6 Best CRM Software for Email Marketing in 2022

Learn about the best CRM software for email marketing with our independent editorial review, including use cases for each.

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Email marketing CRMs are sales software offering email marketing functionality for lead nurturing. The best CRMs for email marketing provide core sales pipeline features to manage your sales process as well as features like template emails, mass email sends, ongoing drip sequences, email analytics, list segmentation, and more. To help, we reviewed the top email marketing CRM options to arrive at the six best.

Here are the top six email marketing CRMs for salespeople and marketers:

  • Pipedrive: Best overall CRM and email marketing software in one (14-day free trial)
  • Zoho CRM: Best email marketing CRM software for email insights (free starting price)
  • ActiveCampaign: Best email marketing CRM software for automation (14-day free trial)
  • HubSpot Marketing Hub: Best free email marketing software option (free starting price)
  • Freshsales: Best CRM software option for template email management (free starting price)
  • Copper CRM: Best email marketing CRM for Google Workspace integration (14 day free trial)

How We Evaluated the Best Email Marketing CRM Software

When evaluating the best CRM software for email marketing, we first identified six weighted scoring categories and then scored every option in each category. We then used the individual category scores to assign each option on our list an overall score out of five, including the identification of primary use cases. Check out our specific scoring criteria below:

Evaluation Criteria

We first assessed each options pricing and core CRM feature set. From there, we reviewed email-specific functionality as well as important things like customization, ease of use, and an expert score based on public reviews and our third-party opinion.

Pricing:
10%
Core Features:
15%
Email Integration:
30%
Customization:
10%
Ease of Use:
20%
Expert Score:
15%

All pricing based on annual commitments unless otherwise noted.

Overall, we found Pipedrive to be the best overall CRM for email marketing based on our analysis above. However, all of the options on our list provide good solutions for specific use cases. Check out how each scored below.

Pipedrive: Best Overall Email Marketing CRM

Pipedrive is an easy-to-use CRM with an inexpensive add-on to natively integrate email marketing features.

Price Range: $14.90 to $99 per user, per month (14-day trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Pricing star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Email Integration star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Expert Score star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Email drip sequences
  • Email template builder
  • Email analytics available

Cons:

  • Email marketing costs exta
  • Third-party integrations lacking
  • Reporting lacks customizability

Pipedrive is an intuitive CRM offering core sales pipeline features as well as an inexpensive email marketing add on called "Campaigns". With Campaigns, you can create reusable email marketing templates, then segment your email lists and send automated email drips. From there, track your email performance with robust email analytics in pre-built or customizable reports. Campaign cost is $13.33 per user, per month.

Pipedrive is our top-rated email marketing CRM, but it doesn't come with a free version. If you need a free email marketing CRM option, visit HubSpot Marketing Hub.

  • Essential: $14.90 per user, per month (plus $13.33 Campaigns add-on)
  • Advanced: $27.90 per user, per month (plus $13.33 Campaigns add-on)
  • Professional: $49.90 per user, per month (plus $13.33 Campaigns add-on)
  • Power: $64.90 per user, per month (plus $13.33 Campaigns add-on)
  • Enterprise: $99 per user, per month (plus $13.33 Campaigns add-on)
  • Free Trial: 14 days for all plans

Pipedrive Key Features

  • Email Builder: Create professional email marketing emails via pre-built templates or a drag-and-drop template builder.
  • Email List Segmentation: Segment your leads and prospects and send messages tailored to your intended audience.
  • Email Marketing Drips: Create robust email marketing drip sequences that automate your email sends to individual prospects.
  • Email Analytics: Stay up to date with your email marketing performance using email marketing reports or reporting dashboards.

Dashboard in Pipedrive

Pipedrive

Zoho CRM: Best for Email Marketing Insights

Zoho offers a robust sales CRM with advanced marketing features, including email marketing capabilities and insights.

Price Range: Free to $52 per user, per month (15+ day trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Pricing star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Email Integration star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Expert Score star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full

Pros:

  • Free version available
  • Social media management
  • Highly customizable

Cons:

  • Third-party integrations are tricky
  • UI can be difficult to navigate
  • Customer support could improve

Zoho CRM is a top-rated marketing CRM offering core sales features as well as email marketing functionality. It's sales pipeline features include customizable fields, AI-powered sales forecasting, invoicing, and more. As far as for email marketing, create and send mass emails using templates as well as gain valuable, AI-powered email insights that include notifications and more. You can even add on Zoho Campaigns for more features.

Even though Zoho offers is a leading marketing CRM, its interface can be hard to use. If you're looking for a more intuitive option offering similar features, check out Pipedrive.

