There is a sea of WordPress plugins out there. So, the real challenge isn’t in finding one – it’s in choosing the best WordPress email marketing plugin that not only fits your unique needs and budget but also feels tailor-made for your ecommerce email automation goals.
Ideally, these WordPress email marketing plugins for WooCommerce help you streamline your marketing efforts. With minimal effort, you can send targeted email campaigns at every step of the customer journey using advanced email marketing automation.
Some email plugins are native to WordPress, while some have great features. Some score low on ease of use, while some offer comprehensive functionality at the best price.
To avoid the paradox of choice, we have listed the 9 best WordPress email marketing plugins for online shops, analyzed their email automation features, and weighed them against their cons in this detailed email marketing plugin comparison.
Let’s dive right in.
Automate in 3 clicks, not 3 pages with Retainful’s easy-to-setup email automation.
Native WordPress email marketing plugin vs. SaaS apps
WordPress email marketing plugins can be categorized into two types:
- Native WordPress email plugins – integrate directly with WordPress
- Standalone SaaS email marketing applications – Seamlessly connect with WordPress
The first type is designed to work seamlessly within the WordPress ecosystem, specifically integrating well with WordPress CRM plugins. These WordPress automation plugins are installed and managed directly from the WordPress dashboard, making it easy for users to do WordPress email marketing without leaving their website’s backend.
On the other hand, SaaS-based email marketing solutions offer their services independently but can be connected to WordPress websites. These advanced WordPress email plugins usually provide a broader range of features, including advanced automation workflows, detailed email marketing analytics, and comprehensive CRM integration for WordPress email marketing.
How to Choose the Best Email Marketing Plugin for WordPress?
For businesses leveraging WordPress and WooCommerce, choosing the best WordPress plugin for email marketing will satisfy all your marketing needs, save you time, and help set your email marketing strategies in motion.
Here are the key factors to consider when selecting WordPress email marketing automation tools:
Easy-to-setup Automation Workflows
In the best WordPress email automation plugin, you should set up the automation workflows in minutes, without a 3-page manual guiding you. Look for WordPress marketing automation software with drag-and-drop email builders and pre-built automation templates.
Seamless WooCommerce Email Integration
The best email marketing plugins for WooCommerce offer seamless integration with WordPress and WooCommerce, allowing you to sync customer data effortlessly. This means you can automatically segment your email lists based on demographics, purchase history, customer behavior, and other relevant criteria directly from your store’s data.
Ease of Use and No Learning Curve
The ideal WordPress email marketing plugin should have an intuitive interface, making it easy for you to create, manage, and track your email campaigns without a steep learning curve.
Also, the WordPress email plugin with a drag and drop editor and easy WordPress email template customization is needed for optimal user engagement.
High Email Deliverability
Email deliverability is critical to ensure your emails reach your customer’s inboxes. So, choose the best WordPress plugin for email marketing backed by a reliable email service provider (ESP) with a strong reputation for deliverability.
Comprehensive Email Marketing Analytics and Reporting
You should be able to track abandoned carts and other key email marketing metrics with advanced reporting using email plugins.
Insights into open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and bounce rates provide valuable feedback on what resonates with your customers.
Simple pricing and no hidden costs
Finally, consider the WordPress email plugin’s pricing structure. While free WordPress email marketing plugins are available, they may lack advanced features and support.
A premium full-service eCommerce transactional email plugin offers more sophisticated functionalities but ensures the cost aligns with your budget and the expected return on investment (ROI).
