Mass Email Service: How to Pick the Right One 

mass email service cover image with a laptop and envelopes flying out of it

A mass email service is a platform that enables you to send emails to large groups of people at the same time. It’s an essential tool if you want to communicate efficiently with your audience, whether for marketing purposes, newsletters, or announcements. 

Imagine you’re about to hit “send” on a campaign you’ve poured hours into. But will your emails reach their destination, or will they end up lost in spam folders?

This is a real concern for those of us using bulk email senders to share marketing messages, newsletters, or important announcements. And it’s why you need a provider that makes things easy while making sure our emails engage our audience without annoying them.

So, let’s get into how to pick the right mass email sender and introduce you to some of the best options on the market. 



What Is a Mass Email Service?

A mass or bulk email service is a software platform that lets you send email messages to lots of people at once. 

While you can send some emails from Gmail, a mass email service is designed for bigger jobs. It helps you manage a large list of valid email addresses, customize your messages, and track how well your emails perform.

These services are important for marketing through email. They help you keep people interested in what you’re doing and let everyone know about the latest news or events. 

For example, a small boutique might use it to send out email coupons to their loyal customers. A local community center might send newsletters to keep everyone updated on upcoming classes or events. And a tech startup might announce its latest product launch to get people excited and drive pre-orders. 


How Can I Send Bulk Emails?

Email companies like Google have limits on how many emails you can send from a personal account to prevent spam, usually capped at a few hundred per day. 

These are the steps to follow if you want to send large volumes of emails: 

  1. Choose a bulk email sender. Look for one with features that match your needs, especially easy list management and good deliverability rates.
  2. Build your email list the right way. Use opt-in methods to gather subscribers and make sure everyone on your list wants to hear from you.
  3. Segment your list for more personalized campaigns. This means grouping your subscribers based on their interests or behaviors to send more relevant emails.
  4. Craft your email content to grab attention. Write a catchy subject line and make sure your message is clear and to the point.
  5. Schedule and send your emails at the right time. Most email services let you pick the best time to reach your subscribers for higher open rates.
  6. Look at how your email performed and learn from it. Check your open rates and click-through rates to make your next email even better.

What To Look for When Picking a Mass Email Service?

When picking software to send mass emails, you want a service that makes sending emails easy, ensures they get to your subscribers’ inboxes, and helps you understand how your bulk email campaigns are performing. 

Find a service that fits your current needs and grows with your business. That means transparent, usage-based pricing and the ability to scale without technical challenges. 

Here’s a table describing the criteria to look out for:

CriteriaWhy It’s Important
Outstanding deliverabilityEnsures your emails hit the primary inbox instead of the spam folder or the Promotions tab. 
Mandatory double opt-inHelps build a cleaner and more engaged email list by confirming subscriber interest.
Intuitive email editorLets you easily create plain text or HTML emails without technical skills
Advanced segmentationLets you send targeted messages to different audience groups to boost engagement.
Detailed personalizationHelps you send mass personalized emails to individual subscribers to create the feeling of one-to-one communication.
Robust automationSaves time and increases efficiency by sending emails based on predefined triggers.
In-depth analyticsProvides insights into campaign performance to help you make data-driven decisions.
Extensive integrationStreamlines your email workflow by connecting mass email marketing services with other tools and platforms.
Essential criteria to consider when choosing a mass email service

8 Best Mass Email Services in 2024

Whether you’re launching your first mass email campaign or looking to upgrade your current toolset, the right service can make all the difference. 

1. Campaign Refinery: Highest Bulk Email Deliverability 

At Campaign Refinery, our platform is built on two pillars: maximum deliverability and exceptional user engagement. All our features work in harmony to achieve those two goals for your bulk email campaigns. 

Here’s part of what we offer: 

  • A clean and simple email editor for plain text and HTML emails
  • Sophisticated tag-based list segmentation
  • Automatic list cleaning to remove harmful addresses. 
  • A library of campaign templates for inspiration and efficiency. 
  • Versatile branch and rule editor to build complex automations. 
  • Engagement gamification to boost your open and click-through rates.
  • Merge fields to help you send mass personalized emails
Campaign Refinery Pricing Chart
Campaign Refinery Pricing Chart

How many subscribers can I store on Campaign Refinery? 

As many as you want! Our pricing model doesn’t restrict your growth. We only charge you for the emails you send and the addresses you clean from your list. 

So, the more subscribers you have, the more value you get without facing unexpected costs or limitations.

Our plans start at $99 for up to 50,000 emails per month, and we can support your growth with no limits. 


