Searching for the best WordPress email newsletter plugins to send emails to your subscribers without leaving your WordPress dashboard?
Unlike email subscription plugins that might only help you collect subscribers, a WordPress newsletter plugin lets you go one step further and actually send your subscribers emails from the comfy familiarity of your WordPress dashboard. This is a great way to simplify your workflows and avoid needing to learn a new tool just to grow your newsletter.
In this post, we’ve collected the six best newsletter plugins for WordPress to help you do just that. Beyond being high-quality options, all of these tools offer at least some type of free plan, which is great if you’re on a budget.
Let’s start with a quick rundown of what to look for in a newsletter plugin. Then, we’ll get to the list.
What to look for in a WordPress email newsletter plugin
Here are some of the most important features to look for to focus your search:
- Built-in sending service – if you want your newsletters to avoid the spam folder, you need a dedicated email sending service. Ideally, the newsletter plugin has its own built-in sending service for simplicity. Or, at a bare minimum, it should integrate with WordPress SMTP plugins so that you can manually connect to services like SendGrid (our tutorial) or Mailgun (our tutorial).
- Automatic newsletters – if you want to save time, some plugins let you automate your newsletters. For example, you can automatically send a weekly digest of your latest blog posts.
- List management/segmentation – you’ll want to be able to easily manage your subscribers and segment them into different lists if needed. This lets you prune unengaged subscribers and create more targeted lists.
- Drag-and-drop email builder – if you want to customize your newsletters, you should look for a drag-and-drop builder so that you don’t need any technical knowledge.
- Analytics – you’ll want to be able to track open/click rates so that you can see how engaging your emails are and what content your subscribers like the most.
Not every newsletter plugin will offer every single feature, but you’ll want to look for as many of them as possible.
Six best WordPress email newsletter plugins
Here are the six WordPress email newsletter plugins that we’ll look at:
1. MailPoet
MailPoet is an all-in-one WordPress newsletter plugin that helps you with gathering subscribers, sending them emails from your WordPress dashboard, and making sure those emails avoid subscribers’ spam folders thanks to a built-in sending service.
You’ll be able to:
- Design emails using a drag-and-drop builder and/or choose from 50+ pre-built templates.
- Manage/segment your subscribers from your WordPress dashboard and personalize your newsletters using subscriber information.
- Send one-off newsletters or create automatic digests, like an automatic newsletter with your latest blog posts.
- View analytics to see how your emails perform.
- Integrate with WooCommerce to send product newsletters to your customers. You can also send other emails, like abandoned cart reminders.
MailPoet also includes its own sending service, which means it can reliably deliver your newsletters to subscribers’ inboxes by default – you don’t need to use a third-party service (though you can if you want to).
Pricing
The core MailPoet plugin is available for free at WordPress.org. The MailPoet Starter plan, which contains MailPoet’s sending service, is also free for up to 1,000 subscribers (you can send up to 5,000 emails per month).
Once you get more than 1,000 newsletter subscribers (congrats!), OR you need access to MailPoet’s advanced functionality, the paid plans start at €7 per month (for 500 subscribers).
If you want to use a separate sending service such as SendGrid, Amazon SES, Mailgun, etc. you can use the free version, or purchase a Creator plan to access features like in depth analytics, advanced segmentation, and priority support. Creator plans start at €7 per month.
Pros
- There’s a free version. If you use the sending service, the MailPoet Starter plan is also free for 5,000 emails per month to up to 1,000 newsletter subscribers.
- You can manage all aspects of your newsletters without leaving your WordPress dashboard.
- There’s a built-in sending service, which means you don’t need to mess around with third-party sending services just to get your newsletters to your subscribers.
- You can use pre-built email templates to quickly create professional-looking newsletters, while still customizing everything with the drag-and-drop builder.
Cons
- If you use the MailPoet Sending Service, you’ll need to pay a monthly fee once you get more than 1,000 subscribers or want to send more than 5,000 emails per month.
2. Newsletter
As you might be able to guess from the name, the Newsletter plugin is another option that lets you send, well, newsletters.
You’ll be able to create forms to grow your list, manage subscribers from your WordPress dashboard, and send them emails using a drag-and-drop builder in your WordPress dashboard.