Best WordPress Email Plugins Comparison
| Plugin | Best For | Free plan | Cons |
| Retainful | Small or medium businesses requiring an all-in-one WordPress email marketing solution | Forever-free plan with access to all features and upto 500 email sends | No landing page builder |
| Mailchimp | Best WordPress email marketing plugin for advanced automation and segmentation | Free plan – 500 contacts and 500 emails/day | – Complicated billing structure – Single-step automation in Free and Basic plan |
| MailPoet | Best native WordPress email plugin built for WordPress | Free plan – Upto 1000 subscribers | – Lack of advanced email automation – Limited customization for signup widgets |
| Brevo | Best WordPress newsletter plugin | Free plan – 300 emails/day | – Not high email deliverability – Daily email sending limit |
| Optinmonster | Best WordPress lead generation plugin to grow your email list | Free plan – Upto 3 campaigns | – Has only email capture features. – No WooCommerce integration in Basic plan |
| Newsletter | WordPress plugin for email newsletters and product promotions | A free plan is available | No welcome email series and autoresponder and WooCommerce integration in Free plan |
| Hubspot | Best WordPress CRM plugin + Email marketing | Free plan – Upto 1000 contacts | Steep learning curve for beginners |
| Kit | Best WordPress email plugin for creators monetizing newsletters | Free plan – Upto 10,000 contacts | Limited e-commerce features and template customization options |
| FluentCRM | Best email plugin for Native Integration | Free plan – Only basic email sending | No WooCommerce integration in Free plan |
9 Best WordPress Email Marketing Plugins 2025
- Retainful – Best WordPress Email Marketing Plugin with WooCommerce Integration
- Mailchimp for WordPress – Advanced Email Automation Plugin
- MailPoet – Best Free WordPress Email Marketing Plugin
- Brevo – Best WordPress Newsletter Plugin
- OptinMonster – Best WordPress Lead Generation Plugin
- Newsletter – Best Native WordPress Email Plugin
- HubSpot – WordPress CRM and email marketing integration
- Kit – Best WordPress Email Plugin for Creators
- FluentCRM – Best Native WordPress Email Integration
Let’s see these top WordPress email marketing plugins in detail.
1. Retainful – All-in-one solution to acquire, nurture, and retain customers
WordPress Rating: 4.8 / 5 (3000+ active installations)
Retainful is the best free WordPress email marketing plugin that provides a cost-effective solution to all your WooCommerce email marketing needs – from email automation to sending personalized emails. It has it all.
This email marketing plugin for WordPress boasts the best abandoned cart recovery rate in the market – featuring single-click WooCommerce abandoned cart recovery email and pre-built multiple abandoned cart email series. You can set up WordPress email marketing automation in 3 clicks and start recovering abandoned carts in minutes.
This best WordPress email marketing automation plugin features seamless email automation workflow, which allows you to launch all types of email campaigns with zero setup headaches. Hence, Retainful is the Best WordPress email marketing plugin for new online stores.
With the visual workflow builder and pre-built automation workflows, you will never be on your own.
It features targeted sign-up forms and email opt-in pop-ups that work as an email list plugin in WordPress and collect the email addresses of visitors, and grow your email list. It can be triggered and targeted based on visitor behavior like time spent on pages, scroll depth, geo-location, and more advanced targeting options for emails.
Coming to designing WordPress marketing emails, it has a drag-and-drop email editor, and customizable WordPress email templates to make the job easier for you.
If you want an all-in-one WordPress email marketing solution to help you acquire and retain customers to retaining them, Retainful would be the best choice for WordPress stores.
Pros:
- Easy-to-set-up email automation with WordPress marketing automation
- Single-click cart recovery for WooCommerce abandoned cart email
- Targeted sign-up forms/popups for email subscriber growth
- Customizable email templates for WordPress with drag-and-drop functionality
- Omnichannel available – Email + SMS + WhatsApp
Cons:
- No landing page builder
Pricing:
- Forever free plan is available
- $14/month – 10,000 emails
- $69/month – 50,000 emails
Grow your email list, engage through follow-up emails, and recover abandoned carts – all with the Retainful WordPress plugin.
2. Mailchimp for WordPress – Best WordPress Email Plugin for Advanced Automation
WordPress Rating: 4 / 5 (400,000+ active installations)
Mailchimp is easy easy-to-set-up email marketing plugin for WordPress stores that offers a wide range of features, including email automation, seamless customer segmentation with WordPress email plugins, A/B testing, comprehensive email analytics, and an extensive library of email templates.
