Your email template builder significantly impacts marketing efficiency, brand consistency, and campaign results. Many platforms exist, each with distinct features. A strategic selection aligns these tools with your organization’s specific needs.
We evaluate top email builders by their features, integrations, pricing, and team tools. This analysis will help you select the right platform for your organization’s size, technical resources, and marketing goals.
Our Criteria for Selecting Email Template Software
We analyzed each platform using five key criteria to determine its suitability for diverse business requirements and team configurations.
Email Types and Features
We assessed the range of supported email formats, from basic newsletters to complex interactive campaigns. Our evaluation measured capabilities for AMP email, dynamic content, interactive components, and marketing automation. This covered both the variety of types and the sophistication of the features.
Reusable Elements and Design Systems
We examined how platforms facilitate brand consistency and production efficiency. This involved analyzing reusable content blocks, template libraries, and centralized brand controls. We determined each platform’s capacity to preserve visual coherence while accelerating email creation through systematic design tools.
Integrations and Ecosystem
The assessment covered connectivity with existing marketing infrastructure. We reviewed native integrations with major ESPs, CRMs, and ecommerce systems, along with export functions and API availability. Each platform’s compatibility within comprehensive marketing technology environments received particular scrutiny.
Pricing Structure
We evaluated pricing transparency, feature value, and scalability across service tiers. The analysis included free plans, trial offerings, and cost-to-feature alignment at different subscription levels. We paid close attention to how pricing models accommodate business growth and feature accessibility across plan types.
Collaboration and Team Management
We measured team coordination features, including user roles, permission controls, and workflow systems. The assessment focused on how platforms enable efficient teamwork while preserving brand standards and content quality across multiple contributors.
Top 6 Email Template Builders Reviewed
Based on our evaluation, six email template builders demonstrate distinct advantages. Each platform addresses specific use cases, ranging from basic template design to full marketing automation. The following analysis details their respective capabilities.
1. Stripo.email
Stripo is an email constructor for designing marketing emails. Business leaders like CEOs and CFOs rely on it, as do SMBs, agencies, and enterprise teams. The tool features an intuitive visual editor while still granting technical users direct HTML/CSS access. Its collaboration tools streamline email production and ensure brand consistency.
The platform builds various email types—including standard newsletters, AMP emails, and interactive emails with carousels, surveys, and accordions—all without coding. It also offers mobile preview and dark-mode optimization to test display across clients and devices.
For brand consistency, it provides a design system to create reusable content blocks and modules. This ensures brand-approved colors, fonts, and elements are applied uniformly across all campaigns.
Stripo integrates with many existing marketing platforms. Users can export completed emails directly to over 80 ESPs and CRMs, including Mailchimp, HubSpot, Klaviyo, and Braze. It also allows for export as standard HTML code or PDF.
Stripo provides a free plan with 4 monthly exports for testing. Its paid plans scale with your needs.
- Basic (~$15/month): 50 exports, unlimited projects, and premium templates.
- Medium (~$45/month): 300+ exports and introduces collaboration features and design systems.
- Pro/Business (from ~$95/month): Includes team permissions, advanced modules, and API access.
- Enterprise (custom): Offers white-label options, SSO, and personal support.
The platform enhances team efficiency with integrated collaboration tools. These include in-editor comments, version history, and shared modules. Role assignments control user access, which streamlines the entire review and approval process for email content.
Stripo.email got its start back in 2017. In that time, they’ve built a solid team of around 70 people who are clearly doing something right—users on both Capterra and Software Advice have given them a nearly perfect 4.9 out of 5 rating.
2. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign integrates marketing automation, email marketing, and CRM tools into a single platform. It primarily serves small-to-midsized businesses, e-commerce stores, and marketing teams.
The platform prioritizes advanced automation capabilities over user simplicity. Its core strength lies in managing complex, behavior-triggered workflows. Users can effectively nurture leads by moving beyond basic email campaigns.
Key Features:
- Advanced Automation Builder;
- Integrated CRM;
- Lead Scoring;
- Predictive Sending;
- Conditional Content;
- Drag-and-Drop Email Editor;
- Saved Modules & Blocks.
ActiveCampaign manages standard newsletters and automated email sequences. Its core strength is marketing automation, which executes workflows for welcome emails and abandoned cart reminders.
A built-in editor enables personalization and A/B testing, though it is less intuitive than specialized design tools. The platform provides no mobile application for campaign management. Creating advanced interactive emails, including AMP formats, generally requires custom code.