For more features, there are also paid add-ons that let you:
- Send automatic sequences, like a digest of your latest posts.
- Integrate with other opt-in plugins to grow your newsletter subscribers.
- View analytics for your emails.
However, unlike MailPoet, Newsletter doesn’t include its own sending service. Instead, you’ll need to use a WordPress SMTP plugin and a service such as Mailgun, SendGrid, Amazon SES, etc.
Pricing
The core Newsletter plugin is free at WordPress.org.
For additional features, you can purchase a bundle of all 20+ premium add-ons for $65 (3 sites) or $249 (unlimited sites).
You’ll also need a separate sending service. If you’re sending under ~300 emails per day, you can find free sending services. Above that, you’ll likely need to pay extra for your sending service.
Pros
- There’s a free version.
- You can manage all aspects of your newsletters without leaving your WordPress dashboard.
- The premium version is pretty affordable, especially if you’re using it on multiple sites.
Cons
- There’s no built-in sending service – you’ll need to pair it with a separate sending service, which might cost extra money if you send a lot of emails.
- You need the paid version to create an automatic newsletter of your latest posts.
3. MailOptin
MailOptin is a WordPress newsletter plugin that serves two purposes, depending on which version you have:
- Lead Generation – create opt-in forms and popups that grow your subscriber list.
- Newsletters – send newsletters from inside your WordPress dashboard.
With the newsletter features, you’ll be able to send both one-off emails and automatic sequences, like an automated newsletter with your latest blog posts. To control their content, you’ll also get a visual builder that looks a lot like the WordPress theme customizer.
MailOptin is different from the previous two newsletter plugins in that it doesn’t completely replace an email marketing service. That is, you’ll still need an email service such as Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, etc. to manage your subscribers and deliver emails. However, MailOptin does let you compose the emails that you’ll send from inside your WordPress dashboard.
Pricing
MailOptin has a free version at WordPress.org that lets you create email opt-in forms. However, you need the Pro license to send newsletters from your WordPress dashboard, which costs $199 per year.
You’ll also need a third-party email marketing service. Depending on the size of your list and the number of emails that you’re sending, this might require an additional monthly fee. For example, Mailchimp is free for 2,000 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month. After that, plans start at $9.99 per month.
Pros
- MailOptin has really strong opt-in form features, which helps you grow your newsletter list without the need for a third-party opt-in plugin.
- You can compose newsletter emails from inside your WordPress dashboard.
- The email builder interface looks a lot like the theme customizer, which means you can work from a familiar interface.
Cons
- The free version doesn’t let you send newsletters – you need the paid version for that.
- You still need a traditional email marketing service like Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, ActiveCampaign, etc.
- You can’t manage your subscribers from your WordPress dashboard – you still need to do that from your third-party email service.
4. Sendinblue
Unlike the previous three WordPress newsletter plugins, Sendinblue is a standalone email marketing service, not a native WordPress plugin. However, as far as standalone email marketing services go, it has one of the best WordPress integration plugins because you can perform most actions without leaving your WordPress dashboard.
That is, once you sync the plugin with your Sendinblue account, you can create opt-in forms, manage subscribers, and send emails using the drag-and-drop editor right from your WordPress dashboard.
Because it’s a full email marketing service, Sendinblue also includes more advanced features like a CRM, text marketing, and even a landing page builder. However, these features are overkill for a simple newsletter.
Pricing
Sendinblue is free for unlimited contacts and up to 300 emails per day (with Sendinblue branding at the bottom of your emails).
After that, paid plans start at $25 for up to 100,000 emails per month and unlimited subscribers.
Pros
- It’s free to send up to 300 emails per day.
- The free integration plugin lets you send emails and manage subscribers from inside your WordPress dashboard.
- Sendinblue has more advanced features than any other tool on this list, like a CRM, A/B testing, marketing automation, and more.
Cons
- If you just want to send some simple newsletters, Sendinblue’s advanced features might feel like overkill.
- The free plan includes Sendinblue branding. Even on the first premium tier, you still need to pay extra to remove the branding.
- While you can perform most actions from your WordPress dashboard, Sendinblue is still not a native WordPress plugin. For example, all of your data still lives on Sendinblue’s servers, which might be a con for some people.
