5 Best Benchmark Email Alternatives, Competitors & Similar Software

If you have been tirelessly trying to find some of the best Benchmark Email alternatives then you have arrived at the right place.

No doubt Benchmark Email is one of the oldest and experienced email marketing software. Having launched in 2004, it has seen the ups & downs of the email marketing industry.

Naturally, it also caters to a lot of clients from around the world.

But as of now, when email marketing is at its peak and there are new & better software available in the market, it’s better to make the switch from Benchmark Email.

Not to forget, there are a lot of major flaws and drawbacks in the software itself (will be discussed later).

So to help you choose the better software, I am going to list and explore all the best Benchmark Email alternatives in detail. By the time you are done with this blog post, you would have found an ideal replacement.

Let’s start with…

Overview Of Best Benchmark Email Alternatives

Before we start talking about these softwares in detail, allow me to briefly talk about –

• What is Benchmark Email?
• Why do you need to look for a better alternative software? (Cons of Benchmark Email)
• What features you should look for in the replacement software?

What Is Benchmark Email?

Benchmark Email, as the name suggests, is an email marketing service that has been catering to its customers since 2004.

Its huge experience in the email marketing industry has made it one of the top service providers. Benchmark Email packs all the essential features and tools such as drag & drop builder, sign-up forms, landing page builder, automation, etc. to help you maximize your emailing performance.

And, that is why it has successfully catered to thousands of users from around the world.

But now, when email marketing has advanced to the next level and involves omnichannel marketing strategy, that is where Benchmark Email starts to lag behind.

Besides this, there are a lot of major issues with the software that forces you to look for a replacement. We are going to discuss them now…

Why Do You Need A Benchmark Email Alternative? (Cons Of Benchmark Email)

Here are some of the drawbacks of using Benchmark Email that its users are facing or have faced in recent times –

• Lack Of Omnichannel Marketing Features – In the current age, a lot of email marketing software comes with omnichannel marketing features such as SMS marketing, social media ads, push notifications, etc. These features are missing in Benchmark Email.
• Below Average Email Delivery Rate – According to the Email Deliverability tests (March 2021) conducted by the team at EmailToolTester, they found that Benchmark has the lowest (in comparison to 14 other tools) average deliverability rate of 75%. Additionally, the team also concluded that 22.7% of emails by Benchmark Email are going to be flagged as spam.
• Issues With Email Builder & Editor – After talking with a few of its past users and reading reviews of Trustpilot, I found that they faced a lot of bugs in the email builder. Not to forget, the text editor sometimes does not follow the formatting.
• Basic Marketing Automation – Benchmark Email only supports basic email automation workflows such as send a welcome email to new subscribers, purchase confirmation, etc. When it comes to splitting the automation workflow or create advanced rules, the software fails to deliver.
• Limited Set Of Features – In the end, Benchmark Email does not offer a few additional features such as a live chat module, pop-up forms, funnel builder, and more. For this, you need to find a better alternative to Benchmark Email.

An Ideal Benchmark Email Alternative Should Have These Features –

Here’s a checklist of features that you should look for in all the Benchmark Email alternatives –

• Bug-Free Drag & Drop Editor – The software should allow you to create and edit email templates via the drag & drop interface. For this, it should also provide you with the necessary elements for your templates.
• Sign Up Forms & Landing Pages – To capture leads, the replacement software should enable you to create sign-up forms in the first place. Additionally, to take things to the next level, the software should also permit you to create landing pages and embed sign-up forms in them.
• Readymade Templates – The chosen software should make your designing work easier by providing you with a set of readymade email templates. Besides this, if you also get a library of pre-built sign-up forms and landing page templates then it would be great.
• Subscriber Segmentation – All the better Benchmark Email competitors should also allow you to create segmentation of your email list. The segmentation can be on different factors like activity, behavior, etc.
• Advanced Marketing Automation – The tool should allow you to create advanced marketing automation with conditional branched workflows. It would also be great if the software provides you with some readymade workflow templates as well.
• Omnichannel Marketing Features – The chosen Benchmark Email alternative should allow you to send marketing campaigns across multiple channels. This could include SMS, web pushes, social media ads, etc.
• Affordable Pricing Plans With Free Trial – Lastly, whichever software you choose, it should be affordable and should come with a generous free trial/plan so that you can test it out before purchasing.

