Best for first-time senders who want the shortest path to a good-looking campaign
Mailchimp is the most widely known platform in the category and still the easiest first send. Under Intuit it has gained polish and price increases in equal measure, and serious ecommerce or automation work now has better-fitting alternatives.
Best for B2B and service businesses that need real automation and lead scoring
ActiveCampaign has the deepest automation builder available to small businesses, with conditional branching, lead scoring and a built-in CRM. It is the strongest fit for B2B and service businesses whose email leads to a sales conversation.
Best for creators monetizing an audience with newsletters and digital products
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is email marketing narrowed deliberately to creators: newsletters, tagging instead of lists, and native paid subscriptions. Outside that audience it looks feature-poor; inside it, the focus is the point.