It has an easy-to-use visual automation workflow builder and pre-built workflows to automate your WordPress email marketing without much of a learning curve.
Other than email marketing channel, it has social media scheduling, landing page builder, retargeting ads, and email capture pop-ups.
Mailchimp has a very extensive email template library, but most of them are only available in paid plans.
The pricing of this Mailchimp WordPress email plugin increases very rapidly with email list size and advanced features.
While the basic features are straightforward, leveraging Mailchimp’s more advanced capabilities, such as detailed segmentation and automation workflows, or using it as a WooCommerce abandoned cart email plugin, may require a bit of a learning curve.
Pros:
- Easy-to-use despite advanced email marketing features
- 15+ pre-built automation workflows for WooCommerce
- Comprehensive email campaign management
Cons:
- Complicated billing structure
- Limited email template customization.
- Lack of abandoned cart tracking
- Single-step automation in Free and Basic plan
Pricing:
- A free plan is available.
- Essential – $8.74/month
- Standard – $13.05/month – 6000 emails
- Premium – $260.95/month – 150000 emails
Related Reading:
Need better options than Mailchimp? Check out our Mailchimp alternatives comparison:
3. MailPoet – Best Free Email Marketing Plugin Built for WordPress
WordPress Rating: 4.4 / 5 (600,000+ active installations)
Unlike many of its competitors, MailPoet is not just compatible with WordPress; it’s built specifically as a native WordPress marketing plugin.
With this WordPress email blast plugin, you can manage your WordPress email campaigns directly from your WordPress dashboard, eliminating the need to juggle multiple platforms.
Compared to specialized email marketing platforms, this native WordPress email marketing solution might lack some advanced features such as detailed behavior tracking, extensive third-party integrations, and deep email marketing analytics that larger businesses may require for more sophisticated email marketing strategies.
If you consider moving away from WordPress in the future, this best WordPress email marketing plugin’s tight integration with the CMS proves tough for transitioning to a new platform.
Pros:
- Built specifically for WordPress as a native email solution
- Great email list management capabilities
- Easy WordPress email integration
Cons:
- Limited customization for signup widgets
- Lack of advanced email automation compared to all other platforms
- Very expensive as the list grows
Pricing:
- Free – 1000 subscribers
- $10/month – 500 subscribers and unlimited emails
- $30/month – 500 subscribers/website
4. Brevo – Best WordPress Newsletter Plugin for Email Campaigns
WordPress Rating: 4.2 / 5 (100,000+ active installations)
Brevo is a native WordPress email marketing plugin that caters to WordPress users needing simple email marketing capabilities. It offers basic tools for creating WooCommerce email campaigns.
Features like WordPress drag-and-drop email builder and customizable templates make it easy to design branded WordPress email newsletters that engage and convert.
You can trigger WordPress marketing emails based on actions like visitor’s email engagement and website engagement behavior.
This best WordPress email marketing plugin with automation and segmentation providing comprehensive A/B testing tools and detailed analytics, allowing you to test different email elements and track performance metrics.
The wide array of features and tools may present a learning curve for some users, especially those new to WordPress email marketing.
The major advantage of this affordable WordPress email marketing tool is the contact limit: you can have up to 100,000 contacts even in the free plan.
Pros:
- User-friendly though filled with complex features
- Fast delivery of emails
- Generous contact limits
- Additional features: SMS, built-in CRM tool, Conversations app, and WhatsApp campaigns.
Cons:
- Not high email deliverability
- Limited sign-up form templates
- Free plan has a daily sending email limit of 300 emails.
Pricing:
- A free plan – 300 emails/day
- $25 – 20k emails/month
- $65 – 20k emails/month + A/B Testing
5. OptinMonster – Best WordPress Lead Generation Plugin for Email List Growth
WordPress Rating: 4.3 / 5 (1 million+ active installations)
OptinMonster is the best WordPress lead capture plugin for growing your email list in WordPress email marketing. It offers features like exit-intent technology, advanced segmentation, and a variety of lead generation forms.