Based on these characteristics, I have found some of the best Benchmark Email alternatives. Let’s explore each of them in detail –

1. GetResponse

The recent development and introduction of many new features in GetResponse makes it one of the best Benchmark Email alternatives. In addition to email marketing, GetResponse now is fully capable of carrying out omnichannel marketing campaigns. For this, it offers features like web push notifications, social media ads, Google ads, live chat, and more.

That’s not all, GetResponse also packs some of the most unique features like funnel builder and webinars. Also, if you are new to the marketing world, it also allows you to create a full-fledged website. Not to forget, GetResponse has a better email deliverability rate than Benchmark Email. That is why it has been the pick of the software for bloggers, eCommerce businesses, marketers, agencies, etc.

Why GetResponse Is The Best Benchmark Email Alternative?

• State-Of-The-Art Email Builder – GetResponse arguably has one of the easiest drag & drop email builders. With the help of this, you can create mobile-friendly email templates. Besides this, you can also create templates with just the text or import your custom HTML code.
• Huge Library Of Readymade Templates – When it comes to offering readymade templates, GetResponse impresses us by providing us a huge set of templates for emails, sign-up forms, landing pages, etc. You can also easily edit them to match your brand voice.
• Advanced Marketing Automation – Unlike Benchmark Email, GetResponse is well equipped to create advanced marketing automation workflows. In addition to this, you can also create conditional branching in your workflow along with A/B split testing.
• Sales Funnel & Webinars – GetResponse is the only Benchmark Email competitor that offers a funnel builder and webinar module in the single dashboard. The funnels can be used to capture leads, boost sales, etc. and webinars can be used to nurture your leads. The software also allows you to embed polls and surveys in your webinars.
• Omnichannel Marketing Tools – As said earlier, GetResponse offers a multitude of omnichannel marketing features. It includes social media ads, Google ads, web push notifications, a live chat module, and an AI-driver website builder.

Cost Of Using GetResponse

GetResponse allows you to get started by offering you a generous forever free plan. In the free plan, you’d get access to all the basic marketing features and tools of the software.

In addition to this, if you want to try the advanced marketing features of GetResponse, you can sign up for its 30 days free trial period (for premium plans). In this trial period, you will unlock advanced features like autoresponders, list management & segmentation, webinars, sales funnels, etc.

Once you are satisfied or have exhausted your trial period, you’d have to upgrade to its monthly, yearly, or two-yearly subscription plans.

As of now, there are 4 pricing plans that are built on the basis of the number of contacts imported or acquired. Rest assured, you’d get unlimited email sends. Besides this, you’d unlock advanced features and usage limits as you go higher up the plan.

Here’s the GetResponse pricing plan for 1,000 contacts –

• Forever Free – A lifetime free plan that offers you basic marketing features. It allows you to send unlimited emails to 500 contacts. You’d also able to create 1 website with 10 sub-pages. But you’d only be allowed to create 1 landing page with sign up forms and pop-ups.
• Basic – This plan starts at $15/month and it will grant you access to features like email marketing, unlimited landing pages, email autoresponders, website builder, and 1 sales funnel.
• Plus – It starts at $49/month but you get to use features like marketing automation, webinars, and contact scoring. Additionally, you’d be able to create 5 sales funnels and webinar funnels respectively.
• Professional – The starting price of $99/month will enable you to create unlimited marketing automation, sales funnels, webinar funnels, etc. This plan will also grant you access to advanced marketing feature of web push notifications.
• Max – This plan is ideal for enterprise-level businesses with high volume needs. Hence, you’d have to get in touch with the GetResponse sales team for custom pricing. The plan will offer you access to advanced features like transactional emails, dedicated support, assisted IP warm-up, etc.

2. Brevo

Brevo is yet another gem of a software that has grown from just a simple email marketing tool to a suite of digital marketing tools. In simple words, Brevo offers email marketing along with other marketing features like social media ads, SMS marketing, SMTP server, live chat, CRM, and much more. Due to its multi-user nature, it qualifies as one of the best Benchmark Email alternatives.

