If you want to send newsletters to your subscribers, you will of course need a suitable newsletter tool that meets your needs. Which email marketing software you ultimately choose depends on what you need and what you have in mind. Not to forget, of course, the cost of modern newsletter software. 

In this article, I would therefore like to briefly explain why you should use email marketing for yourself, what advantages it has and what you should definitely look out for in newsletter software. I will also introduce you to what I consider to be the ten best tools in more detail. 

What is email marketing and why should you use it for yourself? 

Email marketing is an essential part of online marketing - or more precisely, direct marketing. Put simply, this form of marketing is about reaching your customers or target group with digital messages. It's about informing your subscribers about news via email, drawing their attention to offers and, of course, generating direct sales. One example of this is discount promotions (e.g. "Only valid today"). 

Of course, it should also be noted that there is actually a difference between email marketing and a newsletter. In classic email marketing, a sequence of emails is sent which is triggered by a predetermined action - for example, by opening a certain email, filling in a certain form or similar. A newsletter, on the other hand, is generally a single email that is sent to a very specific distribution list - either regularly or irregularly. 

Why should you use email marketing or newsletters? 

As a self-employed person or company, you will not be able to avoid email marketing or newsletters. Emails are still an effective marketing channel today. Think about how often you check your email inbox every day. 

At best, you will be able to combine email marketing and newsletters. Of course, you only need a single email marketing tool or newsletter software for both. I will therefore show you what makes a good tool of this type and what functions it should have. 

Advantages of e-mail marketing / newsletters: 

• Cost-effective
• Customizable
• Scalable
• Effective
• A/B tests
• Tagging

How should a newsletter tool be equipped? 

Newsletter software should enable you to create campaigns and send newsletters quickly and easily. But it should also allow you to carry out effective email marketing. This is exactly what you need marketing automation for!

There are numerous newsletter tools on the market that are sometimes more and sometimes less good. They usually differ less directly in terms of functionality, but rather in terms of user-friendliness, the email editor, the interfaces and, of course, the costs. 

For this reason, you should pay particular attention to the following points: 

• Campaigns: Newsletters, A/B tests, autoresponders etc.
  
• Marketing automations: Autoresponder meant, multi-level automations with "if-then function"
  
• Support: Support should be available at least by email or chat, and ideally by phone too, of course
  
• Interfaces: A modern newsletter tool should provide you with interfaces to all known third-party tools such as Zapier, WordPress, etc.

• Delivery rate: A very important factor is the delivery rate. This indicates how many of your newsletters or emails actually arrive or how many email clients classify certain senders as spam
  
• Data protection: Currently, it is probably best to choose a provider with a server location within the EU - but this does not mean that you can no longer use providers from the USA, for example. An AV contract is particularly important in this regard.
  
• Forms: A good newsletter tool should also offer you modern and easy-to-integrate registration forms, which you can embed on any website in just a few steps. As a WordPress user, you can even access a newsletter plugin from almost all providers, which makes it even easier for you

Popular newsletter tools in comparison

1. sendinblue 

Sendinblue was founded in 2012 and is therefore actually still a very young newsletter tool on the market. The company started out focusing exclusively on so-called transactional emails (automated emails). 

Just a few years later, Sendinblue took over the German newsletter software Newsletter2Go. With the takeover, Sendinblue expanded its range of functions many times over and has since offered complex email marketing tools, SMS marketing, marketing automation, a CRM system and much more in addition to transactional emails. 

Sendinblue advertises on its website with the slogan "The all-in-one solution for your business", and quite rightly so. 

Sendinblue's range of functions: 

• E-mail marketing
• SMS marketing
• Chat
• P.O. Box
• CRM
• Marketing Automations
• Transaction mail
• Segmentation
• Landing pages
• Registration form
• Facebook Ads

Another major advantage of the Sendinblue newsletter tool is its server location. According to the provider, all data is stored on German servers and therefore within the EU. In addition to an order processing contract (AV), which you conclude with Sendinblue with regard to the GDPR, Sendinblue also has a certificate from TÜV Rheinland for data protection compliance. 

The newsletter software is available in 4 packages: 

• Free of charge
• Lite (19 € / month)
• Premium (49 € / month)
• Enterprise (on request)

Sendinblue's free package allows you to manage an unlimited number of contacts and send up to 300 emails per day. If this is not enough for you and you want to carry out A/B tests, set up landing pages or create automations, for example, you will need to upgrade to the next higher tariffs. The standard prices can of course change depending on the email volume. 

