When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn The best CRMs for email marketing allow you to personalize your email communications by segmenting your audiences according to buying preferences, location, and demographics so you can send them more relevant email content. Studies show that personalized email marketing can boost click rates by a staggering 139%; failing to adopt the right email marketing CRM can result in less effective email campaigns and missed audience insights.
Based on my extensive experience testing CRM platforms, I’ve reviewed and evaluated the best email marketing CRM software based on relevant features such as customer segmentation, automation, integrations, and pricing to help you choose.
Techopedia’s Top 10 Email Marketing CRMs
Salesforce — Popular email marketing CRM for sales teams looking to automate campaigns
HubSpot — Offers the best free email marketing CRM with in-depth health reporting
Monday CRM — The best email marketing CRM for usability and customization
Pipedrive — Best budget email marketing CRM tool for small businesses
Freshsales — Best for small businesses needing an email marketing CRM tool for lead generation
The 10 Best Email Marketing CRMs
Here are the market’s best email marketing CRM tools, with a quick overview of who they’re best suited for:
- Salesforce — Best email CRM for marketing campaign automation
- HubSpot — Best free CRM email marketing plan with reporting
- Monday CRM — Best email marketing CRM for ease of use and customization
- Pipedrive — Best budget email marketing CRM tool for small businesses
- Zoho — Best cheap CRM email software for ecommerce businesses
- Freshsales — Best email CRM marketing tool for lead generation
- SageCRM — Best email marketing software for large businesses
- Engagebay — Best beginner CRM system for email marketing and campaign scheduling
- Act! — Best email marketing CRM tool for contact management
- Maximizer CRM — Best email marketing CRM system for SMBs in the B2B sector
- Show Full Guide
The Best CRM Email Marketing Services Reviewed
These in-depth reviews below cover the details of the best email marketing services built into CRMs, helping you find a provider that is best suited to your needs.
If you’re a small or medium business, you may also be interested in my comprehensive guide to the best CRM software for small businesses, which covers CRM tools aimed at sales, marketing, and customer service teams.
1. Salesforce — Popular Sales CRM Automation Software
| Best For | Sales Teams |
|---|---|
| Starting Price | $25/user/month |
| Contacts on Starter Plan | Unlimited |
| Email Limit | 5,000/day |
| Free Version | ❌ |
| Top 3 Features | Mass email, Campaign management, Activity feed |
In addition to being one of the best sales CRMs, Salesforce is a comprehensive platform with diverse email marketing features. I found that this all-in-one solution can handles everything from lead optimization to lead scoring and customer retention.
While you’ll need to be on one of its pricier plans to access advanced CRM features (like workflow automation), I found that it offers an exceptional set of email marketing features on its cheapest plan.
Besides segmenting leads, you can create targeted email campaigns, and Salesforce offers ample mobile-friendly email templates.
Einstein, Salesforce’s AI, is also miles ahead of the competition. With it, you can collect data on customer preferences for targeted product recommendations. You can also send automated emails when someone signs up for your newsletter.
Salesforce users also enjoy A/B testing and mass SMS marketing capabilities. Overall, Salesforce offers excellent value for money if you’re looking for a well-rounded CRM email marketing solution.
Pros 
- Provides a unified view of customer engagement history
- Well-designed mobile apps
- Customizable reports and dashboards
- Scalable and flexible
Cons
- Slight learning curve
- Overwhelming number of plans
2. HubSpot — Best Free CRM Email Marketing Software
| Best For | Free tools |
|---|---|
| Starting Price | $15/user/month |
| Contacts on Starter Plan | 1,000 |
| Email Limit | 500-5,000/day |
| Free Version | ✅ |
| Top 3 Features | Free forever plan, Shared inbox, List segmentation |
HubSpot conveniently integrates email marketing with CRM and sales management features to suit the needs of small and large businesses.
It’s also the best free CRM with email marketing capabilities. However, I’d suggest trying its free plan if you’re a beginner, as it does have a steep learning curve.
