11 Best Email Template Builders For 2024 [Free & Paid]

Tired of creating email newsletters that look dull? Are you spending too much time without the desired result or is your email designer letting you down?

Today, we will explore the best email template builders that can help you save time (and money) as well as craft stunning templates without technical skills.

What Makes a Good Email Template Builder?

An email template builder is a tool that lets you create email designs from scratch or customize the elements on existing designs. You’ll need a separate tool to deliver those designs to your audience (subscribers), but some builders also serve as email marketing services.

The definition of a good builder depends on the user’s preferences and requirements. There are a few things, though, that will benefit most users. Ideally, an email template builder should:

• have a drag-and-drop editor
• include a library of ready-made email templates
• offer advanced newsletter elements
• allow you to keep your templates organized
• support responsive email designs

Email Template Software: Comparison Overview

Time is money, so here’s the complete comparison table with the best email designing tools. Check them out to get the gist of what follows next.

Best Email Template Editors by Use Case

Below you can see the best free and paid email template editors organized by use case:

• Moosend – Most affordable email template builder and automation platform
• ActiveCampaign – Best for template creation and delivery
• Stripo – Best free HTML email creator
• Tabular – Best for full control over mobile email design
• Sender – Best for creating templates rich in visuals
• HubSpot – All-in-one CRM solution and email builder
• Beefree – Fast and easy email builder
• Mailchimp – Most flexible email newsletter creator
• Topol.io – Simple tool for beginners
• Postcards – Best for quick template creation
• Chamaileon – Best collaborative email template builder

1. Moosend – Best Affordable Email Template Builder and Email Automation Platform

Pricing: Paid plans start at $9/month, 30-day free trial (Sign up here)

Best for: eCommerce, SMEs, SaaS, Publishers, Bloggers, Agencies

Best feature: Advanced drag-and-drop editor with rich templates

Moosend is one of the most affordable email template software for creating, sending, and automating email marketing campaigns.

For template creation, the tool offers an intuitive drag-and-drop editor that lets you build responsive email templates effortlessly. Tech-savvy users can also insert their custom HTML code.

The email designer has an extensive email newsletter template library with 95+ ready-made templates. The platform provides all the elements you need to create a visually stunning email campaign that converts. Advanced elements are also part of the builder’s functionality, allowing you to add countdown timers, personalize your emails, and add conditional blocks to create dynamic content campaigns. Also, the AI Writer helps you tackle email copywriting with ideas and suggestions.

To add visuals, the email designer has an image picker that integrates with Unsplash, GIPHY, Facebook, Instagram, Google Drive, and more. Moosend also allows you to create and save your custom templates in your library. This saves valuable time and makes future campaign creation significantly easier. Finally, you can send test emails to see how your email looks on the email client without even leaving the editor.

Moosend isn’t just a template builder. Without changing platforms, you can also send your campaigns, keep track of important metrics, and even perform A/B tests, experimenting with different versions of your email/template. This helps you save time and ensure that the appearance of your emails stays intact.

TL;DR: Moosend’s user-friendly drag-and-drop designer is an excellent choice for creating converting newsletter templates at a low cost. Non-technical users will also benefit from the minimal learning curve.

Moosend Features

• Drag-and-drop template designer
• Marketing automation to target your audience with automated workflows
• Save function to reuse templates in future campaigns
• Landing page template builder
• Custom fonts to maintain brand consistency
• A/B testing
• Integrations to streamline your operations

Pricing

Pricing starts at $9/month, giving you access not only to the template builder but also to marketing automation, landing pages, the SMTP server, and more.

You can also sign up for a free Moosend account to try the platform out—no credit card is required.

Try Moosend

2. ActiveCampaign – Best For Template Creation And Delivery

Pricing: Paid plans start at $39/month, 14-day free trial

Best for: eCommerce, SaaS, Publishers, Agencies, Influencers

Best feature: Email template changes tracking system

ActiveCampaign is among the best email template builders, known for its advanced event tracking options and CRM system. The template creator is very user-friendly, guiding first-time users on how to build their first email template.

What makes ActiveCampaign’s email editor special is the ability to see the changes made to your template by other people. This way, you can always be up to date with your email design. Furthermore, you can benefit from the tool’s reusable custom blocks to save time. Nevertheless, the block elements are a bit limited compared to other ActiveCampaign alternatives.

When it comes to templates, the email builder offers a selection of 258 responsive templates you can quickly customize. Finally, ActiveCampaign will give you access to numerous automation features to set up automated workflows.

TL;DR: ActiveCampaign is a solid option for those who want to create a template with a fast and user-friendly email editor. However, the software is vast and may overwhelm first-time users.