Sendinblue: advantages and disadvantages

2 CleverReach

CleverReach is a German newsletter tool from Rastede, which was founded back in 2007. It currently has 290,000 customers worldwide, who send more than 300 million emails per month. 

The e-mail marketing tool is represented in over 170 countries and is characterized by high technology standards, interfaces to relevant CRM and store systems as well as German customer support. 

As newsletter software, CleverReach has numerous functions. For example, A/B tests are possible, bounce management and the choice between multilingual interfaces. Like almost every other newsletter tool, templates can also be created here, the design is customizable and image and template hosting is also included. 

Functionality of CleverReach: 

• Create newsletter
• Manage recipients
• Fully automated e-mails
• Reporting & Tracking
• Quality, whitelisting, spam tests

Just like Sendinblue, CleverReach offers the advantage over other newsletter tools that all data is stored on German servers and therefore within the EU. As a CleverReach customer, you can easily conclude a corresponding data processing agreement (DPA) within your account.

The newsletter software is available in a total of two packages: 

• Lite (free of charge)
• Monthly tariff (costs depend on the number of contacts)

The free CleverReach plan allows you to manage up to 250 contacts and send up to 1,000 emails per month. If you want to send an unlimited number of newsletters, create more than one automation or use an ad-free account, you need to switch to the monthly plan. 

The costs for the monthly tariff start at €9 per month and depend on the number of recipients you want to manage in your account. 

CleverReach: advantages and disadvantages

3. getResponse

GetResponse has been a provider of online marketing tools for over 20 years. It is not just a pure newsletter software, but an "all-in-one platform" for online marketing. The provider GetResponse is now represented in over 350,000 companies in 183 countries. 

Especially for email marketing and as a newsletter tool, the software offers extensive functions for sending newsletters. These include marketing automation, a dedicated website builder and conversion funnel. GetResponse can also be used to set up landing pages, a live chat, organize webinars or create advertisements. 

An email editor, autoresponders, email statistics, transactional emails and list management are available for creating newsletter campaigns. 

Functional scope of GetResponse: 

• Create newsletter
• Manage recipients
• Marketing Automations
• Autoresponder
• Statistics
• Transaction mails
• Website Builder
• Webinars
• Advertisements
• Landing pages
• Conversion Funnel
• Live chat
• Push notifications

GetResponse is an international company. The server location and all data stored by the provider are largely in the USA and therefore not in the EU. Nevertheless, the newsletter software can also be used in compliance with the GDPR.

In the customer account, you can download a data processing agreement (DPA) and add GDPR-compliant fields within the registration forms. 

The newsletter software is available in a total of four packages: 

• BASIC (from 13 € / month)
• PLUS (from 45 € / month)
• PROFESSIONAL (from 89 € / month)
• MAX (on request)

Unlike other newsletter tools, GetResponse does not offer a free plan. However, you can test all tariffs for 30 days free of charge. In addition, the prices for a package can vary greatly. They depend on the size of your list. You should therefore check in advance exactly which functions you need and which packages include them. 

You can also save up to 30 percent by paying 12 or 24 months in advance. 

GetResponse: advantages and disadvantages

4. clickTip

KlickTipp is one of the best newsletter tools on the market in Germany. The company was founded more than 10 years ago, in 2010 to be precise, and KlickTipp has set a new standard with its technology, which many other newsletter tools have now followed. 

In contrast to some other providers, which nowadays call themselves an all-in-one platform, KlickTipp has always remained true to its core, namely email marketing. It is therefore hardly surprising that the software is sometimes far ahead of the competition. 

The provider also offers numerous free coaching sessions, webinars and PDFs to help you implement your email marketing strategy. Some of the core functions of the newsletter software include campaign creation, split testing and tagging. 

KlickTipp is less about managing large contact lists and more about tagging contacts precisely in order to reach your target group in the best possible way. There is probably no other provider on the market that offers such a comprehensive tagging system. 

The newsletter software also offers direct connections to Digistore and Affilicon, which is particularly suitable for those who sell their own products via these platforms. 

Functionality of KlickTipp: 

• Create newsletter
• Manage recipients
• Split testing
• API interfaces
• Digistore connection
• Affilicon connection
• E-mail countdowns

KlickTipp also easily fulfills the requirements of the GDPR. Firstly, you can download an order processing contract within your account and conclude it with the provider. Secondly, the server location is within the EU. 

