Best Email Marketing Tools for Course Creators in 2026 (Ranked and Reviewed)

The best email marketing tools for course creators do three jobs well: deliver your free lead magnet, run a welcome sequence that sells your course, and tag buyers so they get the right emails afterward. This guide ranks 8 tools on how well they do those jobs, using each company’s own pricing page checked on September 28, 2026.

A note on ranking: two of the tools below, Systeme.io and AWeber, pay us a commission when you sign up through our links. We ranked every tool by fit for course creators, and we placed cheaper or free options above paid ones whenever they fit better.

Quick verdict

For most course creators, Systeme.io is the best choice because it puts email, sales funnels, and course hosting in one account, starting on a free plan. Choose Kit if you sell digital products and want a creator-focused email tool. Choose AWeber if you have a small list and want landing pages and phone support. The rest of this guide explains why, tool by tool.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	Free plan	Starting price	Automations
1. Systeme.io	Courses, funnels, and email in one account	Yes, 2,000 contacts	Startup: $17/month ($170/year)	Included on every plan
2. Kit (ConvertKit)	Creators selling digital products	Yes, up to 10,000 subscribers	Creator: $390/year at 1,000 subscribers	None on Free. Unlimited on Creator
3. AWeber	Small lists, landing pages, phone support	Yes, with limits	Lite: $12.49/month billed annually (up to 500 subscribers)	Lite: 3. Plus: unlimited
4. MailerLite	Budget-friendly creators	Yes, up to 250 subscribers	Comfort: from $12/month	Free: 3. Comfort: 50
5. Kartra	Established coaches who want everything in one place	No, 14-day trial	Essentials: $52/month billed annually	Behavior-based automations on Growth ($189/month annually)
6. Brevo	Sending high email volume on a budget	Yes, 300 emails a day	Paid prices depend on email volume	Standard plan and up
7. Mailchimp	Familiar tool with a small free plan	Yes, up to 250 contacts	Essentials from $13/month (first 12 months)	Essentials: 4 steps. Standard: up to 200 flows
8. ActiveCampaign	Advanced, behavior-based automation	No free plan listed, 14-day trial	Price depends on your contact count	Every plan, with limits on Starter

What course creators need from an email tool

• A lead magnet delivery. A form or landing page that sends your free download automatically.
• A welcome sequence. Several emails that build trust and lead to your course.
• Tags and segments. A way to separate buyers from people who have not bought yet.
• Selling tools. Checkout or payment links, or an easy connection to your course platform.
• A price that fits your list size. Most tools charge by contacts, so your bill grows as your list does.

1. Systeme.io: best all-in-one for course creators

Best for: Course creators who want email, sales funnels, and course hosting in one account, at the lowest price.

Key features

• Email marketing with unlimited sends on every plan, plus automation rules and workflows.
• Sales funnels, a page builder, and online courses in the same account.
• Unlimited students, unlimited file storage, and no platform transaction fees on every plan.
• An affiliate program you can run for your own course.

Pricing: The Free plan covers up to 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 blog, 1 course, and 1 custom domain, with no credit card required. Startup is $17 a month ($170 a year) for up to 5,000 contacts, unlimited funnels, and 5 courses. Webinar is $47 a month and Unlimited is $97 a month. You can start on Systeme.io’s free plan with no credit card.

Pros

• You can host your course, run your funnel, and send your emails without paying for three tools.
• The free plan never expires.
• Flat pricing with unlimited email sends.

Cons

• The Free plan caps you at 3 funnels and 1 course.
• Design options are more limited than premium tools, so test the page builder before you commit.

Bottom line: If you are launching your first course, start here. See our Systeme.io vs Kajabi comparison for a deeper look.

2. Kit (formerly ConvertKit): best for creators who sell digital products

Best for: Creators who sell digital products, subscriptions, or a paid newsletter and want to start free.

Key features

• Unlimited landing pages, forms, and email broadcasts on every plan.
• Tagging and segmentation on every plan.
• Selling of digital products and subscriptions on every plan, including Free.
• Unlimited visual automations and email sequences from the Creator plan.

