The Best Email Newsletter Platforms for Web Agencies

Email is still the most reliable marketing channel most businesses have — and yet the platform decision is one that causes more hand-wringing than almost anything else.

Part of that is because “email newsletter platform” means different things to different people. For some agencies, it’s a simple broadcast tool. For others, it’s the center of an automation-heavy CRM system. And for others still, it’s a WordPress plugin that just needs to stay out of the way.

We asked the members of The Admin Bar which platforms they use and why they’ve stuck with them. The answers broke down into a few clear camps — and a few honest admissions that nobody loves their current setup quite as much as they’d like to.

Here’s what the community had to say.

The Most Mentioned Email Platforms

• MailerLite
• FluentCRM
• MailPoet
• MailChimp
• HighLevel
• ActiveCampaign
• Sendy + Amazon SES
• Other Platforms Worth Knowing

Why Agencies Choose These Email Platforms

MailerLite

MailerLite came up more than any other platform in this thread — and the honest version of the praise is that most people like it well enough, which turns out to be high praise in a category where everyone has complaints.

Honestly, the feeling in the thread was pretty mutual:

“I think MailerLite is pretty good value. I don’t actually love the interface (and some of the systems), but it does the job and the pain of switching is just too high. I’ve considered switching for probably 3 or 4 years now and every time I start to plan out the migration I give up.”

Jennifer Moss has about five accounts across clients, one paid after crossing the subscriber threshold. Irene Koukia and Meg Appleby are both in the same camp: it works, they don’t hate it, they haven’t left. Vicky Etherington points clients specifically to MailerLite for its generous free plan and user-friendly interface. Darren Locke was using it as his default until he started moving clients to MailerPress once they hit the 500-subscriber free limit.

The pattern here is clear: MailerLite wins on value and approachability, not enthusiasm. For agencies managing client sites, that’s often exactly what you need — a platform that clients can figure out without much hand-holding.

Best fit: agencies who want a capable, affordable platform with a low learning curve for clients to manage themselves.

FluentCRM

FluentCRM is the WordPress-native CRM and email automation plugin — and it has a loyal following among agencies who want everything to live inside WordPress.

Marc Hyde pairs it with EmailIt as the SMTP. George Woodard runs it with Postmark. Ryan Waterbury uses it alongside a pair of PostalSMTP servers. David Risley and Sten Millend are straightforward FluentCRM advocates. Roelinde Brons made the move from ActiveCampaign and is happy with the switch.

“FluentCRM. Went from ActiveCampaign to FluentCRM. Happy so far.”

Roelinde Brons

Melodie Moore made the broader point about why the WordPress-native approach appeals: “I like FluentCRM because it’s easy to use and cost effective.” The real benefit is keeping everything in one place — contacts, automations, and email history tied directly to your WordPress install without paying a monthly SaaS fee that scales with your list.

The tradeoff is that you’re managing your own sending infrastructure (SMTP), which adds a layer of setup. The members who love it have clearly gotten comfortable with that trade.

Best fit: agencies who want CRM + email automation inside WordPress without a recurring per-subscriber SaaS cost.

MailPoet

MailPoet sits in a similar camp to FluentCRM — WordPress-native, simple, and designed to stay out of your way.

Tim Dickinson put it honestly: “Don’t know if I love it, but it’s good enough for most of my client sites and means just one login without the reliance on another external service.” Matt Schwartz has been happy using it for his own agency newsletter and thinks it’s a better fit for smaller clients than the complexity of Klaviyo or Mailchimp. Traci Kay Dostalek uses it across all her customers.

The “one login, no external service” case is real — especially for clients who aren’t doing anything sophisticated with email and just want to send a newsletter without leaving WordPress.

Best fit: agencies managing smaller client sites where simplicity and a single-login WordPress workflow matter more than advanced features.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is the platform everyone has an opinion on — usually because they’ve been on it for years and aren’t sure if it still deserves to be.

Luke Humble uses it for his agency and a large majority of his clients, citing strong integration capabilities and omnichannel SMS + email under one roof. Kenson Clarke is still on it but actively transitioning to HighLevel. John Egan noted it seems to be “coasting more on reputation than actual quality at this point.”