The newsletter software is available in a total of four packages: 

• Standard (from 27 € / month)
• Premium (from 47 € / month)
• Deluxe (from 67 € / month)
• Enterprise (from 149 € / month)

KlickTipp does not offer a free plan. The cheapest starter package costs just €27 per month and includes up to 10,000 contacts, three campaigns and a Digistore or Affilicon product. 

If you want to create more than three campaigns or integrate more than one product, you must upgrade to the next higher package. Incidentally, all tariffs have a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

You can also save up to 20 percent with an annual or two-year payment. Only the Enterprise package includes an additional set-up fee of up to 699 euros. 

KlickTipp: Advantages and disadvantages

5. mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the oldest newsletter tools and the most popular email marketing software in the world. Mailchimp was founded back in 2001 and was designed to make sending newsletters as easy as possible. The aim of founders Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius was to develop a newsletter software that smaller companies could also afford and thus participate in the email world of that time. 

Today, Mailchimp offers much more than just sending newsletters. The provider has developed into a complete all-in-one solution for online marketing. The platform now has functions such as the creation of landing pages, online stores or websites. It is also possible to create and manage advertisements. 

The email marketing tool offers numerous functions in its packages. From an email builder and a marketing CRM to A/B tests and extensive automation. 

Functionality of Mailchimp: 

• Create newsletter
• Marketing CRM
• Forms / Landing pages
• Website Builder
• Journey (Automations)
• Transaction mails
• Autoresponder
• Statistics / Reports

A very big advantage of Mailchimp is clearly its popularity and many years on the newsletter market. Numerous third-party tools already offer a simple MailChimp connection. 

When it comes to data protection and therefore the GDPR, Mailchimp offers a data processing agreement, just like other newsletter tools. As a customer, you do not even have to conclude this separately, as it is already integrated into the provider's terms and conditions. However, the server location is outside the EU, namely in the USA. 

Mailchimp assures that all data is handled just as securely as on EU servers - and was certified under the Privacy Shield agreement. However, this was declared invalid by the European Court of Justice last year. You can read more about this in this article on the ECJ ruling.

The newsletter software is available in a total of four packages: 

• Free 
• Essential (from €8.58 / month)
• Standard (from € 12.88 / month)
• Premium (from € 256.92 / month)

You can already use Mailchimp free of charge with the Free plan. Here you have up to 2,000 contacts at your disposal. You can also manage a list. If you want to manage more contacts, use A/B tests or journeys (automations), you need to upgrade to a paid package. You also have the option of expanding the number of contacts within the Premium tariffs for a fee if required. 

Mailchimp: advantages and disadvantages

6 ActiveCampaign

With over 850 employees worldwide and well over 150,000 customers, ActiveCampaign is one of the fastest growing email marketing tools on the market. The provider is not just a simple newsletter tool, but rather a comprehensive all-in-one solution for multi-channel marketing. 

In addition to the actual email marketing, ActiveCampaign also offers its customers the option of marketing automation and a CRM. For the digital business, this includes functions such as SMS marketing, landing pages, split automation, conversion reporting, Facebook and much more. 

Functionality of ActiveCampaign: 

• Create newsletter
• Marketing CRM
• Automations
• Segmentation
• Website and event tracking
• Landing pages
• SMS marketing
• Split tests
• Facebook Ads

If you want to use ActiveCampaign in compliance with the GDPR, you must of course also conclude an AV contract. You can download this directly from the provider's help page. 

Just like Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign also stores the data on servers within the USA. However, it is assured that all data will be treated in the same way as is required on EU servers and by the GDPR. The newsletter provider was also subject to the Privacy Shield , but this has been lifted.

The newsletter software is available in a total of four packages: 

• Lite (15 USD / month)
• Plus (70 USD / month)
• Professional (159 USD / month)
• Enterprise (279 USD / month)

As with many other newsletter tools, the pricing of ActiveCampaign is based on the range of functions and the number of contacts to be managed. There is no free plan, but you can test each package free of charge for 14 days without obligation. 

If you only want to send newsletters, manage contacts and use automations, the Lite package is perfectly adequate. If you want to create landing pages and use SMS marketing and the like in addition to the newsletter software, you will need to upgrade to a higher premium package. 

ActiveCampaign: advantages and disadvantages

7. mailjet

Since 2010, the newsletter tool provider Mailjet has made it its mission to become the best email marketing software on the market. Like Sendinblue, the provider also comes from Paris and initially focused exclusively on so-called transactional emails. Mailjet now sends more than two billion emails per month. The provider has also already established itself as a newsletter software in over 150 cities worldwide. 