5. SendPress Newsletters
SendPress Newsletters shares a lot of similarities with the Newsletter plugin from before.
That is, it lets you manage subscribers and send newsletters from your WordPress dashboard, but it doesn’t include its own sending service. To make sure your newsletters avoid your subscribers’ spam folders, you’ll need to pair it with a WordPress SMTP plugin and a dedicated sending service. The paid version also supports API sending via some popular services.
To add content to your emails, you can use the Classic WordPress TinyMCE editor, rather than a drag-and-drop editor like some other tools offer. You do get shortcodes to personalize your emails, though.
Pricing
The core SendPress Newsletters plugin is available for free at WordPress.org.
If you want access to the premium features, paid plans start at $39 per year.
Pros
- There’s a free version and the paid version is also affordable.
- The editor is simple and straightforward if all you need to do is send simple text newsletters.
Cons
- There’s no built-in sending service, which means you’ll need to use an SMTP plugin and a third-party sending service. Or, you can use the premium version to connect to some services via their APIs.
- There’s no drag-and-drop editor to build your emails – you’ll use the Classic WordPress TinyMCE editor to add content.
- You need to know HTML if you want to create your own email templates.
- While you can schedule emails to send in advance, you can’t create an automatic digest of your latest posts like MailPoet or Newsletter allow.
6. Jetpack Subscriptions
Jetpack Subscriptions is the most limited WordPress newsletter plugin on this list, but it’s also the simplest option, which might make it a good fit for your situation if you only need the limited features that it offers.
So – what makes Jetpack Subscriptions “limited”?
Well, the big thing is that you cannot use it to send your own custom newsletters. Instead, all it does is automatically deliver a newsletter that contains your most recently-published content.
When subscribers sign up, they’ll be able to choose how frequently they want to receive notifications. For example, they could get a weekly digest or real-time notifications.
To get subscribers, you can add an opt-in form anywhere on your site and/or include a “Subscribe” checkbox on your comment form.
To learn how it works, check out our full Jetpack Subscriptions tutorial.
Pricing
Jetpack Subscriptions is 100% free. While there are paid Jetpack plans, you don’t need them to use the Subscriptions feature.
Pros
- Once you set up Jetpack Subscriptions, it’s completely hands-off. Just sit back and let Jetpack do everything for you.
- You don’t need to worry about deliverability or sending services because Jetpack handles that for you.
- It’s 100% free.
Cons
- It only works for automatic post notifications – you can’t send custom newsletter emails.
- You can’t customize the design of your emails – you’ll have to use the default Jetpack design.
- You have very limited options for managing your newsletter subscribers.
Which is the best WordPress newsletter plugin?
There’s no single “best” email newsletter plugin for every single person. Instead, it’s about finding the best WordPress newsletter plugin for your specific needs, knowledge level, and budget.
For example, if you just want a simple way to let people subscribe to a newsletter of your latest blog posts, Jetpack Subscriptions might be all you need. While it doesn’t give you a lot of flexibility, it’s free and entirely hands-off, which might be what you’re looking for if you’re a busy blogger.
On the other hand, if you want the ability to actually manage your subscribers and send them custom emails using a drag-and-drop builder, we think MailPoet is the best newsletter plugin, which is why we made it!
MailPoet lets you grow your newsletter list, manage your subscribers, and send them one-off or automatic emails all from your WordPress dashboard. Better yet, unlike most other newsletter plugins, MailPoet includes its own built-in sending service, which means you can completely avoid the frustration of trying to troubleshoot why your emails are going to spam.
It’s free to use up to 1,000 subscribers – you’ll only need to pay once you cross over that 1,000 mark (which is a good “problem” to have!), or if you want to get access to advanced functionality. To get started, install the free MailPoet plugin from WordPress.org today.
Once you set up MailPoet, we have some other guides that can help you start getting more newsletter subscribers and sending them great emails:
- 20 tactics to get more newsletter subscribers
- Eight tips to improve your newsletter subscribe forms
- 13 email newsletter examples to inspire yours
Do you still have any questions about picking the right WordPress email newsletter plugin for your needs? Let us know in the comments!