OptinMonster excels at converting visitors into subscribers and customers. Its array of lead generation tools, including popups, floating bars, and slide-ins, are designed to capture attention and capture email addresses.
The best email opt-in plugin WordPress offers advanced pop-up targeting options based on location, site behavior, and device type, ensuring that your WordPress emails reach the right audience at the right time.
The A/B testing functionality allows you to experiment with this Email capture plugin for WordPress using different email capture strategies, helping you test different pop-ups and use email subscriber growth tools in WordPress to grow your email list.
For small businesses or those just starting out, the pricing of this WordPress email marketing plugin might be a bit steep, especially when compared to free or lower-cost alternatives.
Pros:
- Vast library of email capture templates
- Advanced targeting options for email subscriber growth
- Conversion optimization tools like dynamic content, page-level targeting, countdown timers, and more
Cons:
- Not high email deliverability compared to premium solutions
- Limited sign-up form templates for lead generation
- The free plan has a daily sending email limit of 300 emails
Pricing:
- Basic – $7/month – 1 site + 2500 pageviews
- Plus – $19/month – 2 sites + 10,000 pageviews
- Pro – $29/month – 3 sites + 25,000 pageviews
- Growth – $49/month – 5 Sites + 100,000 pageviews
Related Reading: Learn more about WordPress popups:
6. Newsletter – Best Native WordPress Email Plugin for List Building
WordPress Rating: 4.6 / 5 ( 300,000+ active installations)
As a native WordPress email marketing plugin, Newsletter simplifies email campaign management directly from WordPress.
This best free email marketing plugin for WordPress also comes with a built-in CRM system that allows you to manage your subscribers efficiently. You can segment your customers based on various criteria, including behavior and demographics, directly within your WordPress site.
The WordPress plugin offers several options to grow your email list through customizable subscription forms and widgets. You can place these on your store to capture leads and integrate them directly into your WordPress emails.
Unlike many other email marketing plugins for WordPress, Newsletter doesn’t put a cap on the number of emails you can send or the number of subscribers you can have. This is especially beneficial for growing businesses that don’t want to pay more for expanding their reach.
Pros:
- No limit on email sends and contacts for unlimited email marketing
Cons:
- No welcome email series and autoresponder in Free plan
- No WooCommerce integration in Free plan
Pricing:
- Essential – $ 69 – 1 site
- Professional – $ 99 – 3 sites
- Agency – $299 – unlimited
7. HubSpot WordPress Plugin – Best WordPress CRM and email marketing integration
WordPress Rating: 4.4 / 5 ( 300,000+ active installations)
HubSpot is not just an email marketing tool for WordPress; it’s a comprehensive CRM platform. This integration allows for seamless synchronization of customer data across your marketing, sales, and service efforts, providing a 360-degree view of customer interactions.
HubSpot offers a suite of tools including content management, social media marketing, SEO, and analytics. This means you can manage much of your online marketing from one place.
This WordPress email marketing plugin excels at segmenting your audience based on a variety of criteria and personalizing WordPress email content to suit these segments.
Due to its comprehensive nature, there can be a learning curve in fully utilizing all of its capabilities. Businesses new to advanced email marketing practices may need time to leverage the platform fully.
Pros:
- Effortless integration with the CRM suite for complete customer management
- Advanced email marketing automation capabilities
Cons:
- Steep learning curve for beginners
- Not suitable for small businesses
Pricing:
- Free CRM software: Up to 1000 contacts
- Starter – $15/month – 1 user
- Professional – $1600/month – 5 users
- Enterprise – $5000/month – 10 users
8. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) – Best WordPress Email Plugin for Content Creators
WordPress Rating: 4.9 / 5 (40,000+ active installations)
ConvertKit is explicitly built with creators in mind – bloggers, authors, and online educators benefit from tools designed to grow and monetize their audience.
Unlike many WordPress email plugins, ConvertKit prioritizes subscriber-centric tagging and segmentation. Instead of duplicating contacts across lists, you maintain a single subscriber list, tagged by behavior or interest.
