5 Best Email Creation Software 2024: Ultimate Guide

19.8.2024
Read time: 13 min
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5 Best Email Creation Software 2024: Ultimate Guide
Try Publicate For Free Today
19.8.2024
Read time: 13 min

Beautiful emails aren’t just easy on the eye. They boost readability and engagement, and the overall success of your internal and external email campaigns.

With the right email creation software, you can create professional emails without any design or coding experience.

Instead of wasting time trying out the different email template builders, read this guide. We’ve rounded up five of the best email builders, along with the features that make them great.

Guide Index

What is an Email Template Builder?

An email template builder is an online tool or software that lets you design emails, even without prior design or coding experience.

The best email creation software comes pre-loaded with a wide variety of highly customizable, responsive and engaging templates. In most cases, these templates are designed for specific industries or purposes, like promoting an event or introducing your Employee of the Month.

With these templates at hand, there’s no need to design marketing emails from scratch, saving hours and the costs of hiring coders and designers. Marketing teams can focus less on templating individual emails, and have more time to focus on coming up with engaging content ideas and the other many tasks on your list.

You use a simple drag-and-drop editor to customize the templates with your content and branding. So, it’s easy to ensure every email you send is on-brand so it’s professional and instantly recognizable by your subscribers.

Then, simply export the HTML emails to Gmail or your preferred email service provider. Since the templates on most email builders are responsive, you know they’ll render well across all devices and platforms.

person-using-laptop-computer
Picture from Unsplash

What is the Best Email Creation Software?

Save yourself the hassle of searching for the best email template creation software and use our guide instead. We’ve rounded up five of our favorite pieces of email creation software, so you can start designing beautiful emails quickly.

1. Publicate

Publicate is a drag-and-drop email editor with hundreds of fully customizable, professionally-designed templates to choose from, which are free for all users.

Used by small teams through to global organizations like Pepsi and Amazon, Publicate is packed with features that make the email design process fast, simple and enjoyable.

As well as templates, it gives you access to a content library of over 2 million royalty-free stock images, GIFs and videos. Plus, its content scraping capabilities let you instantly add all the important details from web pages, Slack, Pocket and other sources.

This saves users time searching multiple web sources for suitable content, and downloading and uploading images and other multi-media.

Publicate integrates with over 57 email service providers including Gmail and Outlook so you can keep using the tools you love without needing to switch. There is even a direct integration!

Publicate also provides powerful post-send analytics to track performance from heat maps to open rates and click-through rates; you can monitor and optimize every email campaign.

It’s the only email builder with built-in analytics that are available no matter where you send your emails from, so you can continually improve your email marketing engagement using data. This is great news for your marketing budget, as you can work to maximize your ROI from emails.

Pros:

  • Prioritizes real-time collaboration between teams, to streamline the feedback, editing and posting process
  • A powerful content library lets you save and organize your content, which saves time and is great for collaboration, since anyone on your team can access the content and use it when creating emails
  • Dynamic web scraping means users only need to copy and paste a website URL and Publicate automatically populates all important information from that web page, for the fastest, simplest way to create a newsletter
  • Works with over 57 email service providers (ESPs) including direct integrations with Gmail and Outlook.
  • Powerful analytics that let you track performance, whatever sending platform you use. This lets you accurately monitor the value of your newsletter and ensure users are engaging with your content

Cons:

  • Offers a 14-day free trial. but no free subscription option available due to its advanced features and analytics tracking that other email builders don’t offer.

2. Stripo

Stripo is another drag-and-drop HTML editor that lets you customize your email designs with ease.

Stripo users with coding knowledge have the option to code from scratch, switching between the tool’s HTML and CSS code editor and its drag-and-drop builder.

Pros:

  • Recently launched an AI feature to help you write better subject lines
  • Offers over 1500 free HTML email templates

Cons:

  • While Stripo does offer a free plan, you need the Medium plan to add multiple users and collaborate with your team
  • You need a paid plan to create Brand Guidelines on the platform, so creating on-brand emails on the free plan would likely be a time-consuming, clunky process
  • Adding content is more time-consuming for those without HTML knowledge
  • Doesn’t include analytics to monitor the performance of your emails

3. Beefree

Beefree is a user-friendly HTML email builder that lets users export emails to any sending platform in a few clicks.