The system provides “Saved Modules” and “Saved Blocks” to reuse standard content sections like headers and footers. This supports basic brand consistency and makes email creation faster. However, these features are not a complete brand management system. Teams that require centralized control over global brand elements, like official colors and fonts, will find the tools inadequate.
ActiveCampaign integrates with key business systems like Shopify and Salesforce, enabling data-driven automations. Setting up these advanced workflows requires technical expertise.
The platform offers a 14-day trial and tiered pricing starting at $39/month. There is no permanent free plan. Costs increase with contact list size, and premium features like predictive sending require higher-tier subscriptions.
Team collaboration is managed through user permissions controlling access to campaigns and automations. This system provides security but is complex to administer. The platform lacks basic collaboration tools such as comment threads or version history.
Since its launch in 2003, ActiveCampaign has expanded to a team of roughly 1,000 employees dedicated to marketing automation. This two-decade track record is a big reason why they maintain a strong 4.5 out of 5 rating from their users on G2.
3. Braze
Braze is a customer engagement platform for mid-to-large enterprises that require sophisticated, data-driven personalization at scale. These organizations typically possess dedicated technical teams.
The platform coordinates personalized user journeys and executes real-time marketing across multiple channels to construct direct customer relationships.
Key Features:
- Cross-Channel Campaign Orchestration;
- Real-Time Messaging & Triggers;
- BrazeAI for Personalization;
- Interactive & AMP Email Support;
- Drag-and-Drop Editor & Reusable Templates;
- Advanced User Segmentation;
- Roles, Permissions, and Team Collaboration.
The Braze platform supports standard promotional, lifecycle, and transactional emails. It also enables complex interactive and AMP emails that can contain features like carousels and surveys. The platform can trigger emails based on user behavior in real time. Using these advanced features requires significant technical skill.
For content creation, Braze provides a modular drag-and-drop editor and reusable templates built from components like headers and footers. Global style settings control foundational elements such as fonts and colors. This structure efficiently supports recurring campaign production.
However, the system’s limited centralized control over brand assets presents a significant constraint for large organizations with strict brand governance requirements.
A 14-day trial is available for the platform, which is engineered to be scalable for high-volume use. Its pricing structure is not transparent, however, and requires a sales quote, a process that can deter smaller businesses.
For its core functionality, the platform integrates with data systems like Salesforce and Snowflake to power audience segmentation. These data-driven campaigns demand technical resources for both initial setup and ongoing maintenance.
Braze provides role-based permissions for team management, allowing control over campaign and template access. This system suits large organizations with multiple teams. While shared templates aid consistency, the complex permissions require technical skill to manage effectively.
Since launching in 2011, Braze has expanded its workforce to more than 1,500 people. The company earns top marks from both its users and its team, boasting a 4.5/5 on G2 and a 4.1/5 from employees on Glassdoor.
4. Constant Contact
Constant Contact offers an all-in-one digital marketing platform. It provides core services for email campaigns, social media promotion, and event management. The platform is ideal for beginners and small organizations that require a straightforward tool for basic marketing tasks.
It enables users to launch campaigns and manage events without needing technical expertise.
Key Features:
- Drag-and-Drop Email Editor;
- Event Management & RSVP Tracking;
- Social Media Marketing Tools;
- Survey and Feedback Forms;
- Automated Email Sequences;
- Customizable Template Library.
Constant Contact utilizes a simple drag-and-drop editor for basic email creation, supporting promotions, newsletters, and automated welcome messages. It deliberately prioritizes ease of use. Consequently, the platform omits support for advanced formats like interactive AMP emails, carousels, or accordions.
Users can customize templates and save designs to maintain visual consistency, applying brand colors and fonts. These features support simple brand management but lack modular components and advanced design capabilities needed for complex content blocks or larger teams.
The platform connects to platforms like Shopify and Canva through its app marketplace, with additional connections available via Zapier. However, the platform offers fewer native integrations than advanced automation tools, and complex workflows typically require third-party connection tools.
Pricing & Plans
- Free Demo: No credit card required.
- Lite ($12/month): Basic tools for beginners.
- Standard ($35/month): Includes automation for most businesses.
- Premium ($80/month): Advanced segmentation and automation.