The pricing is the elephant in the room. Jodi Stammer has a client paying a lot to Mailchimp on a 50K contact list. Rob Marlbrough is actively migrating clients off it. “They’ve gotten so expensive” was a recurring sentiment.

Mailchimp still makes sense for clients with complex funnels who need deep third-party integrations, or where a consultant has already built automation around it. But as a default recommendation for new clients? Most agencies in this thread have moved on.

Best fit: existing clients with established Mailchimp setups and complex integrations — less compelling as a fresh recommendation.

HighLevel

HighLevel isn’t just an email platform — it’s a full agency CRM, funnel builder, SMS, automation suite (and a serious affiliate scheme). For agencies who’ve committed to it, email is just one piece of a much bigger system.

“HighLevel 100%. I just don’t know why anyone would use anything else. It integrates with every contact record, their entire history, and I have a Slack assistant now managing it for me with their API, so I don’t even need to log into the UI anymore.”

Troy Dean

Andrew Peters, Andrew McSpadden, Kenson Clarke, and James Murgatroyd are all in the HighLevel camp. The pitch is the integration: when your email, CRM, pipeline, SMS, and automations all live in one place, the whole system gets more powerful.

The flip side is the commitment required. HighLevel is a significant platform investment — it doesn’t make sense as just an email tool. Melodie Moore made a similar point about FluentCRM: thinking about email in isolation is the wrong frame. If you’re already running HighLevel for other agency functions, email is a natural extension. If you’re not, it’s a heavy lift just for a newsletter.

Best fit: agencies already running HighLevel for CRM and automation who want email fully integrated into that system.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign came up as the power-user option — capable of genuinely sophisticated automations, but not without its frustrations.

“I don’t love the interface or the customer service and their reporting is horrible. But you can do some great stuff with it.”

Vicky Etherington

Pol Cousineau recommends it as a cloud SaaS option for clients who want that level of capability. Lawrence Ladomery points to Brevo as a friendlier-priced alternative with similar feature depth.

The pattern with ActiveCampaign is consistent across the thread: people use it because of what it can do, not because they enjoy using it. If your clients have complex segmentation and automation needs, it earns its place. If they don’t, the price and complexity are hard to justify.

Best fit: clients with sophisticated automation and segmentation needs who need a mature platform with deep integration options.

Sendy + Amazon SES

Sendy is a self-hosted email newsletter application that sends through Amazon SES — and for agencies with volume, the economics are hard to beat.

“I use Sendy across many clients and brands, each with their own login and cost structure, sending out via SES, and it works so well, with zero monthly fees aside from SES which is a few bucks.”

Rob Marlbrough

Rob also built a WordPress plugin that automatically sends the latest blog post to his lists on a schedule via the Sendy API — and is in the process of cleaning it up to share. He’s also been watching EmailFlare, which promises a similar approach but sending through Cloudflare.

The tradeoff with Sendy is setup overhead — you’re running your own installation, managing SES sending reputation, and handling your own deliverability. For agencies comfortable with that, the per-email costs through SES are dramatically lower than any SaaS alternative at scale.

Best fit: technically comfortable agencies managing multiple client lists at volume, where monthly SaaS fees have become a real cost.

Other Platforms Worth Knowing

These also came up in the thread:

• Brevo — Lawrence Ladomery and John Egan both mentioned it positively; similar feature depth to ActiveCampaign but with friendlier pricing
• Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — Elsie Gilmore’s pick; well-regarded in the creator/blogger space
• Klaviyo — Morten Ellegaard Larsen’s top pick for tracking, delivery, and complex automated flows; most commonly used for ecommerce clients
• FunnelKit + Amazon SES — Pol Cousineau and Marco Pfarrkirchner both use this combination for WordPress-based sending
• EmailOctopus — Thomas Irving recently switched and calls it great value for clients with smaller lists
• MailerPress — self-hosted, WordPress-based, and gaining traction; Darren Locke is moving clients there, Jean Werk is using it for new projects; v2 just launched with automations
• Pabbly Email Marketing — Stephen Gordon is migrating to it as part of the Pabbly Plus suite; unlimited subscribers is the headline feature
• HubSpot — James Elliman keeps coming back to it; strong if clients are already in the HubSpot ecosystem
• Campaign Monitor — James Murgatroyd mentioned it alongside HighLevel
• CleverReach — Dennis Gram uses it specifically because it’s EU-based; worth knowing for agencies with European clients and data residency concerns
• SureContact — Linus Ahimsa uses it paired with EmailIt; called it an “amazing combination,” particularly as a non-WordPress-locked option
• Plunk — open-source email platform flagged by Lumia Zee as underrated and worth a look