Speaking about the performance of emails sent via Brevo, according to EmailToolTester’s deliverability report, Brevo has a 96% average email deliverability. This high number makes it one of the top three emailing services in terms of email delivery. If you compare it with Benchmark Email, it is significantly higher. Hence, you can expect better engagement and conversions from the email campaigns sent via Brevo.

Why Brevo Is The Best Benchmark Email Alternative?

• Drag & Drop Email Building – Similar to Benchmark Email, Brevo allows you to create email templates with the help of a drag & drop builder. All the email templates created are mobile-responsive in nature. Not to forget, you can also add custom HTML code for your templates as well.
• SMTP Server – Brevo is one of the only Benchmark Email competitors that offer an SMTP server. You can connect this SMTP server with any third-party SaaS to send transactional emails to your customers or subscribers. It also offers an extensive set of API for integration.
• Advanced Automation Workflows – Brevo allows you to automate your email marketing strategy by enabling you to create marketing automation workflows. You can create advanced workflows with a drag & drop interface or use any of its prebuilt automation templates. Rest assured, you also get to add conditional logic in your automation workflows.
• Lead Capture & Segmentation – The software offers plenty of ways to capture leads. Some of it includes sign-up forms, landing pages, etc. In addition to this, Brevo also allows you to easily embed your sign-up forms in the landing pages or your self-hosted website. Not to forget, Brevo also comes as a WordPress plugin.
• Other Marketing Tools – Besides email marketing, Brevo packs a plethora of other digital marketing tools. It includes SMS marketing, Facebook ads, CRM, and a live chat widget. All of these tools will be available in one dashboard (access depends on your subscription plan).

Cost Of Using Brevo

The best part about Brevo’s pricing plan is that it comes with a forever free plan. This free plan allows you to send 300 emails in a day to unlimited contacts.

Yes, there are certain limitations in the free plan but it can be removed by subscribing to its premium plans. Speaking of which, there are three monthly subscription plans that are built on the basis of the number of emails sent (in a month).

This means that you get to import and acquire unlimited contacts. Also, you’d get access to advanced features in higher plans.

• Free – A forever free plan for sending 300 emails/day.
• Lite – Here are some of the sub-tiers of this plan –
  • $25/month for 20,000 monthly emails
  • $32/month for 40,000 monthly emails
  • $45/month for 65,000 monthly emails
  • $65/month for 100,000 monthly emails
• Premium – In this plan, you will unlock advanced features like marketing automation, landing pages, Facebook ads, multi-user access, etc.
  • $65/month for 20,000 monthly emails
  • $79/month for 40,000 monthly emails
  • $94/month for 60,000 monthly emails 
  • $124/month for 100,000 monthly emails
  • $169/month for 150,000 monthly emails
  • $229/month for 250,000 monthly emails
  • $289/month for 350,000 monthly emails 
  • $379/month for 500,000 monthly emails
  • $499/month for 750,000 monthly emails 
  • $599/month for 1,000,000 monthly emails
• Enterprise – For the custom volume of emails, 20+ landing pages, 10+ user access, SSO, etc. you’d have to get in touch with the sales team for custom pricing.

3. ActiveCampaign

If you want to take your marketing strategy to the next level then you should definitely opt for ActiveCampaign. This software has been termed as one of the best automation platforms for eCommerce, small businesses, and enterprise-level businesses. It is also majorly used by different types of marketers as well.

Clearly, ActiveCampaign is one of the top Benchmark Email alternatives. Simply because of its popularity and its set of marketing features. In addition to this, you should also love to know that this software has consistently performed well in the email deliverability tests. In the recent test, it has an average deliverability score of 91% which is a lot better than Benchmark Email.

Why ActiveCampaign Is The Best Benchmark Email Alternative?

