Email marketing automation tools compared for Indian businesses

Choosing an email marketing platform feels overwhelming when you are starting out. Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Brevo, ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, and Drip all have overlapping features and slightly different pricing. The right choice depends on what your business actually needs, not which tool has the most features.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is where most Indian businesses start because it has a generous free plan (up to 500 contacts and 1,000 emails per month as of 2022) and a simple interface. If you are building your first list, sending a monthly newsletter, and not running complex automations, Mailchimp is perfectly adequate.

The downsides become apparent when you grow. Mailchimp's pricing scales quickly once you exceed the free tier, and its automation features are more limited than dedicated automation tools. If you have more than 2,000 contacts and want to send behaviour-based sequences, you will feel the friction.

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

Brevo is my most frequent recommendation for Indian small businesses moving beyond the free tier. It prices by emails sent rather than by subscribers, which means you can have a large list and only pay for what you send. Their plans also include SMS marketing, which is relevant for Indian businesses that want to combine email and SMS outreach.

Deliverability in India is strong. Brevo has data centres that serve the region well. Their automation builder is intuitive and supports if-then branching for behaviour-based sequences.

Klaviyo

Klaviyo is the tool of choice for e-commerce businesses, particularly WooCommerce and Shopify stores. Its integration with e-commerce platforms is deep. It can trigger emails based on specific products viewed, abandoned cart value, purchase history, and customer lifetime value.

For Indian D2C brands that sell online and want to run sophisticated post-purchase sequences, welcome series, and win-back campaigns, Klaviyo is worth the higher price. It scales from free (up to 250 contacts) to enterprise pricing. Mid-range plans are priced in dollars and can feel expensive for Indian businesses, but the ROI from e-commerce automations typically justifies it.

ConvertKit

ConvertKit is built for content creators: bloggers, course sellers, newsletter writers, podcasters. If you are a coach, consultant, or creator building a personal brand in India, ConvertKit's model of tagging subscribers by interest and delivering content sequences based on those tags aligns well with how creators need to engage their audiences.

It is not ideal for e-commerce or lead-heavy service businesses. But for the creator segment, its simplicity and content-first approach make it a strong choice.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign has the most powerful automation builder of the tools mentioned here. It supports complex multi-step workflows with conditional logic, lead scoring, CRM integration, and site tracking. For Indian businesses with sophisticated sales funnels and long consideration cycles (like SaaS companies, high-ticket coaching programmes, or B2B services), ActiveCampaign's depth is worth the learning curve.

The pricing is mid-range, and the interface takes some getting used to. But if you need automation depth, nothing in this list beats it.

A simple framework for choosing

One tool: do you primarily sell physical products online? Use Klaviyo. Are you a creator or coach? Try ConvertKit. Are you a service business or B2B company? Brevo or ActiveCampaign. Are you just getting started with any kind of email? Start with Mailchimp or Brevo's free plan.

Frequently asked questions