ActiveCampaign Features

• Drag-and-drop email designer
• Mobile-friendly email templates
• Event tracking options
• Built-in CRM tool

Pricing

This email template builder doesn’t have a free plan, but it offers a 14-day free trial. After that, you can purchase one of the premium plans, starting at $39/month (billed monthly) with the Lite plan.

Read our ActiveCampaign Review

3. Stripo – Best Free HTML Email Creator

Pricing: Paid plans start at $15/month, free plan

Best for: SMEs, SaaS, Freelancers, Bloggers

Best feature: Dynamic AMP emails

Stripo is a top free email template builder to create your next email marketing campaign. As a tool, Stripo is only a template designer, unlike Moosend and HubSpot that also let you send emails. It has a vast library of 1500+ templates, and ease of use makes it a great tool to use along with your email service provider.

The drag-and-drop editor is user-friendly, allowing you to create responsive templates that look good regardless of mobile device and screen size. Another feature that strikes out is Stripo’s personal library of custom modules. This option lets you reuse your module creations, saving crucial time and simplifying template creation.

The email design software also comes with an email testing tool that lets you send test emails to check how your design looks in the inbox. Apart from that, the template builder lets you validate dynamic AMP emails to ensure a seamless user experience. Finally, you can request a custom email template from professionals.

TL;DR: Stripo is a highly efficient tool for creating beautiful email templates. However, since it’s a standalone template builder, you’ll also need an ESP to send your email campaigns.

Stripo Features

• Easy to use without HTML code or CSS knowledge
• Embed videos and GIFs
• Integrations with ESPs through API like Moosend
• VML buttons for email clients like Outlook
• SaaS applications plugin

Pricing

This tool offers a free plan that allows up to 4 exports and 5 test emails per day. There is also a free plugin version of the editor, allowing 100 email creations/edits per month. For more, the tool offers three paid plans starting at $15/month, giving you access to premium templates and increasing your limits.

4. Tabular – Best for Full Control Over Mobile Email Design

Pricing: Paid plans start at $29/month, free plan

Best for: Saas, eCommerce, Marketers

Best feature: Email testing across multiple clients

Tabular is another free email template creator that stands out due to its intuitive email layout editing. The tool will be a great fit for anyone wanting to create quality email templates without writing a single line of code.

The drag-and-drop editor is modern and feels easy to use. What’s great is that it comes with various pre-built “blocks” that drastically save time. During our test, we found 38 templates available in the library for customization. We also like how the tool automatically adjusts row and column widths as you drag them, eliminating complexity.

Tabular excels when it comes to mobile design. You’re free to adjust column widths, margin, padding, typography, and visibility, without affecting the desktop version.

The platform also focuses on email testing. You can preview how your templates display on different email clients to ensure a seamless and professional result.

TL;DR: Tabular is a highly capable tool for crafting professionally-looking email templates. However, to take advantage of its more advanced features, you’ll need familiarity with the platform. You’re also dependent on an external ESP to deliver your campaigns.

Tabular Features

• More than 200 pre-made email modules
• Responsive design automatically
• Personalization with dynamic content
• Collaboration features (team blocks, public demo pages)
• Integration with popular ESPs like Moosend, HubSpot, Klaviyo, and more

Pricing

Tabular has a free plan that has limited features and allows 3 template exports per month and 5 email previews daily. For additional features, members, exports and more, there are three paid plans starting at $29/month (billed monthly).

5. Sender – Best For Templates Rich in Visuals

Pricing: Paid plans start at $19/month, free plan

Best for: Startups, SMEs, eCommerce, Enterprises

Best feature: Re-usable content blocks

Sender is an email marketing platform with a great email template designer. It has drag-and-drop functionality and a range of advanced blocks to build professional templates. For example, you can add a countdown timer for flash sales, product showcases, and videos to make your email more engaging.

You can also insert your custom HTML code if you have an existing design.

The platform has an extensive library of pre-made templates—from abandoned cart nudges to festive holiday greetings—that are both customizable and mobile responsive. What’s great about this solution is that you can save content blocks and reuse them in future campaigns. This helps you save crucial time and effort.

TL;DR: Sender is a straightforward solution to create both simple and more sophisticated designs with ease. Among its most valuable features is the ability to edit images (crop, resize, retouch) straight from the template builder.

Sender Features

• Drag-and-drop builder with advanced blocks
• HTML support
• Real-time analytics
• SMS marketing
• Integration with platforms like WordPress, Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, etc.

Pricing

The platform has a free plan for up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails/month, including basic email tools and automation. Paid plans start at $19/month for up to 2,500 subscribers with all essential features to grow your online business.