• State-Of-The-Art Email Builder – ActiveCampaign offers a drag & drop email builder to create mobile-responsive email templates. In addition to this, the tool comes with 125+ readymade templates that are designed for maximum engagement and conversion.
• Personalization & Segmentation – To yield the best results from your email marketing campaigns, ActiveCampaign enables you to segment your email lists on multiple factors. After this, you get to personalize your email templates with dynamic content and various tags.
• Powerful Marketing Automation – This platform has one of the best marketing automation modules. Not only do you get to design powerful automation workflows but you also get to include conditional logic to them. Besides this, ActiveCampaign also allows you to make use of email funnels for efficient lead nurturing and conversion.
• Other Marketing Tools – Unlike Benchmark Email, ActiveCampaign packs a lot of other marketing tools in addition to email marketing. It includes a CRM module, SMS marketing, Facebook custom audience, web personalization, landing pages, lead scoring, and more.
• Free Migration Service – To make your transition process smoother, ActiveCampaign offers a free migration service. In simple terms, if you are using Benchmark Email or any other software, the migration team will move your account data to your new ActiveCampaign account.

Cost Of Using ActiveCampaign

Great things come at a great price. The same is the case when it comes to ActiveCampaign pricing. To help you get started, this Benchmark Email competitor first offers a 14 days free trial period. The trial period grants adequate access to the software so that you can test out the application thoroughly.

After the trial period ends, you’d have to subscribe to any of its 4 subscription plans. It offers you the flexibility to choose either monthly or yearly billing options.

You should keep in mind that the pricing is built on the number of contacts imported. And, each plan has a different set of features that can be unlocked by subscribing to higher plans.

Here’s what ActiveCampaign will charge you for 500 contacts and different features –

• Lite – $15/month will grant you access to all the email marketing features like email builder, ready email templates, marketing automation, subscription forms, segmentation, reporting, site & event tracking, etc.
• Plus – By paying $70/month you’d unlock features like landing pages, Facebook custom audience, automation maps, CRM with sales automation, SMS marketing, and more.
• Professional – Similarly, this plan will cost you $159/month and you will unlock advanced features like site personalization, predictive sending, marketing attribution, site messages, split automation, etc.
• Enterprise – For even more advanced features like custom reporting, mailserver domain, reporting, social data enrichment, etc. you’d be charged $279/month.

4. MailerLite

If you like the basic nature of Benchmark Email and are only looking for an email marketing service then nothing can beat MailerLite. In comparison to all the Benchmark Email alternatives, MailerLite has the best email deliverability rate i.e. 97%. With this high score, you can only assume that your email campaigns will yield better engagement and conversion rates than Benchmark Email.

Although, if you happen to pick MailerLite, you should know that the software has a very thorough screening and onboarding process. After all, they have a reputation to maintain. Next, if you get approved by the MailerLite verification team, you should strictly adhere to fair email marketing practices. Otherwise, you might get banned. Apart from all this, the software offers all the essential email marketing tools and features.

Why MailerLite Is The Best Benchmark Email Alternative?

• Multiple Email Editors – Just like other Benchmark Email competitors, MailerLite also offers a drag & drop email editor. But it takes things up a notch by offering different types of email editors such as rich text and custom HTML. Not to forget, you can also speed up your template creation process by choosing any of its readymade email templates.
• Different Ways To Capture Leads – MailerLite also impresses us by offering different ways to grow your email list. Apart from conventional sign-up forms, this software offers landing pages, pop-ups, and a complete website builder. All the leads collected with these tools will be automatically added to your email lists.
• Contact Tagging & Segmentation – In order to send personalized email campaigns, MailerLite allows you to add tags to your contacts according to their behavior and activity. In addition to this, the application offers various segmentation rules. Also, you can use dynamic content in your email templates for different audiences.
• Campaign Optimization & Testing Tools – Again, to maximize the impact of your email campaigns, MailerLite enables you to deliver your campaigns according to your subscriber’s time zone. To further complement this feature, the software comes with an auto resend feature that automatically sends the email to the contacts who have not opened your first campaign. At last, you can A/B split test your email to find out what works best for you.
• Onpoint Reporting & Tracking – MailerLite is the only alternative to BenchMark that enables you to embed surveys in your email campaigns. You can use this feature to seek feedback and testimonials from your customers. Besides this, you get to track and monitor the performance of your email campaigns as well.