HubSpot is known for being a one-stop solution for nurturing customer relationships, managing omnichannel email marketing campaigns, and improving customer retention.
I found it an excellent choice for creating personalized, targeted campaigns and efficient landing pages. Paid plans also include segmentation, email marketing automation, and A/B testing.
Plus, the depth of the campaign reporting is impressive. So, while it has a learning curve, most find the tool invaluable as it’s highly scalable.
Pros
- Customizable plans
- Numerous third-party integrations
- Excellent customer service features
- Email health reporting
- Numerous social media management options
Cons
- Expensive
- Complicated pricing hubs
3. Monday CRM — Best Email CRM Software for Ease of Use
| Best For | Ease of use and customization |
|---|---|
| Starting Price | $12/user/month |
| Contacts on Starter Plan | Unlimited |
| Email Limit | 500-2,000/day |
| Free Version | ❌ |
| Top 3 Features | Built-in quotes and invoices, AI email generator, Ample dashboard views |
Whether you’re in real estate, manufacturing, or the financial sector, monday.com is highly customizable and can fit varying needs. It’s also affordable, scalable, and easy to use.
With monday CRM, you’ll get a good mixture of email marketing and CRM. However, it’s worth noting that the email capabilities are only available on the Pro plan ($28/month) and up.
You’ll also get customizable email templates, email tracking, and email marketing automation, and you can send mass email marketing campaigns (2,000 emails/day).
You even get an AI email generator to compose and edit emails. monday CRM is part of a larger ecosystem of business tools, including the best workflow management software.
It’s the perfect all-in-one tool for small businesses. It even includes built-in invoicing and quoting, lead scoring, sales forecasting, and several views for organizing and analyzing your data.
Pros
- Easy to use and customize
- Offers affordable scalability
- Simple, yet feature-rich
- Holds a high reputation in the industry
Cons
- Most email features are on Pro plan
- Mobile app lacks some features
4. Pipedrive — Best Budget CRM for Email Marketing
| Best For | Small Businesses |
|---|---|
| Starting Price | $14/user/month |
| Contacts on Starter Plan | Unlimited |
| Email Limit | 100 at a time |
| Free Version | ❌ |
| Top 3 Features | Deal Reports, Email analytics, Email tracking |
Pipedrive is one of the best CRMs for small businesses that are looking to improve their data management and launch their first email marketing campaigns.
It’s ideal for first-time users as it incorporates action-based sales and CRM with email marketing features. I also particularly liked the drag-and-drop email builder and templates.
Pipedrive also simplifies pipeline management to help you move deals across stages. You can automate the stages of your sales funnel to track progress with ease.
You’ll also be able to identify opportunities to close more sales, segment your audience, and even get revenue forecasting based on performance.
While it’s not as feature-rich as Salesforce, I found it more user-friendly, making it better for a small marketing team. I also like how it simplifies task delegation and task automation.
Even though Pipedrive is one of the cheapest email marketing CRM tools, just opting for its CRM plans gives you a limited set of email marketing features, as most require the Campaigns add-on.
Pros
- Deal rotting notifications
- Merges duplicate data
- Shareable dashboard links
- Intuitive desktop and smartphone interface
- Affordable
Cons
- Custom onboarding only on premium plans
- No free plan
5. Zoho CRM — The Best Budget CRM for Workflow Automation
| Best For | Workflow Automation |
|---|---|
| Starting Price | $14/user/month |
| Contacts on Starter Plan | Unlimited |
| Email Limit | 250-1,000/day |
| Free Version | ❌ |
| Top 3 Features | Auto-responders, Anomaly detection, Process blueprints |
Zoho CRM can help you create, launch, and manage visually appealing email campaigns without technical expertise, thanks to its intuitive drag-and-drop editor.
In Zoho’s email marketing campaigns, you can include elements to engage your audience, including videos. It’s easily one of the best for building an ecommerce campaign or running a newsletter.