Pricing: The Free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers. Creator costs $390 a year (shown as $33 a month) at 1,000 subscribers. Pro costs $790 a year at the same size. Both paid plans offer a 14-day free trial with no credit card. See the Kit pricing page.

Pros

• A generous free plan for a large list.
• Built around creators, with selling tools included on Free.
• Free migration from another platform on paid plans.

Cons

• The Free plan has no automations and no email sequences, so a welcome sequence needs the paid Creator plan.
• Kit branding stays on your pages and emails until you upgrade.

Bottom line: A strong pick if your business is a list plus digital products. Our AWeber vs ConvertKit comparison covers it in detail.

3. AWeber: best for small lists that need landing pages and support

Best for: Course creators with a small list who want landing pages, a low starting price, and real support.

Key features

• Landing page templates, an AI page builder, and an AI writing assistant.
• Free account migration service.
• Web push notifications and integrations with PayPal, WordPress, and more.
• Priority 24/7 support with chat, email, and phone on the Plus plan.

Pricing: Lite starts at $12.49 a month billed annually for up to 500 subscribers, with 1 list, 3 landing pages, and 3 automations. Plus is $19.99 a month billed annually at the same size, with unlimited automations and landing pages. At 1,000 subscribers, Lite is $250 a year and Plus is $450 a year. Both plans include a 14-day trial, and AWeber also offers a free plan with limits. You can start a 14-day AWeber trial to test it.

Pros

• One of the lowest paid starting prices on this list.
• Priority phone support is included on the Plus plan.
• Landing pages are built in.

Cons

• Lite caps you at 3 automations and 3 landing pages.
• Plus costs more than Kit Creator at 1,000 subscribers.

Bottom line: A good fit for a coach with a list under 1,000 who wants help when something breaks.

4. MailerLite: best budget-friendly option

Best for: Creators on a tight budget who want a clean tool and a free plan to test with.

Key features

• A drag-and-drop editor, automations, landing pages, and websites.
• Selling of digital products and bookings.
• An AI writing assistant on the Comfort plan and up.
• An MCP server that connects Claude and ChatGPT to your account.

Pricing: The Free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, with 3 automations, 1 website and landing page, and 1 digital product. Comfort starts at $12 a month with 50 automations and 10 landing pages. Power starts at $25 a month with unlimited emails and automations. Prices rise with your subscriber count, and yearly billing saves 10%. There is a 14-day trial of premium features. See the MailerLite pricing page.

Pros

• A useful free plan for testing.
• MailerLite says every paid plan includes its full feature set, and you pay more for a bigger list or more sending.
• A low starting price.

Cons

• The Free plan stops at 250 subscribers and has community support only.
• Comfort limits your monthly emails to 10 times your subscriber tier.

Bottom line: The best pick if price is your first concern and your list is still small.

5. Kartra: best all-in-one for established coaches

Best for: Coaches who already sell several programs and want pages, email, courses, and checkout in one dashboard.

Key features

• Landing pages, funnels, email and SMS, membership sites, checkouts, and calendars.
• Unlimited email and SMS from the Starter plan.
• Automations, affiliates, and a help desk on the Growth plan.
• A 14-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Pricing: Essentials is $52 a month billed annually ($59 monthly). Starter is $99 ($119 monthly). Growth is $189 ($229 monthly). Professional is $429 ($549 monthly). See the Kartra pricing page.

Pros

• One login for most of a course business.
• 0% transaction fees from Starter.

Cons

• No free plan.
• Essentials charges a 5% fee on sales, and automations start on the $189 Growth plan.

Bottom line: Worth it once you have a working offer. Read our Kartra review for coaches before you buy.

6. Brevo: best for sending high email volume on a budget

Best for: Course creators with a larger list who send often and want a free plan with a daily sending cap.

Key features

• Email and SMS campaigns, with SMS credits sold separately.
• A drag-and-drop editor, forms, and advanced segmentation.
• Marketing automation, A/B testing, and landing pages from the Standard plan.
• A free plan that sends up to 300 emails a day.

Pricing: Brevo describes its paid plans by monthly email volume, starting from 5,000 emails a month on Starter. Its pricing page shows exact prices through a calculator, so check the current amount for your volume before you decide. A 10% discount applies to yearly billing. See the Brevo pricing page.