6. HubSpot – All-in-One CRM Solution and Email Builder

Pricing: Paid plans start at $20/month, free plan

Best for: eCommerce, SaaS, small business

Best feature: All-in-one email builder and campaign management

HubSpot is a free and easy-to-use email template builder that empowers marketers to build aesthetic and engaging email templates. With its drag-and-drop functionality, you can easily add and rearrange items as you like.

To jumpstart your newsletter creation, HubSpot provides 20 templates (5 free and 15 premium) to build upon. While they are not a lot, they can save you if you’re in need of a starting point.

The best part of HubSpot’s tools is access to their all-in-one CRM that stores all your customer information in one place. This means you can access your customer data from any sales, marketing, or customer support team and use them to personalize your templates and email campaigns.

TL;DR: HubSpot’s email design software and all-in-one CRM platform is great for owners and teams to manage and optimize their customer experience. However, the platform can be overwhelming for beginners.

HubSpot Features

• Branded email template drag-and-drop builder
• Email tracking and rich analytics
• Document management and tracking
• Call tracking
• Conversation artificial intelligence

Pricing

The platform offers free email, sales, and CMS tools you can use without providing a credit card. Regarding premium pricing, the platform has paid plans with advanced features starting at $20 per month for 1,000 subscribers.

7. Beefree – Fast and Easy Email Builder

Pricing: Paid plans start at $30/month, free plan

Best for: SMEs, Freelancers, Marketers, Agencies, Designers

Best feature: Variety of email types

Like Tabular and Stripo, Beefree is a free email template builder that allows you to create simple email templates and export them to your favorite ESP. Working with this email designer is very easy, and you can create a responsive template without having any coding skills.

Furthermore, the tool can save you valuable time as it allows you to drop images from your desktop, clone elements, and move everything around. When it comes to responsiveness, the builder constantly tests its templates to ensure that the email design won’t feel out of place.

Beefree’s template library numbers 1,376 professionally designed templates that you can customize to your liking. You can access the template library even without an account. And if you need an industry-specific template for your email campaigns, you can have one made for you through the Custom Design Service.

TL;DR: Beefree is a straightforward email designer for creating e-blast templates, transactional emails, and more. However, the tool has a steeper price tag compared to other email newsletter software and a rather slow customer support team.

Beefree Features

• Drag-and-drop email editor
• Responsiveness tests for Outlook, Gmail, and more
• Ability to send test emails to email clients
• Landing page builder
• Integration with popular ESPs like Brevo, Constant Contact, and Salesforce

Pricing

Beefree has a free plan for occasional projects, limited to 10 emails and/or pages, and 6 exports/month. For more functionality and unlimited emails, the template software has three paid plans starting at $30/month, which unlock features such as custom merge tags and conditional statements.

8. Mailchimp – Most Flexible Email Newsletter Creator

Pricing: Paid plans start at $20/month, limited free plan

Best for: eCommerce, Publishers, Agencies

Best feature: Variety of ready-made email templates

Mailchimp is among the most popular email template builders you can find, sporting an easy-to-use email designer. The tool comes with a handy email template library containing more than 100 ready-made designs. The downside is that free plan users only get the basic templates.

Mailchimp’s new email template builder allows you to edit your elements directly on your content block. So if you’ve used other template builders, Mailchimp’s content blocks will feel just fine. Furthermore, the tool’s Content Studio will help edit and manage your images and files.

As an email marketing platform, Mailchimp will also give you extra features like automation to deliver your email campaign at the right time. While the automation options are robust, Mailchimp’s marketing automation isn’t as flexible as other Mailchimp alternatives on our list.

TL;DR: Mailchimp has numerous email templates and a user-friendly interface to create your next big campaign. However, free plan users are heavily limited in functionality.

Mailchimp Features

• Variety of ready-made email templates
• Drag-and-drop email builder
• Online form builder to boost newsletter signups
• Design testing tool for different email clients
• Creative Assistant feature to design on-brand emails

Pricing

The platform has a very limited free plan for 500 subscribers. Then, pricing starts at $20/month for 500 subscribers, giving you access to custom templates and more.

Read our Mailchimp Review

9. Topol.io – Simple Tool for Beginners

Pricing: Paid plans start at $15/month, free plan (limited)

Best for: Designers, Marketers, Freelancers

Best feature: Reusable custom blocks

Topol.io is a full-fledged email template builder that favors simplicity, making it a great tool for beginner users. Its drag-and-drop editor makes template creation effortless without graphic design or HTML coding knowledge.

Advanced features aren’t absent. Most notably, you can create reusable custom blocks and personalize your emails with merge tags. This functionality increases efficiency while allowing users to deliver more personalized campaigns that make sense.

What’s more, there are over 150 pre-designed templates that are easy to customize. Topol.io also lets you use high-quality, royalty-free images from Pexels to enhance the appearance of your emails.

