What do you do first thing in the morning? Probably check your email or social media, right?
You are not alone. Around 55% of adults check their emails first thing in the morning. While social media has taken the front seat for personal communication, email still remains the preferred communication channel between businesses and their customers.
Looking for Email Marketing Software? Check out SoftwareSuggest’s list of the best Email Marketing Software solutions.
But before you start sending emails, choosing the right email service provider that helps you achieve your business, communication, and marketing goals is important.
In this article, we will be sharing a list of the 12 most popular email service providers, which were ranked by our team based on their functionality, security, privacy, reliability, and accessibility.
We will also explore their features and drawbacks in-depth to help you choose your email service provider.
What Is An Email Service Provider (ESP)?
An email service provider is a server enabling you and businesses to communicate and send emails to their audience or other businesses. It is a platform and a company that provides email services.
It's crucial to do thorough research when selecting an email service provider for your business. From storage space to communication capabilities, you need to compare features and then make the right decision.
How Have Email Service Providers Evolved?
In the 1970s, email service providers came into existence. You could send and receive emails only on the same computer network and nothing else. But as the internet became more widespread, email service providers started coming equipped with the ability to receive and send emails from different networks.
In the 1990s came webmail service providers that allowed businesses to email clients on any internet-connected device, which we use now. And now, email providers are adding more functional features like privacy, spam filters, virus scanning, and more.
Hence, emails have been a crucial part of every digital or physical business. And with the right email marketing strategy, you can scale up your business ROI while cutting down on your customer acquisition cost.
To help you start choosing the right email service provider, we have selected and evaluated the top 12 email service providers that you can check and compare below.
Our selection of these Email Service Provider is based on thorough research and analysis. We have listed these service providers based on usability and satisfaction score that include features, ease of use, customer support, ratings, and number of reviews from SoftwareSuggest. Our goal is to help businesses select the right service providers that can help them optimize their business processes.
Top 12 Email Service Providers of 2024
Of course, no one email service provider can do it all. While some options are better for SMEs, others will be better for enterprises. It comes down to goals and streamlining of processes that need to be connected with your email service provider.
Before you check out the list of top email service providers we have curated, conduct a meeting to figure out the goals, the vision, and the outcome you are expecting from the choice of your email service provider.
| Provider Name | Pricing | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Basic: $6/user/month – basic features | Labels for email organization, Schedule send | |
| Business Starter: $1.99/month, 10 GB Storage, Free domain | Calendar, Appointment booking | |
| Titan Business Pro at $2 per month | Priority inbox, Signature builder | |
| Starter: $14,88/year | Multi-device synchronization for seamless access, Intuitive tools for organizing emails | |
| Pro – $ 99/month | Drag and drop workflows to automate time-based drip series | |
| Basic plan – starts at $9.99 per month and includes basic features like templates, email tracking, list management, etc. | Email automation, Social media integration | |
| Starter plan – $50/month | Email automation workflows, Personalized email templates | |
| Lite plan – $25/month | SMS marketing and WhatsApp campaigns, Contact segmentation and list management | |
| Microsoft 365 subscription starting from $5/month | Search functionality, Calendar & scheduling capabilities | |
| Free | Integration with other AOL services, Custom email domains | |
| Free | Integration with other Yahoo services, Spam & virus protection | |
| Free | End-to-end encryption, Large file transfer capabilities | |
| iCloud subscription that starts from $0.99/month for 5GB of storage space. | Encryption features, Ability to send large attachments via mail drop |
1. Gmail
Gmail is a popular, user-friendly, and secure email provider that businesses and individuals use. It’s part of Google Workspace, which seamlessly integrates with productivity & organization tools like Gmail account, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Tasks, and more. Gmail also comes equipped with two-factor authentication that provides a good layer of security.
The suite of products is designed to help businesses like yours streamline their work processes and collaborate at an organizational and individual level.
All files and data get stored on Google’s secure servers, making it easy for users to access all its functionalities from any device with an internet connection.
Features
- Advanced search
- Spam filters
- Labels for email organization
- Schedule send
- Undo send
- Smart compose
- Priority inbox
- Offline access
Pricing
- Basic: $6/user/month – basic features
- Business: $12/user/month – includes security and admin controls
- Enterprise: Custom pricing based on users and needs
It is a free email service provider for individuals, providing 15GB of free storage space. For paid plans, they do offer a 14-day free trial.