It’s most suitable for SMEs, freelancers, marketers and agencies.

Pros:

  • There’s a variety of email types to choose from
  • Comes complete with over 500,000 stock images, GIFs and stickers to add to your email designs

Cons:

  • The free plan limits the content you can save and re-use, so you’ll usually have to re-make elements you want to use more than once
  • The Beefree branding shows on your content on the free plan, which can impact how professional your emails are perceived to be
  • Customization and formatting in the designer is limited
  • Doesn’t include analytics so it’s difficult to understand which content performs well
  • Can’t edit images directly in the editor, so users may need to use a third-party tool and repeatedly download and upload images

4. Chamaileon

A no-code drag-and-drop email builder, Chamaileon offers responsive, modern-looking templates to its users.

Pros:

  • A built-in tool lets users edit images within the platform, including adding filters and text, and adjusting the exposure
  • Generates instant links to share designs with colleagues

Cons:

  • Doesn’t contain as many templates as other email builders
  • Integrates with a limited number of email service providers, making the sending process more complex
  • No access to stock images or other multi-media types within the platform
  • Doesn’t offer built-in analytics, so it’s not easy to analyze and improve newsletters
  • There’s no integration with stock image sites, which makes finding content more time-consuming

5. Topol

An email template builder that’s suitable for beginners, Topol offers over 150 responsive templates to its users on the Pro Plan.

Pros:

  • Lots of customization and personalization options
  • Users can choose from a range of download, export and share options

Cons:

  • The free version is extremely limited – access to professional images and pre-made templates is not available on the free plan
  • Has a relatively basic interface compared to some other tools in the list
  • No in-line image editing, which means you have to edit and re-upload images
  • No built-in analytics to track and improve email marketing
  • Doesn’t include a library to organize multi-media resources. Instead, users have to keep finding and re-adding content for every email, which is a time-suck

What are Email Service Providers with Email Template Builders?

While it’s tricky to create a template in Gmail and other ESPs, some platforms make it easier to create templates and send emails all in one platform.

ESPs with email template builders don’t allow you to export your email to send it somewhere else, such as Gmail or Outlook, or share it on social media platforms or internal channels like Teams or Slack. Instead, users must send emails within the template platform itself.

Explore the options with these 5 ESPs that include template builders.

1. Moosend

The Moosend email creation software has a library of email templates, which you can send directly from the platform itself. Alternatively, users can copy the HTML or download the JSON file and send the templates from another ESP, although the second option is quite time-consuming.

Keep in mind that Moosend doesn’t offer a free plan, and some of its templates are a little dated.

2. SendPulse

SendPulse contains over 100 modern templates and other email marketing tools to help streamline the process. While the stock images and image editing tools are limited, users can still design emails and send them from SendPulse.

3. MailerLite

MailerLite doesn’t have any export options, so users have to send their designs from the platform itself. There are some beautiful templates available, but these aren’t accessible on the free plan.

4. HubSpot

HubSpot is a CRM platform that covers almost all marketing and sales bases for businesses. You can send emails directly from HubSpot or export them to your email service provider.

The pre-made templates aren’t available on the free plan and the software only has 5 basic customizable HTML templates.

5. Mailchimp

Mailchimp users can switch between a drag-and-drop email builder and the platform’s new AI builder. There are over 100 pre-made templates, although most aren’t accessible in the free plan, and many don’t automatically render well on mobile. This limits the process for users, as Mailchimp only allows you to send emails from Mailchimp itself.

What are the Benefits of Email Creation Software?

Modern-day consumers expect well-designed, engaging emails. Plain text emails don’t always stack up. An HTML email builder provides a way to create professional emails that get results. Plus, they’re user-intuitive with barely any learning curve involved.

Let’s look at some other benefits of email builders.

1. Save Time

Email creation software comes with ready-made templates that look great, and drag-and-drop functionality.

With so much content already saved in the platform (such as stock images, buttons and other multi-media) you can design emails in minutes.

2. Collaborate With Your Team

Your email designs are saved in the cloud.