This email template builder supports collaboration, allowing team members to share their templates and work together on them. Last but not least, you can add your products directly to your email campaigns via XML feeds.

TL;DR: Topol.io is a simple tool that’s efficient at creating beautiful email templates. It also comes at a competitive price. Despite that, its interface can feel “basic” compared to the other tools in the list.

Topol.io Features

• 150+ templates available
• Reusable custom blocks
• Custom HTML code builder for flexibility over the design
• Add your products via XML feeds
• Integration with most email service providers

Pricing

Topol.io has a free plan with a limited feature set that’s great mostly for personal use. For advanced features, you need a paid plan starting at $15/month (billed monthly).

10. Postcards – Best for Quick Template Creation

Pricing: Paid plans start at $19/month, limited free plan

Best for: Marketers, Designers, eCommerce

Best feature: Pre-made modules and elements

Postcards is an email template builder offered by Designmodo with the aim of helping users create email templates faster and with no limits on design. It has an intuitive builder that lets you add images, texts, and links with ease.

What’s more, there are dozens of pre-made modules that save time but also look good. You can also manage and customize the mobile version of the template you create.

Inside the tool, you’ll find 40 designer-made templates that can be used as a starting point. If you need to collaborate, you can invite colleagues to work with you as an editor or viewer.

Another great thing about the software is that its design modules are tested to render seamlessly across all email clients and email service providers.

TL;DR: Postcards is a flexible solution that can cater to both simple and more complex design needs. However, its free plan is very restrictive and quickly users will have to start paying for the service.

Postcards Features

• Intuitive template editor
• 100+ ready-made modules
• One-click export for most ESPs
• 1,600 Google Fonts
• Team collaboration options

Pricing

Designmodo Postcards comes with a limited free plan that allows a maximum of 10 template projects, 5 monthly exports as well as pre-made modules. To increase limits and unlock all the features, paid plans start at $19/month (billed monthly).

11. Chamaileon – Best Collaborative Email Template Builder

Pricing: N/D (typically 5K for annual subscriptions), 14-day free trial

Best for: Marketers, eCommerce, Bloggers

Best feature: Advanced image editing options

Chamaileon deserves a place on our email template builder list due to its user-friendly email designer and powerful image editing capabilities. This email template creator offers a free stock photo library from Pexels, but you can easily add your own email newsletter images and customize them to your liking, adding filters and more.

When it comes to templates, Chamaileon has 100+ beautiful email designs you can use, which are also mobile responsive. The clean interface lets you focus on email template creation. What marketing teams are going to love, though, is real-time collaboration and customization of templates.

Exporting your email templates might need a bit of work as the template builder doesn’t offer many ESP integrations. To get the template to your email service, you can embed the HTML code in your email marketing tool or download your design as a .zip file.

TL;DR: Chamaileon is an email template design solution perfect for collaborative work among teams. However, its steep price tag makes it unsuitable for most businesses with small budgets.

Chamaileon Features

• Responsive email templates
• WYSIWYG template builder
• Support for Apple and Android devices
• Import custom HTML code and template conversion
• Email content management tool

Pricing

Chamaileon has a full-featured 14-day free trial, but not a free plan. Paid pricing isn’t publicly available, but the company mentions that it is typically 5K for annual subscriptions.

How We Selected The Tools

All of the tools in this list have been tested by our team to provide an unbiased description of its features and capabilities.

We spent hours setting up new accounts and trying each software to provide an accurate experience and show users exactly what they will come across when they sign up. Find more information about our software selection methodology on how we choose tools to feature on the Moosend Blog.

Selecting The Best Email Template Builder for Your Needs

To turn your idea into the ultimate responsive email template, you’ll need the ideal tool for the job.

When you look at email template builders, make sure that you get a user-friendly designer that gives you plenty of templates and lets you customize, design from scratch, and organize your creations.

If you still haven’t decided, why not give Moosend a try? You can sign up for an account now and build your first template in a few minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are some common questions and answers regarding email template builders.

1. What is an email template builder?

An email template builder is a tool that allows users to design and create custom email layouts through a drag-and-drop interface or using pre-designed templates. These tools help users design unique emails without the need to write code.

2. Do email template builders require coding knowledge?

No, most email template builders are designed for users without coding experience. They have a visual, drag-and-drop interface that lets you add, remove, rearrange, and customize elements in your emails. Some of them also let you use custom HTML code.

3. What are some popular email template builders?

Some of the most popular email template builders are Moosend, Stripo, Tabular, and Beefree. Their popularity stems from their affordable pricing and ease of use.

4. How do I choose the right email template builder?

Some key factors to consider when selecting your email template builder include drag-and-drop functionality, a library of pre-made designs, a user-friendly interface, adequate customer support, and a pricing model that fits your budget.