It includes pre-designed landing page templates, eliminating the need for third-party tools to capture leads.
While it excels in simplicity, ConvertKit lacks advanced design capabilities, especially for highly customized or visual-heavy emails.
Pros:
- Clutter-free design with intuitive user interface
- Easy-to-use drag-and-drop automation builder
- Creator-centric features like paid subscriptions and landing page builders
Cons:
- Limited template customization options
- Expensive compared to Retainful and MailChimp
- Limited ecommerce features
Pricing:
- Newsletter – Free
- Creator – $25/month
- Creator Pro – $50/month
9. FluentCRM – Best WordPress Email Plugin for Native Integration
WordPress Rating: 4.7 / 5 (50,000+ active installations)
As a native WordPress email plugin, FluentCRM integrates effortlessly with your existing WordPress setup. FluentCRM is the best WordPress email plugin if you want to do WordPress email marketing without leaving WordPress.
Beyond email marketing, FluentCRM includes CRM functionalities such as contact management, activity tracking, and pipeline management, offering a complete marketing solution.
The major advantage is that you get to send unlimited campaigns in all of the paid plans.
But without a paid plan, you can’t trigger ecommerce email automation in WordPress based on new purchases and order refunds on WooCommerce.
Pros:
- Self-hosted plugin for complete control
- Easy-to-use and intuitive UI for email campaign management in WordPress
Cons:
- No WooCommerce integration in Free plan
- Limited ready-made templates
- No drag-and-drop email builder for WordPress
Pricing:
- $103/year – 1 site
- $199/year – 5 sites
- $399/year – 50 sites
WordPress Email Marketing Plugin: Which is Right?
When choosing between free vs paid WordPress email marketing plugins for eCommerce, consider your specific business needs:
Choose a free WooCommerce email marketing plugin with automation if:
- You’re just starting your online store
- You need basic email automation features
- Your email list is small (under 1,000 subscribers)
- You want to test email marketing effectiveness before investing
Choose Paid WordPress Email Marketing Plugins If:
- You need advanced WooCommerce email marketing automation
- You require comprehensive WooCommerce integration
- You want detailed email marketing analytics
- Your business demands a professional email deliverability WordPress plugin
Do cost-effective email marketing using Retainful without missing out on any essential WordPress email marketing features.
Wrapping up!!
Each WordPress email marketing plugin comes with its unique set of features, strengths, and limitations, catering to different needs and levels of expertise.
If you need to carry out WordPress email marketing without leaving your WordPress dashboard, choose a native WordPress email marketing plugin or an all-in-one solution that has advanced features, and choose a standalone plugin like Retainful.
Whether you prioritize ease of use, advanced segmentation, comprehensive analytics, or seamless CRM integration for WordPress email marketing, there is a plugin out there for you.
Read more about WordPress email marketing:
- Top 10 WordPress Newsletter Plugins in 2024
- WordPress Coupon Popup: How to Create + Plugins
- 24 Best WordPress Automation Plugins and Tools (+Comparison)
- 8 Best Email Automation Software Comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
To create an email marketing campaign in WordPress, you’ll need to select an email marketing plugin, install it, and set it up with your email service provider.
Then, design your email using the plugin’s templates and tools, segment your audience as needed, and schedule or send your campaign directly from your WordPress dashboard.
An email plugin for WordPress is a tool designed to integrate with your WordPress site to enhance email marketing efforts. It enables you to send newsletters, automate emails, manage subscribers, and track the performance of your email campaigns directly from your WordPress admin area.
The best free plugin for WordPress often depends on your specific needs, but Retainful gives you comprehensive features like sign-up forms, email automation, segmentation, and pop-ups at a fair price.
To collect emails for marketing in WordPress, use a plugin that creates signup forms or popups. Place these forms strategically across your site – on your homepage, blog, and sidebar.
Yes, WordPress supports email automation through various plugins. These plugins allow you to set up automated welcome emails, follow-up messages, and targeted campaigns based on user behavior or milestones.