Mailjet is characterized above all by its easy-to-use newsletter software and the highly professional technology behind it. What also sets the email marketing tool apart from other providers is the ability to work in a team and create sub-accounts for customers. 

The newsletter tool offers all the important functions that modern newsletter software should have. These include automation, A/B testing and, of course, integration with a number of third-party tools. 

Mailjet's range of functions: 

• Create newsletter
• Automations
• A/B tests
• Statistics
• Sub-accounts
• Webhooks

Mailjet easily meets all the requirements for using the newsletter software in compliance with the GDPR. As a customer, you can request the AV contract directly on the website. In addition, all servers are located within the EU. 

The newsletter software is available in a total of four packages: 

• Free 
• Essential (14 € / month)
• Premium (25 € / month)
• Custom (on request)

With Mailjet, you have the option of starting with a free plan. This includes up to 6,000 emails per month, an unlimited number of contacts as well as APIs and statistics. 

If you would like to manage your newsletters more professionally, i.e. with segmentation or sub-accounts, the next higher package would be the right choice. The premium packages are also based on the number of contacts. If you pay annually, you can also save up to 10 percent. 

Mailjet: advantages and disadvantages

8th Rapidmail (Mailify)

Rapidmail was founded in Freiburg in 2008. More than 100,000 customers in over 28 countries now use the newsletter software. Rapidmail was also recently acquired by Mailify and its parent company Sarbacane Group. 

Since the takeover or merger with Mailify, the email marketing tool has numerous other features in addition to the normal newsletter dispatch that previously characterized Rapidmail. Customers can now also enjoy extensive automations, landing pages and SMS dispatch. 

Rapidmail range of functions: 

• Create newsletter
• Transaction mails
• Statistics / Tracking
• Automations
• SMS dispatch

All Rapidmail data is stored on servers within the EU - in France to be precise. An AV contract can also be concluded within the customer account. 

The newsletter software is available in a total of three packages: 

• Pay as you go: Billing per mailing (from 16 € / month)
• Flat rate: Unlimited e-mails to a fixed number of contacts (from € 9 / month)
• Monthly e-mail packages (from € 46.55 / month)

Rapidmail does not have a free tariff. The inexpensive entry-level tariff starts at 9 euros per month and includes unlimited e-mailing to a maximum of 250 contacts. If you want to send unlimited emails to up to 1000 contacts, the rate is 19 euros. The "Pay as you go" tariff offers a different billing model. For 16 euros, for example, you can send up to 100 emails a month to up to 2,000 contacts. You are billed by e-mail and have no contract term. The contract term for the other tariff models is one month.

Rapidmail: Advantages and disadvantages

9th Quentn

Quentn is a newsletter tool that has been on the market since 2014. Quentn.com GmbH is based in Potsdam. The company's aim is to use the software to establish an intuitive, user-friendly and high-performance email marketing tool. 

The newsletter software plays in the same league as KlickTipp. This is because, like KlickTipp, it is all about comprehensive and high-revenue marketing automation. The provider also has an integrated sales CRM and numerous functions. 

Similar to KlickTipp, you can integrate your own Digistore24 products directly with Quentn, for example. The email marketing software also offers a number of integrations, including Zapier and API interfaces. You can also find helpful and free webinars on the website to help you get to grips with the tool. 

Functional scope of Quentn: 

• Create newsletter
• Manage recipients
• API interfaces
• Marketing Automations
• Digistore connection
• CRM system

As Quentn is a purely German provider of newsletter software, it meets all the requirements of the GDPR. As a customer, you can conclude an AV contract within the customer account. All data is also stored on servers in Germany and therefore within the EU. 

The newsletter software is available in a total of four packages: 

• Starter (from 35 € / month)
• Basic (from 60 € / month)
• Pro (from 100 € / month)
• Enterprise (on request)

Right from the start, you can only use Quentn with a paid plan. These differ in terms of the number of contacts and the available functions, such as the number of API connections, website tracking or Zapier. 

All tariffs can be tested free of charge for 14 days. If you pay annually, you can also save up to 10 percent. 

Quentn: advantages and disadvantages

10. mailerLite

The newsletter software MailerLite was launched in 2010 to provide companies with simple and powerful email marketing software. The team can draw on years of agency experience, which is of course a great advantage when developing the product and understanding customer requirements. 

Today, well over 1,243,363 companies, start-ups and freelancers use the software. Over one billion emails are sent every month. Like some of the other providers presented here, MailerLite can be used for much more than just sending newsletters.  

