Email marketing is an undeniably powerful strategy for lead acquisition and customer retention.
Of course, creating an email marketing campaign isn’t easy, and it might require you to build a template using HTML so you’re not designing and altering every new email from scratch.
Thankfully, there are dozens of email template builders available, all of which can help you intuitively and quickly create new email templates for your upcoming campaigns.
Email Template Builders
Now you might be wondering how you’re supposed to know which template builder will best suit your needs?
We’ve done the homework for you, compiling a list of our favorite email template builders, complete with pricing, screenshots, and a general overview of each app’s unique features. Keep reading to choose the best email template builder for your company.
But first — why do you need an email template builder, anyway? Let’s start by answering this important question.
Why You Need an Email Template Builder
An email template builder grants you several advantages:
1. Better Design Features
Without a template builder, you may struggle to arrange your content in blocks as you want, or add videos to your email.
2. Initial Time Savings
Most email template builders rely on intuitive mechanics, like drag-and-drop editors, so you can design your emails faster.
3. Long-Term Time Savings
Creating a library of email templates can save you a ton of time long-term, allowing you to quickly choose and lightly edit past templates for new emails.
4. Replicability
Did you see impressive results with your most recent campaign? With an email template builder, you can easily replicate it with some minor tweaks in the future.
5. Analytics
Most email template builders also feature built-in analytics, which you can use to study your past email marketing efforts and make improvements to your approach.
Additionally, depending on the email template builder you’re using, you may have access to even more features.
Next, let’s dive into some of the best builders.
The Best Email Template Builders
Here are some of the best email template builders — they’re categorized by their pricing plans.
Best All-Around Email Template Builder
1. HubSpot Email Marketing Tools
HubSpot offers a comprehensive, start-to-finish solution for all your marketing needs. You can create a sleek, on-brand email campaign using HubSpot’s drag-and-drop editor, and customize the template to match your brand and align with your goals.
Additionally, you can customize each email depending on your recipient’s lifecycle stage, list membership, or any information in their contact records to ensure each email is designed for optimal conversions.
Best of all, the email tool provides top-notch analytics and A/B testing tools so you can continue to refine your marketing strategy over time.
Unique Features
- Analytics to provide deep insights into your email success rates, including open-rate, most popular links clicked in an email, who engages with each email, when and on which device, and what emails perform best.
- Tailor each email to individual subscribers based on lifecycle stage, list membership, or any other contact information to serve the best calls-to-action to segmented groups.
- Ability to run A/B tests to improve open rates and clickthroughs.
- More than 100 email templates available by default.
- Custom landing page creation tools.
- Advanced social sharing options.
- Integrations with other marketing tools (more than 300 third-party apps).
- 24/7 support from customer service reps.
Pricing
Free, $45/mo (Starter), $800/mo (Professional), $3,200/mo (Enterprise)
Best Free Email Template Builders
4. BEE Free
BEE Free is a free online email editor that has been used by more than a million people. In just a few clicks, you can get started designing your first email template — or use one of the 150 templates currently available by default. It also offers free design ideas on its own blog.
Unique Features
- 150 pre-designed templates (and additional paid templates).
- Full responsiveness for mobile-friendly designs.
- Integration with many SaaS apps.
- Options to pick up where you left off.
Pricing
Free
5. Mosaico
Mosaico.io is an open-source email template builder, which is something of a rarity. You won’t find any predesigned templates, as you would with other email template builders, but you will be able to alter the tool however you see fit.
Unique Features
- A unique click-based design tool, abandoning the traditional “drag-and-drop” model.
- Community support, due to its open-source nature.
- Infinite flexibility, if you’re willing to put in the work to customize it.
Pricing
Free
6. Unlayer
Unlayer is a free HTML email template builder, with a simple, easy-to-grasp approach. You can choose any of its 100+ base kit templates and edit the template as you see fit. You can also install the free Chrome extension if you want to integrate it with Gmail.
Unique Features
- Template designs are immediately available, so you can start in mere minutes.
- A free Chrome plugin so you can use the tool directly in your browser.
- The ability to save and download templates for future use.
Pricing
Free
Best Paid Email Template Builders
2. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is one of the top names in email marketing, in part because of its accessibility. It’s super easy to learn and build your first few email templates, and you can get started right now with a free plan. As you scale your business, you’ll find additional options, features, and tools for your needs.
Unique Features
- More than 100 email templates available by default.