Zoho leverages AI to provide in-depth business and email analytics. Thus, you can make informed decisions and use accurate and reliable sales forecast suggestions to achieve your goals.
In addition, each of its plans includes access to workflow rules, allowing you to automate email marketing campaigns and other day-to-day activities.
Its CRM email marketing services are part of its all-in-one business solution. However, unlike most, its CRM natively integrates with one of the best project management solutions, Zoho Projects.
Read our full Zoho CRM review.
Pros
- Superb workflow and sales automation
- In-depth business performance analytics
- Sales forecasting, even on cheapest plan
- Budget-friendly
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- Mixed customer support reviews
6. Freshsales — Best for Startups and Lead Generation
| Best For | Lead generation |
|---|---|
| Starting Price | $9/user/month |
| Contacts on Starter Plan | 1,000 |
| Email Limit | 250-5,000/day |
| Free Version | ✅ |
| Top 3 Features | Multichannel campaigns, Task management, Marketing lists |
Freshsales can help you attract visitors, understand their intent, and drive repeat purchases. It’s one of the best CRM solutions for businesses looking to improve their lead generation.
While most provide customizable email templates, Freshsales goes a step further with numerous landing page templates and 100+ block types designed for conversion.
Besides simplifying email campaigns and landing page creation, Freshsales offers numerous advanced email marketing features and has a modern, well-designed interface.
It’s more user-friendly than most, and it’s free for 21 days. However, if you’re looking for the best free CRM email marketing software, you’ll be better off with HubSpot’s free plan.
Read our full Freshsales review.
Pros
- Beginner-friendly interface
- Advanced AI forecasting
- Kanban view for contacts, accounts, and deals
Cons
- Customer support could be better
- Enterprise plan isn’t unlimited
7. SageCRM — Best Email Marketing CRM Software for Enterprises
| Best For | Large Businesses |
|---|---|
| Starting Price | Custom |
| Contacts on Starter Plan | ❌ |
| Email Limit | 2,000/day |
| Free Version | ❌ |
| Top 3 Features | Real-time tracking, Integrations, Compliance management |
SageCRM offers a versatile set of features that empower businesses to drive growth and engage customers. The platform delivers an all-in-one product and handy native integrations.
This includes one of the best payroll systems, inventory tracking tools, and loads more. Ultimately, it streamlines your marketing, customer service, and sales team, helping improve customer satisfaction.
This level of centralization ensures your team members avoid task duplication, empowering them to work more efficiently and providing real-time insights into the customer journey.
You can track prospects from the first email you send to when they become customers. That said, while SageCRM’s email marketing and CRM functionality is impressive, it has a steep learning curve.
Pros
- Impressive email marketing campaign management features
- Feature-rich
- Numerous third-party integrations and native add-ons
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- Support can be slow
8. Engagebay — Best for Beginners and Campaign Scheduling
| Best For | Beginners & campaign scheduling |
|---|---|
| Starting Price | $12.74/user/month |
| Contacts on Starter Plan | 500 |
| Email Limit | 1,000-50,000/month |
| Free Version | ✅ |
| Top 3 Features | Marketing automation, Site messaging, Predictive lead scores |
Engagebay is the best pick for businesses looking for a reliable solution for launching multiple personalized email campaigns at different times or dates.
You can also send campaigns at the best times based on your audience’s time zones, making it great for global businesses. During testing, I noted that the interface is also well-designed.
I was particularly impressed with how easy A/B testing is. I also liked that it automatically returns the A/B results, letting you launch it immediately.
Engagebay does offer a comprehensive free email marketing plan but with limited customer service and CRM features. However, I prefer HubSpot’s free version as it lets you add more contacts, while Engagebay limits you to 250.