Patterns We Noticed

Nobody is truly in love with their platform. That’s the most honest takeaway from this thread. Even the strongest advocates had caveats. The platform that came up most (MailerLite) is one where the most common endorsement is “I don’t love it, but I haven’t left.” That says something about the category as a whole.

The WordPress-native camp is growing. FluentCRM and MailPoet both came up repeatedly from agencies who want email to live inside WordPress rather than in yet another external dashboard. The tradeoff is owning your own sending infrastructure — but for agencies comfortable with that, the simplicity and cost savings are compelling.

Mailchimp pricing is pushing people out. Multiple members mentioned actively migrating clients off Mailchimp specifically because of cost. At scale, the per-subscriber pricing adds up fast — and the alternatives have closed the gap on features.

Email doesn’t live in isolation. Melodie Moore made a point worth taking seriously: “It’s the illusion of progress to do a newsletter without putting some thought into how it feeds your business.” The agencies most enthusiastic about their setup (HighLevel users, FluentCRM users) tend to be the ones who’ve integrated email into a broader CRM and automation strategy — not treating it as a standalone broadcast tool.

Self-hosted is having a moment. Sendy + SES, MailerPress, FunnelKit + SES, FluentCRM — the thread had more self-hosted or semi-self-hosted options than you’d expect. As SaaS pricing continues to climb, the DIY path is increasingly attractive for agencies willing to manage the infrastructure.

How to Choose an Email Newsletter Platform

A few questions worth working through before you commit:

Is this for your agency or a client? Your own newsletter has different requirements than a platform you’ll be handing off to a client to manage. Simplicity matters more on the client side.

How sophisticated does the automation need to be? Basic broadcast newsletters don’t need ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo. If all you need is “send this to the list,” MailerLite, MailPoet, or EmailOctopus will do the job at a fraction of the cost.

Does email need to connect to a CRM? If you’re thinking about email as part of a broader marketing system — contact records, pipelines, segmentation — FluentCRM or HighLevel make more sense than a standalone email tool.

What’s the list size, and how fast is it growing? Per-subscriber pricing models (Mailchimp, MailerLite, ActiveCampaign) can look cheap at 500 contacts and painful at 50,000. If a client is growing fast, factor in where the pricing goes, not just where it starts.

Is data residency a concern? For EU-based clients or those with GDPR requirements, EU-hosted platforms like CleverReach or self-hosted options deserve a closer look.

Frequently Asked Questions About Email Newsletter Platforms

What’s the best email newsletter platform for small business clients? Based on this community, MailerLite is the most recommended option for smaller clients — generous free plan, easy to use, and low enough complexity that clients can manage it themselves. MailPoet is a strong alternative for clients who want everything inside WordPress.

Is Mailchimp still worth using in 2026? For existing setups with complex integrations, it may make sense to stay. For new clients, most agency owners in this community have moved on — primarily due to pricing. Brevo, MailerLite, and EmailOctopus offer comparable features at lower cost.

What’s the difference between FluentCRM and MailPoet? Both are WordPress-native email tools, but FluentCRM is a full CRM with automation, tagging, segmentation, and contact management built in. MailPoet is more focused on newsletters and list management. FluentCRM is the better fit if you want CRM functionality; MailPoet is simpler if you just need to send newsletters from WordPress.

How does Sendy + Amazon SES work? Sendy is a self-hosted web application you install on your own server. It connects to Amazon SES to send emails at a fraction of typical SaaS costs — SES charges around $0.10 per 1,000 emails. The tradeoff is that you manage your own installation, sending reputation, and deliverability. For agencies with volume and technical comfort, the savings are significant.

What email platform works best inside a WordPress agency workflow? FluentCRM is the most mentioned WordPress-native option in this community, especially for agencies who want CRM + email automation without a recurring external SaaS cost. MailPoet is a simpler alternative for straightforward newsletter use cases.