2. SendGrid: A Mass Email Sender with Basic Marketing Features 

SendGrid is a high-volume email service provider with a small number of email marketing features, such as sign-up forms, email templates, and automation. The platform is part of the Twilio suite, which includes products and APIs for SMS, video, and chat-based communications. 

Using SendGrid, you can: 

  • Build emails from scratch or based on responsive templates. 
  • Capture leads with customizable sign-up forms. 
  • Automate recurring emails.
  • Build automated drip campaigns.
  • Collaborate with team members on email marketing campaigns. 
  • Analyze campaign performance. 

While SendGrid is a reliable choice, many users want a SendGrid alternative that also makes monetization and list management more effortless. 

What about the company’s pricing? 

SendGrid Pricing Options
SendGrid Pricing Options

If you’re an email marketer, SendGrid will charge you based on your email list size and the number of emails you send each month: 

  • Free: up to 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails. 
  • Basic: Starts at $15 for up to 7,000 contacts and 15,000 emails. 
  • Advanced: Starts at $60 for up to 15,000 contacts and 50,000 emails. 

If you’re a developer building a custom application with high volume requirements, the API gives you 100 free emails per day. And if you need more, the paid plans start at just under $20. 


3. Amazon SES: Cheapest Way to Send Mass Emails

Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) is a powerful, cost-effective solution for businesses that need scalable software to send mass emails. 

Amazon SES is a flexible platform for all email-sending needs. It supports an SMTP interface and a set of APIs to let you integrate the service into your applications or AWS services.

However, it’s not a beginner-friendly tool. It doesn’t feature a drag-and-drop email editor, pre-designed templates, or a visual automation builder. You need serious technical skills to set up the operation and security protocols properly. 

Amazon SES pricing 
Overview of Amazon SES pricing 

What makes Amazon SES unique is its unbeatable prices. You can send 1000 emails for as little as 10 cents. 

So, if you’re only after bulk email deliverability and don’t mind getting your hands dirty, Amazon SES is the obvious choice. 


4. Mailjet: A Mass Email Service with an Advanced Designer 

Mailjet is an email marketing platform with one standout feature: its drag-and-drop email designer, which lets you: 

  • Add reusable content blocks to your emails. 
  • Work with multiple people on the same design. 
  • Modify pre-designed templates to match your preferences. 
  • Consistently send on-brand emails with the same look and feel. 

Mailjet seems to be very proud of its designer, but in our experience, too many visual elements in an email can kill your chances of landing in the primary inbox. 

Other than the designer, you get email automation, personalization, basic segmentation, and A/B testing tools. There’s also an AI subject line generator that saves you time by automatically creating catchy subject lines. 

Mailjet Pricing
Overview of Mailjet’s pricing

How much does Mailjet cost? 

  • Free plan: 6,000 emails per month (with a daily limit of 200). 
  • Essential: Starts at $15 for 15,000 emails per month. 
  • Premium: Starts at $25 for 15,000 emails per month. 

5. Elastic Email: A Scalable Mass Sender with a Proprietary Infrastructure 

Elastic Email is a straightforward platform that lets you send marketing and transactional emails in one platform. It provides essential features, like a user-friendly email editor, double opt-in sign-up forms, automation, and analytics. 

Elastic Email has a proprietary bulk email system that can handle millions of emails per batch. This means as your business grows and the demand for sending more emails increases, the system can accommodate this growth without a drop in performance or reliability.

Elastic Email Pricing
Overview of Elastic Email’s pricing 

What about Elastic Email’s pricing? 

It seems to contradict the company’s focus on growth because they charge you based on how many contacts you have. 

In addition to the free plan, which lets you have up to 1,000 contacts, you can opt for: 

  • Starter: Starts at $9 for up to 2,000 contacts. 
  • Pro: Starts at $60 for up to 10,000 contacts. 

There are also limits on the number of emails you can send each month. But the caps are high enough that you won’t have to worry about them in most situations. 


6. Mailchimp: A Bulk Email Sender with Advanced Analytics  

Mailchimp is one of the oldest email marketing platforms out there. As Mailchimp has aged, it’s gone from an agile email marketing platform to what resembles a clunky CDP with a complex automation builder that claims to span the entire customer journey

In terms of sending mass emails, you’ll have the usual drag-and-drop editor, segmentation and personalization features, and a gallery of templates. 

Some users mention lower-than-expected deliverability rates as a reason to look for a Mailchimp alternative

As a CPD, Mailchimp helps you focus on your most loyal and valuable customers. You can target customers based on their purchase history, calculate their lifetime value, and build personalized sales funnels to guide them toward more conversion. 