- Custom landing page creation tools.
- Advanced social sharing options.
- Integrations with other marketing tools (more than 300 third-party apps).
- 24/7 support from customer service reps.
Pricing
Free, $9.99 (Essentials), $14.99 (Standard), $299 (Premium)
3. Moosend
Moosend’s easy-to-use drag-and-drop email editor allows you to create professional-looking email templates that include marketing elements — such as countdown timers and videos — without any prior HTML knowledge.
Unique Features
- Customizable, ready-made templates and custom fonts
- Drag-and-drop landing page editor
- Integration with GIPHY, Google Drive, Stock Photos, and social media platforms
- Video email marketing tools
- Customer support for all pricing plans through email, chat, and phone
Pricing
Free, $8/mo (Pro), call for a custom plan (Enterprise)
7. AWeber
AWeber is specifically designed for small businesses eager to get started with email marketing, but who might have trouble knowing where to begin. Predesigned templates, custom designs, and email automation are all available.
Unique Features
- A drag and drop AMP carousel, which allows you to add AMP image carousels to your emails.
- AWeber’s Smart Designer, which uses AI to construct and recommend email templates.
- A campaign marketplace that allows you to design and launch full email campaigns.
- 24/7 customer service.
Pricing
Free, $16.15/mo (Pro)
9. Campaign Monitor
Campaign Monitor is primarily focused on email marketing but has other features you can use for a variety of other marketing and ecommerce purposes. Because it’s designed to work for teams, it’s ideal if you have many people working together on your campaigns.
Unique Features
- Template management and collaboration for teams.
- Built-in support for surveys with unlimited questions.
- 80 predesigned email templates.
Pricing
$9/mo (Basic), $29/mo (Unlimited), $149/mo (Premier)
9. Chamaileon.io
Chamaileon.io is a cleverly named email template builder that allows your team to design emails collaboratively, complete with drag-and-drop mechanics so you never have to worry about coding. You can also design and follow a set email campaign workflow, simplifying your efforts in the future.
Unique Features
- Collaborative email design for teams working together on the same templates.
- Unique and flexible account roles for multiple levels of access.
- Replicable testing settings to allow for easy testing of new designs.
Pricing
$150/mo (Standard), $250/mo (Premium)
10. Designmodo Postcards
Designmodo Postcards email builder is designed to bring teams together for the email template building process. You can use it to design emails however you like, then export as HTML, or to a full email service provider like Mailchimp.
Unique Features
- Modular designs that help you stack, customize, and rearrange your options.
- Long-term content management to help you revisit previous successes.
- Unlimited exports, which is ideal if you’re exporting to other services frequently.
Pricing
Free, $18/mo (Business), $29/mo (Agency)
11. Stripo.email
Stripo.email helps you create responsive email templates without any HTML coding skills necessary. It also features innate dynamic AMP support, and a robust testing tool to help you preview your email in more than 90 popular environments, including variants for devices and browsers.
Unique Features
- Drag-and-drop AMP blocks for image carousel and/or accordion support.
- Thorough testing in nearly 100 different environments.
- A customizable module library, allowing you to reuse past successful elements.
- Integration with many ESPs and third-party tools.
Pricing
Free, $125/mo (Business), $400/mo (Agency)
12. Taxi for Email
Taxi for Email provides scalable email template creation, as well as the ability to create email workflows. It also allows you to assign various tasks and permissions to your team, so each of your marketers can play a role in perfecting your email campaign.
Unique Features
- Team dynamics, including collaborative tools, access assignment, and user permissions.
- Robust testing on-demand as you design.
- Support for multiple languages and email segmentation.
Pricing
Request a custom quote.
13. SendGrid
SendGrid is an email service that provides support for email template designs — additionally, it offers email functions such as automatic shipping notifications and password resets. It also boasts an open API, which you can use to integrate with just about anything.
Unique Features
- A wide variety of tools, including email design, automation, signup forms, and more.
- APIs, SMTP Relay, and Webhooks.
- Delivery optimization tools so you can increase delivery rates.
Pricing
Free; Essentials and Pro plans vary in pricing based on the number of emails you send per month but plans start at $14.95/mo and 89.95/mo respectively; call for a quote (Premier)
Choose the Best Email Template Builder for Your Needs
There are a number of benefits that result from using an email template builder — so, consider your needs, goals, and budget while reviewing the list above to determine which option is most ideal for your team.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
