it easy to build an audience from scratch.

Pros

• Excellent creator-focused features
• Good deliverability rates
• Visual automation sequences
• Built-in landing pages and forms

Cons

• Gets expensive quickly as you scale
• Limited customization for email templates
• Not ideal for product-focused SaaS companies

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3. Mailchimp

Best for: Small businesses, e-commerce

Pricing: Free up to 500 contacts, paid plans from $13/month

The OG of email marketing. Mailchimp is reliable and feature-rich, but the free tier has become increasingly limited, and pricing can escalate quickly.

Pros

• Extensive integrations ecosystem
• Robust analytics
• E-commerce features
• Brand recognition and trust

Cons

• Free tier is very limited
• Interface can be overwhelming
• Customer support varies by plan
• Pricing jumps are significant

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4. Beehiiv

Best for: Newsletter-first businesses, media companies

Pricing: Free up to 2,500 subscribers, Pro at $49/month

Beehiiv has made waves in the newsletter space with its focus on growth and monetization features. It's designed for people who want to build a newsletter-first business.

Pros

• Built-in monetization options
• Referral program features
• Clean, modern interface
• Good analytics

Cons

• Limited automation capabilities
• Not ideal for product marketing
• Higher price point
• Focused on newsletters, not general email marketing

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5. Buttondown

Best for: Developers, minimalists, writers

Pricing: Free up to 100 subscribers, $9/month for basic

Buttondown takes the opposite approach from feature-bloated platforms. It's simple, fast, and gets out of your way. Perfect for developers who just want to send markdown emails.

Pros

• Extremely simple and fast
• Markdown support
• Developer-friendly
• Affordable

Cons

• Very limited features
• No visual editor
• Basic analytics
• Not suitable for complex campaigns

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6. Loops

Best for: SaaS companies, product teams

Pricing: Free up to 1,000 contacts, $49/month for Growth

Loops is a newer player that specifically targets SaaS companies with product-focused email features like event-triggered emails and user onboarding sequences.

Pros

• Built for SaaS
• Event-triggered emails
• Clean, modern interface
• Good segmentation

Cons

• Smaller ecosystem
• Less proven track record
• Limited integrations
• Relatively new platform

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7. Resend

Best for: Developers building transactional emails

Pricing: Free up to 3,000 emails/month, then $20/month

Resend is technically an email API rather than a marketing platform, but many developers use it for newsletters due to its excellent developer experience and React Email integration.

Pros

• Exceptional developer experience
• React Email support
• Great deliverability
• Modern API

Cons

• Not a full marketing platform
• Limited campaign management
• No visual builder
• Requires development skills

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8. Mailerlite

Best for: Small businesses, budget-conscious teams

Pricing: Free up to 1,000 subscribers, $10/month+

Mailerlite offers a solid feature set at competitive prices. It's a good middle-ground option for teams that need more than basic features but can't justify enterprise pricing.

Pros

• Affordable pricing
• Good template selection
• Website builder included
• Solid automation features

Cons

• Interface feels dated
• Deliverability can be inconsistent
• Limited advanced features
• Customer support response times

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9. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

Best for: All-in-one marketing needs

Pricing: Free up to 300 emails/day, $25/month+

Brevo tries to be everything — email, SMS, chat, CRM. It's a solid choice if you want all your communication tools in one place.

Pros

• Multi-channel capabilities
• CRM included
• Transactional email support
• Competitive pricing

Cons

• Jack of all trades, master of none
• Can feel overwhelming
• Email-focused features less refined
• Complex pricing structure

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10. Substack

Best for: Writers, journalists, thought leaders

Pricing: Free, 10% of paid subscription revenue

Substack pioneered the paid newsletter movement. It's perfect for writers who want to monetize their content directly through subscriptions.

Pros

• Built-in payment processing
• Strong community features
• Zero upfront cost
• Simple writing experience

Cons

• Limited customization
• 10% revenue cut is significant
• No advanced marketing features
• Not suitable for SaaS marketing

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How to Choose the Right Platform

When evaluating email marketing platforms, consider these factors:

1. Your Budget

If you're bootstrapped, look for platforms with generous free tiers and reasonable scaling costs. Resletter and Buttondown offer the best value for startups.

2. Your Technical Skills

Developers might prefer Resend or Buttondown. Non-technical founders should look at ConvertKit or Mailchimp.

3. Your Use Case

• Newsletter-first business? Consider Beehiiv or Substack
• SaaS product marketing? Resletter or Loops
• E-commerce? Mailchimp or Brevo

4. Scalability

Think about where you'll be in 2 years. Some platforms get very expensive at scale. Resletter's BYOP (Bring Your Own Provider) model can save thousands as you grow.

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The Bottom Line

There's no one-size-fits-all solution, but for most SaaS founders and indie hackers, Resletter offers the best combination of features, pricing, and flexibility. The ability to bring your own email provider is a game-changer for cost-conscious founders.

Whatever you choose, the most important thing is to start now. Your email list is one of the few marketing assets you truly own. Don't wait for the perfect setup — pick a platform and start building your audience today.

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Ready to get started? Try Resletter for free — no credit card required.