Zoho CRM Cost

  • Free Version: Supports up to three users
  • Standard: $14 per user, per month
  • Professional: $23 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: $40 per user, per month
  • Ultimate: $52 per user, per month
  • Free Trial: 15 to 30 days for all paid plans

Zoho CRM Key Features

  • Lead Nurturing: Manage and nurture leads from your CRM while accessing past email interactions and ongoing conversations.
  • Lead Profiles: Build lead profiles and link them directly to each lead’s email address. Just click on their email address to view their complete CRM profile.
  • Sync Contacts & Leads: Automatically scan incoming messages in your email, view the sender’s profile, and decide if they’re a contact or a lead.
  • Email Compatibility: If you’d prefer to use your current email address, Zoho CRM supports Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo.

Zoho CRM Email Marketing

Visit Zoho CRM

ActiveCampaign: Best for Email Marketing Automation

ActiveCampaign is a full-service email marketing software with CRM capabilities and advanced automation.

Price Range: $9 to $229+ per month (14-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Pricing star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Email Integration star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Expert Score star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Comprehensive technical support
  • Email marketing automation
  • Affordable pricing with 14-day trial

Cons:

  • Contacts above 500 cost extra
  • Reporting can be lacking
  • Automation is difficult to set up

ActiveCampaign is email marketing software with a built-in CRM, letting you automate your email marketing campaigns with just a few clicks. Not only does it provide automated follow-ups and notifications, but you can kick off the entire customer relationship with an automated message that’s sent after they visit your site. Because ActiveCampaign is email marketing software first, it provides one of the top solutions available.

ActiveCampaign is robust email marketing software, but its CRM features may be lacking when compared to traditional CRMs. If you need a more robust sales CRM with email marketing features, check out Pipedrive instead.

ActiveCampaign Cost

  • Lite: $9.00 per month for up to 500 contacts
  • Plus: $49 per month for up to 500 contacts
  • Professional: $129 per month for up to 500 contacts
  • Enterprise: $229 per month for up to 500 contacts
  • Free Trial: 14 days
  • Additional contacts can be purchased for extra

ActiveCampaign Key Features

  • Email Automation: Use their drag-and-drop editor to customize your automated email campaigns based on the interactions of leads and customers.
  • Identify Engaged Leads: Identify your most engaged leads and customers by assigning points to their interactions and sending automated emails at various milestones.
  • Third-Party Integration: Monitor third-party services, like Shopify, and send automated notifications to remind leads of abandoned shopping carts, discounts, or rebates.
  • Training & Onboarding: Included at every pricing tier, ActiveCampaign’s training and onboarding services make it easy to get started—regardless of your skill level.

active campaign dashboard example

Visit ActiveCampaign

HubSpot Marketing Hub: Best Free Option

HubSpot Marketing Hub offers free email marketing capabilites as well as free integration with HubSpot Sales Hub.

Price Range: Free to $3,200 per month

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Pricing star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Email Integration star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Expert Score star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Online and voice chat available
  • Customizable email templates
  • Robust free version available

Cons:

  • Higher tiers can be expensive
  • Locating data can be troublesome
  • Difficult to import leads

HubSpot Marketing Hub is the marketing platform offered by HubSpot with a free tier as well as premium paid tiers you can upgrade into. Its free option includes email marketing capabilities, and its paid tiers include things like lead scoring, social media management, and more. While it doesn't come with a visual pipeline, you can integrate natively with HubSpot's free CRM to supercharge your efforts.

HubSpot Marketing Hub is a great free email marketing solution, but you need HubSpot's CRM to make full use of it. If you'd rather have a native CRM with email marketing capabilities, try Pipedrive instead.

HubSpot Marketing Hub Cost

  • Free Plan: Support for unlimited users
  • Starter: $45 per month for 2 users
  • Professional: $450 per month for 5 users
  • Enterprise: $1,200 per month for 10 users

HubSpot Marketing Hub Key Features

  • Turn Emails Into Tickets: Automatically turn incoming emails—and chats—into support tickets for your team to prioritize and complete.
  • Integrated Phone Calls: If your customers prefer, you can easily use HubSpot CRM to address support issues via traditional or mobile voice chat.
  • Team-Oriented Emails: Communicate with your entire team by sending team-oriented emails and newsletters.
  • Online Knowledge Base: Access HubSpot CRM’s online knowledge base for helpful tips and tricks to optimize your email marketing campaigns.

HubSpot CRM dashboard

Visit Hubspot Marketing Hub

Freshsales: Best for Email Marketing Templates

Freshsales is a leading and easy-to-use CRM offering core sales features and template email creation and management.