- Clean, user-intuitive, and easy-to-navigate interface for higher productivity
- Integration with Google products for streamlined workflows
- Advanced features like search, labels, filters, etc
- Two-factor authentication
- Limited customer support
- Security risks like hacking and cyber threats
- Privacy concerns around what data Google collects and how it is used for advertising purposes
2. Neo
Neo is designed for entrepreneurs and small businesses that are looking for a highly user-friendly, secure, and reliable business email service. Neo is designed specifically for businesses and includes its own fast web and mobile apps and tools like read receipts, email marketing, and appointment scheduling that make Neo perfect for sales, customer service, and marketing activities. Neo is a preferred choice for those who don’t already own a domain name, as it lets them choose a fully branded business email address ([email protected]) and send emails in minutes.
Features
- Custom email addresses
- Email Read Receipts
- Priority Inbox
- Calendar
- Appointment booking
- One-page website
- Apps for iOS, Android
Pricing Plans
- Business Starter: $1.99/month, 10 GB Storage, Free domain
- Business Plus: $3.99/month, 50 GB Storage, Free domain
- Business email with a free domain
- Professional interface for a streamlined user experience.
- Email templates read receipts and mail-integrated forms.
- Comprehensive assistance and support for new users.
- Up to 100GB of storage.
- Offer a 30-day free trial, but you need to complete a multi-step setup process before testing its features.
- The free domain requires a paid subscription.
- 30 MB attachment limit could be a deciding factor for some business types. Considerably new service
- Offer sub-domains, not a full-fledged one if you don’t already own a domain name
Interesting read: 11 Email Marketing Growth Hacks to Generate Leads
3. Titan
Titan’s business email suite is designed especially for small businesses who are looking to have an email solution in their domain. Titan offers large email storage, and it is also known for its user-friendly and easy-to-navigate interface, which helps streamline the productivity of small business operations.
It is an excellent choice for small businesses seeking a cost-effective, convenient, and reliable email solution.
Features
- Send later
- Read receipts
- Email templates
- Priority inbox
- Signature builder
- Follow up reminders
Pricing
- Through various Titan partners, Titan offers a free trial and has two pricing plans
- Titan Business Pro at $2 per month
- Titan Business Premium at $2.45 per month
- Multiple accounts can be viewed at the same time
- Cost-effective business email solution
- Works across all mobile and desktop platforms
- Support for custom domain names
- Designed specifically for small businesses
- Does not provide email marketing service
4. Private Email
Private Email by Namecheap is a reliable and secure email hosting service catering to individuals and businesses. With customizable domain options and excellent customer support, its user-friendly interface and robust features offer a seamless experience for managing and organizing business email communications.
One of the standout features of Private Email is its emphasis on privacy and security. It provides end-to-end encryption, ensuring your emails remain private and protected from unauthorized access. It also offers advanced spam filtering and virus protection measures, keeping your inbox clean and secure.
Features
- End-to-end encryption for secure communication
- Advanced spam filtering and virus protection
- Generous storage capacity
- Multi-device synchronization for seamless access
- Intuitive tools for organizing emails
- Customizable folders, filters, and search options
Pricing
- Starter: $14,88/year
- Pro: $41,88/year
- Ultimate: 71,88/year
- Emphasis on privacy and security
- Reliable email hosting backed by Namecheap
- Affordable pricing options
- Suitable for both individuals and businesses
- Slightly outdated interface compared to some competitors
- Customer support response times can vary
- Limited support options
5. Mailmodo
Mailmodo is a comprehensive email service provider offering a suite of features to meet all your email marketing requirements. With Mailmodo, you can effortlessly create and send AMP-powered interactive emails in bulk using our customizable pre-made templates. Their intuitive drag-and-drop editor requires no coding skills, making email creation a breeze.
Importing contacts is seamless with Mailmodo. You can upload unlimited contacts via CSV files or integrate with other platforms like Zapier, HubSpot, and Mixpanel through our API. Mailmodo’s robust contact management system allows you to organize and segment your contacts based on various criteria such as user attributes, campaign engagement, platform interactions, or custom events.
Features
- API Integrations with various marketing tools and CRMs.
- Real-time analytics to track campaign performance.
- Drag and drop workflows to automate time-based drip series
- Interactive elements like forms, polls, quizzes, and carousels.
- Seamless Shopify integration
Pricing
A 21-day free trial is available, and paid plans start at $39/month.