This is ideal for teams who want to collaborate on an email campaign. There’s no need to download software or send documents, photos and other items back and forth.

Email builders like Publicate, for example, excel when it comes to collaboration. For example, it offers the chance to co-edit, review, edit and approve emails in real-time, to streamline the workflow and scale the process.

3. Design Consistent Emails

The best email template builders include a folder for brand assets, or a “Brand Kit”.

The Brand Kit is a dedicated folder in your workspace to set your brand’s color pallet, upload a brand font, and store assets like logos and photography. It couldn’t be simpler to customize HTML templates and ensure each one is consistently on-brand.

4. Boost Engagemen

Templates are already designed for engagement, with the layouts and content people like to read.

Plus, if your email builder has powerful analytics, you can monitor engagement and discover ways to improve with every email you create.

What Makes a Good Email Template Builder?

The best email template builder varies from one business to another. While some require some coding knowledge and offer customized elements, others like Publicate provide a full-featured drag-and-drop editor that’s suitable for every skill level.

Look out for the following features that we think make a good email template builder:

  • A large and varied template library
  • Responsive and engaging designs
  • A user-friendly interface
  • Built-in image editing and access to content inside the platform
  • Integration with lots of email clients
  • Detailed analytics and insights
  • Opportunities to collaborate
  • Dynamic web scraping to easily upload content from relevant web pages
  • Integrations with stock image and video sites

Who Uses Email Creation Software?

Email creation software is commonly used by marketing teams who want to create promotional emails or improve their internal communications.

Everyone from startups to marketing agencies and global brands and organizations can benefit from email-building software.

Often, professionals choose a platform, such as Publicate, because they can design highly engaging, beautiful emails without coding knowledge and then track their performance, even if they send through Gmail or Outlook. There are cost benefits, too, as email builders remove the need to hire coders or designers.

How to Choose the Right Email Template Builder?

To make sure you’re using the best drag-and-drop email builder for you, ask yourself the following questions.

1. Does the Software Create Responsive Designs?

Will your designs render well across various email clients and devices – especially mobile? Collectively, 85% of businesses and individuals use their smartphones to access emails.

It’s important to use software that prioritizes great designs on mobile, without the need for manual optimization from you.

2. Can You Try It Out for Free?

Most free email builder software is limited. Don’t just look for free plans, but do ensure the software has a free trial so you can try it out before signing up.

An email builder like Publicate offers a no-obligation, 14-day free trial. You can sign up without a credit card and start designing emails today.

3. Is it Easy to Export Designs?

Does the software integrate with multiple email service providers and offer easy export options?

Look for plug-ins and one-click downloads that make the process quick and easy.

4. How Many Templates are Available?

Choose software with hundreds of pre-designed, professional newsletter templates.

Ideally, they should be organized by type, industry and other helpful filters.

What are Key Features of Email Template Builder Software?

Get to know the key features of email builder software, so you know what to expect from the best platforms. These include:

  • Pre-made templates
  • Drag-and-drop editor
  • Built-in image editor
  • Easy customization options
  • A library of images and GIFs
  • Dynamic content scraping, from websites, Slack channels, etc.
  • Built-in analytics
  • Mobile responsiveness
  • Email sending integration options
  • A brand kit with asset library, for logos, color schemes and fonts
  • Real-time collaboration features

What are Best Design Practices for Email Design?

Whichever email design software you go for, you’ll get the best results if you follow some email design best practices.

Below, we’ve summarized some ways to ensure professional emails people want to read:

  • Highlight important information: Put key information near the top of an email, using design features like headings or borders to highlight it.
  • Use a reader-friendly layout: Avoid huge walls of text and instead choose appealing layouts, such as F-shape and Z-shape designs.
  • Use consistent branding: Use your brand colors, logo, photography style and tone of voice - consistency builds trust, which is key for your email’s success.
  • Make CTAs stand out: Use strong calls-to-action, formatted as bright buttons that grab attention.

Wrap Up

The best email creation software prioritizes user-friendliness and responsive, modern designs. With the right features, your software can trim the email design process down to minutes – saving your company time and money in email marketing.

Explore your options by making use of the free trials available. An email creation tool like Publicate offers a 14-day free trial with the software trusted by over 10,000 companies.