Pros

• A free plan with no credit card required.
• Plans are described by email volume rather than list size, which can suit a large list that sends rarely.

Cons

• Automation and landing pages start on the Standard plan.
• The free plan caps sends at 300 emails a day.

Bottom line: Consider it if your list is large and your sending is light. It is less tuned to course sales than the tools above.

7. Mailchimp: best-known name, with a small free plan

Best for: Course creators who already know Mailchimp or need a basic free plan for a very small list.

Key features

• Email campaigns, popup forms, and pre-built templates.
• Marketing automation flows on paid plans.
• More than 300 integrations.
• 24/7 email and chat support on paid plans.

Pricing: The Free plan covers up to 250 contacts, with 1 seat, 1 audience, and no automation flows. Essentials shows $13 a month and Standard shows $20 a month for the smallest contact tier as an introductory price for the first 12 months, with regular pricing after that. Both include a 14-day free trial. Essentials allows up to 4 flow steps, and Standard allows up to 200 flows. See the Mailchimp pricing page.

Pros

• A large ecosystem of integrations.
• A free plan for the smallest lists.

Cons

• The Free plan has no automations and limits sends to 500 a month or 250 a day.
• Overages are billed automatically when you pass your contact or send limit.
• Introductory pricing rises after the first year.

Bottom line: Fine if you already use it. For a new course business, the tools above give you more automation for your money.

8. ActiveCampaign: best for advanced automation

Best for: Course creators with a proven business who need behavior-based automation and a CRM.

Key features

• Multi-step marketing automation with more than 950 automation recipes.
• Landing pages and forms, plus segmentation that grows by plan.
• More than 1,000 integrations, including Stripe, PayPal, and Zapier.
• SMS and WhatsApp available as add-ons.

Pricing: Plans are Starter, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise, priced by your contact count. Its pricing page uses a calculator, so check the current price for your list size. There is a 14-day free trial, a 30-day money-back guarantee, and free migration and onboarding. See the ActiveCampaign pricing page.

Pros

• Very deep automation.
• Strong integrations.

Cons

• Starter limits automations to 5 actions each, and unlimited actions start on Plus.
• No free plan is listed, and it is more tool than a first-time course creator needs.

Bottom line: The right tool for a business with a large funnel. It is too much for a first course.

How to choose in one minute

• Zero budget and under 250 subscribers: MailerLite Free or Systeme.io Free.
• You need to host the course too: Systeme.io.
• You sell digital products or a paid newsletter: Kit.
• You want landing pages and phone support: AWeber.
• You run several programs and have revenue: Kartra.
• You need deep, behavior-based automation: ActiveCampaign.

Whichever you pick, build one welcome sequence first and measure how many subscribers reach your sales page. To see where email fits in a full setup, read our guide to the best tech stack for online coaches and our guide to the best funnel builders for coaches.

FAQ

What is the best free email marketing tool for course creators?

Systeme.io’s Free plan covers up to 2,000 contacts and includes email, funnels, and a course. Kit’s Free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers but has no automations. MailerLite’s Free plan covers up to 250 subscribers with 3 automations.

Do I need a separate email tool if my course platform has email?

Not always. If your course platform includes email marketing, as Systeme.io and Kartra do, you may not need a second tool. If your course platform has weak email features, a dedicated tool like Kit or AWeber gives you better sequences and segmentation.

How much should a course creator spend on email marketing?

Start free. Move to a paid plan only when you need automations, more contacts, or removed branding. Several paid plans on this list start around $12 to $17 a month for small lists, including MailerLite, AWeber, and Systeme.io.

Can I switch email tools later?

Yes. Export your subscribers as a CSV file first. AWeber offers a free migration service, and Kit and ActiveCampaign offer migration help on their paid plans.

Keep reading

• AWeber vs ConvertKit for solopreneurs: which is better in 2026?
• How to automate client onboarding as a coach
• Kartra review for coaches: is it worth it?
• Best tools for course creators starting out in 2026

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I genuinely believe in for solopreneurs.