Cost Of Using MailerLite

MailerLite is a free Benchmark Email alternative. In simple terms, it offers a forever free plan that allows you to send 12,000 monthly emails to 1,000 contacts. In the free plan, you get all the important email marketing features.

To be able to use advanced features and send unlimited email campaigns, you’d have to subscribe to its premium plans. Unlike any other alternatives, MailerLite offers a single plan that grants complete access to the software.

The pricing is built on the number of contacts imported and hence, there are multiple sub-tiers of pricing in MailerLite –

• 1 – 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails – Forever free
• 1 – 1,000 subscribers – $10 per month
• 1,001 – 2,500 subscribers – $15 per month
• 2,501 – 5,000 subscribers – $30 per month
• 5,001 – 10,000 subscribers – $50 per month
• 10,001 – 15,000 subscribers – $75 per month
• 15,001 – 20,000 subscribers – $100 per month
• 20,001 – 25,000 subscribers – $120 per month

5. Constant Contact

Another simple yet efficient email marketing service that can be termed as one of the best Benchmark Email alternatives is Constant Contact. You’d also love to know that previously, it was just an email marketing tool but now, it can effortlessly create social media posts and ads from your dashboard. Hence, this service has been the “go-to” software for all marketers, eCommerce businesses, bloggers, websites, and agencies.

To make your marketing campaigns better than before, Constant Contact now allows you to conduct surveys and polls through emails and social media. Additionally, you can also collect donations from your landing pages. Ultimately, when you compare Constant Contact with Benchmark Email on the basis of email deliverability, you’d find that the former is far better than the latter. Hence, you can assume that your email campaigns will have a better impact on your subscribers.

Why Constant Contact Is The Best Benchmark Email Alternative?

• Smart Email Editor – The application packs a drag & drop builder for email editing. Also, if you are short on time, you can quickly use any of its prebuilt templates. Not to forget, all the emails created with Constant Contact’s builder are mobile responsive.
• Robust Marketing Automation – Constant Contact also allows you to create advanced marketing automation for your business. For instance, you can send welcome series of emails to your newly subscribed contacts. Or you can initiate automation based on the actions of your subscribers like recent product purchases, etc.
• List Building Tools & Segmentation – To help you capture more leads, Constant Contacts offers various list building tools such as sign-up forms, landing pages, etc. Moreover, after adding your new subscribers to your email lists, you can segment on different factors for better email personalization.
• Supports Social Media Publishing – In addition to creating and posting social media ads, Constant Contact is also capable of publishing simple social media posts. With the help of this feature, you can take care of your social media marketing strategy without leaving your Constant Contact dashboard.
• Insightful Tracking & Reporting – Like any email marketing service, Constant Contact allows you to monitor the performance of your email campaigns. For this, it offers an insightful tracking dashboard that shows real-time metrics like opens, clicks, unsubscribers, etc.

Cost Of Using Constant Contact

Constant Contact is one of the few Benchmark Email alternatives that offers 30 days free trial period. The free trial grants enough usage limits and feature access to help you figure out if it suits your needs.

After testing out the application, you will have the option to subscribe to either of its two monthly subscription plans. Both the plans offer all the email marketing features but the “Email Plus” plan includes advanced features.

Rest assured, both plans will allow you to send unlimited emails.

• Email – The plan starts at $20/month and offers basic email marketing, list building, eCommerce marketing, social media posting, basic marketing automation features, etc.
• Email Plus – This plan will start at $45/month but will grant you access to advanced features like pop-ups, coupons, polls, automated email behavioral series, advanced A/B split testing, and much more.

Which Is The Best Benchmark Email Alternative? – The Verdict

After exploring all the top Benchmark Email alternatives, I can only assume that you have found yourself an ideal replacement.

If you still haven’t then I would encourage you to sign up for their free trials and test out the application. After this, you’d be able to decide which software will suit your marketing needs.

Although, if you are low on time and are looking for a quick resolution then I would suggest you go with GetResponse. The software packs all the essential email marketing features, other tools, and omnichannel marketing features. All in all, you get the complete marketing solution in one software.

At last, here are a couple of relevant blog posts for you to read –

• Top MailerLite alternatives
• Best alternatives to Bronto