Pros
- Premium plans are excellent value for money
- Form and email editors are easy to use
- Speedy customer support
Cons
- Limited landing page and email templates
- Lacks integration options
9. Act! — Popular All-in-One CRM Tool for Contact Management
| Best For | Contact management |
|---|---|
| Starting Price | $30/user/month |
| Contacts on Starter Plan | Unlimited |
| Email Limit | 2,500-100,000/month |
| Free Version | ❌ |
| Top 3 Features | A/B testing, Surveys, Social sharing |
Act! is an easy-to-use small business CRM with email marketing features integrated into its platform. It’s one of the only CRM email marketing tools to offer professional training and guidance.
I found that it’s great for beginners looking to improve their email marketing campaigns. Act! is also easily one of the most straightforward services I’ve tested, too.
It simplifies contact management by providing detailed relationship timelines. Adding new contacts is also a breeze. Overall, its usability and exceptional customer support team make it great for beginners.
That said, although great for marketing automation and handling a large volume of contacts, it’s not the best for advanced email analytics. It’s also somewhat expensive compared to other CRM software options.
Pros
- Intuitive smartphone apps
- Excellent email templates
- Beginner-friendly dashboards
- Campaign calendar
- Responsive customer support
Cons
- Outdated interface
- Expensive
10. Maximizer CRM — Best for SMBs in the B2B Sector
| Best For | Marketing reports |
|---|---|
| Starting Price | $65/user/month |
| Contacts on Starter Plan | 100,000 |
| Email Limit | 100/month |
| Free Version | ❌ |
| Top 3 Features | Proactive notifications, Lead tracking, Automated drip campaigns |
Maximizer CRM helps you stay professional with branded, highly customizable email templates. You can add custom fields, headers, and footers or include signatures to elevate your brand.
Like others on this best CRM for email marketing list, Maximizer CRM offers advanced email marketing features to help you promote your services and attract new customers.
Its reporting capabilities stood out to us as it combines reports for customer support, sales, and marketing teams. This will allow you to identify up-selling and cross-selling possibilities.
It’s an exceptional pick for SMBs in the B2B sector, aiming to enhance lead generation, sales efforts, and customer relationship management.
However, its pricing structure and high starting price may make it less attractive to small businesses on a strict budget.
Pros
- Excellent customer support
- Ideal for massive customer databases
- Powerful lead and opportunity management tools
Cons
- Relatively expensive
- Few plans to choose from
The Best CRM Email Marketing Software Compared
The table below provides everything you need to compare the best email marketing CRM tools based on their pricing, top features, use cases, and more:
| Email Marketing CRM | Best For | Starting Price | Contacts on Starter Plan | Email Limit | Free Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salesforce | Sales teams | $25/user/month | Unlimited | 5,000/day | ❌ |
| HubSpot | Free tools | $15/user/month | 1,000 | 500-5,000/day | ✅ |
| Monday CRM | Ease of use & customization | $12/seat/month | Unlimited | 500-2,000/day | ❌ |
| Pipedrive | Small businesses | $14/user/month | Unlimited | 100 at a time | ❌ |
| Zoho | Workflow automation | $14/user/month | Unlimited | 250-1,000/day | ❌ |
| Freshsales | Lead generation | $9/user/month | 1,000 | 250-5,000/day | ✅ |
| SageCRM | Large businesses | Custom | ❌ | 2,000/day | ❌ |
| Engagebay | Beginners | $12.74/user/month | 500 | 1,000-50,000/month | ✅ |
| Act! | Contact management | $30/user/month | Unlimited | 2,500-100,000/month | ❌ |
| Maximizer CRM | Marketing reports | $65/user/month | 100,000 | 100/month | ❌ |
How We Review And Test CRM Software
We base our recommendations on first-hand testing. All the CRM Software products we feature, have been tested based on the following criteria:
- Ease of Use: We assess the CRM service’s overall UX across platforms. Some CRM services we’ve used have a learning curve, so we also factor in their online documentation.
- Functionality: We consider the depth of features on offer, including contact, lead, and pipeline management, marketing capabilities, and the depth of reporting on offer.
- Integrations: We assess the CRM platform’s ability to integrate with essential everyday tools like email marketing services, accounting software, and ERPs, for example.