- Lite – $ 49/month
- Pro – $ 99/month
- Max – $ 199/month
- Easy-to-use interface
- There is a wide selection of templates and interactive widgets to choose from
- Features like send-time optimization and dynamic segmentation are great add-ons
- Can set up automation and triggered emails
- Mailmodo has a learning curve
- Limited support for Non-English users
6. Constant Contact
While Gmail & Titan Mail are email service providers, Constant Contact is an email marketing platform that allows businesses to create and send email campaigns.
It offers us an extensive library of fully-customizable templates and an easy-to-use interface that helps businesses create eye-catching, engaging emails just in a few minutes.
They also offer advanced management tools like email automation, detailed analytics, reports, and the like to help businesses measure the impact of their campaigns.
It is one of the versatile email providers that can help businesses of all sizes communicate effectively with their customers. It’s one of the best free email service providers.
Features
- Customizable templates
- Drag & drop editor
- A/B testing
- Email automation
- Social media integration
- Surveys and polls
- Contact management tools
Pricing
- Basic plan – starts at $9.99 per month and includes basic features like templates, email tracking, list management, etc.
- Plus plan – starts at $45 per month and includes advanced features like automation, surveys, polls, and more.
Both plans come with a free version and a 60-day trial period.
- Prompt customer support
- User-friendly interface
- Relatively limited customization options
- It can prove to be an expensive option for small and mid-sized businesses
- Relatively limited integrations with third-party tools
7. HubSpot
HubSpot is among the most used marketing and sales automation software among marketers and businesses alike. It’s a one-stop marketing platform that offers a whole gamut of features and tools for social media management, email marketing, CRM, lead generation, and more.
HubSpot also offers customizable email templates, automation, A/B testing, detailed analytics, and other marketing-first features to help businesses create a deeper impact on their marketing efforts.
Features
- CRM integration
- Email automation workflows
- Personalized email templates
- A/B testing
- Reporting and analytics
- Sales automation
Pricing
- Free version with limited features
- Starter plan – $50/month
- Professional plan – $800/month
- Enterprise plan – $3200/month
- Easy-to-use email editor
- Powerful reporting features
- CRM integration
- RLimited customization options
- Expensive for small businesses
- Steep learning curve
8. Brevo
Similar to Hubspot, Brevo is a marketing automation platform that offers features and tools that empower businesses to carry out email marketing, SMS marketing, WhatsApp campaigns, landing pages, and more to engage with their audience.
From automation workflows to real-time analytics reporting, Brevo is the perfect tool to empower businesses of all sizes in their marketing and sales efforts.
Features
- Automation and customizable email templates
- A/B testing to gain a deeper understanding of the audience
- Live chat capabilities
- SMS marketing and WhatsApp campaigns
- Contact segmentation and list management
Pricing
- Free plan with limited features
- Lite plan – $25/month
- Premium plan – $65/month
- Enterprise plan with custom pricing
- Affordable pricing
- User-friendly editor
- Live chat capabilities
- Slow customer support
- Limited third-party integration
- Limited email templates
9. Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is an email service provider that integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft Office Suite of products like Calendar, Teams, and more. Similar to Gmail, Microsoft Outlook is a great choice for enterprises that want to focus on streamlining their work processes.
It offers advanced features like task management, labels & filters for email organization, and calendar management. it also offers spam filtering and virus protection to keep unwanted, salesy emails away from the priority inbox.
Features
- Advanced email organization tools
- Customizable email rules
- Search functionality
- Calendar & scheduling capabilities
- Integration with Microsoft apps
- Access & integration with Microsoft Teams
Pricing
Microsoft Outlook is a part of the Microsoft 365 subscription starting from $5/month.
- Email organization
- Search capabilities
- Microsoft ecosystem
- Two-factor authentication
- It can be expensive for small businesses
- Limited customization options
- Occasional syncing issues
Interesting read: 20 Best Email Automation Examples for Marketing Workflows
10. AOL Mail
Like Gmail & Outlook, AOL Mail is one of the best email service providers by the network company AOL. It is known for its simple, easy-to-use interface and seamless calendar and address book integrations.
It provides up to 250GB of email storage which is significantly higher than other email providers. It also offers features like spam protection, virus protection, and custom email domains.
Features
- Up to 250 GB of cloud storage
- Spam protection
- Integration with other AOL services
- Custom email domains
- Calendar & address book features
Pricing
- Free
- Large storage space
- Access to the gamut of AOL services
- Easy-to-use interface
- Spam filtering issues
- Limited customization options
- Limited integration options
11. Yahoo! Mail
Yahoo Mail is a popular and widely used web-based email service provider known for its generous storage space of 1TB, which is significantly more than most email services. Enterprise organizations and moderate-sized businesses mostly use it.