You can add team members and control their basic access. But for deeper collaboration, it’s missing key features like comments, version history, and advanced roles—tools that teams need to efficiently review and approve content as they grow.
With roots going back to 1995, Constant Contact leverages its deep industry experience and a team of over 1,200 professionals to deliver a trusted platform. This reliability is confirmed by its user satisfaction scores, which include a 4.3/5 on Capterra and a 4.1/5 on G2.
5. Campaigner
Campaigner is an email marketing automation platform for users who prioritize detailed testing and segmentation. It meets the complex workflow needs of mid-sized companies and e-commerce operations. The platform specifically targets experienced marketers who require precise audience targeting that basic broadcasting cannot provide.
Key Features:
- Advanced Segmentation & Targeting;
- Dynamic Content Personalization;
- A/B Testing & Analytics;
- Marketing Automation Workflows;
- Drag-and-Drop & HTML Editors;
- Autoresponder Functionality.
The platform connects with key e-commerce and CRM systems, such as Shopify, Magento, Salesforce, and Zoho. These integrations are fundamental for data-driven marketing, advanced segmentation, and personalization.
Their configuration is notably complex, requiring considerable technical skill due to a narrower range of native integrations compared to competing services. Regarding content creation, users can build newsletters, automated sequences, and transactional emails using a drag-and-drop or full-code editor. Core strengths are dynamic content personalization and A/B testing.
Conversely, the interface is not intuitive for beginners, initial configuration is lengthy, and the system lacks centralized brand controls for color, typography, and components, relying instead on shared templates for basic consistency.
Pricing & Plans
- 30-day free trial available.
- Starting at $59/month (billed annually).
- Prices scale based on contact list size.
- No permanent free plan available.
Campaigner provides basic team collaboration with multi-user accounts and configurable permissions. However, it lacks advanced features like in-editor comments, version history, and approval workflows, which are necessary for efficient content development in growing teams.
Campaigner has been a steady presence in the email marketing space since its founding in 1999. Operating with a dedicated, mid-sized team, the platform has built a solid reputation, reflected in its user ratings of 3.9 on Software Advice and 3.8 on Trustpilot.
6. Topol.io
Topol.io is an email template builder that creates responsive email designs using a drag-and-drop interface. This email design tool serves designers, marketers, freelancers, and small teams who require professional emails without coding.
The platform focuses on simplicity and collaboration, making it effective for teams that need to create, share, and manage templates in a shared workspace.
Key Features:
- Drag-and-Drop Email Builder;
- Reusable Custom Blocks;
- 150+ Responsive Templates;
- Team Collaboration Workspace;
- XML Product Feeds Integration;
- Custom HTML Code Editor.
Topol.io provides a drag-and-drop editor for building marketing emails, newsletters, and campaigns. It includes practical utilities like merge tags and XML feeds for product integration, but lacks advanced features, such as complex automation, AMP emails, or sophisticated interactive elements.
The platform’s core functionality is a system of reusable custom blocks for headers, footers, and content sections. This system accelerates template creation and enforces design consistency. However, Topol.io offers limited brand management, lacking the style libraries and component governance that larger organizations require.
The platform provides essential connections for exporting emails and integrating products via XML feeds. Its native integrations with major CRMs and marketing platforms are limited, confining its utility primarily to a design tool and necessitating other systems for full campaign execution.
Pricing & Plans
- Free plan available with limited features.
- PRO plan: $10/month.
- Team plan: $15/month.
The platform facilitates team collaboration via shared workspaces and template libraries. However, it lacks sophisticated features like granular user permissions, comment systems, and approval workflows. These advanced capabilities are necessary for larger teams to operate effectively.
Topol.io may be a relative newcomer since its 2017 launch, but it’s quickly made a name for itself. With a compact, agile team of 11-50, they deliver an impressive user experience, earning a stellar 4.7 out of 5 on G2 and a strong 4.4 on Capterra.
Conclusion
A strategic approach to selecting an email template builder prioritizes core functionality and collaboration tools. This leads to stronger marketing and consistent outcomes. The platform’s features, integrations, and cost must align precisely with your business needs.
Begin by determining if your priority is advanced automation, sophisticated design, or simple usability. The correct choice will support your immediate campaigns while scaling for future growth.
Among the tools reviewed, Stripo.Email is the most capable and well-rounded platform. Its combination of an extensive template library, reliable integrations, and practical collaboration tools makes it highly effective. For most teams, Stripo represents the best overall choice.