- Security and Compliance: We look for features like data encryption, role-based access controls, GDPR compliance, and industry-specific regulations like HIPAA.
- Customization: We check for features like custom fields, workflows, and automation rules, to assess whether the platform can be tailored to specific needs and industries.
- Value for Money: We weigh the feature-to-price value on offer and consider whether the provider offers affordable scalability.
- Mobile Accessibility: To ensure sales reps and managers can use the CRM on the go, we test the mobile apps available and evaluate their functionality.
- Reputation: We don’t waste our time with tools that don’t have a good reputation. We note what other users have to say to ensure we offer full insight into the tools we feature.
Is Email Marketing Still Worth it in 2024?
Is it worth investing in email marketing in 2024? The short answer is yes. Here are some key statistics that prove you should be using this medium to connect with leads and customers:
- There will be close to 5 billion email users worldwide by 2027
- Email marketing revenue is set to hit $17.9 billion by 2027
- Email marketing ROI is 4,200%
- Every dollar spent on email marketing has a return of $40
Social media marketing is on the rise, too, but it’s certainly not replacing email marketing. Instead, companies are using both mediums for ultimate reach.
So, while the importance of social media marketing is undeniable, email marketing remains a vital part of any digital marketing strategy.
I also factored in the following when forming this list of the best email CRM platforms:
Email Functionality
One of the key factors I used to rank the best CRM email marketing platforms is, of course, the email marketing functionality on offer with the CRM.
I looked for features like the ability to segment audiences, create automated email campaigns, A/B testing, automation, and even things like email analytical capabilities (to create custom reports), ensuring every CRM on this list would eliminate the need for you to invest in an email marketing platform separately.
Deliverability and Compliance
The provider’s delivery is important when it comes to an email marketing CRM. I factored this into my recommendations, as having a CRM with email marketing functionality is useless if all bulk emails you send end up in your lead or client’s spam folder.
Equally important, I also factored in whether the best CRM marketing platforms are compliant with email marketing regulations like GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and CASL.
Email Marketing CRM Trends That Businesses Should Be Aware of in 2024
This year, innovative technology has revolutionized email marketing CRM, making it better than ever. Let’s explore some of the top trends in email marketing CRM that you should be aware of.
- AI-Powered Personalization: Did you know that emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened than those without? That doesn’t mean you have to manually write out each contact’s name. Advanced AI is now being used to create hyper-personalized email content, which is seeing improvements in engagement and conversion rates. AI is also being used to automate and optimize A/B testing, allowing you to quickly identify the emails that your recipients respond best to.
- Enhanced Data Privacy Compliance: CRM systems are prioritizing tools that guarantee compliance with stricter data privacy regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA. This is partly in response to the introduction of the American Privacy Rights Act to Congress on April 7th, 2024. If passed, this law would set a unified national standard for data privacy that would apply to all large companies and individuals across the country, regardless of industry or location.
- Interactive Emails: We’re also seeing a rise in interactive email elements, such as polls, quizzes, and product carousels, to boost engagement directly within your users’ inboxes and save your carefully crafted emails from going directly to the trash.
What’s the Best Free CRM With Email Marketing Tools?
HubSpot is the best free email marketing CRM. It provides a solid set of CRM and email marketing features at no cost, making it a good pick for startups and budget-conscious organizations.
While a free tool like HubSpot can help those looking to experiment with CRM and email marketing and even offers customer service software, a free plan usually has many limitations.
If you want to scale, I suggest opting for a paid solution to handle your business’s marketing efforts. Premium tools offer more advanced CRM features and fewer limitations.
Why You Need a CRM With Email Marketing
While a CRM software is important for most business, CRM email marketing tools can help you address issues related to data management, email campaign effectiveness, and customer segmentation within a single platform.
Using an email marketing tool without a CRM system can result in several challenges. The main issue is data fragmentation, which can lead to missed opportunities or errors.
Opting for CRM software with email marketing centralizes your customer data, giving your sales and marketing teams access to the same information, so they can improve their processes.