Yahoo Mail comes equipped with a range of customizable themes that allow its users to create a personalized experience. It has built-in spam protection, connects easily with calendar apps, and allows quick and safe import of contacts from other mail services.
Features
- Up to 1TB of storage
- Import/export capabilities for better contact management
- Integration with other Yahoo services
- Spam & virus protection
- Calendar & reminder tools
Pricing
- Free
- Large storage space
- Customizable themes and interface
- Spam and virus protection
- Slow at times
- Syncing issues
- Limited Third-party integrations
12. Mozilla Thunderbird
Unlike paid email service providers and automation tools, Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open-source email service that allows businesses to securely send and receive emails.
Since it is an open-source and one of the free email service providers, it is a highly customizable solution that also comes equipped with features like tagging, message filtering, and encryption.
It supports multiple email addresses and has a built-in calendar that allows businesses to manage and scale their email marketing operations.
It is a great choice for businesses starting out and looking for a professional yet inexpensive email service provider. It is the best free email provider out there.
Features
- Easy setup of multiple email accounts
- Email tagging & filtering
- Open-source and customizable add-ons
- End-to-end encryption
- Large file transfer capabilities
- Easy integration with other email tools and services
Pricing
- Free
- Open-source, customizable, and inexpensive
- Can access multiple email accounts
- Encryption & security features
- Limited support options
- Fewer features
- Occasional bugs and glitches
13. iCloud Mail
iCloud Mail is created and run by Apple. It is a web-based email service specifically designed to work seamlessly and exclusively on Apple Products like MacBooks, iPads, iPhones, and more.
While you can access iCloud mail on browsers and different gadgets, businesses that work in Apple’s ecosystem would benefit the most from opting for this email service provider.
It has features like spam filtering, encryption, and custom email domains. It is also one of the most secure and private email services out there – can be said that it provides the best email services.
Features
- Seamless integration with Apple services
- Custom email domains
- Spam filtering
- Encryption features
- Ability to send large attachments via mail drop
Pricing
iCloud Mail is part of an iCloud subscription that starts from $0.99/month for 5GB of storage space.
- Access to Apple services
- Encryption and spam filtering
- Large email attachments
- Two-factor authentication
- Limited storage
- Limited customization options
- Limited third-party integrations
Interesting read: Top 12 Open Source Email Marketing Software
Wrapping Up
Once you have researched & selected your email service provider, it is time to streamline all the processes around email and make the most of your ESP.
You can start by first defining your marketing goals and identifying the purpose of email marketing campaigns. Then, build a list of subscribers from your website, social media, other marketing channels, and in-person events. Build a base of your target audience who have opted-in to receive marketing communications from your business.
Once you have a base of email subscribers, all you need to do is use any of the customizable email templates provided by your email marketing platform and create targeted email content in the form of email newsletters, promotions, company or product updates, etc.
Email is still one of the most preferred marketing channels with an ROI of 4200% — and the success of all your efforts around email starts by selecting the right email service provider.
All you have to do is set up the new email account and then log in to your old email account, where you want to go to settings and forward all incoming messages to your new account. For the old emails, save all your emails on your desktop by going to settings and opting for the import option. Then you can go to the settings or options menu of your new email account and look for the export or backup option where you can select simply upload your import file.
A good email service provider helps companies connect email to other marketing strategies in various ways. For example, you can connect your ESP with other marketing tools, CRM, social media, and marketing automation platforms. It also allows you to segment your audience and personalize your marketing efforts. And some really exceptional ESPs come equipped with analytics and reporting features.
As email service providers are evolving and adding a gamut of features to improve the overall functionality of their platforms, it becomes important to pay attention to the points of difference so as to make the right choice. Here are a few points of different or unique capabilities to check for before you get started using your email service provider:
- Storage space
- Accessibility - web, phone, tablet, smart watches, etc.
- Privacy & Security
- Integration with other apps & services
- Custom domain
- Spam filters
- User interface
- Price
Priya is a seasoned writer with expertise in the SaaS industry. With over five years of experience in the field, she deeply understands the requirement of this specific industry, its techniques, and tools. Her articles, whitepapers, and blog posts are known for their clarity, practicality, and actionable insights. Priya also possesses in-depth knowledge of SEO and content marketing, which enables her to develop effective strategies to increase website traffic and improve brand visibility.