MailerLite has a user-friendly drag-and-drop email editor, numerous templates and can even be used for e-commerce campaigns. There is also a website builder, landing pages, pop-ups and much more. 

Functionality of MailerLite: 

• Create newsletter
• E-commerce campaigns
• Website Builder
• Landing pages
• Pop-ups
• Automations
• Tagging
• A/B tests

MailerLite can be used in compliance with the GDPR. This is because the newsletter tool provides an AV contract on its website and the servers are located within the EU. 

The newsletter software offers a free tariff as well as numerous other packages that are scaled according to the number of contacts.

• Free
• Premium (from 9 to 44 € / month)

With MailerLite, you can start with a free plan. This includes up to 1,000 contacts and up to 12,000 emails per month. If you want to manage more contacts or send more emails and use additional marketing tools such as landing pages or templates, you will need to upgrade to one of the premium plans. The packages are staggered according to the maximum number of contacts (the number of emails is only limited again from 50,000 contacts) and start at 9 euros for up to 1,000 contacts.

If you pay annually, you can save up to 30 percent on a Premium plan. You can also test each package for 14 days free of charge. 

MailerLite: advantages and disadvantages

Newsletter Tools: Comparison table 

	Sendinblue	CleverReach	GetResponse	ClickTip	Mailchimp	ActiveCampaign	Mailjet	Mailify	Quentn	MailerLite
Newsletter editor	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	x	✓
Templates	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Form Editor	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Responsive	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Personalization	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Dynamic content	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Preview function	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Autoresponder	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
A/B tests	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	x	✓
Automations	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Tagging	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Websites / Landing pages	✓	x	✓	x	✓	✓	x	x	x	✓
Statistics/Reports	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Server location	EU	EU	Worldwide	EU	USA	USA	EU	EU	EU	EU
AV	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Free tariff / test access	✓	✓	✓	x	✓	✓	x	x	✓	✓
Max. Contacts in lowest tariff	unlimited	250	1.000	10.000	2.000	500	unlimited	250	1.500	1.000
Price (monthly)	from 0 €	from 0 €	from 13 €	from 27 €	from 0 €	from 15 €	from 0 €	from 9 €	from 35 €	from 0 €

What are the disadvantages of using a newsletter plugin in WordPress? 

The newsletter tools presented in this article are all so-called "cloud-based" services. This is because you can use them directly online without having to download any software in advance. Also, all data is not stored locally on your computer / server, but on the servers of the respective provider. 

So if you are a WordPress user, you can also install newsletter software directly as a plugin in WordPress. This way, you have everything in one backend and don't have to use another service. We recently presented such plugins in the magazine: Creating newsletters with WordPress: a comparison of the best plugins. But this is exactly where the catch lies! 

Because managing everything within one software, in this case WordPress, is extremely stressful for your server. The more data is stored via the newsletter plugin, the more you will notice this. Especially if you send newsletters that use the same server capacity as your website itself.

To show you the disadvantages of newsletter plugins, here are a few important points: 

• Server load: Sending mail consumes a lot of server resources
  
• Security: Every additional plugin can pose a security risk
  
• Range of functions: In contrast to "normal" newsletter tools, newsletter plugins in particular have a very limited range of functions and usually only focus on the most important thing, namely creating and sending a newsletter!
  
• Deliverability: There can also be problems with deliverability. Especially if you use a shared hosting package. This is because you use the same IP address as everyone else on the server. Once a sender has attracted negative attention, your emails can also be seen as SPAM. In addition, the number of emails that can be sent is limited with many hosters.

Conclusion

It's not that easy to find the right newsletter software. Sometimes it's hard to know exactly which features each tool offers. Of course, you then ask yourself: Do I even need all of this? 

In addition, most of the newsletter tools presented here are no longer just providers for sending newsletters. In addition to newsletter campaigns, you can create landing pages, set up live chats, organize webinars and much, much more. 

To make it not too complicated, I recommend the newsletter tools as follows. 

Newsletter tools for beginners 

• Mailchimp 
• Sendinblue
• CleverReach

Newsletter tools for advanced users

• ActiveCampaign
• Mailjet
• Mailify
• GetResponse
• Mailerlite

Newsletter tools for professionals:

• ClickTip
• Quentn

Of course, you always have to check for yourself which range of functions you need and which tool suits you best. If the respective provider offers a free trial period or even a free tariff, you should definitely take advantage of this offer in advance, test it and try it out. 

For all providers with servers located in the USA and an explanation of the current legal situation, I also recommend the following article from e-recht24.