These tools often allow you to access customer interactions and history, improving the precision of your personalized email content and driving higher conversions and engagement.
In addition, a CRM for email marketing can help you create a sales pipeline and improve conversion rates with marketing automation features like email sequences triggered by specific customer actions.
Top Tips: A Quick Guide to Using Your CRM for Email Marketing
In this section, I’ll outline some top tips for you to maximize the email marketing features within your CRM and improve your engagement rate.
You can do more than just insert their name. With the rich banks of data in your CRM, you can personalize each email based on your recipient’s location, past purchases, interactions, and preferences. It’s entirely possible with your CRM data to make your contacts feel like you’re writing just for them.
Always test email automations before launching them. Sign up yourself or a colleague and follow the journey in your CRM to ensure everything functions correctly before hitting send. This quick check takes minutes and can prevent costly mistakes, like sending key clients down the wrong path.
Keep an eye on your CRM’s analytics to identify what’s working and what’s not. For instance, if leads are dropping off at the proposal stage, it may be a good time to refine your proposals for improved conversion rates.
Key Features of a CRM for Email Marketing
CRMs can support a wide spectrum of business activities, so what makes a CRM a good fit for email marketing? In this section, I’ll run through some of the key features you should look out for in an email marketing CRM.
As I’ve mentioned, personalization within email marketing is incredibly powerful. It ensures that you maintain a human touch when communicating with your audience. Contact segmentation can support email personalization by sorting your customers into categories such as buying behavior, location, and age, and then begin sending out targeted campaigns.
By integrating with your external email account, you can send emails directly to your contact list from your CRM and ensure you maintain an overview of your ongoing communications.
It’s important to continually monitor the success of your email campaigns to see what’s working and what can be improved. By using tracking features, you can begin to understand the performance of your campaigns via metrics such as open rate and click-through rate.
As your business expands, it can be challenging to maintain consistent workflows for email marketing. Automations allow you to establish actions that will occur automatically when triggered. For instance, you can create an automated thank-you message when someone makes a purchase, eliminating the need to send it manually each time.
Everybody suffers from writer’s block from time to time, but you can use templates and AI content generators within certain CRMs to find fresh inspiration to keep your email campaigns engaging.
How to Choose the Best Email Marketing CRM
Picking a CRM email marketing tool for your business can be challenging. Here are some crucial factors to consider before you make your decision:
Assess your budget and the CRM’s scalability to determine if it aligns with your long-term growth potential. Consider solutions with feature-rich, customizable plans, even if you don’t need to opt for their most expensive solutions from the start.
An intuitive interface and easy-to-use features can make a CRM system more accessible to your team, leading to a better experience with the tool and eliminating performance drops.
Consider the CRM’s email deliverability rates. High deliverability rates ensure your emails reach the inbox and avoid spam folders, improving the campaign’s performance.
Ensure your future CRM email marketing tool allows you to create personalized email templates and messages that align with your brand identity. In addition, look for solutions with customizable landing pages and custom fields.
Evaluate the CRM’s contact segmentation capabilities. Customer segmentation allows you to target specific customer groups with relevant messages, ensuring your emails resonate with your target audience.
FAQs
What is CRM in email marketing?
Can you use a CRM for email marketing?
What is the difference between CRM and email marketing?
Can you use Gmail as a CRM?
Can I get an email CRM free?
What is the best email CRM for small businesses?
References
- Number of Email Users From 2017 to 2026 (Statista)
- Email Marketing Revenue Worldwide From 2020 to 2027 (Statista)
- Email Marketing ROI Statistics (Luisa Zhou)
- Marketer Email Tracker 2019 (The Direct Marketing Association)
- The Importance of Social Media Marketing (DigitalMarketing)
- How To Build an Effective E-commerce Campaign (EU Business School)
- What is B2B Marketing? (West Virginia University – Marketing Communications)
- A Refresher on A/B Testing (HBR)