Price Range: Free to $69 per user, per month (21-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Pricing star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Email Integration star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Expert Score star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full

Pros:

  • Free option for 3 users
  • Detailed analytics capabilities
  • Easy-to-use interface

Cons:

  • Growth tier is lacking features
  • Doesn't offer email drips
  • Missing some marketing features

Freshsales is our top-rated CRM offering a robust yet easy-to-use sales tool with a free version and paid options with advanced sales features. It also includes email marketing capabilities such as template emails, bulk emails, email sequences, and more. Its email marketing templates include advanced template tagging allowing you to better manage your reusable email templates. It even offers AI-powered tools for advanced features.

Freshales is a great option, but its email marketing drip capabilities are lacking. If you need an intuitive sales CRM with more robust email marketing functionality, visit Pipedrive.

Freshsales Pricing

  • Free Version: Supports up to 3 users
  • Growth: $15 per user, per month
  • Pro: $39 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: $69 per user, per month
  • Free Trial: 21 days

Freshsales Key Features

  • Contact Management Software: Freshsales offers a free-for-life plan with a built in phone dialer, live chat, and Facebook Messenger management.
  • Intuitive Sales Pipeline: Manage your sales pipeline with an intuitive sales pipeline that helps you track leads and prospects through your sales process.
  • Email Marketing Templates: Create email templates or use pre-built options, then track and manage those templates via template tags.
  • Reporting & Analytics: Freshsales offers custom reports and dashboards as well AI-powered sales tools to help with sales forecasting.

freshsales dashboard example

Visit Freshsales

Copper CRM: Best for Google Workspace

Cooper CRM is the best available solution for current Google Workspace users, formerly G Suite.

Price Range: $25 to $119 per user, per month (14-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Pricing star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Email Integration star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Expert Score star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Made for Google Workspace
  • Seamless integration with Gmail
  • Third-party integrations available

Cons:

  • Syncing data between apps tricky
  • Limited workflow automation
  • Customer support compalints

Copper CRM is compatible with many other apps and services but was built specifically for Google Workspace. Formerly known as G Suite, it features native integration with apps such as Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, and more. Not only, but Copper CRM even boasts some features that can’t be found in other Workspace integrations, including advanced reports from Google Sheets, analytics from Google Data Studio, and more.

Copper is great for Google Workspace users, but it might not be a good fit for Microsoft or other users. If you need a more widely-applicable email marketing CRM, try Pipedrive,

Copper CRM Cost

  • Basic: $25 per user, per month
  • Professional: $59 per user, per month
  • Business: $119 per user, per month
  • Free Trial: 14 days

Copper CRM Key Features

  • Automatically Update Records: Copper CRM automatically updates customer records based on your Gmail conversations.
  • Google Drive Integration: Store product photos, spec sheets, brochures, and more with Google Drive—and then link them directly to individual customer accounts.
  • Google Sheets Integration: Export CRM data from Copper into Google Sheets to create informative charts, graphs, and reports.
  • Google Data Studio Integration: Drag and drop data from multiple sources via Google Data Studio to build comprehensive profiles on contacts, leads, and partners.

Copper CRM email marketing

Visit Copper CRM

Top 5 Email Marketing CRM Features

The below email marketing features are included in the top CRMs for email marketing:

Email Templates

List Segmentation

Mass Email Sends

Email Drip Sequences

Email Analytics

Create reusable email marketing templates using drag-and-drop builders. Many of the top email marketing CRMs also offer pre-built templates you can use as is or customize for your specific needs. Save important templates and tag them for easy management.

Segment you list of leads or prospects based on demographics, psychographics, or online interactions. From there, you can send personalized mass emails or email drips that are tailored to your intended audience. This is especially important for those with multiple customer profiles or buyer personas.

Send mass sales emails for promotions or nurturing. While mass email sends can't be used as automated, ongoing drip sequences, it's a time-saving feature when you need to share the same or similar information with your wide audience.

Email drip sequences automate your email efforts by creating automated email flows that send specific emails over a specified period or when an email subscriber takes a specific action. This email automation is less common than the mass send functionality, but still available in many CRMs for email marketing.

Stay on top of email marketing performance with robust email analytics. This data can include things like email sends, opens, clicks, and more. Review this information using pre-built or custom reports and reporting dashboards.

Bottom Line: Best CRM Email Marketing

Never underestimate the reach of a strong email marketing campaign. Although they often work best when paired with other strategies, your email campaigns have the potential to reach far more consumers than social media or SMS advertising alone. Since campaigns can be difficult to manage, it’s recommended to find a CRM solution with built-in email marketing integration available.

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