Getting the most out of Mailchimp’s features requires some technical skills and a basic understanding of marketing concepts. 

Mailchimp Pricing page
Overview of Mailchimp’s pricing

How much does Mailchimp cost? 

The free tier supports you for up to 1,000 emails per month. There are three paid plans, which start at $13 per month and become progressively more expensive. 

All the paid plans come with a 30-day free trial period. 


7. Klaviyo: A Mass Email Service for E-Commerce 

Klaviyo is a full-blown email marketing and customer data platform tailored for large-scale e-commerce businesses. 

Here are a few things you can do with Klaviyo: 

  • Create flexible email workflows
  • Communicate with customers over email and SMS. 
  • Perform A/B tests to experiment with different aspects of your emails. 
  • Collect and analyze data from multiple touchpoints. 
  • Calculate each customer’s lifetime value and assess the potential for future purchases. 
Klaviyo Pricing Chart
Overview of Klaviyo’s pricing 

And what about pricing? 

Klaviyo is a bit more of an investment than the simpler email tools out there. But many users find it’s worth it for the advanced data insights and the way it fits with e-commerce needs.

The platform has a free plan that covers up to 250 contacts and lets you send out 500 emails a month. The paid plans start at $45 per month and increase based on your list size and SMS needs. 

If your e-commerce business isn’t at a mature stage yet, you can consider a Klaviyo alternative to save on costs.  


8. Beehiiv: A Lightweight Bulk Email Newsletter Service

Beehiiv helps creators, writers, and publishers manage newsletters and make money from their email list

You get a friendly interface that makes it easy to put together attractive newsletters. There are plenty of customizable templates and a drag-and-drop editor. 

If you’re planning to run a simple email newsletter that occasionally features sponsors and offers a paid subscription, Beehiiv could be a good fit. However, if you’re looking to sell digital products or find other ways to monetize your audience you’ll need to look for a Beehiiv alternative

Beehiiv Pricing per month
Overview of Beehiiv’s pricing 

How much does Beehiiv cost? 

Beehiiv’s pricing depends on how many subscribers you have, but you can send as many emails as you like on all of the plans. 

There’s a free plan for when you’re just starting out. When you’re ready to step up, the paid plans kick off at $49 a month and come with a 30-day trial. 


How Much Does Bulk Email Cost?

Bulk email service providers generally use tiered pricing based on email volume or number of subscribers. Some companies use a pay-as-you-go structure where they ask you to purchase a set number of email credits upfront. 

Many companies offer free plans for small volumes. For example, you might find options that let you send out 2,500 to 10,000 emails per month for free. 

Mid-range options for moderate email marketing needs can range from $15 to $100 per month. These plans support tens of thousands of emails per month and include sophisticated marketing tools like automation, segmentation, and basic analytics.

Finally, businesses with extensive email marketing campaigns might see prices ranging from $200 to $1,000 or more per month. 

To calculate the full costs of email marketing on each platform, you should also include costs for extra features, overages, and bespoke services. 


What’s the Difference Between Mass Emails vs. Transactional Emails?

Mass emails are messages you send to many recipients at once. Their main goal is to communicate general information, promotions, or updates to an entire list of contacts. 

Transactional emails are individual messages you send to users based on specific actions they take. They’re highly personalized and triggered by events like making a purchase, signing up for a service, or changing a password. 

Bulk emails are great for reaching a wide audience quickly and efficiently. On the other hand, transactional emails give users relevant information or confirmations related to their actions.

Check out the table below for a more detailed comparison of bulk and transactional emails: 

CharacteristicMass EmailsTransactional Emails
PurposeTo inform, engage, or market to a wide audienceTo offer personalized information based on user actions
TriggerScheduled by the senderTriggered by user actions
RecipientsSegmented list of usersIndividual users
GoalBrand awareness, promotion, engagementConfirmation, notification, customer service
Key differences between mass emails and transactional emails 

See What You Can Accomplish With the Highest Deliverability on the Market

At Campaign Refinery, we pride ourselves on being the top choice for large-volume senders who don’t want to risk having their mass emails disappear into the spam folder. 

We go the extra mile to maintain a stellar sender reputation. So, when you join us, you become part of a network of reputable senders and benefit from the collective deliverability boost. 

We don’t offer a free trial, and there’s a good reason for that. Our priority is maintaining the highest standards of deliverability and service for all our clients. 

That’s why we vet each client before onboarding them. This way, we guarantee that all our senders follow reliable sending practices.

But it’s easy to get started. All it takes is one quick appointment with our experts. 

Apply to join Campaign Refinery today! 

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